Jason Thomas
United States
Chamblee
Georgia
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I was actually pretty interested in the game until I saw that the name of the moon was "Heinlein". Don't get me wrong, I LIKE Robert Heinlein, but a little thing like naming a feature in the game after the second-most obvious and recognizable names in Science Fiction of all time is... a little on the nose.
I admit that I'm probably in the minority in feeling pandered to by FFG (even if that's not the intention) and it's probably going to be a pretty good game... but does this sort of thing annoy anyone else, or is it just me?
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Jon
United States
Edmond
Oklahoma
Convention Committee
BGG.CON! BGG.CON SPRING! BGG@SEA!
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The moon is a harsh mistress, no matter what you name her.
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Paul DeStefano
United States
Long Island
New York
It's a Zendrum. www.zendrum.com
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Do you avoid Sarah Connor Chronicles because the terminator's name is Cameron, and the investigator chasing them is Ellison?
Sci Fi is notorious for self reference. Its an honor.
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Gabe Covert
United States
Lexington
KY
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Geosphere wrote: Do you avoid Sarah Connor Chronicles because the terminator's name is Cameron, and the investigator chasing them is Ellison?
Sci Fi is notorious for self reference. Its an honor.
D'oh! Clearly I wasn't paying enough attention...
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Darrell Hanning
United States
Jacksonville
Florida
We will meet at the Hour of Scampering.
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Maybe you just left a word out of your admonishment, but the material actually states that the moon colony is named Heinlein.
And I don't think that's at all crazy, or even unlikely. Considering how many of his stories involved a colony on the Moon, it wouldn't surprise me if the first, commercial colony on the Moon was named after him.
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Dave Kudzma
United States
Millsboro
Delaware
People are...
SPOCKED!!
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I suppose you have issues with the game Mission: Red Planet as well?
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Chris Smith
Canada
Victoria
BC
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Well it was an honor at one time - now its just kitchy, trite and lazy. Every time is see an example of it all I can think of is "gee really? thats all you could come up with?".
Often it is used out of place or just for its own sake. Even worse is when the referencing work is junk (not to say T:SCC is - just saying there is a lot of junk SF/Fantasy).
All that said this game looks like it could be quite fun!
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Chris J Davis
United Kingdom
London
Overtext pending moderation...
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mjtuell wrote: Geosphere wrote: Do you avoid Sarah Connor Chronicles because the terminator's name is Cameron, and the investigator chasing them is Ellison?
If I already wasn't avoiding Sarah Conner Chronicles for a host of reasons typicially associated with sci-fi television, I would definitely be avoiding it for those reasons, yes.  Don't get me wrong -- I like sci-fi, but the only really good TV series the genre has ever produced was Firefly, IMO.
Surely you're forgetting Battlestar Galactica...? 
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Gary Averett
United States
Salt Lake City
Utah
uh...whose turn is it?
I spent 100gg for this?!?!
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locusshifter wrote: I suppose you have issues with the game Mission: Red Planet as well?
Just the crappy boards.
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Mike zebrowski
United States
Unspecified
Minnesota
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KillMeForPrizes wrote: Well it was an honor at one time - now its just kitchy, trite and lazy. Every time is see an example of it all I can think of is "gee really? thats all you could come up with?".
I disagree. It happens all of the time in the real world.
The geostationary orbit is often called the Clarke Orbit or the Clarke Belt to honor Arthur C. Clarke.
The first space shuttle was named Enterprise after the ship in Star Trek.
The "Dandelion Crater" on the moon is named after Ray Bradbury's novel Dandelion Wine.
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Galen
United States
Austin
Texas
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Geosphere wrote: Do you avoid Sarah Connor Chronicles because the terminator's name is Cameron, and the investigator chasing them is Ellison?
No, but I did avoid the show because it sucked.
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Jeffrey Inks
United States
Holly Springs
North Carolina (NC)
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I guess you have a problem with a shuttle named Enterprise? I am 99% sure that when we do develop a larger deep space craft that it will also carry the name of Enterprise.
I see it as a statement that most of the people involved with the project have an affinity for Heinlein. Calling it moon base Moorcock would be out of character.
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Allen Doum
United States
Orange County
California
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Jathomas wrote: I was actually pretty interested in the game until I saw that the name of the moon was "Heinlein". Don't get me wrong, I LIKE Robert Heinlein, but a little thing like naming a feature in the game after the second-most obvious and recognizable names in Science Fiction of all time is... a little on the nose.
I admit that I'm probably in the minority in feeling pandered to by FFG (even if that's not the intention) and it's probably going to be a pretty good game... but does this sort of thing annoy anyone else, or is it just me?
Probably not just you, but you would be in the minority, as you suggest. Just looking at this thread, the entry with the most thumbs was the one that made another obvious Heinlein reference.
I doubt that the name of the Moon Colony is the only such reference in the game.
And if this annoys you, you should definately avoid Mecanisburgo.
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Matthew Cary
United States
Minneapolis
Minnesota
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If you don't like that the moon base is named Heinlein then you need to run screaming from this game.
At one of the playtests Kevin Wilson started pointing to spaces on the board. At least 4/5 of them have names that are either a refrence to cyberpunk, classic science fiction literature, or real word robotics and AI research.
Heinlein is among the most obvious, but the vast majority of the board spaces are named this way. I only recognized about a third of them. Kevin is much better read in the Genre than I am. (And then there is that degree in artificial intelligence  )
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Dan Cain
United States
Tacoma
Washington
The Evil-Do That I Do-Do
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Naming the colony Heinlien is a way to pay homage to original thinkers that share a genre of though. As was pointed out previously many fields of research in the sciences are led by writers making them up and including them in a story. Star Trek being one of the most important in this regard.
If you think naming one small space on a board is pandering, you should not read/watch/play anything sci-fi. They all do that in some regard.
LA
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Read the rulebook, plan for all contingencies, and…read the rulebook again.
United States
Austin
Texas
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DarrellKH wrote: Maybe you just left a word out of your admonishment, but the material actually states that the moon colony is named Heinlein.
And I don't think that's at all crazy, or even unlikely. Considering how many of his stories involved a colony on the Moon, it wouldn't surprise me if the first, commercial colony on the Moon was named after him.
NASA has named one of the craters on the Mars "Heinlein Crater." If a real colony appeared there, the name Heinlein Colony would be a natural one even if it weren't named to directly honor him.
Edits: My apologies. There is no Heinlein Crater on the Moon. Astronauts David Scott and James Irwin of Apollo 15 unofficially named a moon crater "Rhysling" near their landing landing site (after the blind singer of the spaceways from Heinlein's "The Green Hills of Earth"). They actually stopped and made an unauthorized collection of a (lunar) sample immediately adjacent to Rhysling.
There IS a Heinlein Crater in the Southern Hemishpere of Mars!
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Noel
United States
Unspecified
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Based on game description and imagery, it should have been called Dick Colony or Deckard Colony.
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Philip Thomas
United Kingdom
London
London
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I find it really annoying how, in board games set in America, there are all these cities that the boardgame designers obviously named after British cities. I mean "Boston", "Richmond", even 'New' "York"? Come on guys, show some imagination!
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Chris
United States
Cheektowaga
New York
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DarrellKH wrote: Maybe you just left a word out of your admonishment, but the material actually states that the moon colony is named Heinlein.
And I don't think that's at all crazy, or even unlikely. Considering how many of his stories involved a colony on the Moon, it wouldn't surprise me if the first, commercial colony on the Moon was named after him.
That is my thought exactly. I think they are paying homage to one of the greats.
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Chris Tannhauser
United States
San Diego
California
ya gotta bunny/duck it in your head
"I looked at my hands, I understood that one fine day, one fine evening to be precise, they would no longer be hands but some other awful thing." —Jack Kerouac
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We stopped naming things after important people a while back. I'd say it's more believable if the first lunar city were named New WalMartia.
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Spyros Gkiouzepas
Greece
THESSALONIKI
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Jhamin wrote: If you don't like that the moon base is named Heinlein then you need to run screaming from this game. At one of the playtests Kevin Wilson started pointing to spaces on the board. At least 4/5 of them have names that are either a refrence to cyberpunk, classic science fiction literature, or real word robotics and AI research. Heinlein is among the most obvious, but the vast majority of the board spaces are named this way. I only recognized about a third of them. Kevin is much better read in the Genre than I am. (And then there is that degree in artificial intelligence )
You mean references like this one?
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/400222
Yep, I think I'll like it. Now only if we get to learn how the game plays.. or the rules...
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Philip Reed
United States
Kyle
Texas
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mjtuell wrote: Don't get me wrong -- I like sci-fi, but the only really good TV series the genre has ever produced was Firefly, IMO.
I couldn't get into Firefly at all. Okay, it's a western in space. I get it. Enough, already, I get it I swear.
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Geoff Burkman
United States
Kettering
Ohio
Peekaboo!
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Jathomas wrote: ...Robert Heinlein...the second-most obvious and recognizable names in Science Fiction of all time...
Second most? Who's first? Clarke? Asimov?
Personally, I think I'd be hard pressed to put any of this trio above the other two. They're all gods.
Are you also mad that they named robotic arms Waldoes?
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Martin Cubberley
United Kingdom
Luton
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Yeesh, is this sorta thing really worth moaning about?
Wasn't Reagan in charge of the 'Star Wars Strategic Defence Initiative' or some such thing? I have absolutely zero doubt that if and when we colonise the moon, build exploratory space craft, etc, we will name 99% of them after famour sci-fi elements/authors/characters etc.
Does this REALLY detract from the game for you? *boggle*
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Marshall Miller
United States
Malden
Massachusetts
The Warren is a roleplaying game about intelligent rabbits trying to make the best of a world filled with hazards, predators and, worst of all, other rabbits.
Marshall is a Boston-based researcher and game designer.
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Personally, I like the reference. It fits. It would be fun if there were lots of sci-fi references, sort of a Sci-Fi Where's Waldo. It might even tip me off to some SF that I may have missed...
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