Spiral Knights - Naming options for "areas"

Naming options for "areas"

6 replies [Last post]

Sat, 01/16/2016 - 21:33

Dracora-Speaking

As per a buried issue in the discussion about area page format:

I'd like to free up the word "area" for general use. Also, it's already heavily used as an image tag template and in a file naming system.

I am thinking we make a category for "Geographical Phenomenon" (or a better term we come up with) instead of Category:Areas for level sets such as "Wolver Den," "Lichenous Lair," and so on. Yes, Category:Levels will absolutely stay as it is, as long as we maintain the category parameters.

"TERM WE COME UP WITH" would be isolated to appropriate "worlds," (a category previously created by an admin, then deleted by a different admin) and areas which we don't really know are "worlds" or "dimensions" etc.

The term we end up with should encompass the idea that Cradle is a mashup of different worlds as well as areas (some places are not worlds, such as many Gremlin areas that are part of the Clockworks machine), and elevators+gates allow us to visit tiny parts of these worlds/chunksofworlds/machinery as they move within Cradle. We'd end up with three major geography-related categories (there are other categories besides these three, of course): Areas, "TERM WE CHOOSE", and Levels, that are nested under generalized Category:Geography. "Areas" would include places we may or may not have more or less access to such as Almire, Underworld, Amu-Sol, and so on.

We seem to have succeeded in keeping missions vs. geography clear and organized, something a few of us have been working very hard on with the Mission project with careful wording - see the notes section of the Mission: Shadow of the Beast. These are fused seamlessly together by the "geography subpage" system.

For anyone curious, staff says this issue is up to us.

EDIT: removed stray thought.
===============================================================================================
Settled on:
Region

Mon, 01/18/2016 - 15:56

Bopp

if I understand correctly

I think that I understand and agree with the goal.

In situations like this, where I'm trying to name a concept, my tactic is to start explaining the concept out loud to an imaginary friend (or rather a friend who isn't there). This tactic seems to produce useful names that aren't overly fancy or artificial.

In this case, my explanation-out-loud keeps using various forms of the term "level type" or "level style". I'm not wedded to either of these terms. But you might try the tactic yourself. Cheers.

Mon, 01/18/2016 - 20:58

Dracora-Speaking

Well...

The term can't involve level, because that would greatly confuse users. Levels are distinct accessible places of of "areas" a.k.a "worlds" a.k.a "geographical phenomenon." A level "style" would be: "set/fixed" (Stone Grove) or "randomly generated" (Noxious Night). Level is a very consistently used term in patch notes (see Release/all and use CTRL+F level), and it makes sense with many other games. There are other ways "level" is used (heat, difficulty, etc.), but regarding location, it is consistent.

Some logic:
Level = a state, such as "Alabama"
Area = a country, such as "United States"

But what would be a better, less general term than "area?" Area is just too easy to use and I find myself using the word often when describing tactics for gameplay. If we don't get suggestions for the term that we all like within a week or so (it's been quite a long time from my perspective, because the issue was buried, but it is not overly pressing), I'll just settle on geographical phenomenon - since World is not totally accurate and was previously deleted for mostly unknown reasons.

Tue, 01/19/2016 - 07:59

Bopp

agree not "level"

I agree that "level" is the wrong term, but I didn't propose that term.

To me, a level style is a lot like a monster family. A kat is a species of monster. It fits into the undead monster family. There is no confusion between monsters and monster families, is there?

Maybe what I'm misunderstanding is that you want to emphasize the "cosmology" of it --- that these various level styles come from different planets or worlds glued together?

Tue, 01/19/2016 - 08:27

Dracora-Speaking

@Bopp

The term should not confuse stratum either. The word is based on...I suppose...the topography characteristics, as well as the naming convention. It is much easier when the gate icons have the same descriptions, too. But not all gate icons have these lovely bits of lore, so we apply the logic and have a collection such as "Candlestick Keep" with its stratum-influenced levels (fire = Burning Blackout) and so on. Candlestick Keeps are notorious for being "Kat habitats." Point being, there are certainly stratum styles that help define these...collections. It's what helps call a level into the tower for gate construction, after all. Well, I'm 99% sure that's how it still works after release 2013-10-16, just without player-mineral influence. I guess we don't want to confuse population with topography.

Just trying to find the right word that means "a collection of dynamic locations of the same world/place" without being too confusing for kids, or leading users astray. I can perhaps see why staff chose not to use the word "world" because it's so restrictive, only accurate for a few of these "collections." Cory used the word "world" quite a lot, which is great, but we can't use it for everything. I wonder what they would have chosen back then if they had slowed down... the snowball rolled in 2011 they went for "area" category, but I think they settled on a few things too quickly and haphazardly back in those days (icon names are horrendous), and this was before we even had missions.

The word should be simple and similar to "world," but not as general as "area."

Tue, 01/19/2016 - 11:06

Bopp

some ideas

The word should be simple and similar to "world," but not as general as "area."

I'm not really convinced, but in the spirit of being helpful here are some ideas: region, country, province, domain.

If those ideas are too good (wink), here are some worse ideas: continent, niche, biome, environment, climate.

Wed, 01/20/2016 - 11:44

Dracora-Speaking

@Bopp

"Region" sounds like a great contender, and it's not a word you'd use idly while describing exploration tactics. Certainly better than my "geographical phenomenon," both regarding simplicity and strict definition.

I should mention that one of the loading screen "helper tip" things uses the term "worlds". But there are many inconsistencies in-game for things...for example, Crash Pod (furniture item) = Escape Pod (Rhendon dialogue) = Drop Pod (hatch handle), and the Training Hall calls Pressure Pads "plates" while The Phantom Mask helper text calls them pressure "pads," so I don't entirely trust in-game text either. I guess that's partially why staff said it's up to us!

EDIT: I'm going to start using region. I doubt we'll find a better term in English. We'd have to make something up Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy style. With the current edits I'm doing, not using the term earlier results in more work later, and again, it has been a long time from my perspective. If we do decide on something else (which I doubt), region would be a lot easier to search for than area and change consistently with the wiki's search functions.

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Naming options for "areas"