Hi everyone!
Like all of you, I'm a true lover of galactic civilization since the second opus, and a fan of turn-based 4X games since my childhood who played at least half of all games released since (I'm not kidding). And GalCiv III looks soooo much like a good upgrade of GalCiv II that I had to support it.
However, I'm a bit worrying now that the "names your star" award, which is an EXCELLENT initiative IMHO, really, is going to give awkward results.
I mean, when I play a 4X, whether it is a spiritual heir of Master of Orion, Master of magic or Civ I, I want to be immersed in the universe of the game, and feel like a real galactic emperor, great wizard or king. I love to imagine great stories around my game, etc... and I fear that some names suggested are REALLY breaking the immersion.
Ok, GalCiv is not a "serious" 4X franchise. With distances between planets being roughly only a quarter of distances between stars, the galactic map is one of the least realistic one ever displayed in 4X games... But surprisingly, that give to the game a very special and unique atmosphere, that I love.
But I worry that some of the names accepted for stars will really ruin this nice athmosphere. I have nothing against strange name, and I find really fun Sci-fi/fantasy references (yeah, Cthulhu!), historical (Armstrong ^^), or smart joke (can't wait to see the dreaded "Imastar" finally accepted!). But really, that will be a PAIN to see stupid things like "IslandDog" or "Tassadarpaladin"... Really, was it too much to censor names that are obvious 2 or 3 words in English and don't sound like name at all? I'm maybe an old dumbass, yeah, but I hate that. Really. Also, I'm a bit skeptic about names like "THAILAND"...but I'll try to open my chakras and to be more tolerant...
I'm the only one that would call for just a bit more of censorship?