Why not Eden?

[Kravoka]

Gaia just means Earth. I get that it's a Master of Orion reference but is Earth actually statted as a place of unnatural habitability?
Eden is a sacrosanct place where the ecology basically exists only to sustain "human" beings. Also remember Clarke's Third Law.

 

[BlackUmbrellas]

Gaia sounds more interesting IMO. Plus it lacks the same religious connotations of "Eden".

 

[rubert]

Gaia comes from Gaia hypothesis which itself borrows the name from the Greek mythology personification of Earth, nothing to with Master of Orion directly as both games borrowed the name from the same source.

 

[Kravoka]

Gaia sounds more interesting IMO. Plus it lacks the same religious connotations of "Eden".

What's your problem with religiously connoted names for religiously connoted entities in a game with sisters that breathe in religious connotations?

 

[BlackUmbrellas]

What's your problem with religiously connoted names for religiously connoted entities in a game with sisters that breathe in religious connotations?

Gaia worlds themselves are not inherently religious, though. Spiritualist factions just like them.

Keeping the name not inherently religious (and avoiding branding them with a specific religion's terminology) lets people RP more freely.

Its not a huge deal either way. I just like "Gaia" more than "Eden".

 

[Kryndude]

I dunno Eden sounds too religious for a space game to me

 

[buglepong]

I believe the Gaia of MoO, which stellaris took is a reference to Gaia in the Foundation Universe, which is itself a reference to the planet consciousness theory also by the name.

 

[FuzzyLogic]

Ingame, Gaia worlds are ordinary planets rich in resources and gifted with a natural diversity of biomes and ecosystems. They're not worlds that exist to keep their inhabitants in a magical state of bliss.

They might be edenic paradises in their pristine state. But that usually ends when my first colonists disembark.

 

[Kravoka]

Gaia comes from Gaia hypothesis which itself borrows the name from the Greek mythology personification of Earth, nothing to with Master of Orion directly as both games borrowed the name from the same source.

Orion, this mythical planet has been subject of many rumors, myths and legends, many of fantastical stories have been told how Orion is a untouched paradise world of unparalleled splendor that is somehow able to change it ecology, from its geology, atmosphere and gravity, even biochemistry of its entire ecosystem, to become the most-perfectly habitable planet for any sentient species that colonized it.

AFAIK there's no mention of Orion being conscious.

I dunno Eden sounds too religious for a space game to me

What about the demonic names for Black Holes?

lets people RP more freely

how

 

[eagletrekkie]

AFAIK there's no mention of Orion being conscious.

Gaia hypothesis has nothing to do with planet being conscious.

 

[DreadLindwyrm]

Gaia just means Earth. I get that it's a Master of Orion reference but is Earth actually statted as a place of unnatural habitability?
Eden is a sacrosanct place where the ecology basically exists only to sustain "human" beings. Also remember Clarke's Third Law.

Eden is a very specific usage. If you aren't Abrahamic in faith (so broadly Jewish, Christian, or Muslim), the term isn't really one that is relevant to you. Gaia, although originally religious, has a much wider usage, to the extent that the term has entered science ( https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaia_hypothesis ).

Most Gaia worlds aren't "sacrosanct", they're just worlds that are very easy for a wide range of entities to live on.

It's not really a MoO reference, it's a reference to the same concept that MoO used.

As for RP purposes, if my spiritualist are essentially Buddhist, taoist, confucian, yoruba, or Celtic pagan, using the *specifically* Abrahamic term for the paradise of the primordial paradise doesn't make sense; Gaia though has been adopted into scientific terminology.

 

[nuyu]

Gaia sounds cooler to me. Who agreed with me please raised their tentacles?

 

[Orphalesion]

I think Gaia fits because as a personification of the Earth, Gaia was also often associated with fertility and abundance...which very much fits with a "super inhabitable" world. To me it conveys that there's a lush abundance of edible plants and animals that are just there for you to take, as well as very fertile soil and favorable, stable climate conditions.

However I don't agree that "Eden" is solely a religious. Maybe it's because I'm from a fairly secular society, but if I hear the name "Eden" without any additional references to anything religious, I think of a untouched place of great, natural beauty. Same with Paradise.

I suppose it could be changed to "Paradise World", but I don't think it's necessary, since to me Gaia already conveys the idea of abundance and hospitable environments. What would be a more favorable place than Mother Nature's personal garden?
Plus Paradise world would sound kinda odd in case you turn it into a forge world or a factory world or whatever...

 

[the glory of plain]

gaia have some religious and culture background too
but it sounds better
so why not

 

[FuzzyLogic]

I'm not in the "NO GODS IN MY SCIFI GAMES PLZ!!!!" camp, but in this case I'd strongly argue against Eden.

Yay. Stellaris uses and abuses religious nomenclature, and that's ok. It's more of a matter of adequacy. "Abadon's Demesne" sounds conveniently menacing for a Black Hole, for instance.

Gaia has a ring of nature and plentifulness. Eden, in contrast, conveys feelings of harmony and peace of mind. Both terms are positive and somewhat religious, but I think the former sounds better for place that, eventually, you're going to fill with miner slaves forcefully engineered to have the intelligence of a five-years-old.

 

[ciurra]

I would like to add that Gaia is a titan ( predecessor of gods) in greek mithology with correlation with earth she . So it also has religious connotation or at least origins.
I would prefer if gaia planet remain called such for consistency sake.
It may be nice to see eden as a special gaia planet or in some event .
Another possibility is to make eden planets a spiritualist thing like they behave as gaia only for spiritualist or for a particular race.

 

[Aed]

Gaia just means Earth. I get that it's a Master of Orion reference but is Earth actually statted as a place of unnatural habitability?
Eden is a sacrosanct place where the ecology basically exists only to sustain "human" beings. Also remember Clarke's Third Law.

Most likely because to English speakers Gaia is a vaguely exotic term so fits quite nicely in fantastical settings, and is already associated' with Sci-Fi from numerous books (e.g Foundation series). Eden has strong connotations to Abrahamic religions, which makes it sound rather old fashioned and implies a religious character that doesn't match with what Gaia worlds are supposed to represent in the game.

Paradise World could have been used as well, but that's a pretty common word in English so loses some of the cool factor Gaia holds.

 

[Zarine]

From a technical point of view, "diverse" would be way more logical than Gaia !

What does those world represent ? A planet where creature living in arctic conditions and in desertic conditions can live perfectly.
I don't know how this can be but for me it means the planet has both those features rather than a magical feature.

 

[Tacticus101]

The core concept of Gaia is 'life born out of the chaos of the void'. It seems a reasonable name for a perfect planet in space.

 

[Kravoka]

Gaia hypothesis has nothing to do with planet being conscious.

Doesn't make sense to name something after having a universal property unless it's much more extreme than that.

As for RP purposes, if my spiritualist are essentially Buddhist, taoist, confucian, yoruba, or Celtic pagan, using the *specifically* Abrahamic term for the paradise of the primordial paradise doesn't make sense; Gaia though has been adopted into scientific terminology.

It takes effort to drudge up a real world belief system that Stellaris Spiritualists actually fit. They have the opposite of a witchcraft taboo and strictly believe in some unspecified but simplistic form of dualism but don't care about who's a god and don't have any interest in dogma beyond sharing these attributes. That's not like anything that's could catch on in the next two centuries.