Forum:Federal States/Time Zones
Based on some ongoing conversations and previous forum thread regarding FSA time zones, I'd like to offer up the following five options for discussion. Based on OGF's general consensus on time zones, WUT+0 is located between 0° and 15°E, WUT+1 is located between 15°E and 30°E, etc. Following the lines of longitude rigidly would result in the FSA spanning from WUT+8 (120°-135°E) to WUT+10 (150-165°E). However, given the narrow sliver of the nation that would actually be in +8 and since time zones tend to skew to the west (since western skew allows for "longer" days with later sunrises and later sunsets), it's reasonable to assume the farthest west time zone in the continental FSA to be +9.
The following map displays the five options I'm proposing; narrative of the options follow.
Orange: Two Zones
The entire FSA would be divided into two time zones. As drawn, the only state split would be Alormen, through the mountainous panhandle which is relatively unpopulated. The Alormen Valley, an important shipping corridor dotted with cities along both banks of the river, would remain in a single time zone. (This is maintained for all options.) This plan would split the West Lakes and East Lakes into different time zones.
All other options have three time zones, introducing a +9:30 zone in the center of the country.
Blue: Three Zones, "Transcontinental"
The "Max 30" plan would put a majority of the country in the +9:30 zone, except the extreme northwest (Cosperica, Atascadera, and most of Tauhon in +9) and the East Coast (+10). This may be historically justified by the FSA railroads, as this plan allows both historic transcontinental railroad corridors (Massodeya City-Puerto Eloisa and Lake City-Wahanta) to each be in a single time zone.
Green: Three Zones, "Eastern Influence"
The "Eastern Influence" option would expand on the "Transcontinental" plan by expanding the +10 zone further west to bring Massodeya City, Madawan, the Great Canal, etc. into the same time zone as the East Coast.
Purple: Three Zones, "Western Influence"
The "Western Influence" option builds on the "Eastern Influence" plan by likewise expanding the +9 time zone to encompass the entire West Coast, including all of Clamash.
Brown: Three Zones, "Alormen Valley"
The "Alormen Valley" option is a variation of the "Transcontinental" and "Western Influence" plans, where the time zone lines are drawn using both sets of mountains to minimize disruptions to individual states and urban areas.
Discussion
Interested in everyone's thoughts. If we can't come to consensus on this through forum discussions, we can add a final proposal to the next omnibus ballot in August. -TheMayor (talk) 20:59, 25 April 2022 (UTC)
- I'm fine with anything that doesn't involve :30 offset time zones. It seems like a practical pain, especially since other countries in the same latitude won't use it, and it seems like something that would popularly be perceived as needless specific and weird (even if it might make some sense). Either orange or another proposal with +8 (which seems to be marked as +1 on the map? - maybe I've misunderstood), +10, and +9 zones feels like it makes the most sense to me. --Lithium-Ion (talk) 21:43, 26 April 2022 (UTC)
- I prefer the Orange Two Zone System, it looks realistic, simple and avoids the 30 minute split. To me including a half hour into the scheme adds complexity for little benefit. If Orange is the option people go with I'm happy with dividing north-east Alormen between the two zones. Ruadh (talk) 07:50, 27 April 2022 (UTC)