Forum:Territory application/AR004 - Lutang

Forums → Territory application → Territory application/AR004 - Lutang

Please fill in the information below to make a territory request.

	Territory ID and proposed name
	The Territory ID (from OpenGeofiction:Territories, e.g. AR123a) and proposed name of the country

AR014^∈⊾ - Republic of Lutang (Tagalog/Santimo: Republika ng Lutang)

Lutang sketch

	Physical geography
	An overview of climate, topography and landscape of the country. It is advised to also create a sketch, you can add a link to this (hosted on imgur or similar)

• Lutang's flat land is in a vague "I"-shape.
• The Bandila and Ines rivers are Lutang's primary rivers; draining into the White Sea. The Ines River starts at the Fernandez Lake, which the Fernandez River drains into.
• The Bandila Valley, which surrounds the river, cuts through the forests to scrubland and mountains extending into Lutang from the Ardisphere. The mountains in Lutang are known as the Morros Mountains.

	Human geography
	A brief description of the territory demographics, economic development, land occupation, infrastructure and mapping style

• In Lutang, human settlement is concentrated along the coast and the Bandila River.
  • Bagong Bandila is the capital and the largest city.
  • Taglaan is the largest city in the south.
  • Araminta, south of Bagong Bandila is the richest city measured by GDP per capita.
    • Other cities include Panapaan and Gahak in the Bandila Valley, Tambayan in the south along the Fernandez River, and Hilaga on the coast. Further inland in the North are suburbs; mostly gated communities.
• Most of Lutang's agriculture is in the Bandila Valley and the South; bordering the Ardisphere.
• Lutang's road network
  • There are two primary motorways; E1 and E2. E1 runs from Kanluran to Araminta, intersecting with E2 in Bagong Bandila. E2 runs from Bagong Bandila and after Gahak has a branch that runs to Panapaan.
  • A larger network of trunk and primary roads supplement the motorways, linking smaller cities.
• Lutang's rail network
  • Passenger services are run as a government monopoly by Lutang Lines.
  • Freight is under the purview of three privately-owned companies, serving the North, the Bandila Valley, and the South; alongside many more small-to-medium shortline railroads.

	History & culture
	A brief description of the intended culture and language

• Lutang has two major ethnic groups.
  • Santimo people dominate the North.
  • The Taomog (likely a Santimo term, a combination of "tao" meaning "person" & "timog" meaning "south") people dominate the South.
  • Both groups are mostly peaceful, and many identify with Lutang instead of their ethnic group.
• Ingerish and the Santimo language (Tagalog) are the two primary languages spoken in Lutang.
  • The Castellanese language was never taught to the colonized masses during the Castellanese colonial reign, and very quickly lost prestige in favor of Santimo.
    • However, a significant portion of Santimo's vocabulary is now borrowed from Castellanese.
    • Older place names are still in Castellanese. However, many were renamed to either Ingerish or Santimo names.
  • In urban areas, a form of speech known as "Santerish" ("Taglish") is widely spoken, a mix of Santimo and Ingerish words.

	Past mapping
	To support your request provide links to areas of OGF mapping which showcase your mapping skill. Mapping relevant to the requested theme & geography is especially useful
	The {{coord}} template can optionally be used to link to the OGF map - it results in a nice formatted link. Or you can paste in a URL.

• Lunazon (BG04)
  • Katumangan Province
    • Galinan Forest Preserve
    • Katumangan City
  • Maliwanagan Province
    • Perlman Hosting Services
  • Panapaan
    • Araminta
  • Bagong Bandila
    • Rochelle
      • Rochelle Convention Center

USA-style mapping, but not overall relevant to Lutang's intended Filipino theme:

• Federal States
  • Lemuria, Michisaukee

You may also be interested in the development notes for Lutang.

	Username & date
	Sign and date the application by typing four tildes like this: ~~~~

Lemuria (talk) 02:03, 11 August 2023 (UTC)

Discussion

	Discussion
	Discussion for clarification & decision

Hi, your mapping experience and planning are good, so looking forward granting you a territory. But first we need to find the right one - can you have a think about AR002^∈⊾, AR004^∈⊾ and AR005^∈⊾ please? I think they are all better placed to work with the theme & language. I would like to see high-quality mapping preserved. That doesn't mean it has to be left as-is, and can of course be renamed and adapted - what i'm wanting to avoid is wiping it clear. Thanks/wangi (talk) 21:09, 13 August 2023 (UTC)

Hello, thank you for replying.

Having a think about it like what you said, there are certainly some factors that make AR014 less attractive and your three suggestions more appealing choices. But, there are a few pros and cons. AR005 will be out of the equation - it is not an island.

• Con: I'm unsure how the right conditions to make such a mapping style plausible would arise. The language used for mapping would be a mix of English & Tagalog with some Spanish names, although somewhat more generous on the English side. But, if I couldn't have AR014 and had to choose between these three, I would go with AR004.
  • The entirety of North Archanta would separate AR00? from the Federal States, making it harder to work in English/Ingerish influence through say, an FSA occupation. Ingerland could instead have invaded to bring in Ingerish influence; but that would necessitate the usage of British spellings which is not something I want to do. Perhaps the spelling differences can be overlooked?
• Con: Switching to any of those three territories would require a significant or from-scratch rework of the lore and sketch. That is effort I am somewhat OK with putting in.
• Pro: Natural mapping isn't exactly a field I'm skilled in, so the already-preexisting natural mapping in the three territories you mentioned compared to the near-empty state of AR014^∈⊾ gives me a starting point to improve my natural mapping skills and make it fit in with the landscape better.
• Pro/Con: The size of AR004^∈⊾ (272.9k km2) compared to AR014 (150.7k km2), IRL Luzon (109.9k km2), and AR002 (105.9k km) is quite attractive. This gives me more space, but it could also be too overwhelming to manage especially for a new person like me applying for their first territory. Having such a large territory would certainly entail large responsibilities.
  • I'm unsure if my interest or willingness to map on OpenGeofiction can continue in the near-hyperactive state it has been since July 23, 2023 long-term. There will always be IRL events out of my control, or other things that could divert my time and interest away from the site.
  • The challenge of managing such a large amount of territory could be mitigated by choosing AR002; but that contains more detailed mapping compared to AR004 and might be slightly more difficult to integrate into Lemurian Filipino style.
  • There is also the possibility of expanding into AR002 in the far future (c. 2 to 5 years) once AR004 is detailed enough This is very unlikely to happen given the above point.
• Pro: AR014 is in the Latin area of North Archanta; whereas AR004 is in the Asian zone. And I am fully aware of that.
  • If I choose to stand firm on AR014, would that require me to significantly increase the Castellanese influence on the history and culture of Lutang? Would the current level of Castellanese influence on the current Lunazon lore not be enough for AR014 but rather would be better suited to AR004?
• Pro: AR002 and AR004 are both on the same island. The fact that it is an island will make their geography closer to IRL Luzon. This is why I am disqualifying AR005; it is not an island. But to be fair, AR014 isn't an island country, either.

But AR014 comes with its own pros and cons too in my opinion.

• Pro/Con: AR014 is empty; reducing the amount of deletion to be done. And it also provides a clean canvas upon which Lutang will be mapped.
• Pro: AR014 is of a smaller size and thus more manageable.
• Pro: I already have basic lore & a sketch for Lutang being on AR014.
• Pro: It is closer to the FSA; making it easier to justify the American influence on the Philippines within lore.

In summary; I would be open to changing my territory to AR004 from AR014. But standing firm on AR014 and going to AR004 both have problems and entail questions I would appreciate answers to. And yes my points are all over the mess here; I'm just unsure what to do, or what to say. Lemuria (talk) 23:37, 13 August 2023 (UTC)

In general, more use of Spanish language, rather than English, in addition to the native Filipino is going to work better for this area of Archanta. Thanks/wangi (talk) 11:12, 14 August 2023 (UTC)

Hey there, As someone who's been mapping around here for a while and knows a bit about how things fit together in Southeast Asia and the western part of Archanta, I'd like to share my thoughts on where Lutong could work best.

So, when it comes to Lutong's spot, I'd lean towards putting it in AR014. See, the Southern Wallea area already has a strong "Filipino" culture vibe going on, dating back to 2017. It could be really cool if this Filipino/Latin influence got even stronger around the White Sea/Mar Blanco region. This area already has a lot of Castellanese and FSA influence, and most people here are "Catholic." The whole mapping is loosely inspired by islands in Eastern Indonesia, Southern Philippines and also Latin America, which is like Wallea and Manawa. We've pulled in languages inspiration and stuff from places like Southern Mindanao and Northern Sulawesi, to add more touch.

Now, if AR004 is still the preferred spot and Lutong is on the table, perhaps a suggestion would be to retain the essence of Luzon or Filipino culture, but also allow it to flow into a more inclusive regional coherency. This way, we're incorporating the best of both worlds – a strong Luzon influence while keeping an eye on the larger context of the area. Considering my first thought of the region would be more towards a blend of a bit of Malay-Northern Bornean-Western Austronesian culture and language, with "Islam" and "Buddhism" as the main themes. Sure, AR902 probably support more the existence of Lutong in the region, but considering how close it is to Majesia, which also where I'm mapping, it might just click even better. Because languages in Barohu – it takes cues from Malay and Acehnese – and the northern part of CCA, which is influenced by Malagasy.

No matter which way we go, both have their own charm. As neighbors in mapping, I'm all in for making sure our area feels connected and makes sense. Let's work together to make Southeast Asian vibes shine in OGF, knowing how less popular it is in OGF world. Oneofbeatlefan (talk) 11:55, 14 August 2023 (UTC)