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Old 01-07-2020, 12:55 PM   #241
tshiggins
 
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Default Re: Flat Black

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Originally Posted by Daigoro View Post
I'd point out that only one of these (#2) is a reason for changing at all, while the others are reasons for making a change now. And you're doing it to please one person, weighed against the 3 votes here. Not sure how it's inappropriate, either.
Me, neither. I mean, using the word "black" to refer to space has been pretty commonly acceptable amongst sci-fi fandom for, oh, the past 17 years, or so. :)

Even The Expanse refers to space as "the black," every now and then. Whether or not that's an homage to the original show that commonly used that reference is, so far, undisclosed (as far as I know...).

But it wouldn't surprise me.

If you decide to keep it, you'll be in excellent company.
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Old 01-07-2020, 01:02 PM   #242
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Default Re: Flat Black

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Originally Posted by Fred Brackin View Post
I haven't a clue what "Flat Black" means but almost anything in English can be inapproprioate to the right or wrong people in some specific context.
Sorry, I was unclear. I didn't mean that the reader thinks "Flat Black" is indecent or improper, but only that it seems to have no real connection to the contents of the setting. It suggests things that aren't true, puts the emphasis in the wrong place, etc.
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Old 01-07-2020, 01:05 PM   #243
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Default Re: Flat Black

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Originally Posted by tshiggins View Post
Me, neither. I mean, using the word "black" to refer to space has been pretty commonly acceptable amongst sci-fi fandom for, oh, the past 17 years, or so. :)
I first named this setting "FLAT BLACK" in 1987.

As for "the Black" suggesting space, and "flat" qualifying the part of it that ir undistorted by stellar gravity, there is a problem with that because the adventures are supposed to take place on planets, mostly.
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Old 01-07-2020, 03:46 PM   #244
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Default Re: Flat Black

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Originally Posted by Daigoro View Post
I'd point out that only one of these (#2) is a reason for changing at all, while the others are reasons for making a change now.
Well, Martinl did ask "why re-brand now?"

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And you're doing it to please one person, weighed against the 3 votes here.
There has been a slightly more general thread of querulousness about the title for some time. JGD on the tekeli.li discussion boards is not alone in finding it perplexing. Most readers take the view that a name is just a name, and doesn't have to make sense so long as it is distinctive and well-known — I'm not a Breton and have never been to Déville de Grandcourt, and nobody worries what my name suggests. But there are those who hold that the title of a work ought to indicate the subject and not excite expectations that the content will not fulfil. "Flat Black" seems to offer adventure in space, a dark and gloomy setting unrelieved even by a gloss finish, and something to do with coffee. Thirty years ago it tried. After three decades of development and refinement it no longer does.

In a surprising contrast to the consensus here for making no change, there is a consensus at tekeli.li that "The Human Reach" would be best of the options I suggested.

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Not sure how it's inappropriate, either.
Sorry. Dated idiom. I forgot that "inappropriate" is now a euphemism for 'improper, indecent'.
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Old 01-09-2020, 10:06 AM   #245
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Default Re: Flat Black

"The Human Reach" feels fairly bland, while "Flat Black" feels evocative. It does imply a somewhat dark, gritty setting, however, so if that's no longer the case it may no longer be an appropriate name. I wouldn't worry too much about the lack of adventures out in the void of space - simply the fact it takes place on different planets (presumably with the option of moving between them) covers the implication of "space adventures" to me.
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Old 01-09-2020, 07:23 PM   #246
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Default Re: Flat Black

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Originally Posted by Varyon View Post
"The Human Reach" feels fairly bland, while "Flat Black" feels evocative. It does imply a somewhat dark, gritty setting, however, so if that's no longer the case it may no longer be an appropriate name. I wouldn't worry too much about the lack of adventures out in the void of space - simply the fact it takes place on different planets (presumably with the option of moving between them) covers the implication of "space adventures" to me.
Yeah. A name in the style of "the Human Reach" or "the Orphan Worlds" or "the Interstellar Raj" or "the Thousand Brave New Worlds" might be perfectly apposite but fail to stand out from the field of "Third Imperiums", "Thousand Suns", "Ashen Stars" etc. "FLAT BLACK" is kind of arbitrary and meaningless, but it is distinctive. Like both my username here and my real name.
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Old 01-10-2020, 08:34 AM   #247
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Default Re: Flat Black

For what its worth, I always read it wrong, as the "Flat Back", like some kind of "outback". I think Agemegos used a kangaroo as his picture for a while (I could be remembering that wrong though).

"Flat Black" is about space, but it doesn't indicate that space is exciting. In fact, it kind of designates it as "flat" and boring, indicating the excitement is else-where. So planet-based action isn't ruled out at all.
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Old 11-25-2020, 07:16 PM   #248
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Default Re: Flat Black

There is a new (re-written) Players' Introduction to Flat Black at the site linked in my signature. It is 10,000 words of running text, available in ePub format and as a 16-page A4 PDF.
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