[Colonol Dekker]

Definitely the first fleet. . . . Earth kicks ass cos I live there it's the main place to be and it has good English names like in the first division if I remember the orbat

[Darius]

That's my reason as well

[Colonol Dekker]

Hugs

[Ypoknons]

What, no UEFg 道可道，非常道。名可名，非常名? Hello? Taoists? Anybody? We've already got the UEF Lao Tze.

[Pred the Penguin]

Names like those definitely would be interesting. o_o

[The E]

And for those of us who don't speak Unicode, what are those names?

[Colonol Dekker]

Hodeo is one right?

[-Norbert-]

I don't see unicode there, but some asian symbols.
.... not that this means I can read them any better though....

[Pred the Penguin]

I can read them... not really sure I understand what they mean though. Translation?

[Arcalane]

Don't bother trying an online translator, it won't make much sense.

There's no real theme to UEF ship naming that I've seen. There's the Katana (a sword), the Lao-Tze (you should know this one), the Indus (a river), and the Altan Orde (which appears to be a very roundabout way of getting to "Golden Horde", as in, Ghenghis Khan).

If romanized that wouldn't fit on a nameplate, and in any case the voice actors would probably try to strangle you.

[SpardaSon21]

Second Fleet.  They're not as straight-laced as Third, and First Fleet under Byrne lacks any sort of testicular fortitude.

[General Battuta]

Don't bother trying an online translator, it won't make much sense.

There's no real theme to UEF ship naming that I've seen. There's the Katana (a sword), the Lao-Tze (you should know this one), the Indus (a river), and the Altan Orde (which appears to be a very roundabout way of getting to "Golden Horde", as in, Ghenghis Khan).

If romanized that wouldn't fit on a nameplate, and in any case the voice actors would probably try to strangle you.

There are themes, but by intent, not universal ones. Rivers turn up a lot. Sanctus cruisers get named after towns, sometimes, or obscure Celtic deities.

It's a big Federation with a lot of interest groups and, from a storyteller's perspective, keeping coherent single themes screams of designer fiat rather than the organic growth of a real place and all its cultures.

[Arcalane]

It's a big Federation with a lot of interest groups and, from a storyteller's perspective, keeping coherent single themes screams of designer fiat rather than the organic growth of a real place and all its cultures.

Or much more organized (and maybe slightly OCD-ish) leadership/command, which seems fairly unlike the UEF.

[Ypoknons]

And for those of us who don't speak Unicode, what are those names?

It's the opening verse from the Tao Te Ching, to be honest. I just wanted some long winded mumble jumbo, and that come to mind because of the UEF Lao Tze. Most Chinese place names are pretty short, and modern Chinese ship naming isn't that amazing or poetic, and I have no idea what say, the Ming dynasty named their ships.

Yea, I'm tired, my sense of humor ain't there. It seemed funny to me at the time.

[Pred the Penguin]

I didn't pay much attention to the Tao Te Ching, no wonder I didn't recognize it. XD
Anyway, like Battuta said, ship and location names are pretty diverse now in BP, and it feels natural.

[Androgeos Exeunt]

What, no UEFg 可道，非常道。名可名，非常名? Hello? Taoists? Anybody? We've already got the UEF Lao Tze.

You know, we could start a thread to list down a bunch of names that can be used for UEF ships...

And for those of us who don't speak Unicode, what are those names?

Those aren't names; they are sentences. However, my fluency in Chinese has been nuked to medieval levels since I hardly use it.

Anyway, like Battuta said, ship and location names are pretty diverse now in BP, and it feels natural.

I'm still waiting for an Oculus to be designated "Tonegawa"...

[Ypoknons]

I didn't pay much attention to the Tao Te Ching, no wonder I didn't recognize it. XD
Anyway, like Battuta said, ship and location names are pretty diverse now in BP, and it feels natural.

I missed the first word, that might have contributed. But yea, I don't blame you, I suppose the Tao don't have the literacy significance of the classics and Confucian texts, is still a very important of spiritual life in China, Taiwan especially but also on the mainland, with the revival of spiritual life since 80s.

The diversity is nice. I am fond of British ship naming, it's quite bad-ass, location-naming make sense but gets predictable... with the UEF it's nice to see a bit of everything.

Or much more organized (and maybe slightly OCD-ish) leadership/command, which seems fairly unlike the UEF.

I think it makes for interesting sci-fi, and I understand military forces do need some common unifying ideology and symbolism, but at some level I find it difficult to accept that a multi-national space force will simply take names from one particular (and often obscure) mythology and apply it to everyone. In addition, while sci-fi fans generally appreciate and welcome Greek, Romantic and Celtic mythology, it's cool to someone doing some fresh and new.

I quite liked Renjian (lit. within humanity), though I'm not sure about the imaginary of the Orestes craving a beam through it hahaha

[Colonol Dekker]

Well at this rate I think that 'First Fleet' is going to be an exclusive sign of discerning taste
 

[bigchunk1]

Well at this rate I think that 'First Fleet' is going to be an exclusive sign of discerning taste

I thought everyone would go for first fleet TBH. 

First fleet: too passive
Second fleet: too hotshot
Third fleet: .... too destroyed

Can I vote for Fedayeen?

I was going to add a "Meh, I roll with the Tevs" option, but I thought everyone would pick that too!
Fedayeen might have been a nice choice. The page that Darius linked has a section which says that the Fedayeen are one of the major reasons the GTVA started the war. They seem pretty interesting, but not a lot is known about them. 

[Androgeos Exeunt]

First fleet: too passive
Second fleet: too hotshot
Third fleet: .... too destroyed

Can I vote for Fedayeen?

I still haven't voted. First Fleet feels too passive, even for me. On the other end of the scale is Third Fleet, which is too aggressive. Second Fleet isn't really in the middle - it's outside the scale of aggression and doesn't really fit in anywhere.

...

Oh what the hell.

* Androgeos Exeunt has voted.

I like Second Fleet more than First and Third, but that says so little because I don't usually have to pick and choose. On a scale of -10 to 10, with -10 being utter hate and 10 being absolute love, First Fleet would be -0.008, Second Fleet would be 0.001, and Third Fleet would be -0.003.