7th USAS Contest -- Vermont

[Dukasaur]

Part of the USA Supertournament event.

NOTE: CHANGES IN RULES AND MORE PRIZES ADDED!

Several maps in the USA have not been decided. These are indicated in the original list by "TBA". These contests are being run to determine the best maps to represent states which have not already been decided.

This contest is the SEVENTH in the series, and it is here to determine the map which best represents Vermont.
(There is no official state colour, but unofficially green and gold are regarded by many as Vermont's colours.)

Suggestions and reasoning:

• King of the Mountains -- The name Vermont comes from "Vert Mont" meaning "Green Mountain"
• Solar System -- Vermont's Capitol Building is topped with a statue of the Goddess Ceres. Ceres is a large asteroid found on the Solar System map.
• Northwest Passage -- Vermont was a safe haven for escaped slaves fleeing to Canada and also the USA's largest producer of Maple syrup.
• Indian Empire -- Rudyard Kipling lived in Vermont for 4 years. This is where he came up with and wrote The Jungle Book (as well as other writings).
• Macedonia -- The Vermont-Macedonia National Guard Partnership is one of 65 state partnerships between the US and various countries around the world.
• France 1789 -- France ceded the territory to Great Britain after being defeated in 1763 in the Seven Years' War.
  

General Rules of the Contest

• There can be no duplications. A map that is already assigned to another state cannot be used again.
• Before a poll is put up, the thread will be open for at least a few days for people to add suggestions.
• Anyone can make a suggestion, but please limit yourself to one suggestion.
  If the list is short, I may accept a 2nd suggestion from people who have already made one.
• Once the poll has been posted, no more suggestions will be accepted.
• The poll will run for at least a week.
  New rules:
• The multistage selection process having been generally unpopular, from here on in we will go with simple plurality of votes. Personally, I'm a big believer in multistage selection procedures, but I don't want to be constantly at odds with the community which ultimately I'm here to serve.
• The person who made the winning suggestion will get a GA medal.
• Everyone who makes a suggestion which wins 1% or more of the vote, will get a cash prize, 10 credits for each percent. In other words, 1% of the vote gets you 10 credits, 27% of the vote gets you 270 credits, etc.
• No attempt will be made to correct rounding errors. What You See Is What You Get. Thus, the total prize might not be exactly 1000 credits, although it will probably be close to that.
• The Community Team will no longer be involved in the final selection. However, there are special prizes from the Community Team. After everyone has made their argument in favour of their suggestion, the members of the Community Team will be polled about which argument they found most convincing. Each member of the Community Team will have an extra 50 credits to allocate to one or more arguments presented, except their own.
• Anyone who posts anything useful in the thread -- a suggestion, an argument for or against a suggestions, a general comment, a factual correction, pretty much anything useful, will be entered into a random draw for a yellow star, to be drawn as soon as the poll ends.
• A lot of people have made suggestions in other places (one of the other threads, or by PM). In the past I scoured everywhere for older suggestions. I just don't have time to do that this time around, so even if you mad a suggestion in the past, you must make it again IN THIS THREAD. If it comes down to an issue of precedence, older suggestions will still be honoured, but you must post a link to the place where you made the original suggestion.

Let's see if we can get past 10 suggestions this time around. What map do you think of when you think Vermont?

show: states already decided

[djelebert]

I will propose King of the mountains

Vermont name coming from "Vert Mont" Green Mountain.

[Swifte]

Vermont's state capitol building is one of only a few to have a gold dome. Atop the dome is a statue of Ceres (Roman goddess).

Ceres is also the largest object in the asteroid belt that lies between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.. conveniently found on the map Solar System.

[Kevi]

I propose Northwest Passage

Vermont was a safe haven for escaped slaves fleeing to Canada and also the USA's largest producer of Maple syrup.

[TX AG 90]

My suggestion:

Indian Empire

Rudyard Kipling lived in Vermont for 4 years. This is where he came up with and wrote The Jungle Book (as well as other writings).

It was also in this cottage that the first dawnings of the Jungle Books came to Kipling: " . . workroom in the Bliss Cottage was seven feet by eight, and from December to April, the snow lay level with its window-sill. It chanced that I had written a tale about Indian Forestry work which included a boy who had been brought up by wolves. In the stillness, and suspense, of the winter of ’92 some memory of the Masonic Lions of my childhood's magazine, and a phrase in Haggard's Nada the Lily, combined with the echo of this tale. After blocking out the main idea in my head, the pen took charge, and I watched it begin to write stories about Mowgli and animals, which later grew into the two Jungle Books ".

In the short span of four years, he produced, in addition to the Jungle Books, a collection of short stories (The Day's Work), a novel (Captains Courageous), and a profusion of poetry, including the volume The Seven Seas. The collection of Barrack-Room Ballads was issued in March 1892, first published individually for the most part in 1890, and containing his poems "Mandalay" and "Gunga Din". He especially enjoyed writing the Jungle Books – both masterpieces of imaginative writing – and enjoyed, too, corresponding with the many children who wrote to him about them.

[phersjm]

I propose Macedonia.

The Vermont-Macedonia National Guard Partnership is one of 65 state partnerships between the US and various countries around the world.

[Dukasaur]

Going to leave this open one more night for any last-minute suggestions and will put up a poll in the morning.

[jfm10]

France 1789 map

France ceded the territory to Great Britain after being defeated in 1763 in the Seven Years' War.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermont

[ZaBeast]

I will propose King of the mountains

Vermont name coming from "Vert Mont" Green Mountain.

The best suggestion so far imo, as it's also the state's nickname

[-1-1-3-]

I will propose King of the mountains

Vermont name coming from "Vert Mont" Green Mountain.

The best suggestion so far imo, as it's also the state's nickname

00000 ?
Im not an expert, but I would say this is a fake.

[ZaBeast]

I will propose King of the mountains

Vermont name coming from "Vert Mont" Green Mountain.

The best suggestion so far imo, as it's also the state's nickname

00000 ?
Im not an expert, but I would say this is a fake.

The fact it's a template doesn't mean it's not how the plate looks like. Here's one with actual letters and numbers if you want


Google it up if you're not convinced

[Dukasaur]

Poll added (slightly behind schedule.)

[TX AG 90]

Methinks the majority of people vote for either the map they like best or their friends submissions.

Too often I see the maps that make the least sense as the top vote getters.

[DoomYoshi]

Methinks the majority of people vote for either the map they like best or their friends submissions.

Too often I see the maps that make the least sense as the top vote getters.

I just vote for whatever map is smallest.

[TX AG 90]

I propose Northwest Passage

Vermont was a safe haven for escaped slaves fleeing to Canada and also the USA's largest producer of Maple syrup.

What the Hell do escaped slaves and maple syrup have to do with NW Passage?

[Kevi]

I propose Northwest Passage

Vermont was a safe haven for escaped slaves fleeing to Canada and also the USA's largest producer of Maple syrup.

What the Hell do escaped slaves and maple syrup have to do with NW Passage?

They brought the maple syrup to Canada to form an essential part of the traditional Canadian breakfast - pancakes with maple syrup, helping to make the maple leaf the Canadian national emblem.

[TX AG 90]

I propose Northwest Passage

Vermont was a safe haven for escaped slaves fleeing to Canada and also the USA's largest producer of Maple syrup.

What the Hell do escaped slaves and maple syrup have to do with NW Passage?

They brought the maple syrup to Canada to form an essential part of the traditional Canadian breakfast - pancakes with maple syrup, helping to make the maple leaf the Canadian national emblem.

Your Jedi Mind tricks won't work on me!

[Sirius Kase]

I propose Northwest Passage

Vermont was a safe haven for escaped slaves fleeing to Canada and also the USA's largest producer of Maple syrup.

What the Hell do escaped slaves and maple syrup have to do with NW Passage?

If I was ignorant, I might think it had something to do with the Underground Railroad, which we still don't have a game for.

[tfh182]

I think that they should only allow people to vote that can read.

[Sirius Kase]

KotM is best for people who dont

[Major Lee Fkd]

Vermont should have a map of Vermont as its map.

[Dukasaur]

Vermont should have a map of Vermont as its map.

Yeah, ideally, if the Foundry was more active, we could ask for one. But given the state of the Foundry, I don't think a request would get action very quickly.

In all the states where we do have a state map available (California, New Jersey, etc.) we did use it.

[djelebert]

So it is decided it's King of the mountain? I see that iterations begin!

[jfm10]

when do the prizes get distributed?

[Dukasaur]

when do the prizes get distributed?

Soon as I get a bit of free time. Maybe even tomorrow.