OGF:Requesting more territory

This is an experiment to develop a fairer process for acquiring additional territory.

This page explains the requirements for requesting more territory in OpenGeofiction, for people who already own a territory.

Questions to ask yourself

Should I really have more territory?

Before answering "yes!" please give the question some careful thought. Most people who feel like answering "yes!" should actually answer "no."

It's great to have a moderate amount of land — enough so that you're challenged, engaged, making progress and enjoying OGF. But having too much land is overwhelming.

How can you tell if you're overwhelmed? Different people can be overwhelmed in different ways, and many don't even realize it:

• Some people feel paralyzed, never able to start anything because there's just too much to do.
• Some people feel frustrated, that they keep mapping and mapping, but never seem to make real progress.
• Some people feel disappointed in their mapping quality, because they've been working fast and sloppy in their desire to fill the large spaces.
• And some people even feel an urge to claim new territories (paradoxically!) because they're just not satisfied with what they've done so far.

If any of these descriptions apply to you, then you probably shouldn't be requesting more territory.

So the first step in acquiring more territory is asking yourself whether you really should have more territory.

Do I actually like mapping details?

File:BigStuffLittleStuff.png

Another crucial question to ask yourself before requesting more territory is whether you really like drawing details. Details represent probably 99.9% of the OpenGeofiction experience, so if you're not really interested in them, then you should definitely not be requesting more territory.

What do we mean by details? Mapping in OGF and OSM is made up of "big stuff" and "little stuff;" see the image at right. If most of your work is "big stuff" and you don't have much "little stuff" then that's a good sign you like "big stuff" more than "little stuff," and you may not be very interested in details.

Can I get what I want, without asking for more territory?

In many cases, mappers can easily get what they want without acquiring new territory:

• If you want another territory as a "vacation" from your current country, or you're slightly bored, or you just want to map something "different" for a while, there are plenty of other options available. How about designing a city in a blue country? Or joining a collaborative effort in a purple country? These options can be a fun break from your primary territory, without the extra work, commitment and responsibility of owning another territory yourself.

• If you want another territory to serve a "function" (like, a "neighbor country" for your country to interact with, or a "bad guy country" to play a role in world drama) you can often times create these out of your own land. Take a big unused part of your country and cut it off to form a new country. This is usually a much better option than acquiring additional territory.

Requirements to acquire more territory

If you've decided that you really do want another territory, we ask that you complete a contiguous "zone of high detail" mapping, covering a certain percentage of each territory you own. The percentage varies based on the land area of the territory you're requesting:

Land area of territory being requested	Mapping requirement
under 20,000 km²	You must present an original, contiguous zone of high detail in each territory you own, covering 10% of your territory's area.
20,000 to 200,000 km²	You must present an original, contiguous zone of high detail in each territory you own, covering 20% of your territory's area.
over 200,000 km²	You must present an original, contiguous zone of high detail in each territory you own, covering 30% of your territory's area.

Areas of all territories can be found at OGF:Area table.

What does a "zone of high detail" look like? The answer will vary from mapper to mapper, and there is considerable flexibility involved, but some examples are shown below:

Examples of high detail
center=-22.6670,123.5440 | width=500px | height=300px | zoom=12 | maxzoom=17 | minzoom=2 }}
center=-17.8536,21.4774 | width=500px | height=300px | zoom=12 | maxzoom=17 | minzoom=2 }}
center=18.5523,89.2469 | width=500px | height=300px | zoom=12 | maxzoom=17 | minzoom=2 }}

The common theme with these areas is that the detail is sufficient to make you feel like you could be looking at a real place.

How to make your request

Once you've created your zone(s) of high detail sufficient to acquire more territory, send a message to the OGF admin team.

Be sure to include:

• The ID number of the territory you are requesting, noting its land area in square kilometers.
• A list of the territories you already own, noting their land areas in square kilometers.
• For each territory you own, include a link to a polygon outlining its "zone of high detail."

We'll be looking forward to hearing from you!

Questions or comments

Feel free to ask on the talk page of this article, or contact admin.