Small trivial errors

[Atlantis]

Is there a place to report the really tiny errors (factual, not spelling) in the books? I've tried searching, and come up empty. Perhaps having a sticky thread somewhere to post them, because I don't want to seem like a loser for posting a new thread just to say that the capital of Brazil is Brasilia, not Rio de Janeiro (1e Earth Alliance Fact Book, p76)... oh, too late. D'oh.

Someone back me up, please! Post some other tiny mistakes or something so I'm not the only one! Probably won't make a difference, unless Mongoose make a 2nd Edition set of Fact Books.
I'm not really that sad, I just study a lot about Brazil because I'm gonna go there in a few months, so it was glaringly obvious to me

 

[Vortex]

the capital of Brazil is Brasilia, not Rio de Janeiro

Maybe that changed by the 23rd century... :wink:

This is a book that seems to contain a lot of similar minor errors. I think the reason is simple: It's about something real. We wouldn't spot mistakes about the capital of an old Centauri state simply because it was made up. The EA factbook probably required a lot of research. I think more research would have made it possible to avoid these mistakes but I guess they did the best they could with the resources available for the project.

So Atlantis won't feel alone, here are things I found really strange about Canada (where I live) in that book.

First, they say we used to be a French colony and achieved independence without the bloodshed the US went through. That is technically true but it's also misleading. A more accurate telling would be that: We were a French colony that was eventually conquered by England and then achieved independence from them without the bloodshed the US went through.

Second, they say Canadians speak English with a French accent. That is really not representative. There are Canadians speaking English with a French accent but that is by no mean a good representation. Most Canadians speak an English similar to Americans but with a slight tangent toward British. They do pronounce "out" and "about" in a way that sounds funny to most Americans. They also have a tendency to say "eh" (not sure how to spell that) at the end of many sentences. The French part is the province of Québec (where I live). Though there are Anglophones in Québec the official language (and spoken by the majority of the population) is French, though few people from France can easily understand our particular accent.

While I'm talking about Québec, Free Mars mentions the colony of "New Québec". Most of the background about it makes sense but the French name is not well translated. "Québec Neuve" does mean "New Québec" but with a mistake. In French, all nouns are masculine or feminine, there is no neutral and adjectives must be accorded to the noun they refer to (yeah, I know, It's complicated). "Québec" is masculine and "Neuve" is the feminine version of the adjective. The correct way of saying "New Québec" in French would be "Nouveau Québec".

The EA Factbook also states that more beer is drunk per capita in Canada than anywhere else in the world. I don't know if that is a fact, but it is certainly plausible.

 

[Nikopol]

The EA Factbook also states that more beer is drunk per capita in Canada than anywhere else in the world. I don't know if that is a fact, but it is certainly plausible.

Maybe in the 23rd century... but for now, I think Germany is ! I think we are in 2nd position...

(And we tend to drink more and more wine instead of beer...or maybe it's just me )

Thanks Vortex for your clarifications on Québec! (as you might have guessed, I'm from the same place as Vortex)

P.S: Mongoose Gar, any reason for naming an old battered transport the Montreal in the Cold Equations ?

 

[Atlantis]

the capital of Brazil is Brasilia, not Rio de Janeiro

Maybe that changed by the 23rd century... :wink:

Hmm maybe, but given how Brasilia was only built in 1960, to be "the city of the future"... I suppose the irony could be amusing.

As for beer drinking, I'm sure every country has it's own "patriots" who are the elite in that (as seen in the film "Beerfest"). I know firsthand that the Germans have gotta be one of the top ones up there though, lol.

As for how the books generalise about each country, I suppose the rules are set like that as a backbone to work from. You could tweak a thing here and there to suit what you want, so long as the basis conforms to the book's description.
Besides, without stereotypes, how would you know where someone was from anyway? ;-)

 

[Mongoose Gar]

P.S: Mongoose Gar, any reason for naming an old battered transport the Montreal in the Cold Equations ?

*thinks*
Not that I can recall. I probably had a deeply meaningful reason at the time.

 

[Garet]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_beer_consumption_per_capita

Here you go. The list of beer drinking Countries /burp 8)

 

[Nikopol]

P.S: Mongoose Gar, any reason for naming an old battered transport the Montreal in the Cold Equations ?

*thinks*
Not that I can recall. I probably had a deeply meaningful reason at the time.

I was asking because routes, highways and transport in general is in decay (almost in ruins I would say) here and my players found it quite funny that this old rusty transport was named Montreal ! (they thought I had named it !)

Interesting coincidence...

Hey we're only in 19th place for beer drinking ! (we've definitely switched to wine...)

 

[zwerg]

They do pronounce "out" and "about" in a way that sounds funny to most Americans. They also have a tendency to say "eh" (not sure how to spell that) at the end of many sentences.

The "eh" at the end of sentences is also common in northern Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Upper Michigan AFAICT.

The EA Factbook also states that more beer is drunk per capita in Canada than anywhere else in the world. I don't know if that is a fact, but it is certainly plausible.

I am almost certain Wisconsin has them beat hands down
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_039b.html

I am fairly certain we have more taverns per capita on average than the rest of the US, and given the brandy comment it could well be "alcohol in general" rather than beer, but close enough.

 

[R Arceneaux]

May I suggest you use the feedback button and inform the management of said error(s). Should there be a 2nd printing then said changes can be made.