4Game

I love the politics and lore of the Federation. As an American I think the commentary and symbolism relating to present-day U.S. politics is really compelling (now if only there was some actual narrative content in the game, amiright!?)

Anyways, Felicia Winters' HQ is the Rhea system. Rhea is the Greek goddess of fertility and motherhood.

I find this really fitting for Winters given her politics and the way she's a sort-of archetype of the American liberal "establishment," (as I see it, anyways. think: Hillary Clinton in space lol.) She's all about using diplomacy and financial coercion, as opposed to Zachary Hudson, who to me symbolizes more of the military-industrial-complex side of American politics. He's the stick to Winters' carrot, to further the parallel to 20th-century U.S. geopolitical engagement. I'm really curious about how intentional it was on the part of developers to use Rhea for Winters, and how they think about referencing present-day politics more broadly. It's a fitting reference in any case!

So then I was curious about Hudson's HQ system: Nanomam. I looked around but couldn't find any uses of the name in real-world history. Does anybody know anything about the origins of this name? I wonder if there's any kind of symbolism similar to Rhea-Winters. Any thoughts in general on this subject are highly encouraged! I would love to find out more about how other players think about these things 🙂