Talk:Main
Discussions (2015)
CotI Link: What does one call a J-2 jump "main"?
- Maksim-Smelchak (talk) 14:28, 19 July 2016 (EDT)
Notes (2015)
Collected ideas from CotI members:
- Access
- Backwater
- Connector
- Corridor
- Hinters
- Line
- Loop
- Nexus
- Pendant
- Reach
- Route
- Run
- Scatters
- Space Lane
- Spur
- Starlane
- Tract
- Trade Route
- Wisp
Greater Mains (Yellow)
- Star systems on long (50 or more stars) mains.
- Most multi-sector and single-sector mains are greater mains.
- High economic and trade activity (interstellar traffic).
Lesser Mains (Blue)
- Star systems on short (10 - 50 stars) mains.
- Many subsector mains are lesser mains.
- Moderate economic and trade activity (interstellar traffic).
Arms, Branches, Traces, Clusters & Others (Green)
- Star systems with few if any significant connections to any main.
- May be subsets of larger mains.
- Most of these astrographic features are located in just one or two subsectors.
- Low economic and trade activity (interstellar traffic).
Origin of the terms
The first use of "Main" I've been able to find is in Library Data (N-Z) from 1983, in a reference to the Spinward Main. Later books (and non-canon references) make similar kinds of off-hand references to the terms "Main", "Branch", "Cluster", and "Trace". That is, the terms are used in names, like "Spinward Main" without any precise definition.
Based upon the existing known names, I applied the separation at 50 system to distinguish between a Main (with branches) and a Trace or Cluster. As the latter two terms are never defined (just used), the wiki asserts they are interchangeable.
Since the smallest grouping of independent systems given a name in canon was between five and 10 systems, I asserted the smallest grouping was 5 systems. The list above gathered from the COTI group-mind may provide a non-canon version of a name for the smaller groupings.