All the changes I'd make to New England Mountains

[heavy hinge]

These are the changes I'd make if I were given a free hand with NEM. I realize some of them are extremely unlikely because they involve things like removing species, but I'm going to mention them anyway because I really do think they'd make the map more accurate and more appealing to players. Some of these things I’ve previously suggested separately (possibly on the previous iteration of this suggestions channel) but I’m consolidating them all here and adding others.

Most of the suggestions revolve around giving NEM unique species, because obviously one of the big complaints about the map is that it has none (green-winged teal were new with NEM's release, but were simultaneously added to Mississippi). There were some suspicions when NEM came out that this was because the team was working on a different map with a lot of new species, and now we know that it was Australia. I get why this was done, but I do think NEM has been let down by it and maybe deserves another pass. Overall my changes would keep the total number of species and the distribution of classes the same.

SUMMARY:

• Remove pheasant, quail, goldeneye, green-winged teal, and gray fox (send the fox to Rancho [edit: and maybe add red foxes to Mississippi so there's still a map with both])
• Add woodcock, ruffed grouse, hooded merganser, Canada goose, and fisher
• Remove the windmill, add many more stone walls

As I said, I recognize that much of this has little to no chance of happening, but I’m tired of the ideas just bouncing around in my head, so out into the world they go. I'll elaborate with comments below.

[heavy hinge]

UPLAND BIRDS: American woodcock and ruffed grouse would be much more fitting than pheasant and bobwhite quail. The latter aren't native to New Hampshire (pheasants are released annually but don't breed there, and bobwhites don't exist at all in NH as far as I know), but woodcock and grouse are popular native game birds. Whereas the pheasant and quail currently occupy the lowland areas of the map I'd put the woodcock and grouse more in the northern areas and shift the turkeys south (it currently feels weird going into the fields early in the morning and seeing zero turkeys). Pheasants are already on a few maps, and I think keeping the bobwhites unique to Mississippi could help its appeal.

WATERFOWL: I'd remove the goldeneye and teal in favor of the hooded merganser and Canada goose. The common merganser could also work in place of the hooded. To me narrow-beaked diving birds feel evocative of northern temperate environments, and since it isn’t legal to hunt loons, mergansers could fit the bill (heyo!). I’d add some waterfowl need zones near the river, which can feel a bit lifeless at times, and the Canada geese could also have some zones in the fields. I know they’re not a unique species, but the honking of Canada geese is so much more characteristic of New England than what we’re hearing in the game with the teals and goldeneyes. (And if that’s too many Canada geese for folks, substituting greylags on Hirsch would make a lot of sense, just saying…)

MAMMALS: Two species of fox on one map is interesting, I’ll admit. But gray foxes are much more characteristic of the western side of the continent, so I think they’d do well being transplanted to Rancho instead. That would make space for a species much more emblematic of New Hampshire: the fisher. For anyone not familiar, they’re fairly beefy Mustelids (weasel family) with a call that can be pretty spooky at night (and despite sometimes being called “fisher cats” they don’t eat fish and they aren’t cats). They’d be the first mustelids in the game which would make NEM feel that much more unique, but they could also serve as the basis for adding something like pine martens to a European map. I’ll give an honorable mention to porcupines, which I wouldn’t mind seeing either, but fishers are my first choice (porcupines would probably be weird without tree climbing). Either of them would be Class 2.

TERRAIN CHANGES: As far as I know the maps in this game haven’t had features added or removed after they’re released, but there are a couple of fairly straightforward adjustments that I think would make the map feel much more like New Hampshire. One is to get rid of the wooden windmill. I know it probably doesn’t bother most people but to me it just feels so out of place. I’ve never once seen a wooden windmill in the state, and trying to google it brings up zero relevant results. A watermill (or really the ruins of one) would be much more characteristic of the area, but I’m not suggesting to add one of those, just to lose the windmill. The other thing is to add a lot more rock walls. I’m glad there are some, but more of the fields could use them, and there also need to be some randomly running through the woods where fields existed in the past. You’ll stumble upon them in the New England woods all the time, and they tell the story of failed attempts at farming in the poor, rocky soil. The farmers tried to make the best of the situation by using the stones for their fences, but eventually agriculture in the country shifted west and many New England fields were reclaimed by the forests. (For something less straightforward, search for “Madame Sherri forest” and tell me that wouldn’t have been a cool addition to the landmarks.)

[pseudo tendon]

Honestly I wouldn’t mind having Canada Geese on more North American maps

[bold dove]

While I disagree with removing the Gray Fox (I just really like being able to hunt both fox species on one map, that's all) I support the rest of these changes.

[snow sentinel]

I also agree with Fuzion. As someone who lives near New England, Red and Grey foxes are both present here and personally I feel like we'd miss out without both species on the map (to reword, I love having both on one map.) I agree with the rest of these changes though - particularly the Ruffed grouse and fisher.

[split mulch]

Yeah,I don’t see why we can’t keep gray fox on nem while also gray foxes being backfilled to Rancho.

I need a coyote backfill to Srp as well.

[snow sentinel]

I would love to see Grey foxes in Rancho.

[heavy hinge]

Regarding gray foxes: that was definitely something I was on the fence about. Current NEM is neat for having two foxes and having many small predators overall (red fox, gray fox, bobcat, coyote). I just worried that adding fishers would make it a little TOO crowded with small predators, and out of all of them gray foxes felt like the least characteristic of New England, so they're the ones I gave the boot. I do think they'd be a good addition for Rancho regardless, and I hoped putting them there would make their removal from NEM sting a little less.

[split mulch]

It’s simple,Fishers aren’t nearly as common as the others.They’re population would not be nearly as high.

[split mulch]

Then fisher’s could be map wide.

[heavy hinge]

I'd personally prefer to see the fishers stick to the higher elevations. Realistically that's also where the gray foxes should be, while the red foxes occupy the lower areas. As best as I can tell the split on NEM for the foxes is actually East-West, though.

@snow sentinel I'm wondering whether people really like that NEM in particular has two foxes, or just that any map does? Because if (big if) grays got moved from NEM to Rancho to make room for fishers, I actually think a good solution could be to add red foxes to Mississippi. It has more built-up areas that reds are content to occupy, and it makes sense geographically as the traditional dividing line between East and West.

[split mulch]

You just solved your own problem,let them inhabit the higher altitude rivers and hills,perfect.

[glad flint]

I will say, I lived in Nottingham, New Hampshire for most of my childhood, and I will readily admit gray foxes weren't common.. Except for the squad of them that inhabited the marshy/swamp area behind our house. We had like 3 or 4 adults in the area, and their babies. Def not reds - I think just an oddball colony.