The Perfect AH.com Map?

Put simply what does the general membership of AH.com look for in a map? I notice we rather like American and British wanks, outlandish Kaiserreichs are a hot topic as well. Put simply if everyone on AH.com sat down collectively and made a map according to their personal preferences what do you guys think it would look like? (If you like post a map that your particularly fond of)
 
I think Byzantium still existing is a foregone conclusion. English colonial wank is almost always there in some form. People seem to like colonial Scandinavia, Spain, and Purtugal as well. Less native American screw than OTL is usually preferable, and stronger black African nations too. Allot of people seem to like the Ottomans or some equivalent Turkish empire, though having that and Byzantium can be difficult. Russia usually ends up similar to OTL, though it rarely begins in Moscow in TLs. France is usually screwed, so at the very least France doesn't get any powerful colonies, but sometimes they get a prestige colony that takes up most of the Sahara. People like to have some kind of U.S. equivalent that breaks away from the motherland and becomes a power in its own right too. From what I've seen most people like to give Japan most of the Pacific, and China never gets colonies because they are already at least 20% of the world. India often is divided between a Hindu state, a Muslim state, and a colonizer, and sometimes the Muslims and Hindus are divided into smaller feuding groups.
 
Spain and England are uninhabited, except for Wales, Cornwall, Catalonia, and Navarra.

America is ruled by Dutchmen.

Mexico is French.

Islam doesn't exist, but every country is a Sultanate.

Austria owns everything.

Japan owns China.

France owns all of Europe.

French Canada owns everything.

Byzanto-Greece and Otto-Turkey coexist.

Britain (AKA Gaelic Scotland and Ireland) owns everything.
 

Hnau

Banned
I dislike having Russia exceeding its historical boundaries. Having Russia broken up or reduced to its heartland is appealing to me.
 
Don't forget the super independent Utah/Mormon stand in state. Also no division of California in any way. The site is very much in favor of Californian Unification.
 
Indian subcontinent can never have an independant power. It has to be ruled by a European state. Specifically Britain. Also there always will be a Britain.
 
Indian subcontinent can never have an independant power. It has to be ruled by a European state. Specifically Britain. Also there always will be a Britain.
Also, British rule takes the form of a puppeted Mughal Empire, every citizen of which is Muslim instead of Hindu.
 
Put simply what does the general membership of AH.com look for in a map?

Legibility and clarity. Sharply defined borders, accurate geography, good typography, not too much detail for the resolution used. Higher resolution is always better. And colors that don't drown each other out.

Originality helps. Too much copying of historical borders is boring; but the changes should be plausibly related to the associated TL.
 
I think Byzantium still existing is a foregone conclusion. English colonial wank is almost always there in some form. People seem to like colonial Scandinavia, Spain, and Purtugal as well. Less native American screw than OTL is usually preferable, and stronger black African nations too. Allot of people seem to like the Ottomans or some equivalent Turkish empire, though having that and Byzantium can be difficult. Russia usually ends up similar to OTL, though it rarely begins in Moscow in TLs. France is usually screwed, so at the very least France doesn't get any powerful colonies, but sometimes they get a prestige colony that takes up most of the Sahara. People like to have some kind of U.S. equivalent that breaks away from the motherland and becomes a power in its own right too. From what I've seen most people like to give Japan most of the Pacific, and China never gets colonies because they are already at least 20% of the world. India often is divided between a Hindu state, a Muslim state, and a colonizer, and sometimes the Muslims and Hindus are divided into smaller feuding groups.

You're practically describing the original Isaac's Empire :D
 
United Scandinavia and Arabia are pretty common.

While a United Scandinavia is pretty common, and likely would have been possible to achieve in the mid-19th century with the right changes to constitutions and inter-dynastic marriages, making it stay that way is gonna be quite hard, because while Swedes and Danes were pretty warm to such an arrangement, the Norwegians, having been robbed of Home Rules by both of them were pretty skeptical, as any United Scandinavia would undoubtedly be more of a Swedish-Danish Union that happened to rule over Norway as well than an actual Scandinavian Union with Norwegians on equal footing.

If you let Sweden keep Finland and let them enter into the Union, you're heading for a mess, since Finnish culture and language is distinct from Scandinavian culture by quite a lot, and had to not been for the Russian threat that drove Finland and the rest of Scandinavia into each others arms as loyal brothers, Fenno-Swedish relations by the early 20th century likely would have been just as explosive as Anglo-Irish relations at that same time.

While you could likely achieve some sort of Kalmar Union 2.0 in the 19th century, making it survive is going to be one hell of a challenge.
 
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