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Old 04-03-2022, 08:38 AM   #1
whswhs
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
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Default name that genre

I've now run three sessions of my future/alternate history campaign Fronteira, set on Mars in the city of Pavonis Portal (which I created for GURPS City Stats) in the Shikaku-Mon timeline (from GURPS Alternate Earths). As it's turned out, I've made extensive use of GURPS Social Engineering, and I've been glad to have my author copy of the PoD version. We've looked at the Silva family's plans to build a luxury hotel; their principal administrator's relationships with his current and former mistresses; their daughter-in-law's work for an Imperial judge as an investigator; their older unmarried daughter's going to a military ball with a young lieutenant, and her reviewing various events for her blog; their middle unmarried daughter's work on a virtual reality project, and her management of her personal salon. We've now had the revelation that that sweatshop that the daughter-in-law was investigating is a front for a wealthy family that's involved in the developing project of building a new arm for Pavonis Portal, which gives the Silvas a source of conflict.

So I've been thinking about how I might describe this. Family saga? Soap opera? Telenovela (fitting the Latin American cultural background)? Slice of life? Workplace drama? Noir? It seems to have elements of several of those, though so far it's not quite melodramatic enough for "telenovela" to be a close fit . . . But if I were writing a supplement about how to run this sort of campaign—one driven by Social Engineering the way a fantasy campaign is driven by Magic or Thaumatology, or a supers one by Powers—what title would best tell potential readers what to expect?
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Old 04-03-2022, 08:55 AM   #2
johndallman
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Default Re: name that genre

How important are the SF elements in the setting to the genre of this game?
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Old 04-03-2022, 08:56 AM   #3
Donny Brook
 
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Default Re: name that genre

Here's a comparison that came to me when I read the description:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynasty_(1981_TV_series)

Prime time 'serialized drama' (soap opera).

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Old 04-03-2022, 09:01 AM   #4
TGLS
 
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Eh... Difficult to say based on your description and point in time. Could be soap opera if all these threads are heading somewhere (together/towards each other is not mandatory). Slice of life if they're just going to meander about. Possibly business/political drama if that last thread takes over and/or the story has a conclusion.
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Old 04-03-2022, 10:11 AM   #5
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Default Re: name that genre

Drama -- as distinct from comedy, action-adventure, etc..
Science fiction drama -- more specific as to setting.
Near-future SF drama -- to narrow the focus still further.

"Soap opera" and "telenovela" are only evocative if your players are familiar with the material alluded to. They run the risk of setting up odd expectations from the casually acquainted.

To me, "family saga" implies a greater depth in time, where the units of action aren't individuals so much as multi-generational lineages. On the other hand, doesn't "workplace drama" imply a group of (mostly) unrelated individuals working in a single firm?

"Slice of life" implies much lower stakes, I think. "Noir," on the other hand, implies a level of disaffection and alienation that doesn't seem to be what you're going for.
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Old 04-03-2022, 10:40 AM   #6
Fred Brackin
 
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I find "family saga" more viable than thrash does. Bill will remember TV shows like "Bonanza" and "The Big Valley". Slightly more recently there were nighttime soaps centered around loose family units like "Dallas" and "Dynasty".

"Family soap opera" might cover the high points. The SF elements appear to be mostly backdrop.
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Old 04-03-2022, 11:56 AM   #7
benz72
 
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Default Re: name that genre

Downton Abbey: A Really New Era?

More seriously, I would say Near-future social drama is probably about the best generic title I could think up. It doesn't sound as though the Martian setting is particularly relevant. It also doesn't sound like crime drama, political drama or romantic drama would fit particularly well.

Best of luck
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Old 04-03-2022, 11:59 AM   #8
whswhs
 
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Default Re: name that genre

The kind of distinctions thrash is making are helpful; that's the sort of analysis I was looking for. But I do think that Fred has a point about Bonanza being a good comparison. I have worked out the family backstory, back to when an ambitious young entrepreneur from Trastámara married the daughter of an established wealthy family, went off to her to the construction site of Pavonis Portal, and decided to put his profits into building its first business class hotel. That was the founding generation; the fourth generation are being born now. So there may be enough timespan, at least implicitly.

The Wikipedia article says that Bonanza is a "period drama." This campaign might be called the same, if we allow that "period" can mean a future time as well as a past one . . .

Fred is right about the SF elements being backdrop, at least so far.
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Old 04-03-2022, 02:42 PM   #9
Donny Brook
 
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Bonanza was very light fare compared to what I think you might be going for here. Also, it was completely episodic, without any continuing plotlines.
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Old 04-03-2022, 05:15 PM   #10
David Johnston2
 
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Corporate intrigue.
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