Why futuristic? Why not Sci-Fi?

[PolishedFruit]

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So I was just wondering...why is there not a Sci-Fi section? I feel like a lot of people get the wrong idea from Futuristic. Futuristic seems to fall under Sci-Fi, but not all Sci-Fi necessarily falls under Futuristic and I feel like there are a lot of potentially misrepresented RPs listed either under Futuristic or Realistic/Modern because of it. One of the most recognizable genres being post-apocalyptic which isn't always necessarily in the future. This is a concern for me because a lot of my favorite types of RP seem to be lost here.


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[ApfelSeine]

The roleplays on this site are organized primarily by setting. Thus, modern day sci fi would be set in the modern/realistic forum. Similarly, urban fantasy is also set as realistic/modern.


I think it's a fairly smart move to organize by setting, because once you start classifying things by genre, things start to branch out to the point where it would be difficult to manage. It wouldn't be easy to encompass all possible genres without overcomplicating it, and it's much easier to encompass all potential settings. Even if you restricted it to setting specific genres, you may as well classify things by setting anyways.


Searching by tags is a good way to find specific things, and I'll often use that method instead of scrolling through forums if I'm looking for something specific.

 

[Elle Joyner]

Sci-fi is also very specific, whereas futuristic encompasses more territory, including dystopian/zombies/etc.

 

[ApfelSeine]

[QUOTE="Elle Joyner]Sci-fi is also very specific, whereas futuristic encompasses more territory, including dystopian/zombies/etc.

[/QUOTE]
It's the other way around actually. You can have a modern/historical/fantasy zombie rp, and a dystopia can also be set anywhere. Those are of the sci fi genre (or fantasy, depending on the background). Sci fi includes anything related to technology/sciencey things, time travel, etc. It doesn't have to be set in the future.


For instance, the popular British television show Doctor Who is a time travel story centered around modern day while encompassing historical and futuristic elements. It can't exactly be classified as futuristic because the time traveling tech is alien, and could theoretically have been invented during the past. So the best description of the setting would be to call it a modern day sci fi. (Time travel is kinda tricky, since you could likely also call it futuristic if they travel to the future. Hopping around makes difficult to place)


Another example of a modern sci fi is any post apocalyptic story that happens in the very near future. If tech is essentially the same as what we have nowadays, it's not really the same as being futuristic. Also a space adventure where they're traveling with the use of current technology (like setting an rp in an existing satellite). Those would all likely be classified as science fiction, but they are in a modern setting.

 

[Elle Joyner]

>_> I think you misunderstood me xD cause we just said the exact same thing *lol*

 

[ApfelSeine]

[QUOTE="Elle Joyner]>_> I think you misunderstood me xD cause we just said the exact same thing *lol*

[/QUOTE]
You said that futuristic encompasses more territory, including zombie and dystopian stories. I said that futuristic can be a setting for those things, but it isn't always. You could have a distopia set in the past, a zombie story set at the present day, etc. They would be sci fi stories but not futuristic.


I'd argue that sci fi is more broad, since it encompasses many things which don't necessarily have to be set in the future. But it still makes sense to have futuristic as the category heading, since the roleplays are broken up by setting. Besides, there could be futuristic roleplays with fantasy elements, so that wouldn't be sci fi. It's not common, but it is possible to have non sci fi stories that are set in the future. More common is having sci fi stories set in the present day or the past.

 

[Elle Joyner]

What I mean is that those things are futuristic... but not necessarily sci-fi. Not however suggesting that those things are ONLY futuristic elements. Essentially just saying that the reason it's not just 'sci-fi' is because futuristic is a broader catagory.

 

[ApfelSeine]

[QUOTE="Elle Joyner]What I mean is that those things are futuristic... but not necessarily sci-fi. Not however suggesting that those things are ONLY futuristic elements. Essentially just saying that the reason it's not just 'sci-fi' is because futuristic is a broader catagory.

[/QUOTE]
Ah I understand now. You're saying that they can be futuristic and/or science fiction, but not necessarily. Zombies via necromancy or dystopian settings centered around politics rather than a particular scientific advancement (such as in Brave New World) would declassify those things as sci fi. And setting those things in the past or during present day would declassify them from being futuristic. Thus, having things classified based upon setting is a good way to categorize them since settings encompass more than genres since they're less specific about the content of the plot itself. I guess by that rationalization, futuristic is indeed more broad, so I can see what you mean.

 

[Elle Joyner]

Exactly Sorry for the confusion. Haha - I'm only like... 80% literate when I'm pregnant!

 

[PolishedFruit]

Okay I guess I can understand that grouping by time can arguably cover a wider range of RP, but I really think that genre is the way to go. I mean if we're grouping by time period, first of all, why is futuristic and modern the ONLY time periods out of the four RP forums? Secondly, not all RPs even take place in an Earth-based world, so who is to say what is past, present, or future? And lastly, why do we even have a 'preferred RP type' if we are grouping by time settings? I mean, if what we've been saying about how almost any genre can take place in almost any period of time is being considered, wouldn't that make preffered styles (which I basically see as genres since they relate more to a person's personality) essentially meaningless?

 

[Birdsie]

Sci-Fi is a much more specific genre. For example; Star Wars despite the contrary belief is NOT Sci-Fi. Star Wars is Sci-Fa, also known as Science Fantasy. In Star Wars you will see people around with laser-swords, and using what is basically magic. In Star Trek (Sci-Fi) you will see people using high-tech and explaining how it works.


Futuristic is both for Sci-Fi, Sci-Fa and many others.

 

[Elle Joyner]

Okay I guess I can understand that grouping by time can arguably cover a wider range of RP, but I really think that genre is the way to go. I mean if we're grouping by time period, first of all, why is futuristic and modern the ONLY time periods out of the four RP forums? Secondly, not all RPs even take place in an Earth-based world, so who is to say what is past, present, or future? And lastly, why do we even have a 'preferred RP type' if we are grouping by time settings? I mean, if what we've been saying about how almost any genre can take place in almost any period of time is being considered, wouldn't that make preffered styles (which I basically see as genres since they relate more to a person's personality) essentially meaningless?

xD Cause they had to call it something? And that was the one that made the most sense...

 

[PolishedFruit]

[QUOTE="Elle Joyner]
xD Cause they had to call it something? And that was the one that made the most sense...

[/QUOTE]
But why not just generic genres is what I'm saying.


Fandom, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Realistic would work fine. I feel like that encompasses everything.

 

[Elle Joyner]

But why not just generic genres is what I'm saying.
Fandom, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Realistic would work fine. I feel like that encompasses everything.

Cause Sci-fi doesn't cover everything that could fit into 'futuristic' genres. Not all futuristic stuff is sci-fi. But -most- sci-fi stuff is futuristic, to some degree.

 

[PolishedFruit]

[QUOTE="Elle Joyner]Cause Sci-fi doesn't cover everything that could fit into 'futuristic' genres. Not all futuristic stuff is sci-fi. But -most- sci-fi stuff is futuristic, to some degree.

[/QUOTE]
What's an example?

 

[Elle Joyner]

I gave a few examples a couple posts up. Namely dystopian/apocolyptic... zombies... etc.

 

[PolishedFruit]

[QUOTE="Elle Joyner]I gave a few examples a couple posts up. Namely dystopian/apocolyptic... zombies... etc.

[/QUOTE]
Those are certainly sci-fi. A zombie virus is one of the prime examples of science fiction.

 

[Elle Joyner]

Those are certainly sci-fi. A zombie virus is one of the prime examples of science fiction.

Not always - depends entirely on the plot. I've got a Dystopian RP myself that, while definitely futuristic, has very little 'sci' anything involved. Trust me... the staff, they generally think these things out long and hard - futuristic was the qualifier that (while not perfect) made the most sense, and that's why they chose it, plain and simple.

 

[ApfelSeine]

But why not just generic genres is what I'm saying.
Fandom, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Realistic would work fine. I feel like that encompasses everything.

Where would you put science fantasy then? Or urban fantasy? If it's split up by genre, having rps that cross genres would be difficult to categorize. I think it's important to consider that genres don't always encompass all possibilities. I suspect that that's probably the reason that things are organized the way that they are, but there may be another reason.