What is in a name?
The name may have been spoiled
In my last post, I discussed my motivations behind writing a book as well as what I was going to write about. I also outlined what I would require for an MVP. I started using Singularity as a placeholder name until I could either a) confirm no one else was using it (unlikely) or b) come up with a better name. To absolutely no one's surprise; yes, that name was already taken. My goal is to try and post regularly as I update my website. It's probably not that big of a deal, but I really wanted a consistent name throughout the process of this.
Let's go back to the placeholder name; I liked it for two reasons, the obvious one being it refers to a gravitational singularity—perfectly in line with the space themes and all that jazz. Not very original but it evoked the feeling I wanted. The second reason I liked it is it doubled as a reference to the technological singularity and a society that is living in a trans-human era. Regardless, this name is out of the question, so no use dwelling on it.
I took a course on UX years ago and it touched on branding a little bit. For some reason it was the only thing that really stuck with me from that course (I'm sure other aspects of it has as well, but the rest of the course content probably blended in with my day-to-day work more than branding). This course outlined three different types of brand names: Evocative, Descriptive, and Whimsical. Evocative brand names are meant to evoke a certain feeling when you think of them and imply its values/personality without explicitly referring to it. Nike and Patagonia are two brand names that fit this perfectly. Descriptive brand names contain clues to as to what it is. Examples that come to mind would be Cyberpunk, Dungeons & Dragons, and PayPal. Lastly, whimsical is playful, fun, and has no obvious meaning. Starbucks and Oreo, for instance.
With those points in mind, what do I want the themes of this universe I'm building to be? I want the tone, I think, to be overall serious and a little dark. I'm a big fan of Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett, but I feel it is a lot easier to transpose comedy on a dark setting than the inverse. As I mentioned above, this ideally takes place in a somewhat trans-human world. Cyberpunk really captures that aspect and makes it a focal point of that setting in a way that I don't want to use. I want it to be present but so integrated into humanity that it's used less as a means of self-expression and nihilism and more as a tool in everyday life. I want it to have a heavy focus on politics and economics. The Foundation trilogy by Isaac Asimov is one of my favourite sci-fi books, and I really would love to capture the essence of what he did there. Lastly, I really want to impart the feeling that the network of relationships of this setting means something. From the individual friendships and rivalries to the intrigue between nations and empires.
Having said all that, I did what anyone would do if they were casually writing a TTRPG whenever they get a few minutes of free time. I did some light searching on Google (unrelated: I'm thinking of switching to Duck Duck Go). I figured I'd start by seeing if there was some sort of similar concept to ‘singularity’ I can use that fits in with enough of the themes I outlined above. Initially, nothing really stood out. Anything with quantum or relativity either felt clumsy or too obvious. Skimming through mathematical singularities had a lot of interesting topics but was too far removed. Then I found it; Systems Theory:
Systems theory is the interdisciplinary study of systems, i.e., cohesive groups of interrelated, interdependent components that can be natural or human-made. Every system has causal boundaries, is influenced by its context, defined by its structure, function, and role, and expressed through its relations with other systems. A system is "more than the sum of its parts" by expressing synergy or emergent behaviour.
Quickly reading up on it, a singularity in the context of Systems Theory could be defined as an arbitrarily small change that is commonly unpredictable and may lead to arbitrarily large effects. Based on my fifteen minutes of reading on the topic, it seems too perfect. Systems Theory is interdisciplinary and can be applied to many different topics, and the way it expresses social systems really captures the heart of what I mentioned above. What I lose by not being able to use Singularity explicitly as the name of the TTRPG I gain so much more by using System Theory.
I also manage to dip into both evocative and descriptive branding. I get the word association between different types of systems in space as well as evoking a science fiction feeling. The book I am making is also a game system; therefore, I am also giving clues to what is inside. With some subtle artwork, it should be relatively easy to convey what type of game I'm publishing.
I'm probably butchering what System Theory is supposed to be, but frankly I don’t care because I like the sound of it and I'm the one writing this. Besides, I can always change it later, but for now I am calling this game System Theory. I chose System over systems because, again, I like the sound of it, and it gives me a subtle differentiation from the actual discipline.
If you like the idea of this and want to follow along with me as I make progress on it, follow me on Twitter / Reddit for updates. If you want to check out the progress of System Theory I have a draft of the site deployed here!