[MR] RE: Secrecy

[Towey, Brian]

All, right, Donovan.  As someone who is still "serfin' SCA" I guess I'll
pipe up here.

Each of us has our favorite corner of this Game we play.  Some of us are
just there for the fighting.  Others are just there for the mead.  Still
others are running a business.  More to the point, some love the pageantry
of court, while others find it tedious and cheerfully volunteer to watch the
kids instead.

It seems to me that part of the "surprise factor" has to do with getting
everybody to attend court, even if it's not their favorite part of the Game.
If you never know when you might get an award, you have to be there.  It's
like a raffle where you must be present to win.

This is important, because court is arguably the one SCA activity that most
requires a crowd.  You can fight a very satisfying duel without an audience,
but it takes a certain critical mass to shout "vivat" convincingly.

If we did away with surprises, would the common people begin to drift away
from court?  "Oh," they might say, "there's nobody I know getting an award,
so I'll go take a nap before feast."

Or would the opposite occur?  Would people who would otherwise be busy
elsewhere make an extra effort to show up and cheer their pals?

I can't begin to guess, but it's something to think about.

Your servant,

Charles Fleming


> -----Original Message-----
> From:	David W. Dodge [SMTP:bjornfrie at cox.net]
> Sent:	Monday, April 21, 2003 6:10 PM
> To:	Merry Rose
> Subject:	[MR] Re: Secrecy
>
> I've been following this thread and have noticed that the majority of the
> respondents already have an award at the Kingdom level (not all, but
> most).
> So it seems to me that those best served by this discussion aren't voicing
> their opinion....
>
>