[MR] RE: Secrecy

[Craig Levin]

Charles Fleming:

> 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.

If people don't enjoy attending court, I think it churlish to force
them. Also, as we currently run things, you don't have to be in
court to get anything-Ghu knows, we'll yank folk from practically
anywhere, to plunk them down before the dais.

> 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.

That's true. However, making attendance mandatory takes the spirit
out of things, I think-see also government-sponsored "rallies of
support".

> 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."

Why? If we made our ceremonies a bit more like period ceremonies,
with a little more show, noise, and pomp, they'd be worth seeing. One
of my many research projects currently under development is a study
of Renaissance court ceremony, an area which is woefully
understudied, yet very rich in the things which lots of people in
the SCA enjoy-flashy clothes, loud music, great crowd scenes, etc..

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

Certainly, whenever I've heard that someone I am close to is going
to get something in court, I've been known to travel a very long
way to be there.

Pedro