[Mid] Reform and problems

Greetings to all who walk the bridge.

In her post, Midori addresses some serious problems that have cropped up
in the Society over the past few years (decade?). I wouldn't call myself
an Auld Fart, as I am only 27, but I have been in the Society since I was
14. I have seen a lot of the same things as the Society has changed
around me.
1) Size: when I joined, the Incipient Shire of Strikkenwoode had about 15
members tops. We were all pretty close knit, and about 6 of the core
members shared a house. There were no real cliques, as we had to hang
together to make the group work. Even in that small shire, over time, the
dynamic changed as the group grew to about 30 members. I suppose that
this is inevitable.
2) Courtesy: _LACKING_ I have seen SCA folk treat each other in ways the
past few years that if my parents had seen when they consented to let me
join and travel to events, they would have never even let me speak to
someone in the Society. Members of my household and I have discussed this
one before. I have seen an escallation in the amount of snobbery and
disregard for other people's basic feelings that realy disturbs me.
3) Atmosphere: I agree that people don't seem to be making the effort
they used to to bring out the period atmosphere at events. I don't know
why this is.
4) Cost: Through my SCA "career", I have definately noticed an increase
in the cost to play, but I have gotten involved in a lot more diverse and
expensive endeavors. When I began, I was a gopher for a merchant. When I
was old enough, I began archery, with borrowed equipment. As soon as I
turned 18, I began doing heavy fighting, with piecemeal and borrowed gear.
Now I brew and work leather, in addition to heavy fighting. I had to give
up fencing, as I could not keep up kits for both heavy and light. I
attend far fewer events then I used to as well. Pieces of my armor have
needed replacement, but just keep getting patched. The price to play goes
up, but my amount of disposable income I can spare for this hobby doesn't.
5) Awards. It took my 6 years to get my AOA. I was pretty despondant by
the time I got it, thinking that all the feasts I had served, the armor
making skills I had taught, and the other work I had done for my Shire was
not appreciated . I have seen other people drift away for similar
reasons. I am proud of each award I have received. I still like to go to
court and watch someone's face light up when they get an award. After my
AOA, it was 5 years to my next award. That didn't bother me quite so much
I guess.
6) Fun: I was discussing with Giacamo not long ago: What the hell
happened to the Society we joined? We were talking of flirty post revels
of old, of drunken parties and bawdy songs sung into the early hours of
the morning. Maybe it is simply a reflection of the larger society (small
s) that we belong to.

I must also make the disclaimer, I love the SCA. I still find it fun, or
I wouldn't be here. I try to do my part to make it fun for others too.
Maybe some of these changes are unavoidable as the Society matures.
Yikes, I think that this is the longest message I have ever posted to the
bridge, so I guess the attempt to provoke discussion worked...

| Dave Smith / Sgt. Cerdic Blackmoor mystic@indy.net |
| Group Marshal, Web Minister |
| Barony of Sternfeld (Indianapolis, IN), Middle Kingdom |
From: Abbadon <mystic@indy.net>
+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+ to unsubscribe, send a message to
`~-, ,-~`~-, ,-~`~-, ,-~`~-, ,-~` sca-middle-request@dnaco.net with
. | | | | | | | | 'unsubscribe' as its body.
Received on Fri Jan 23 08:15:41 1998