[Ansteorra] the Attack of the "Authenticity Police"
Scott Barrett
barrett1 at cox.net
Tue Jul 12 23:45:47 PDT 2005
I have a question. Who are they? Where are they?
For fifteen years I have called Ansteorra home, yet I've resided in
Caid, Drachenwald and visited Ealdormere, the East and the Outlands.
I've played for what I consider to be a reasonable amount of time, so I
feel confident in stating that I understand how the majority of this
Game works.
Since I began I have heard of these people, these authenticity police,
mavins,... some are even so outraged that they call them Nazi's. I've
heard about this dread conclave of Tolkeinesque tyrants since my first
event, and yet I have never encountered a single person who thought
that their task was to attack other members of the society concerning
historic accuracy. I've met some who have said they like history (it's
a medieval enthusiasts group, so no big surprise there), some who try
to lead by example, some who like to discuss what is understood about
medieval life and some who offer to help those interested in focusing
more on their time period of choice.
I have even met some who have figured that authenticity IS fun, they
just had to try it in order to discover this.
Yet I have never in my life met authenticity police, or nazi's or
mavins or whatever. In fact, in this thread alone, a conversation, a
discussion, an open exchange, someone pointed out that "troll" was not
exactly a documentable name. Well, okay, true enough, what were other
names? Could "troll" be justified? Who likes troll and why?
No one suggested shunning pro-trollers or bombing Planned Trollhood
clinics, it was just a topic of discussion. Now people are discussing
authenticity and fun like they are two separate things (weird for a
history-focused club, ya gotta admit) and they are decrying control and
police and 'my camp' and the Peerage influence in media, the rise of
authenticity while household values are ignored, whether we were lied
to about "Creative Anachronism" or the protection of Corpora from
activist BOD members...okay, well, it's not that bad, but I still see
some over the top reactions here.
I never see authenticity police. I do see people not wanting to even
discuss history. In fact, I see people threatened by discussing history
or anything medieval, usually while standing in tunics and wearing
daggers on their belts.
If you think folks who dress as Klingons and go to cons are odd,
imagine meeting one who has no interest in Star Trek and is offended if
you try and discuss it with him. That would be creepy,
they-know-who-you-are tinfoil creepy, the kind of thing that makes you
wanna buy pepper spray and and an irritable dog.
So I'll discuss any topic I like, thanks, but I'll do us both the
favor of staying out of your camp.
~Finnacan
On Tuesday, July 12, 2005, at 11:59 PM, george basore wrote:
> You see, the "authenticity police" don't care about
> authenticity, that is just an excuse to get you to do
> things their way. The issue is CONTROL, they are
> control freeks! This whole HOORAH is an excuse to
> make others bend to their will.
>
> I have a piece of advice for all "authenticity
> police". Do NOT expect to win if you enter MY camp.
>
> Ship's Captain "Black" Robert Haddock
> Incipient Canton of River's Run
>
>
>
>
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