[Ansteorra] Why aren't we doing this?
Jasper
captain_jasperc at yahoo.com
Wed Nov 3 06:41:43 PDT 2010
Getting back to the original subject of the original post....on making period
things become mandatory in some type of regulation.
It was mentioned that there was a fear that making some type of "rule" that
everyone, even newcomers, follow a set of guidlines for historical accuracy.
There was the argument posted by a few that this would drive new people
away...being faced with spending large amounts of money on period gear from
chairs to armor to clothing many would simply not wish to participate. My
argument is the opposite in that we drive many newcomers away because there is
not enough of us who care about this aspect of the society and make an "attempt"
at being period or pre-17th century. People hear about this great group who
re-create the middle ages, who relive the days of chivalry recreating everything
from combat to courts. when these newcomers arrive what do they find? Many folks
walking around in t-tunics over jeans, using plastic armor and hockey gloves for
gauntlets, sitting in nylon chairs...blah blah blah. There is simply no appeal
to those newcomers who now have access to the web, movies and so on who can
plainly see that alot of what we do is not medieval at all. I have played long
enough to know that this is just how the society is no matter what kingdom you
are in. Periodness on some level should be a goal that we all at least strive
for in some way even if it is over a period of years. Times have changed and the
dynamics for attracting new members have changed as well. Its not enough anymore
to offer events that serve as merely a place to camp out and party. When people
hear about our dream, that is exactly what they expect. Why come to us if they
can't see that dream imagined? What makes us so different than Amtgard or some
of the other groups out there if we do not strive to recreate our vision of the
dream? I am not trying to change the society, I just believe that when it says
"attempt" at pre-17th century many do not take this seriously. We are not
re-enactors(obviously) we are re-creators of history. We should be trying to
re-create our vison of the middle ages as accrately as possible where ever we
can as we play.
Jasper C.
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