[Elfsea] The Future of Elfsea Defender

[Stefen and Rhonda Hays]

Medb Liath here,,,and like Arabella, I have opinions.


> 1) What would you like to see as a 'theme' for Elfsea Defender?
>
Like what Darius said, we have a theme, let's celebrate it.  We have a full
day of tournaments to choose our Defenders, let's not take away from that
with too much else.  After court activities, like a feast or ball or
whatever are great, but don't crowd the day.  Rixende makes a good point.
Let's have some sort of silver party.  We work all week, come home, pack up,
drive, set up, don't sleep, try to do everything, don't sleep, tear down,
get home and the car "burps" and leave for work Monday morning exhausted
with tons of laundry and the contents of the trunk, back seat and trailer
everywhere.  Having more emphasis on the tourney, on having your list field
pavilion be a place of medieval wonderment, on being able to talk and
socialize and relax while we watch the tourney and not worry about which we
are to give up, court or dinner because there is just one more thing to do,
that would be a good thing.
>
> 2) Would you personally be willing to coordinate a project for an event
over
> 8 months in advance?
>
> This sounds flippant, but I am not trying to be a smart #$%.  What could
possibly take that long to do, aside from a culture camp?  What kind of
project?  If it is something like lots of hand made art, like prize scrolls
or the like, then sure.  But aside from commissioned art work and finding a
new site, what could be attached to an event that would take that much time
and energy?  After autocratting one event and seeing Daire and Bice do
another, most of the folks who were in charge of things were able to get
their acts together in a relatively short amount of time.  The scrolls,
prizes and other hand made items had to be started well in advance and the
ads had to be done early.  Even Arabella's amazing prize baskets didn't take
8 months of shopping.

> 3) Would you be willing to see how we choose our Defenders change? (i.e.
> Retire the Reverse OP challenge/Swiss 5 format)
>
> No change in the format.  There need to be a few traditions, things that
you can count on.  Every new fighter needs to be able to walk to the front
of that line and gain word fame.

Every fighter deserves five fights.  All of those rhino-hiding stick jocks
out there who are sword and board sharks have to pick up a weapon that they
are not necessarily that especially good at.  Kind of evens out the playing
field a bit and keeps fighters in the game longer.  It also allows for
expertise in other areas to develop.
>
> 4) Would you be willing to see a judged tournament, where wins and losses
> alone do not dictate who the next Defender is?
>
> Every now and then, we need to remind ourselves that we are "medieval."  I
saw this one shirt..not as it was, but as it was meant to be.  Nice
sentiment, but if we change too much of a thing to suit our modern
sensibilities, we no longer have it, but something else in its stead.  The
Pas, so popular of late, was only a part of the time frame that we cover as
in period.  They are a great show, develop those parts of our game that have
been sorely lacking, but in the end, I want my defender to big the biggest
baddest fighter I can line up behind and be able to use whatever weapon is
handy.  In the middle ages, might was right, no matter how much we don't
seem to like that concept.  I am fairly confident that in this Kingdom there
are enough knights able to cure any serious case of rhino-hiding.  There is
always someone who can hit just a little harder and any good list
mistress/master can very often make sure that symptoms of this dread disease
are kept in check.

> 5) Would you be willing to see Elfsea Defender move from it's current area
> on the Calendar? Is there a time of year that might be better?
>
> I like September.  Weather is more predictable that October.  Knowing that
you can count on this event being on this weekend is a good thing.  Allows
for people to plan vacation time, if need be.
>
> 6) What is one thing you miss from Defender's past that you would like to
> see return, and would be personally willing to work to see return?
>
> One year, there was this really cool ladies pavilion.  The fighters, or at
least the ones who knew what they were doing, would come by after their
bouts, larghesse was given out, it was wondrous.  Bards came by to share a
story or two.  It was great.  We ate, we drank, we socialized, we met new
people, we learned about the courtly graces and what "persona" actually
means in terms of actions, not words.

> 7) What is the most fun tournament you've personally witnessed/fought-in
> within the last year?
>
> Namron was fun, in spite of the rain, Defender was good, Bonwicke's
Twelfth Night and Champions was good.  I really liked watching the Gothic
War three man melee team.  These were all hotly contested, had tons of
really good bouts and much chivalry.  Most importantly, the fighters got to
fight and it made the long trip worthwhile.
>
> > I know that these comments are prejudiced by the fact that I am a
fighter's wife.  We have events for artists, every event is an opportunity
to serve, and the tournament is the time to fight and show one's prowess on
the field.  I like Pas's, don't get me wrong, but some of the tournament
companies are of a very limited time frame and having this as a qualifier
could dissuade fighters from competing and not attending the event.

In the end, I would like to suggest that we keep our events clean and
simple.  Have a tournment, just a tourney, do it well, make it the focal
point.  Allow people time to relax and enjoy this game we play.  Provide
some sort of social outlets for after court.  Bardic's at this house hold's
campsite, hafla at this location.  Eat, drink, enjoy and leave the stress of
mundane life somewhere else for that brief weekend.  If we want to have a
Pas, then let's have a Pas, but not at Defender. Springfaire is a great time
and event for a Pas and we could make a really really big deal of it.

medb liath