[Stargate] The Elephant in the Room

[Thomas A Smith]

Good gentles all,

I have been thinking about our recruiting problems.  It seems to me that in the early days, the SCA was pretty much the only game in town for those interested in "having fun in a medieval manner".  We were the original.  Since then, the number of choices have multiplied:  Ren Faires, Amtgard, Live Action Roleplaying (LARP) groups.  All of these groups put a different spin on things, but I think we are all tapping in to the same general ethos - creating a pretend world of chivalry and adventure.  As a result, we are competing with each other for the same resource - new people that might be interested in our games.

In this kind of situation, it is worthwhile to ask what these groups do that we don't.  Is there some way of making the game more fun and attractive to prospective young members that we can learn from them?  

I'm not saying there is.  Just that there might be.  It may be that the best we can do is maintain our own distinct identity, and accept that we will attract a certain share of the population for which we are the right "fit", and other will go elsewhere.  

I would welcome other's thoughts on this score.  Let's start a conversation.


Yours in service,

Thomas atte Woode (Tom Smith)
Cell phone 281-782-3861
smithfamily at aspect1.net


"Et, et, ðu eart to ðynne"