I've been playing on the edge of the border of the SCA for going on 15 years now, and attending RenFaire for only the last few.
Differences: (1) RenFair is a huge time commitment. They run for a set period of time and fellow participants depend on you showing up. SCA is more free-form. Events tend to be week-long or weekend affairs, with a few notable exceptions (Pensic). You go if you can. (2) RenFair is Renaissance Europe. You tend to have your character, which limits your focus and ability to branch out. SCA spans nearly 1000 years, from fall of Roman Empire up to end of Elizabethan age (they moved the date, since so many folks were doing Elizabethan). They also allow more than just Europe. I have a friend who does Mongolian, and other who do Japanese. That's a lot of room for movement. While technically my character is 12th century Welsh, that is pretty much ignored. I make the clothes I feel like making, but make sure that the final presentation all matches (ie, everything from the same culture/time frame). Because of the flexibility, I can learn dozens of techniques and switch back and forth between nobility and peasant clothing as the technique being learned dictates. Once completed, if I don't want it there is always someone who can use it. (3) The weapons which are allowed are dramatically different. No live-steel ANYTHING in the SCA. (4) The SCA has an "everybody should have an opportunity to play at whatever they want to" mentality, where RenFairs tend to say "not everybody can be the queen, dammit!" (5) There are few non-participants at SCA events. They tend to be more for-geeks-by-geeks than Fair, which is more a theatrical production than a true festival. Because of this, Fairs tend to focus on patrons and gigs, etc, while SCA is focused on providing activities (contests and stuff) for the participants who show up. (6) There is no "ten-foot rule" in Fair. Thank goodness.
Similarities: (1) Both groups cater to people with a strong interest in history, even if it's just a method of temporary mental escape from the modern world. (2) Both groups have a wide range of sub-groups which allow you as an individual to find your niche group with similar interests/ ideals/ perspectives. (3) You can never escape politics. It's inevitable.
The idea that RenFaires are more "historically accurate" than SCA is, imho, bunk. I think that depends wholely on the fair being attended. I've attending PLEEEENTY of fairs in which participants (not guests!) are running around in bikini chainmail with wings. Pulease. The idea that SCA is sloppy or careless in it's research is also bunk. Sure, there are definitely those who fit that bill *looks guilty* but there are also plenty of others who go to extremes to make sure that every nuance is accurate.
I tend to prefer the SCA to Faires because of the time demand differences but also because I have the flexibility to do what I want to with the SCA, while with Fair I'm being forced into a single mold and I'm not overly happy with that. There is also a HUUUUGE focus in the SCA on the arts, from fiber to crafts, that is more of a minor role in the Fair world. Of course, SCA is also very big into fighting, but it's with sticks and the fighters tend to think "those who hit the hardest are the best" and that's exactly why Miles never fought heavy. He tended to the rapier, because it was a smaller group looking into technique rather than "me bash". He dropped out after a while due to the inevitable politics. Because there are a lot more people (hence personality types) in the SCA, I think the politicing is much worse there but every group is different.
In the SCA, however, there do tend to be alot of self-important folks of whaever type (fighter, craftsman, artist). There are also a lot of sloppy stuff - gold lame' and spandex dresses, sort of sloppy. I tend to hang out with the middle-of-the-road "research it so you can do it right, but don't get hung up on EVERY detail" artisan type of crowd, but I have a reasonably tolerance for other people, so it doesn't bother me that other folks are more or less into the history or spirit of things than I am. Well. That's my take. (tbc)
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regna
(no subject)
Date: 2008-03-20 09:08 pm (UTC)I've been playing on the edge of the border of the SCA for going on 15 years now, and attending RenFaire for only the last few.
Differences: (1) RenFair is a huge time commitment. They run for a set period of time and fellow participants depend on you showing up. SCA is more free-form. Events tend to be week-long or weekend affairs, with a few notable exceptions (Pensic). You go if you can. (2) RenFair is Renaissance Europe. You tend to have your character, which limits your focus and ability to branch out. SCA spans nearly 1000 years, from fall of Roman Empire up to end of Elizabethan age (they moved the date, since so many folks were doing Elizabethan). They also allow more than just Europe. I have a friend who does Mongolian, and other who do Japanese. That's a lot of room for movement. While technically my character is 12th century Welsh, that is pretty much ignored. I make the clothes I feel like making, but make sure that the final presentation all matches (ie, everything from the same culture/time frame). Because of the flexibility, I can learn dozens of techniques and switch back and forth between nobility and peasant clothing as the technique being learned dictates. Once completed, if I don't want it there is always someone who can use it. (3) The weapons which are allowed are dramatically different. No live-steel ANYTHING in the SCA. (4) The SCA has an "everybody should have an opportunity to play at whatever they want to" mentality, where RenFairs tend to say "not everybody can be the queen, dammit!" (5) There are few non-participants at SCA events. They tend to be more for-geeks-by-geeks than Fair, which is more a theatrical production than a true festival. Because of this, Fairs tend to focus on patrons and gigs, etc, while SCA is focused on providing activities (contests and stuff) for the participants who show up. (6) There is no "ten-foot rule" in Fair. Thank goodness.
Similarities: (1) Both groups cater to people with a strong interest in history, even if it's just a method of temporary mental escape from the modern world. (2) Both groups have a wide range of sub-groups which allow you as an individual to find your niche group with similar interests/ ideals/ perspectives. (3) You can never escape politics. It's inevitable.
The idea that RenFaires are more "historically accurate" than SCA is, imho, bunk. I think that depends wholely on the fair being attended. I've attending PLEEEENTY of fairs in which participants (not guests!) are running around in bikini chainmail with wings. Pulease. The idea that SCA is sloppy or careless in it's research is also bunk. Sure, there are definitely those who fit that bill *looks guilty* but there are also plenty of others who go to extremes to make sure that every nuance is accurate.
I tend to prefer the SCA to Faires because of the time demand differences but also because I have the flexibility to do what I want to with the SCA, while with Fair I'm being forced into a single mold and I'm not overly happy with that. There is also a HUUUUGE focus in the SCA on the arts, from fiber to crafts, that is more of a minor role in the Fair world. Of course, SCA is also very big into fighting, but it's with sticks and the fighters tend to think "those who hit the hardest are the best" and that's exactly why Miles never fought heavy. He tended to the rapier, because it was a smaller group looking into technique rather than "me bash". He dropped out after a while due to the inevitable politics. Because there are a lot more people (hence personality types) in the SCA, I think the politicing is much worse there but every group is different.
In the SCA, however, there do tend to be alot of self-important folks of whaever type (fighter, craftsman, artist). There are also a lot of sloppy stuff - gold lame' and spandex dresses, sort of sloppy. I tend to hang out with the middle-of-the-road "research it so you can do it right, but don't get hung up on EVERY detail" artisan type of crowd, but I have a reasonably tolerance for other people, so it doesn't bother me that other folks are more or less into the history or spirit of things than I am. Well. That's my take. (tbc)