To Join or Not To Join

[hsifeng]

The investigation begins: I know that several folks who are readers of this journal are also current/former members of the SCA. I have been on a number of ‘SCA’ involved lists (including the GermanRenCostume list) for years – and have been impressed by the level of research and dedication I find in some of the folks involved there.

 

So the question is: What are the benefits of joining?

 

I am very interested in medieval/Early Modern crafts and I suspect I would be able to get a good amount of interaction/input/craft buddy time as a SCA member. I understand that membership ‘requirements’ (participation and whatnot) are pretty much at-your-own-pace. I am pretty darn sure that I can reenact my German persona there.

 

The hitch is this: I have done ‘RenFaire’ for years and am not in love with the whole ‘anachronism’ thing. Obviously there is a wide range of accuracy involved in SCA groups (as there is with RenFaire).

 

So - Is the balance worth it?

 

If I am interested, step two would be getting hubby to show up and not snark at the weapons folks: He can be very personable, but I don’t know how he’ll feel about the rules interpretations vs. historical texts on fighting. Anyone have a fighter husband/S.O. who could hand down some thought on this?

Comments

[dravon.livejournal.com]

*starts my take/perspective/experiences*

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)

[sstormwatch.livejournal.com]

Talk to Meg. She's a fighter, and so is her husband Cedric (who is also newly Knighted, and hence a Noble, after 10 years of working for it - this is a high honor in the SCA, btw, not the "knight whoever for a gig thing, and sometimes it means something" that often happens at faire (at least in the noble groups I am involved with). You may remember Cedric, as he used to do faire with the Cliff Basset's group Azure Cross, and I think he helped develop the CIRGA rules on combat when he was with Cliff's group - as I remember him at Hanford meetings when those were being discussed. Cedric *will* strongly recommend SCA over Faire, as he is a big convert, just a headsup on that.

The local fighters do combat practice on Friday evenings, at the park on Marks south of Shaw. I think it is Rotary park, the one with the skateboard ramps, starting around 6pm or so, I think. I've yet to go, but you can both go, talk to the lords and ladies who are involved, some of the women just go to chat & knit, while other women are in full armor practicing.

Is the balance worth it? Only you can decide. I suggest you give it a try for awhile at the very least. You can go to the events *you* want to attend, go to Baronial Council Meetings (BCM) where you can meet the local people, and find out what's going on, and just socialize a bit with people. I think you and Lady Kaolin will get along well, as she's the big crafter in our Barony (and she loves to share her knowledge). Cedric does armor smithing, as do a couple of other guys. There are upcoming events, which you can attend a day if you want. One is Treasure Chest, at Kearney Park at the end of April. It is the same weekend as Visalia, and sadly CostumeCon (which I will be attending). You could do one day at one event, and do the other day at the other event if you want.

And you may also want to join the local Baronial yahoo group. Most of the info will be on this mailing list. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/baronyofnordwache/
Feel free to join up, and listen in for a bit. The people there have been very willing to answer questions you have, and are a bit of a laid back, whacky group.

[fishnetumbrella.livejournal.com]

i don't know what an SCA group is and i have never been to a RenFaire.
do they have food there? momma likes food...
i'll go hide under my rock now ;)

[bippimalin.livejournal.com]

I've always liked the SCA since it's something that becomes what you make of it. Like for example it could become something that takes all of your time and money, but it's possible to also be something that takes a little bit of money two times a a year over two weekends. Most of us playing SCA here in Sweden fall in the middle between the two extremes.

The most important thing to remember is that it's only a game played for fun. I got very caught up in all of this a couple of years ago and I got very dissappointed with some people. Now I'm back, but I have a different attitude about it, so everything works so much better.

The whole stick jock thing is something I'm not much involved with. I have no fighter and my body would fall apart if I started doing it. Some stick jocks are just that, some are really nice people. Same for the knights and other elevated and not elevated members of the SCA. There's always good and bad people in a group.

In the end, why not try it out? See if it's something you'll like. Maybe the local group are a bunch of morons, maybe they are your future best friends. Just remember it's all meant to be fun. If it's not, quit it.