You don’t have to be a member to show up at an event-- many people play regularly and don’t have paid memberships.
You do have to wear “an attempt at pre-17th-century clothing”, though, in order to attend an event…but most groups have a collection of loaner clothing so that people who want to try it out can just throw on a tunic without having to provide anything themselves. The local Chatelain(e) (officer in charge of welcoming newcomers) will have all the details (and if you want help in looking up your local group, just PM me!)
The simplest answer is “pre-17th-century”-- there is no start date. The official time/place range also mentions Europe, but in practice it’s a lot broader than that.
No, he’s right, but only at the highest levels. Look, in any non-profits there has always been squabbling and petty politics. Lost of that in the BSA when I was in. You just saty out of the kitchen if you can’t stand the heat.
But look at today’s BoD. All “play to pay”. And the budget and the dues? You now pay $45, 2-3 times what it used to be, and most of the old dues were for printing and postage of a paper monthly newsletter, which is now extra. So, the dues have now gone up X4. What is the money being spent for? Go on line and it’s hard to find. And the BoD is self-propagating, making it hard for those who don’t share the current Bod’s views to get in. Membership continues to decrease due to the “play to pay’ faction, which now runs the SCA. They keep gouging newbies and guests for a “Non-member surcharge” so that their bureaucratic budget can increase every year.
At a local level, the SCA is still fun. Please give it a try. Ignore the high level politics. Stay out of local politics to start.
My bona fides? Pelican, member since AS9.
Ziod, we expect you to show up in garb/costume which is a reasonable attempt at medieval. For a guy that’s not-blue jeans tucked into boots, a peasant shirt or t-tunic. You do not have to be a member, but they will charge you extra. Which is bogus.
No, I agree with you about the financial underpinnings issue (and it’s something the Grand Council, advisory unit to the BoD, is working on).
Still, even with the extra non-member charge going to corporate, most of the events are still a pretty good bargain for a fun day out. Certainly cheaper than most Renn Faires, and with food included. Lochac (Australia/NZ) is used to paying a heck of a lot more for their events than we are in the US/CAN.
Yup, absolutely! My own SCA name is Japanese (Abe Akirakeiko) and my persona is 8th-century (Nara-period) noblewoman, but I used to (and still occasionally) dress as a 10th-century Viking woman in Ireland.
Technically, I believe the purview of the SCA is limited to cultures that were in Europe or had contact with Europe before the 17th century, but that category is a lot broader than most people assume (it certainly includes the Americas, for example) and so attitudes are starting to open up more and more. (Not that this is a recent development, as some of the people at the first SCA events were dressed as Japanese…not to mention elves and Tolkien characters, but the fantasy side of it was dropped years ago.)
ETA: Just to clarify a little bit, the “groups” that do specific times-and-places are informally organized. Official SCA groups can’t and don’t restrict themselves as to what time/place they focus on, although certain groups may have a preponderance of people that like X at time Y. Some events will have specific themes, but you can still show up wearing anything “SCA-legal”.
Well, the “extra” still makes the SCA event hwaaay less than a RenFaire, which charges you “extra” for everything.
Renfaire is for outrageous costumes (both good & bad, sometimes very skimpy) fun but overpriced shopping and food, and to be entertained- but you’re just a spectator.
SCA is for being part of things, and to participate in the entertainment.
I’ve done Ren Fairs too. For a non-immersive experience, it’s expensive and cheap at the same time. It kind of depends on what you’re looking for. If you want to watch, go to a Ren Fair. If you want to participate, go to the SCA.
We played SCA for about 7 years in the early 2000s, fairly active during that time in Gleann Abhann (Southern US). Attained the ‘rank’ of Grant of Arms, I was a squire (martial arts path), my wife was a protégé (service path). Had a great time, met some of the best friends we’ve ever had. Joined when the kids were young, looking for a family friendly hobby. Took a BIG step back during my graduate work, we never went back for a host of reasons, mostly it stopped being fun.
My understanding is that the SCA covers 600-1600AD. Basically, the fall of the Roman Empire through the death of Elizabeth I. Eurocentric, but containing personas of every culture to make contact with mainland Europe in the time period (read: ALL of them).
Internally, it is remarkably like high school. Everyone is a geek, but you have jock geeks, nerd geeks, and busy bee geeks. Same social dynamic with cliques, dynasties, etc. Unfortunately, geeks as a rule are not top of the scale when it comes to social graces, so antisocial behavior abounds. Still, if you find a group you click with, it is a blast. I think the politics have ramped up a bit from the beginning, since there is a perception that gaining rank is the only way to ‘win.’
Also, increasingly, the ‘Kings and Queens’ want a more active hand in the running of the business side of things, and we discover why that was not such a good idea the first time around.
Some friction between the old guard, who joined for the beer and sex, but now have kids and grandkids they want to introduce to the hobby, and the new folks, who are still in it for the beer and sex. I certainly do not mind the latter, but there is a bit of sexual permissiveness that people are uncomfortable seeing in daylight, and a fairly open acceptance of marijuana use (again, not a moral issue for me, but certainly a legal one)
Externally, a lot of the same issues that plague any large hobby/service organization, where one bad apple spoils the bunch. Unfortunately, there have been several lawsuits recently alleging misconduct with children at events, which tarnishes the whole group. The permissiveness mentioned above is a bit of hindrance here as well, since it is hard to sell the organization as truly ‘family friendly’ and be inclusive of the other things as well.
My 2 cents, and I do not claim this to be the universal experience.
Old thread, not sure how I missed this. Will pop back in tonight to comment on a few things and some recent changes that are part of these postings. Barony of Nordwache, kingdom of Caid
I had friends in it years ago and I got to go to a couple of their events. The meals were the best.
Do people still take an SCA name and use it always such that in real life they hardly would know each other?
I think that would be hard for me to be able to “play” meaning stay in character at all times like that and not say, talk about local sports during an event.
Some of the best and worst food I’ve ever had was served at SCA feasts. I’ve also had friends build beehive ovens and cook bread at an event. These days it’s mostly great food as the people who specialized in bad food have been push out of kitchens.
My partner and I only rarely refer to each other by our real names. We met in the SCA so those were the names we were more comfortable with. But with Facebook, I know more of my friends real names and lives.
I don’t know anyone in my Kingdom who ‘stays in character’ all the time. Mostly the difference between me and my SCA self is that I can be my best self in the SCA where I may not be able to live up to that in real life.
In my group, we tend to use real and sca names interchangeably. To make things more confusing a lot of nicknames based on annoying to pronounce names also pop up like a “Sigridir” being called “Siri” for short. I have had several folks ask me if I know “person X” and I have no idea who they are talking about.
We do not play that way, personas are more about consistent gear and clothing theming. Ren Faire is far more attached to the idea of playing a “character”, we don’t. There are no “rules” about casual conversation and even official themed presentations are often littered with present day cultural references.
Reading through this makes me realize I’m a lot less geeky than I used to be. I once seriously thought about looking into SCA but now it just seems exhausting and not very fun.
Depends on what you do. Just come to play, its no more inconvenient than any other camping trip and way more fun.
Getting involved in running the groups, especially at the kingdom level is where most of the drama is. Lots of folks have fun just showing up, participating, and going home without alot of extra concern. I help run some events, and make cast pewter site tokens (when you pay your admission we give you a little handmade pin or necklace that proves you paid.). I got snarled in some local drama which has since been resolved by the removal of the “drama llama” officers that were screwing things up.
I have to agree with drachillix, politics can be avoided by not getting involved in offices. And I say that as a current Kingdom Seneschal. If you can handle politics and let it flow over you like water off a duck, then you’ll be ok.
