I have recently been discussing options with people about some sort of Award system for Wars in Lochac… At the moment it’s just a very open discussion about ways to get it to work, and how to make it work with as little an increase on overhead as possible…
The idea is to provide an incentive for people to get onto the field at wars other than just the “Woohoo War!” incentive.
The seed of the plan was to provide collectable tokens to the marshal in charge, to award to the winning side, and possibly a number of merit tokens to be handed out by the General in charge for valour on the field. These tokens would also account for points which would be tallied through the year.At the end of the war year, at Festival, the person with the most tokens could be awarded with something like “Warrior of Lochac” or even a fictious rank such as “General of Lochac”, there could also be an award for the Household, or fighting group with the most points.
This is at the moment, just an idea… one which needs alot of discussion… But it could be the seed of something bigger.
I propose that you ditch the intellectual dishonesty of the rest of the SCA award system and just call it what it is: a boy scout merit badge system. Give everyone a clear list of requirements, to make it easy for everyone to game the system instead of just the royal household and a few Aspergers sufferers. Set up a committee to decide on eligibility, so that the bribery and toadying can be directed long-term instead of requiring that the wannabes change the focus of their grovelling every six months. And then stop pretending that you’re reenacting the middle ages and the renaissance, because you’re not.
Alternatively, do the tiny, miniscule amount of research required to discover that the system in period (a) was nothing like the SCA one,(b) is far superior to the SCA one, and (c) can be implemented very easily in the SCA, completely replacing the abortion of a system we currently use.
Not that I have strong feelings on the topic or anything.
LOL… No, no strong feelings at all…
Whilst I understand and kinda share your feeling about the SCA Award system… This idea is probably even more of a merit badge system, and was only thought about in an effort to encourage more participation in wars.
It does have major issues, in that households will stick together at wars… alliences will be formed and the winning side may very well be fairly consistant, which means that everyone else looses, and gets disheartened by the fact that they don’t get to win a little shiney.
I’m not the instigator of this idea… just the poor bastard that certain people come to to get help and find out about how to get things implemented.
Dog knows why, I’m only new.
Yes. You are. And we love you for it, oh useful one.
Also did you manage to arrange dates for the event we discussed, get permission from the seneschal, do a costing of the event, arrange official insurance, not to mention ring the people involved and organize it so that it wouldn’t clash with… oh, sorry got carried away there. Hey, I’m a certain people! *grin*
But seriously, even if the winning side is consistent for a little while perhaps people will work toward improving their own skill/numbers to have a better chance. Anything that encourages more people to fight is a good thing, I think, and the idea of merit based tokens (even ones for effort or enthusiasm) would reward those overlooked by the established system that only notices you if you happen to be standing in their way/shooting them in the faceplate/not wearing the correct chemise with your first attempt at garb, etc, etc.
No stromg feelings here either, of course.
For many years, Master John of the Hills sponsored the Best Looking War Unit prize on the Rowany Festival battlefield. He was the judge, and the prize was a case of good cider, I believe. Recently he announced that he was discontinuing the prize. Why? Because even the worst-looking war units now look so much better than the first few winners did twenty-odd years ago, so it seemed that the prize had achieved its goal and was no longer needed.
That is the sort of merit badge you want to promote. Sponsorship, patronage and concrete rewards for concrete results — it’s all perfectly medieval because that’s how human nature works. Creating yet another titled order is exactly the wrong way to promote excellence.
Or do you believe that Mistress Finn, to pick a recent example, did all the work she’s done for so many years because she secretly burned to become a Pelican? Did I run all those bardic circles because I wanted an A&S award? Did you make baronial coronets because you’re angling for a Laurel? Not a fracking chance! The awards are not an incentive (because they have no objective value), they’re just barely adequate as a recognition (because they’re given out far more rarely than they would be if they were) and they’re utterly useless as a medieval re-creation.
New Awards: Just Say No.
>New Awards: Just Say No.
Sing it brother!
Oh… I think I phased that wrong Mr Bat… There’s no Titled Order… Just an unoffical title.
The people in question don’t actually want to take ownership of the award. Which is a shame, because I think thay would make it so much better. They however don’t think it would fit in with the SCA as it currently works.
Thats what these discussion are for.
I like getting your feedback.
If it’s an award, it’s a titled order. They’re the same thing. If it’s not a titled order, ie not given by the king and recorded in the Canon’s database, then it’s not an award but a token, and I don’t object to those.
Personally, you’ll never beat the greatest unofficial award ever created, Clan Womble’s famous and legendary Order of the Cloved Tim-Tam…