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Note To Self
Sep. 22nd, 2007 12:16 amBe less creepy around the womenfolk - it's not attractive.
Sep. 22nd, 2007
Loyalty and Fealty
Sep. 22nd, 2007 12:17 amAs most of you know, I play in the SCA. Now I mean that in a very specific way: I play in the SCA. I think I play the game seriously, and I do take some of the lessons learned in the game and apply them to my real life.
But it is still just a game.
Not everyone agrees with me on that. Some people treat the SCA as a way of life. Or they take the game too seriously. Or they apply real world consequences to SCA situations.
For example, I've never sworn fealty to anyone in the entire time I've played. There are people who would question my commitment to the game based solely on that fact. I remember when![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
bork107 and justgemma17 stepped up recently as Prince and Princess they made a big point about getting as many people as they could to swear fealty. I was thinking about it right up until the point where they equated game fealty to loyalty. Loyalty and service to the game.
That bugged me a little so I didn't go up. I like to think I contribute to the SCA in my own small way, and I count loyalty to my friends as one of the few solid character traits I have. Their speech suggested to me that unless I swear fealty that means nothing. For the record, I have a nodding aquaintance with both in the real world and I don't think they really meant that - but it sure sounded that way.
So why not swear, if I don't take the game seriously? First, I do take the game seriously, I just don't lose sight of the fact that it's a game. Second, too many people in the game treat it too seriously. I'd catch shit in the real world for appearing to shirk game obligations if I had sworn fealty to someone. I'd rather not put myself in that situation.
I have a friend I was talking to earlier this evening. He's reluctant to swear to someone (though he has done it) unless he's willing to take a bullet for that person in the real world. This, I suggested, is taking the game too far. He can do what he likes for his own reasons. I simply disagree.
To clarify, I don't care that he puts that kind of restriction on his own oath swearing - I disagree that swearing in a game needs to be that stringent.
I've also seen some downright rude behavior in these fealty type situations. A knight yelling "beer me" to a squire and not even saying "thank you" when the guy is nice enough to bring you a beer. Sure, real knights treated real squires like dirt - but in the real world knights were well armed bullies. Our game is supposed to simulate the chivalric ideal of knights in fiction. I suggest that treating your squires as fetch-and-carry boys without so much as a please or thank you fails this simulation. Sure, they may have sworn an oath of fealty - and they may treat it seriously while playing the game - but it doesn't make you less of a dick.
Another example is the rumours I've heard about squires sticking around with "bad" knights because of their oath. Instead of simply renouncing the oath and moving on, the stick around and are miserable. Enough misery and they'll simply stop playing.
Isn't the game supposed to be fun? Is an in-game oath so important that you'll stop playing rather then extract yourself from a bad situation?
I think an important distinction should be made between self and persona. The oath you swear in game is made by your persona - a fictitous character you've invented. If you've decided that your persona is so loyal that they would never break an oath, maybe you should make a different persona. Persona-A can exist in a virtual realm staying loyal to thier oath while you continue playing with Persona-B, who doesn't have to have anything to do with the asshat you wish to get away from.
It's late and I'm tired, so this might not be the most coherent thing I've ever posted. I really want people to come away from reading this with three things:
But it is still just a game.
Not everyone agrees with me on that. Some people treat the SCA as a way of life. Or they take the game too seriously. Or they apply real world consequences to SCA situations.
For example, I've never sworn fealty to anyone in the entire time I've played. There are people who would question my commitment to the game based solely on that fact. I remember when
bork107 and justgemma17 stepped up recently as Prince and Princess they made a big point about getting as many people as they could to swear fealty. I was thinking about it right up until the point where they equated game fealty to loyalty. Loyalty and service to the game.That bugged me a little so I didn't go up. I like to think I contribute to the SCA in my own small way, and I count loyalty to my friends as one of the few solid character traits I have. Their speech suggested to me that unless I swear fealty that means nothing. For the record, I have a nodding aquaintance with both in the real world and I don't think they really meant that - but it sure sounded that way.
So why not swear, if I don't take the game seriously? First, I do take the game seriously, I just don't lose sight of the fact that it's a game. Second, too many people in the game treat it too seriously. I'd catch shit in the real world for appearing to shirk game obligations if I had sworn fealty to someone. I'd rather not put myself in that situation.
I have a friend I was talking to earlier this evening. He's reluctant to swear to someone (though he has done it) unless he's willing to take a bullet for that person in the real world. This, I suggested, is taking the game too far. He can do what he likes for his own reasons. I simply disagree.
To clarify, I don't care that he puts that kind of restriction on his own oath swearing - I disagree that swearing in a game needs to be that stringent.
I've also seen some downright rude behavior in these fealty type situations. A knight yelling "beer me" to a squire and not even saying "thank you" when the guy is nice enough to bring you a beer. Sure, real knights treated real squires like dirt - but in the real world knights were well armed bullies. Our game is supposed to simulate the chivalric ideal of knights in fiction. I suggest that treating your squires as fetch-and-carry boys without so much as a please or thank you fails this simulation. Sure, they may have sworn an oath of fealty - and they may treat it seriously while playing the game - but it doesn't make you less of a dick.
Another example is the rumours I've heard about squires sticking around with "bad" knights because of their oath. Instead of simply renouncing the oath and moving on, the stick around and are miserable. Enough misery and they'll simply stop playing.
Isn't the game supposed to be fun? Is an in-game oath so important that you'll stop playing rather then extract yourself from a bad situation?
I think an important distinction should be made between self and persona. The oath you swear in game is made by your persona - a fictitous character you've invented. If you've decided that your persona is so loyal that they would never break an oath, maybe you should make a different persona. Persona-A can exist in a virtual realm staying loyal to thier oath while you continue playing with Persona-B, who doesn't have to have anything to do with the asshat you wish to get away from.
It's late and I'm tired, so this might not be the most coherent thing I've ever posted. I really want people to come away from reading this with three things:
- I have my reasons for playing the way I do - this post attempts to explain some of that reasoning.
- Play the game as seriously as you'd like.
- Don't pretend that a lack of oath on the part of my persona equates to a lack of loyaty in the real world. Nor do I value my friends less just because I don't call then "brother" in an SCA houshold.
