Re: Principalities and Population

[Beth Morris <bmorris@access.digex.net>]

Poster: Beth Morris <bmorris@access.digex.net>

Greg Lindahl wrote:
> 
> Poster: "Greg Lindahl" <lindahl@pbm.com>
> 
> > The East should have been spawning a principality every 5 years starting
> > 20 years ago.  If it had done that, it would not be the impersonal place
> > it is now, where 90% of the people don't know more than a half-dozen
> > people from outside their state.
> 
> I'm not sure if I see the East Kingdom the same way you do -- I have a
> bunch of friends in the EK who all seem to fall in the 10% who know
> more than a half-dozen people outside their state. I have heard that
> EK peers have been having a problem keeping up with the watchlist
> because there's apparently less travel, but that's something that's
> made worse by forming principalitites.

I suspect from looking at the Pikestaff calendar (ok, so there are
occasional benefits to getting *every* SCA newsletter) that the 'lack of
travel' you mention above is tied into one of Dafydd's (one 'f', three
'd's! :-) original points about size and travel: if there are equally
cool events 1 hour and six hours away, I'm going to the closer one.  As
population and therefore event-density grows, it is natural to travel
less distance to get to the same number of events (which I think is
another way of thinking of what Dafydd said).  

[There will always be exceptions - people who have particular fondness
for people/groups that are further away, 'special' events such as the
Seven Deadly Sins, people who because of their dedication to a
particular art will travel to greater lengths than perhaps otherwise -
I'm thinking especially of folks like musicians <grin>, rapier fighters
& teachers when rapier combat was just getting going, etc.]

I don't think this is something that's necessarily made worse by
principalities, at least not once they get going. The principality folks
will then know each other and the 'rest of the kingdom' know each other,
rather than everyone trying to know everyone.  If I wore the Crown and
someone from a principality came to me and said 'Hey, all the Laurels in
our Principality think Joe is ready', I'd probably listen, and the
principality would give them (the Laurels, or whomever) a framework in
which to meet and establish that they think Joe is ready.

Having lived in the East myself (although less recently than Gregory),
and having been a pretty regular traveller, I can remember even 15 years
ago having had people *win Crown* whom I'd never *heard of*!!!  What's
the fun in that, if your monarchs are so foreign to you that you don't
even know their colors, their personae, what jokes will be funny to
them, etc?  

Keilyn's two ducats worth....
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