RE: Festivals vs. Events vs. Holidays

Author: * Seshat Taharqa - 6 Posts on this thread out of 342 Posts sitewide.
Date: Feb 8, 2008 - 09:43

Alright, I am officially attempting to give a damn about this whole uproar about festivals versus event versus holidays. I do not understand why the discussion is happening off-site, but I hope to break it down for everyone so that we can have other input as it affects everyone on this site.

A brilliant mind here at Ancient Worlds, Decius Aemilius, has pointed out that festivals are huge and multi-day big to-do's. That is not a direct quote, but I am going off the cuff here. He also said that an event or holiday are more localized, one to two days events and do not whip up quite the fervor we see during festivals. I am going to go by his model of explaining the difference, so please keep them in mind. *grins*

I think it would be safe to say that a major majority (myself included) believe that the festival mania of Ancient Worlds is detracting from other, more academic and even social (roleplay) features of this site. Many of us were drawn here with the promise of interesting and deep conversations about our favorite areas of ancient history. With the influx of either hosting, planning, running or even playing at the plethora of shiny and distracting festivals that are always going on, there also seems to be a lack of interest in the above mentioned features which drew us here in the first place.

That said, some feel that we need to put a cap on all of this fun and frivolity. First it was a cap of having only one event per world other than Goldfest. Then, it was two events maximum. Now, I believe it is one major festival per world that can be advertised throughout the site and then as many member-driven, world-exclusive events/holidays as the members can plan or execute.

My head has finally stopped spinning and I believe that is what the current consensus is about festival versus event versus holiday. As with weather in parts of the US, wait a minute and it will change.

The saying, "If you build it, they will come." does not seem to currently apply to Ancient Worlds anymore. What we desperately need is a Renaissance of sorts; a revival of ideas, discussions and non-festival posts. However, you cannot make people do what they do not want. If they would rather be frivolous and spend their time persuing non-academic interests, then that is what they will do. We have been hearing for literally years, that it would be wonderful for the groups and other academic areas to see some sort of revival, yet they still sit lonely and empty.

What we really need is for the members of Ancient Worlds - from dayling to Demigod - to take an interest in actual discussions of ancient history. I see some people doing wonderful posts, but it is just regurgitated information. Discussion is very difficult on such posts, as they usually do not ask questions or take an un-popular view. They are more like college papers on a subject, than discussion topics.

I suppose what I am trying to say is that no matter how many festivals there are, they cannot be solely blamed for the lack of other interests in the site. So far, Egypt is doing two events this year. Both of them are mostly member-driven (with minimal help from the Scribes), and yet I still do not have any interest in writing posts or articles because I feel they would be a waste of my time. I do not feel that anybody will reply to them, let alone read them. And I do not blame the sudden interest in Egyptian holidays (which in all honesty tickles me pink) for this lack of interest. It has been this way for, again, literally years. Therefore, until the long-awaited revival of the good old years comes, I do not feel that festivals/events/holidays will go out of vogue.