SD.Net goes Medieval

[Nieztchean Uber-Amoeba]

You know what? All you naysayers are right. Without any goal, any hope, any modern conveniences, we'd all end up killing each other in grossly unprofessional ways. THUS, I will edit the OP, but I will also post my new addition here for consideration:

NEW GOAL AND INCENTIVE: The Great Sky-Fairy has sent you back in time with a goal in mind: Improve the past while keeping as many members alive as possible. The greater advances in technology, the bigger a peaceful empire, whatever new philosophies lead to a revolution in thought all count. If you manage to successfully accomplish these things, you're reverse-aged back to whenever you left Kansas, back to where you were, with a cash bonus based on how well you did. A big one. From God. Of course, if you die on this trip, or leave the group in tatters, or abandon it entirely, God smites you hard, 'cuz he's a dick. If you die in service of the goal and the group succeeds, you get the Jesus treatment, plus money.

That should help morale problems at least.

[Exmoor Cat]

Gah, moving goalposts! Start a new thread!

[Darth Wong]

Well, that would pretty much eliminate the miscreants and people who would flee the situation. We'd be forced to work together, but I would still expect a lot of infighting. I'd assume a lot of people would rush out to buy history books detailing the kind of advancements that were possible in that era, and we'd really have to make connections with some local lord in order to have any chance of spreading our ideas. A fortress and years of canned food would help too, especially if we know we're on a clock and we don't have to stay there forever.

But I agree with the above post; at this point you should start a new thread if you want to make such a major change.

[Ghost Rider]

See, this is why the motto of the SCA is "The Medieval Ages as they Should have Been" and "The Best of the Medieval Ages, without the Plague and Bad Stuff"

Oh I completely agree with it to. I've been to a few Ren Faires, and actually one large SCA meet. Lots of fun things, cool drinks, and interesting food...with a bunch of people having fun.

Definite good times.

I would love to live in SCA's version of Dark Ages versus what reality was .

If you're free the last week of April, you can come to Blackstone Raids and visit with Nitram and I.

I'll take you up on that...I can use a vacation around that time anyways.

As for the new goal, well it'll keep some morale issues in line because like Amoeba pointed out, incentive. One thing of note, is well...a great many of us will die....badly, and in likely nasty fashion but we get a ressurection clause which will lead more then a few of us into a rag tag defense.

[Tolya]

LOL. Is that a joke? Because if it isn't, then the OP specifies all members teleporting into one village city.

Yeah that was a joke. I was writing this in a hurry and forgot to add emos.

Anyways, we are a bunch of people who are dependent on our modern civilization for survival.

Imagine having to hunt down a deer, strip it to pieces and prepare food. I would puke at the mere sight of a massacred animal's interiors and would probably lose my apetite for the rest of the day.

Also, imagine catching a cold. Today you just go to your medical cabinet, take a pill and forget about it.

Besides, we would require ruthless people to act as our warrior group, to raid and enslave other villages (it would probably enslave or be enslaved). Even Shep would not probably be sufficient, as there would not be any war equipment (preferably nuclear) to choose from.

In short, I agree with DW that it would be a prolonged death sentence for all the reasons listed by other people.

[KrauserKrauser]

*Increases public clamour for a new post*

*CLAMOUR*

[GrandMasterTerwynn]

You know what? All you naysayers are right. Without any goal, any hope, any modern conveniences, we'd all end up killing each other in grossly unprofessional ways. THUS, I will edit the OP, but I will also post my new addition here for consideration:

NEW GOAL AND INCENTIVE: The Great Sky-Fairy has sent you back in time with a goal in mind: Improve the past while keeping as many members alive as possible. The greater advances in technology, the bigger a peaceful empire, whatever new philosophies lead to a revolution in thought all count. If you manage to successfully accomplish these things, you're reverse-aged back to whenever you left Kansas, back to where you were, with a cash bonus based on how well you did. A big one. From God. Of course, if you die on this trip, or leave the group in tatters, or abandon it entirely, God smites you hard, 'cuz he's a dick. If you die in service of the goal and the group succeeds, you get the Jesus treatment, plus money.

That should help morale problems at least.

Even with motivation from Q/Wotan/Yahweh/Allah, etc, it still doesn't meaningfully change the outcome. The board is still comprised largely of creatures used to 21st century industrial civilization, including huge numbers of people who will still be difficult to motivate, and rugged individualists who'd be convinced the entire endeavor is doomed to failure, so they'll take their chances abandoning the group, since a fiery afterlife awaits either way. Most will still die from starvation or diseases, especially smallpox.

[Exmoor Cat]

Is it me, or does the level of dependency our denizens show provide a certain air of disappointment, or have I been reading too many Conan novels again? It's not liek these skills are completely redundant, just re-applied elsewhere.

[Darth Wong]

Is it me, or does the level of dependency our denizens show provide a certain air of disappointment, or have I been reading too many Conan novels again? It's not liek these skills are completely redundant, just re-applied elsewhere.

Why should it provoke an air of disappointment? Our society is highly specialized. There is no need for a computer programmer to know how to plow a field, so why should he learn? He has to spend his time learning how to be a better programmer, not to be a jack of all trades.

Same goes for any educated professional; if he's going to be doing skills acquisition, you can bet they'll have something to do with his job. I don't want a medical doctor to be sitting in his office thinking about how he can bone up on his fucking medieval blacksmithing skills instead of keeping up with the latest developments in diagnostic methods.

[GrandMasterTerwynn]

Is it me, or does the level of dependency our denizens show provide a certain air of disappointment, or have I been reading too many Conan novels again? It's not liek these skills are completely redundant, just re-applied elsewhere.

Umm, we're products of our civilization and technology. Any knowedge about living the medieval lifestyle we have would come as either strictly academic knowledge (just book learning) or because it happens to be someone's hobby. But there's a world of difference between developing the skill to be considered good at a hobby, and developing the skill to the point where it'll keep you alive until you are aged and decrepit. It's not as if we'll be able to read books and become instantly adept at implementing the practices needed to stay alive . . . there will be a lot of trial and error, and the errors will usually turn out to be pretty lethal early on, since we'll be starting at an effective knowledge base of zero.

[Jadeite]

All of you people suggesting buying guns in the 24 hours you have in our time are forgetting one thing: the three day background checks.

Those of us who are gun nuts already would be fine though. Of course, we'd all still die of disease and exposure anyway.

[SirNitram]

Well, I've considered the question of making certain useful tools without a tech base before, so I have a small headstart. Need to find plenty of copper wire, magnets, plans for diesel engines(Vegetable oil works. Crappier mileage than true diesal, but we'll actually have vegetable oil. Eventually.), everything on the evolution of steel production I can find...

Oh yes. And maps showing where the iron/copper/other useful metals were in Europe.

I'm still gonna die. But I might just make a few handy toys to protect the others before I go.

[aerius]

May I sit this one out and remain in the comforts of the 21st century?

I'd say she's got the right idea. I'm calling Mike and having him delete m from the board so it'll be as if I was never here. No matter what I do I'm completly screwed in the 7th century and won't live more than a month or 2 at most.

[Elfdart]

We'd be utterly fucked. We are dependent on a well-ordered technological society, and without personal servants, we'd have a hell of a time just avoiding death by starvation, exposure, disease, or violence. How many of us know how to work a farm, seriously? The first few years would be really bad, even if we start with initial wealth. Medicine is hardly our most pressing health concern; clean water is. We're used to getting that by simply opening a tap.

Looks like the summers I spent on my uncle's farm weren't such a waste after all! I know enough about planting and harvesting crops, as well as handling animals to get by, maybe...

Which means I shall rule over all of you! BWAHAHAHAHAAAA!


Suddenly, being chopped up by the marauding hordes of the Prophet, or getting gangbanged by Viking raiders doesn't seem so bad, does it?

[Tolya]

Looks like the summers I spent on my uncle's farm weren't such a waste after all! I know enough about planting and harvesting crops, as well as handling animals to get by, maybe...

I've spent some time on a farm not far away from my grandma's summer cottage when I was in my early teens, but the only things that I learnt there was how to throw natural fertilizer (or more commonly, cow shit) from one side of the barn to another, so I doubt I would be much of help.

But think of it as this: we would be the fucking intellectual elite of the world For the short duration of our lives!

[anybody_mcc]

As someone already proposed , I would head to Moore's Spain. 950AD would be better , because at that time , they were probably the most civilized part of the world, very tolerant to Jews and even Christians with plumbing and city lights, and also kind of friendly to scientists and mathematicians. But even in 750 it would be better.

The problem would be language to be able to sell any knowledge I possess and can be useful for them. Because , like Darth Wong pointed out , trying to be a farmer , ... would probably end badly. So the best course of action in my opinion is to somehow convince Moore's that we are worth some reasonably good living for our knowledge.

[Nieztchean Uber-Amoeba]

As someone already proposed , I would head to Moore's Spain. 950AD would be better , because at that time , they were probably the most civilized part of the world, very tolerant to Jews and even Christians with plumbing and city lights, and also kind of friendly to scientists and mathematicians. But even in 750 it would be better.

The problem would be language to be able to sell any knowledge I possess and can be useful for them. Because , like Darth Wong pointed out , trying to be a farmer , ... would probably end badly. So the best course of action in my opinion is to somehow convince Moore's that we are worth some reasonably good living for our knowledge.

Moors. Or Almohads. Or Almoravids. Anything but Moore's. We aren't going to a chain-tailor shop's corporate state.

[weemadando]

Spain would be an excellent option.

As for what I bring back:
Chemical toilets and as many tanker trucks full of those chemicals as I can lay my hands on.

[RogueIce]

For one thing, we simply don't know about a bunch of our members. It took to page 51 out of 79 on the Memberlist to find someone with a postcount of 50. We have no clue what they can do or how'd they be useful. And no reason to believe they'd want to help at all.

1) Severely cut the numbers back. Rather than the ~4000 registered on the board, many of whom are relative unknowns, take those who are somewhat better known and active posters. I don't know how to qualify it, but the smaller group of more active members is more likely to work together and accept direction than all 4000 would be.

2) The medicine vault is unlimited for those who need it, such as insulin and whatnot. Give directions on application if neccessary.

3) Give us the preptime of before, but maybe 36 hours. And also the ability to coordinate with each other, so we're not needlessly duplicating what we bring back. So some of us can grab weapons/ammo, others canned food, water supplies, and purification, others basic medicine, others convert their worldy goods to gold, silver, etc, things like that.

4) Instead of replacing some village wholesale, send us in as some kind of lords/nobility whatever, and give us a working peasent-class.

5) Give us some kind of implanted Universal Translator doohickey or whatever. Essentially, we can communicate with who we need to communicate with, the language barrier won't be a problem.

I'm still kinda formulating my plot on how to make it all work, but would this give us at least a fighting chance?

If it warrants a thread split, please do so.

[Nieztchean Uber-Amoeba]

Hmm. This whole thing has made me consider starting a new thread with the goals all set out and preptime from the start and your little village situated near Granada. Who votes I do so? It does seem reasonable, considering how great a change that would be.

[General Zod]

All of you people suggesting buying guns in the 24 hours you have in our time are forgetting one thing: the three day background checks.

Those of us who are gun nuts already would be fine though. Of course, we'd all still die of disease and exposure anyway.

Depending on your state, shotguns do not require said background check. Then again there's always modern compound bows and crossbows.

1) Severely cut the numbers back. Rather than the ~4000 registered on the board, many of whom are relative unknowns, take those who are somewhat better known and active posters. I don't know how to qualify it, but the smaller group of more active members is more likely to work together and accept direction than all 4000 would be.

Eliminate anyone who's been on the board for less than 3 months and less than a 500 post count, preferably with a decent signal to noise ratio. That's how things work in the BotM anyway, which works out pretty well. For the most part.

[Elfdart]

Why are we even assuming any sort of unity at all? The board's population is made up mostly of teenagers, who are notoriously unreliable. Worse yet, there is no guarantee that anyone will respect any sort of chain of command. I would expect rapid devolution into anarchy.

We could sell them to Viking raiders or cut out the middle man and sell directly to the Muslims in Spain if they get too far out of line. It's amazing what people might be capable of when push comes to shove. Kill everyone? I think not.

May I sit this one out and remain in the comforts of the 21st century?

Women's rights weren't that great back then hence life would really, really, really suck for me.

You might make your way to Ireland or Scandinavia. Both places were rather egalitarian regarding women.

I've spent some time on a farm not far away from my grandma's summer cottage when I was in my early teens, but the only things that I learnt there was how to throw natural fertilizer (or more commonly, cow shit) from one side of the barn to another, so I doubt I would be much of help.

I had to slaughter pigs and chickens, measure the cornfields, tend the peachtrees and...

... wait a minute, my cousins and I were essentially my uncle's serfs. Shit.

I don't think the actual farm work is the tough part. It's getting a grasp on the crops available, though this might be solved if some SDNers brought potato, maize and tomato seeds with them.

But think of it as this: we would be the fucking intellectual elite of the world For the short duration of our lives!

Unfortunately, even those of us with yokel backgrounds will be full of near useless information for that setting. I do think if people applied themselves, they could get along reasonably well (for the time and place). Surely a number of people here can do basic carpentry. Or know how to do basic plumbing. Or other contruction work. Or have other skills that might be of value to the locals or neighbors. I don't know that an isolated community would do very well, since even back then, groups of people were interdependent. I do think most of us will be able to do something to be of value to one another or the neighboring folk. If not, Sven & Co. will gladly pay in silver to ship the assholes off to Cadiz.

[Exmoor Cat]

Why not run this more like one of the STGODs? Anyone here an RPG player? Ever tried converting yourself to that system?

[anybody_mcc]

As someone already proposed , I would head to Moore's Spain. 950AD would be better , because at that time , they were probably the most civilized part of the world, very tolerant to Jews and even Christians with plumbing and city lights, and also kind of friendly to scientists and mathematicians. But even in 750 it would be better.

The problem would be language to be able to sell any knowledge I possess and can be useful for them. Because , like Darth Wong pointed out , trying to be a farmer , ... would probably end badly. So the best course of action in my opinion is to somehow convince Moore's that we are worth some reasonably good living for our knowledge.

Moors. Or Almohads. Or Almoravids. Anything but Moore's. We aren't going to a chain-tailor shop's corporate state.

Sorry wasn't sure how it is spelled in English.

[Exmoor Cat]

Darth - as I suggested, in terms of applicability rather than redundancy, even if I did have my own land in RL, I wouldn't wish to concentrate on learning or maintaining skills in a wooden farrow plough. However, I can see practical and effective uses of skills that can be considered of origin to a previous period. For example, my mead-making - an ancient skill, one which I am building up form a hobby to a business; same with my interest in sustainable growing of things, to reduce my dependence and current expenditure on foodstuffs. On a broader theme, creative skills surely have their own value, both personally and as a whole? Is it really that satisfying living as a geek stereotype?