by Thyri » Fri Dec 30, 2011 6:44 am
I think that some caste standards would be great. But this is my issue with every "offician caste standards" group or university or whatever. What's to prevent one individual presenting their version of Gor to the masses as the "one true gor".
I see this very often with the scribe classes that are presently being offered. I get scribes coming to me saying "Yes but so and so said this in Scribe 101 class". To which I tell them "Make up your own mind. Dont simply repeat what Scribe 101 class told you. Read the books, make your own interpretations, and run with them. Embrace YOUR scribe, not Scribe 101's scribe"
The reason being is that the scribe caste encompasses more than any other caste within Gor (with the possible exception of the peasants). You have scribes essentially from the Kinko's copy man, all the way up to a supreme court justice. Then you have accountants, teachers, and librarians. One set of standards would never apply to ALL of these people.
The problem with the caste as I see it, is that so many expect scribes to be ALL of the subcastes of scribes all rolled into one. My scribe is an accountant. She's brilliant with numbers. She's also pretty much been forced into the legal field as well as of late. But she also plays the kinkos copy bot, a writer, a notary public, a magistrate, a lawyer, an accountant, a librarian and so on and so on.
I just dont see scribes like that at all. It would be like telling a Builder who is an inventor.... go hire a team of workers and draft the blueprints for another cylinder in the city to be connected to two other cylinders that are X distance apart. I know I wouldnt want my cylinder to be under that Builder's watch. Same with a physician. There might be a research physician working on the next latest and greatest serum. I dont think I'd want them performing complex surgery on me.
I think that with the caste of scribes, we try to lump them together much like a warrior. Warriors in Sl pretty much have one task. Be a soldier. Granted there are archers and tarnsmen and tharlarion riders. But the root is there. Fight and defend.
With scribes, its just so vast the number of subcastes involved that one set of standards might not even apply to the Kinkos copier or might not apply to the accountant, or might not apply to the magistrate.
I can think possibly of ONE caste "code" that I completely made up and this is a thyri original onlineism please use it at your own peril. "Anything worth writing is worth keeping." Completely my own invention, and has absolutely no book basis whatsoever, but I feel that it encompasses the spirit of the caste for ALL of its subcastes.
Caste codes such as confidentiality, legibility of writing, notecard keeping etiquette, OOC book knowlege, and other caste codes I've seen passed around in the past, while admirable efforts mostly refer to the OOC aspect of the scribe caste. When I look at the IC aspect of the caste, I see so much diversity within the caste that one set of protocols cannot universally apply like they would with warriors.
I think educating scribes is great. But I think IC education is an excellent tool. Much like kajirae training "Schools" I think that they teach a limited outlook on Gor. And they teach far more OOC than they do IC.
Be very polite. -Flagg RIP 2009
