Medieval Games Fellowship

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The Medieval Games Fellowship, or MGF for short, is a premier SL medieval game / sport organization in the virtual world of Second Life. The group accordingly: "fosters and promote the qualities of competitive spirit, honor, camaraderie, and good sportsmanship." and makes available to residents, "opportunities to participate in sanctioned tournaments, all while assisting in developing their athletic potential in a fun, friendly, and supportive environment." The league was founded by Bri McMahon on August 18, 2014. On October 1, 2014, the Virtual Jousting League run by Nyza Stillwater agreed to merge with the Medieval Gaming Fellowship group, and currently makes up the group's jousting division, but still remains its own organization.

The MGF promotes medieval sporting events in melee combat, archery, jousting, magic casting, and horse racing.

Website: http://www.medievalgamingfellowship.weebly.com. Join Group (copy and paste in SL viewer local chat): secondlife:///app/group/6fcc5ed8-4172-e5e3-b1f1-e69a8113444f/about

Establishment & Features
The Medieval Games Fellowship was established on August 18, 2014 as "The SL Medieval Gaming Association" by Bri McMahon and Jotow Resident as a promoter for Jotow's upcoming DVE All-In-One Medieval Gaming System, which included: a jousting list, an archery range, and a melee combat arena, which could be rezzed and de-rezzed on the fly, anytime, anywhere. It was introduced as the Second Life Tournament Association's annual meeting. The concept of a "Medieval Games" event, much like the real life Olympics Games was a vision that Jotow Resident envisioned could aid in the promotion of medieval games and sports in SL.

Shortly after the establishment of the group, McMahon realized there was an absent of a dedicated group devoted to the promotion of SL medieval sporting events in general. Originally the Second Life Tournament Association was envisioned by founders in the past as a group that would aid in the promotion and governing of medieval sports in SL, but had since rapidly decreased its efforts and focused mainly on jousting since 2012. Dissatisfied with the current situation of single sport organizations that currently existed in SL and the lack of involvement from SLTA which was not generally open to all, McMahon looked to close friends who felt the same way as she did in what an organization should be about, focusing less on politics and governing and more on promotion and assistance of all medieval sporting events in SL, with a more focus on being welcoming and open regardless of affiliation or differences. McMahon believed that no single person should oversee a group, but rather, a team effort by many passionate people was needed for success.

In Early September, McMahon and Ricci Juliesse were given group rights to the Jousters 4 Jousting group. Shortly thereafter, Jousters 4 Jousters merged with the SL Mediveal Games Association.

In Late September, McMahon began talks with the Virtual Jousting League's commissioner, Nyza Stillwater, after a falling out from the United Jousters left them both dissatisfied with the current state of medieval sporting affairs in SL. Stillwater agreed to merge his efforts and resources with McMahon's ideals, and as a result on October 1, 2014, the Virtual Jousting League merged with the SL Medieval Gaming Association. On October 4, Bri McMahon, Belladonna Mandrake, Tresha Florent, Ricci Juliesse, and Nyza Stillwater agreed on a new name of the group as a result of their joint efforts and shared visions as well as the difference of the group compared to the inital Medieval Games concept founded by Jotow. Thus, the Medieval Gaming Fellowship was established. Today it still coexists with the SL Medieval Games Association, which still focuses primarily on the "Medieval Games" vision.

MGF's vision is to harbor a more open-ended group format that promoted all medieval gaming groups of individual sport or sports, regardless of their beliefs, structure, or affiliation. To that end, its primary focus is to assist with the promotion of medieval sporting events as well as foster a fun, competitive environment for participants of these sports. Staff is divided into different 'divisions' for the management and promotion of individual sports, which all links back to the group as a whole. These staff members assist with organizers of sporting events in their division as they are called upon.

The primary features of the Medieval Gaming Fellowship is: Today, the Medieval Games Fellowship remains as it was when it started, primarily advocating for the free promotion and advocacy of SL medieval sports.
 * Promotion of ALL medieval gaming groups (melee combat, archery, jousting, magic casting, horse racing, etc.), even if they are not affiliated with MGF, for the benefit of promoting SL Medieval Sports in general
 * A fellowship hall (headquarters) with group information as well as promotion of other medieval sporting events, medieval sport products, and other medieval sport organizations
 * Standings are calculated based on the Number of Points a participant has acquired (from top 4 finishes) and is then divided by the Number of Tournaments they have entered. Results are calculated and divided up by individual sports and also by involvement in all sports
 * A meta-goal achievements based system, which showcases and promotes a participant's individual milestones
 * A website devoted exclusively to statistics and scores of individual medieval sporting events, with a profile page for every participant, who can then track their individual records
 * Services that help medieval gaming organizers with their events
 * Training classes for participants, officials, and host organizers of individual sports (coming soon)
 * Opportunities for support from potential sponsors, which results in business partnerships
 * A biweekly round robin joust
 * The eventual goal of creating "The SL Medieval Games" - an Olympic-style event to be held yearly, in cooperation with the SL Medieval Games Association