[OOC] The Masquerade Ball

Thought I would post this here, as a highlight of the history of such events.

GRR Martin has said on many occasions that he based GoT on 15th Century Europe.  The Masquerade Ball, and similar nights of decadence have been recorded as early as the 9th century, in part a reaction to the increasing influence of the Roman Catholic Church.

http://all-that-is-interesting.com/masquerade-ball-history

The formal Masquerade Ball as we understand it today is actually a 18th century evolution.  However, with events like Mardi Gras in New Orleans, the practice has much returned to it's origins.

I actually like the setting of a masquerade in video games. Often though outside of the story it provides only flavor for gameplay, except in the case of Dishonored. I'd love to see a Bioware game implement it and get creative with writing dialogue.

In general, I like the idea that a player's goals overlap inevitably with a polite party of some kind, and they have to play "the grand game" (Orlesian term) while attempting to accomplish their goal or thwart the enemy's. The idea of crashing a party for a hidden agenda is very exciting. It's kinda like stepping into the villain's shoes for a bit of cloak&dagger, but with refreshments. And the small picture of the oblivious masses who worry far less about you than their daily struggles and joys is the icing on top.