I don't have much to add to the above, a good explanation for your question. When you are into it as much as the folks are who go to all the trouble to be an "original" you're concerned that you "do it right". In other words, it is pretty much peer review and you want to be excepted by your peers. When I attended that Nationals this summer it was for the primary purpose of being "juried" by my peers, to be excepted by them. We gathered Fri afternoon and I submitted the historical basis for my persona (I presented it in a narative form) and documentation for my clothing, weapons, and accoutrements. I was pretty nervous when OT first picked it up and looked at it, then it went to OCB - nervousnes continued, then French Jack - not much better there, I wanted to do this right because I knew they did it right. I wanted to be as good as they were. These guy's do the 18th century stuff where no one has any reservation about telling you to come back on another day, and I valued their experience. On the next day all of us judged each other. I was looking at others who had put as much effort into it as I, and when talking with them began to realize that there were those who were more knowledgable about their personal than I was about mine. Never the less, I am now an original.
So now that I am an original is it a stopping point, not at all. I want to improve upon what I have done. I have since found several gaff's in my material and will be correcting those err's. Further I am expanding my persona of a hunter/scout in the years 1872 - 1876 to an entire adult life, from 1867 (my entry into the military) to 1905 (indeed beyond NCOWS but I have made my persona exactly 100 years older than I am, born in 1849 - so it will continue to grow from a military trooper to a small stockman on the Montana/Wyoming border as I age). You can see there is a fair amount of work as clothing, weapons, accoutrements, and life in general changes. Not for everyone, but it is great fun for someone who enjoys history.
I am greatful OT came up with this concept, I am greatful that there were those in NCOWS with the skill and knowledge to get this started. One more point, I don't think any of us original types have any attitude towards those who don't want to do this. I appreciate the fact that almost everyone in NCOWS enjoys history and makes a real attempt to dress right. Most notable at the National's this summer, I thought everyone looked great!