Goochelaars.com Exposed
 

I'd like to say sorry to all of our Dutch and Belgium members who happen to be a member of the board in question, as well as to the moderators and other members of the board who overall happen to be really nice people from what I have seen. This thread is specifically on one of the rules of the board, quite recently implemented by its administrator. Be amazed. ^_^

Let's start off by telling you what this whole thing is about. Goochelaars.com (which literally translates to Magicians.. or MagicAss dot com :rolleyes: /immature jokes) basically has a public section and a section only for magicians. If you sign up, you start off as a 'Layman' (from Dutch it could also be translated to 'Noob'; really motivating, as said by some other members on there). If you then send an e-mail with some personal information and upload a personal avatar to your account, you will be upgraded to 'Magician' and have access to the special forums.

So that's exactly what I did, and since almost everyone (audiences and colleague artists) only recognize me when I wear my sunglasses, I decided to upload a color picture in which I wear them. The process of getting the 'Magician' status or being told the reason why you didn't get the status was said to take seven days or less, so I waited for the time being.

Eight days later, after asking about it, I finally got to hear why I wasn't a 'Magician' yet. Apparently, my avatar picture wasn't clear enough. So I decided to upload another one in which you could see a bit more of me, yet still wearing sunglasses, obviously.

First, the only complaint was that the picture wasn't clear enough, but now there were two complaints: that my head was too small.. and.. wait for it.. that I was wearing sunglasses.

So basically, everyone who would wear a mask or make-up and would never get recognized by anyone if he wouldn't, would not get access to the 'Magician' forums without revealing their faces, which to some including me is a true image killer. How does a picture relate to being a magician or not? I really can't see the logic so please explain if you do.

This particular rule has only been active since the end of June (which may be the reason why there is absolutely no clear description on the picture requirements yet). In the meantime, the administrator is now degrading everyone who doesn't have an avatar in which their full face can clearly be seen, even when they are forum regulars and have proven themselves being magicians.

Needless to say that I left.

It sounds almost as strict as the requirements for passport photos!! Sounds to me like another forum best kept at arm's length, or maybe even slightly further away than that! But I guess in this age of "terror" with people blowing themselves up left, right, and centre, you just can't be sure if ANYONE is who they say they are! I, for instance, am actually part of a top-secret "UFO crash retrieval" clean-up squad. Findini is just my cover, and it's fooled everyone so far :cool: Doh! :eek:

I saw through your charade of mystification and wonder. :P

I TOTALLY saw that coming Fin ;)

That's... going a little over board. Everyone has a right to privacy, so they shouldn't be pushing such a policy to people. That's a disappointment :(

Apparently, I stirred up the discussion a lot with my post in those forums back the 17th of July. Meanwhile, some of their magicians have been degraded to laymen for not being willing to change their avatar, while another magician who wears shades just like me still is a 'Magician'. Funniest is that this same guy said that the whole avatar restriction thing is just like a yellow batch.

It's definitely a good Dutch read but the staff is so pathetic as they still continu to degrade valuable members and defend their decisions on this topic like no other. They should really be ashamed of themselves.

To add to this, Mark and I discussed this matter. They told him his avatar was not clear enough.

My avatar displays me, about 10 feet in the distance sitting on a railing at Washington D.C. Airport... Mark sent them a clear faceshot...

Mine is accepted - Mark's isnt... Hmm.....