Goochelaars.com Exposed

[Mark]

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 /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.