\"Historum\"; a historical forum like no other...

[Macedon]

Some time ago I made up an account in a forum called "Historum"... [url:1c9xxk2p]http://www.historum.com/[/url]

I thought the community there was quite lively, mostly young posters writing about whatever imaginary scenario they thought of, like who the best ancient general is, what would happen if the Lacedaemonians had fought against Byzantines etc... So, I made the mistake of joining in and actually make some posts in matters I know, like ancient Greece and Hellenistic times... To my abhorrence I was banned for three days, because...

I DID NOT PROVIDE FULL TRANSLATIONS WITH EVERY REFERENCED TEXT I GAVE!!!! The moderator said that the forum rules stated that the posts should be in English and so I was in violation of these rules...

I gave them texts, I gave them the refs to check and some of them I did not translate since I work from the original instead of English translations as most posters do, instead I provided summaries or selective translations of the most important part to support my arguments. I tried to explain this fellow, a moderator called "Avon", that I could as well only give the refs and not the texts, but I thought that the original Greek texts might look interesting to some users and that some of them might be assisted in their effort to find the translation. I sent some post to the administrating team receiving no reply...

As all this was not enough, I was advised by other "older" users to printscreen the texts, make of them an image, upload them in some site like imageshack and then post them as images... They said that since the texts would now be images, the said rule would not apply... I was dumbfounded!!!! hock: hock: hock:

Absurd? Well... this is nothing...

Some days later, when my ban was over, I made some posts, was lauded by all, gave some 20-30 refs all translations, no Greek texts. I also gave them some inscriptions from stelae which I again did not fully translate (long lists of names etc). Again I gave refs, summaries and comments on what these were about. The same moderator deleted them...

I made a post commenting on the situation, proposing that maybe the spirit of the rule was to post the OPINIONS of posters in English and that maybe he should start up a discussion with other moderators to see if they would agree with him. In any case, I wrote I would follow whatever rule they would decide on, take part in this discussion if he wanted me to...

The post read :

"I sent my position to the administrator, to which I unfortunately received no answer. To my opinion, Avon, my posts are in clear English anyways. Giving the primary sources in their native language and reference them is only helpful for those who want to study them or look further. I could as well give the refs and be ok with it. The spirit of this rule has to do with the language of communicating one's arguments and mine are in plain English always. As for the bypassing of this rule, yes, it was suggested to me in the thread you banned me in and an untranslated image of primary sources was given here in this thread too, so, users, trying to bypass this strange rule (at least as you interpret it), do first printscreen, then paste the image in some image editing program and then post the image of the text instead of just copy pasting the text, which would just save them time and have the exact same effect... I urge you to converse with your fellow moderators and us in some thread regarding primary sources. Stating my opinion in Arab is one thing and giving a primary source in its native language and then reference it so that anyone could find the translation (do not forget that not all of us use translations of primary sources) is the standard thing to do. Again, if you and the other users here find it preferable for me and any other user here to just say "As Plato said in xxx.xx.xx ref instead of giving the ref and the Greek text, I can do it not as but more easily. Will it be to the forum's benefit though? Is my inclusion of the text inhibiting or helping, when I just could give a bare ref? Think about these things Avon and if you want, as a moderator, start a relative thread in which I will be happy to participate. "

Now, one would think that the moderator would give some kind of reply... he did...

He banned me for 10 days because I questioned his original ruling... ASKING for a DISCUSSION got me banned... What is very sad, is that this forum is very lively and has thousands of users... maybe some of you also have accounts there? Now, am I crazy here? Is this usual in forums?

[Dithrambus]

Sounds ridiculous to me, I'll stick with RAT. 8)

[Titvs Statilivs Castvs]

Well, it seems quite usual in forums with rather, as you call them, "young posters". Do you have an idea of the age of the moderator? Chances are big he's 14 or 15, and just wants to show his power. Kinda like the idea of "I have the power, I HAVE to use it and show what I'm able to".

It's quite funny actually your story. :lol: Do as Dithrambus, and stick to RAT.:-P

[Robert Vermaat]

I've seen similar discussions on Wikipedia. Discuss and they ban you. Talk back and they ban you longer. React in anger and they block you. I think it has indeed to do with power; 'my way or no way".

[Macedon]

Well, the forum is indeed extremely populous and although the moderators do not seem like 14 year olds they certainly act like some though... I tried to bring this matter to the attention of other moderators but in the end, I was more like presented as one of those overdramatising, evil users who for some unspeakable reason attack the good and righteous admins. Although 4 moderators barged in, no one investigated the issue, no one even commented on my real complaints and accusations, no one visited the thread. They just stuck together, as good moderators do, were lauded by some "old" users, who of course also did not look into the issue and that was it. I requested my account be deleted (since there is no such right in the user panel)and even to this they replied that "deletion of accounts is against the forum's policy"... Anyways, now that we have our forum back I can only say "Home, sweet home!"

[Vindex]

Perhaps the Moderators are related to the Ptolemies, or the Julio Claudians for that matter!

[Dithrambus]

"deletion of accounts is against the forum's policy"

Really? Perhaps you could request a lifetime ban? :lol:

[Astiryu1]

2 words "involuntary exile":grin:

[Dan Howard]

I've been looking at a few threads over there. Apparently their definition of a source is to cut and paste from wikipedia. I'm not sure why you are worried about being banned. It's like complaining that you can't get a ticket to a synchronised swimming event

[Ghostmojo]

There's another forum called Fanaticus Forum which I used to be a member of.

There were some changes on that forum a few years ago, I lost my login and never managed to get back in. I emailed them about it but never got any response ...