A/C Forum Issues

[ewtaylor]

Do YOUR OWN RESEARCH FIRST. If you can't find it then go to the A/C forum and use the SEARCH function. About 90% of the questions asked over there by newbies have been asked before. The A/C forum is about trying to portray the common citizen and soldier during the War Between the States ACCURATELY. My personal knowledge of mainstream groups is research is done very little by individuals. Most rely on passed down reenactorisms.
This is a very fine forum for reading the hundreds of posts debating whose event was best or how many rounds can I get out of my pound of powder, but for true research on soldiers' equipment and CAMPAIGNING methods the A/C site is the best.
ew taylor

[MStuart]

My 2 cents.

I look at the A/C forum as an exclusive club. As advertised, it's for the authentic, no if's, and's, or but's. As such, it's frequented by some of the most authentic reenactors in our hobby and they pretty much know each other from event/s past. It's a tough club to break into as the vast majority have years of experience of working and playing together, along with a whole lot of research they have either done themselves or shared with each other. Right or wrong, the "new guy" is looked upon with a little bit of suspicion when he begins posting ("who is this guy?", etc.). If the new guy doesn't measure up, i.e. know what he/she is talking about, in their posts, they may be ignored or, as with the less mannered, chastised as one who just hasn't paid their dues yet. I see this as more "mainstreamers" join up and begin posting. Think of it as a group of highly experienced professors who have a web forum where they can discuss things they have in common (such as the square root of pi or e=mc2) and then some new guy joins up who may have graduated algebra I, or may not, and says he wants to join up and shoot the breeze with them. The old professors may let him play in their reindeer games, or they may not....depending on what they perceive as their impression of the guy/girl. We tend to do this in the police profession, i.e. "kid, until you get some shine on those trousers, shut up, look, and listen". That doesn't make it right, but it's the way it is.

Best analogy I've got right now

Mark

[Jamie Rife]

With all due respect, this is a problem since your idea of what the A/C forum is and what a number of others in that same community say it is is totally different. You're saying that before anyone should post there with a basic question he or she should do research on their own first, and if that fails, then use the search function. Or in other words, it's only for the more advanced reenactor who should already know basically how everything works.

O.K., fair enough.

However, I have often heard prominent members of the A/C forum community instruct potential new recruits to visit the site (rather than this one) and have their questions answered (nicely) so that they can get their initial impressions reasonably correct the first time around and not learn the hard way. In fact, in a much hated documentary produced several years ago that will remain unnamed out of present sensibilities, one of the few campaigners in it answers a question about how interested folks can get involved in the hobby by declaring on camera that they should visit the A/C forum to get their start.

This is in complete conflict to what you're saying, especially since not everyone knows how to do research like we do at the outset, and also because many folks who come to a given forum are not that familiar with how it works (including its search functions) and feel the need to simply dive in with a question. When that question is met with either derision or apathy by A/C forum members, then the potential recruits just decide that they don't want to be a part of a hobby that includes jerks like these, and simply go away disillusioned. There was once a time when I used to send my new members over to the A/C forum to get cutting edge information on authenticity matters, but no more since there are just too many sharks in those waters.

As for the moderators, and in reference to another post I saw on this thread, yeah, there is one over there who is particularly nasty and needs to be exiled. I'm not sure if he is still there or not since I haven't been to the A/C forum in a while, but he was definitely part of the problem the last few times I visited the site.

More .02

[RJSamp]

Zactly...

and they even break your rule from time to time and come running over here for research...

http://www.authentic-campaigner.com/...8&page=4&pp=10

is a classic. Guys spouting off about it's not in Hardee's....I've only heard about it happening at Chickamauga.....

Turns out that it's a tactical drill that's been used for centuries....and was used in tight spots in the ACW....

but when you read through the threads you find Authentic's jumping on Authentic's..... including a Moderator trying to shut down the thread and move on.....even though it's an authentic documented tactic that was used IN COMBAT.

Yep, love the attitude over on the AC.

Speaking of Research...have you figured out where they've learned how to use buglers? And just what call was 'First Call' (and it wasn't Assembly of the Buglers).

RJ Samp

[flattop32355]

Originally Posted by Radar

I don't think you put the AC forum down, you were stating fact. I've seen it happen. Someone asks a question (to learn something) and the response is rather, look it up dumbie and they are chastized for asking a stupid question on "THE FORUM". They are treated as if they should already know better.

There's an interesting concept: The Stupid Question.

I would submit that rarely, on either of these two fora, is a Stupid Question asked. Nor are there Dumb Questions asked. Rather, there are Ignorant Questions asked.

The dumb folks aren't smart enough to ask questions in the first place. They're incapable of doing so. Stupid folk do occasionally ask, if only to show their posteriors (in authentic terms, that would be "arse").

I believe that nearly all questions asked, on either forum, are from ignorant folk, the definition of "ignorant" being nothing more than "I don't know...". Now, those questions may not be of the "quality" some would prefer, but that's just life as we know it, and some folks, frankly, need to get beyond that and either respond to the Ignorant Question with helpful advice (which can include, but is not exclusive to, the admonition to "Use the Search function"), or just not post on the subject. To feel obligated to do so is just, well, kinda stupid.

[indguard]

I find the "bashing" that some take at the hands of hardkewls at the AC is endemic to their entire hobby for far too many of them.

Now, I know quite a few guys who are solely interested in super authenticity. Some to the point where they won't even participate at a "regular" reenactment and will only do national battlefield sponsored events.

I admire their knowledge and ability. I also don't see a thing wrong with the way they carry on their interest in the civil war and its re-creation. There is plenty of room for both mainstreamers and hardcores in this world, for sure and these guys can pout on some fantastic experiences for their guys.

However, one of the biggest parts of being a hardcore is to display the applauded amount of disdain of those lesser lights, the so-called mainstreamers. It seems even a religious fervor that some hardkewls have to call them names and look down upon them.

Many of them are so zealous to be seen as a "proper" hardcore that the first sign of ANYTHING that smacks of being less than top notch in a poster on a site will be latched onto and used to beat that poor guy about the head with. And it isn't done to better the hobby, it isn't done to further study of the era, it isn't done to "honor the ancestors"... all they do it for is to LOOK GOOD to their pards.

I find it telling, also, that the ones who don't do it as much tend to be the guys that have been around for longer periods of time in the hobby and are older people. The younger guys seem to think being a hardkewel is a justification and proof of their worthiness in and of itself.

I have just ONE question for you hardkewls: Do you think a REAL civil war soldier would have sat around his fire and talked to all hours of the night about the **** jacket they just got from their quartermaster????

No, they would have just put the stupid thing on and moved ON with their life!

AGAIN, I want to REITERATE that I think the hardcore movement has improved this hobby by many, many degrees. Without them we would all have less knowledge about the era we love so much. I think we know more about the war now than we have since the thing ended. And this is NOT due to Universities and scholarly study in academia. It is because of hobbyists. I APPLAUD the efforts of hardcore civil war enthusiasts.

But they are NOT Gods. They are NOT infallible. They are not "better" simply by virtue of their hardcoreness.

And I think that this is what Bob was talking about. I think he was pointing out a failing of the hardcore community, not denigrating them in general. I also think that we all need to take some criticism and this one is dead on. (And I am not saying that I or my buddies are perfect either)

Don't worry Bob. I think they doth protest too much!!!

Warner Todd Huston

Originally Posted by ewtaylor

Do YOUR OWN RESEARCH FIRST. If you can't find it then go to the A/C forum and use the SEARCH function. About 90% of the questions asked over there by newbies have been asked before. The A/C forum is about trying to portray the common citizen and soldier during the War Between the States ACCURATELY. My personal knowledge of mainstream groups is research is done very little by individuals. Most rely on passed down reenactorisms.
This is a very fine forum for reading the hundreds of posts debating whose event was best or how many rounds can I get out of my pound of powder, but for true research on soldiers' equipment and CAMPAIGNING methods the A/C site is the best.
ew taylor

I'm so glad to see you think this forum has some use. Otherwise I'd suspect you're only here to pump up the AC Forum and run this one down.

[major]

This is a very fine forum for reading the hundreds of posts debating whose event was best or how many rounds can I get out of my pound of powder, but for true research on soldiers' equipment and CAMPAIGNING methods the A/C site is the best.
ew taylor

Ew taylor
This is a perfect example of what we are talking about. The question as to how many cartridges 1 pound of powder yields is a perfectly innocent and harmless question. It pertains to the practical aspects of reenacting but you chose to put it down because it doesn’t fall in line with your vision of reenacting. The question was asked and had a couple of serious responses. It is true that a few decided to have a little fun with the subject and went off on an exaggerated tangent about counting, but that was all in fun and no one was hurt. If this question was asked on the AC board it would have generated the same response that you posted and that is what the problem is.

[dustyswb]

Major,

And then there are posts like these, that anyone with ANY knowledge of what we do, would not have asked the question.

http://www.cwreenactors.com/phpBB2/v...ds&p=434&t=127

[major]

Dusty
Here we go again. I read the post and the follow-ups, and for the most part the reenactors that answered this mans post were civil. This was obviously a person that didn’t understand what we do. He isn’t being stupid or mean he just was uninformed. I know that a post like his can bring a smile or even a chuckle to seasoned CW reenactors but that’s no reason to be nasty as can happen on the AC forum. If this post was put on the AC forum the skies would have darkened, eyes would have started to glow, heads would start spinning and lightning would have struck (LOL). Over the 16 years that I have been in the hobby this subject comes up around the campfire every so often. The pros and cons are discussed and we move on to other subjects. I am sure you have touched on the subject at one time or another around your campfire. No need to be mean or put someone down just because they are uniformed.