Opinions Needed - Splitting Opiate Discussion Off From OD Into A New Forum

[Shambles]

I should also point out that 6 active OD staff have not voted yet (myself, leftwing, djsim, Unknown, Shambles and Phrozen)

*cough* Rogue Robot *cough*

OD handles the topics concerning opiate use quite well, but it is a subject that goes deep and is one that tends to flood the forum with questions, making other threads dissapear. I think it would be a very active sub-forum and make OD more able to address all the other drugs, which is quite the category in itself.

As it is, in the first two pages alone in OD, over 1/3 of the threads are about opiates (not to mention the opiate threads which are moved to BDD).

I think this is a good point. The sheer volume of opiate-specific posts is one thing that may be in favour of a split OD. On the other hand, I can see the possible polydrug-user drain effect Tathra and others have suggested. Not so sure I'm convinced it would be a significant effect in the grand scheme though. I suspect most knowledgeable members would read and post in both forums (and hopefully many others too .

We don't need more modsticks in the sausage fest.

Are you insane?!? There's never enough soft baps to keep the sausages cosy and comfy. Can't have sausages without baps - sossie butties ftw

 

[drapedup]

I feel that while there is enough opiate discussion to warrant it's own forum but OD would be a shell of it's self in a sort without it. It's the majority of traffic so if it was split OD should be renamed to list the drugs that are discussed there. I'd be down to see a split but only if certain criteria were met to ensure OD remains a good resource and frequently visited.

In my opinion OD may as well be an opiate forum in the first place. I don't think that making a new independent opiate thread is going to hurt the overall traffic of BL. I think it will actually increase traffic overall. I voted for the split.

 

[cosmic charlie]

I'd mod the opiate road show

lets spread love cross the planet

 

[soldierkahn]

I personally think that splitting them up would be a great idea, mainly because i hate having to sift through so much other "garbage" to find the threads on my favorite topic, opiates.

 

[sixpartseven]

*cough* Rogue Robot *cough*

Ahh! I feel like an asshole now. I swear I included her.

I apologize RR Still love me?

 

[sixpartseven]

THANK YOU.

It would be 2 forums of clutter.

If you don't believe me, visit BDD!

Why do you think it would be another forum full of clutter? Also, did you read my post about forum clutter? It happens no matter what, and should never be a reason to hold us back from branching out into new forums.

I personally think that splitting them up would be a great idea, mainly because i hate having to sift through so much other "garbage" to find the threads on my favorite topic, opiates.

This is the perfect argument for a split. All the members who post in OD purely for the opiate threads would have a place to go where they can avoid the other topics. The "poly-drug posters" would visit both OD and the new ODD (titled ODD by phrozen, so that's what I'm calling it from now on), and those who don't care about opiates at all would stay in OD.

Now, I know I'm going to see a lot of posts saying "poly-drug users would not want to post in both," but my argument to that is, why not? I guarantee you these members post in other forums besides OD, so why couldn't they also post in ODD? Is it really that hard to make one click of the mouse to move over to a sub-forum of the forum you are already in?

Also, we're going to see arguments saying "but what do we do with poly-drug posts? Which forum would they go in?" The answer to that is: whatever the primary focus of the thread is.

For example, if someone says "How much xanax can I safely take with heroin?" the primary focus is heroin, so it would be posted in the opiate forum.

If someone says, "Would heroin be a good drug to use during the comedown from cocaine?" the primary focus is cocaine, so it would be posted in OD.

I know there will be some threads where it isn't clear, but that's what we have human moderators for. They are able to use discretion and make decisions on things with no clear solution. Whatever forum they feel it fits best in is what forum they would put the thread in.

But that doesn't even matter, because if opiate discussion is a sub-forum of OD, then we could just make a general rule that poly-drug threads go in OD, and opiate specific threads go in ODD. They are staffed and viewed by the same people, and are technically in the same forum, so to me, it's a really simple solution.

 

[PinK~cloud]

This forums is too packed with opiate questions to be really called 'other drugs' anyway.

 

[triiper]

fuck this idea then we'd all have to go to 2 different forums.

 

[sixpartseven]

^ Are you really that lazy that one mouse click is too much work for you? I can't believe I'm even responding to that comment since it's been addressed multiple times, most recently by me, 2 posts above you.

Come on. If anyone's going to argue for or against this, read the other arguments first, then use legitimate arguments of your own.

 

[triiper]

there will be missing a lot of input on drugs from people if you split in 2 forums. i won't go to 2 forums.

 

[sixpartseven]

You're still just repeating arguments that have already been addressed. There is no reason to think any forum would be ignored if another forum was added.

 

[triiper]

well its simple really. i've done almost every drug available but you won't see me posting in the weed or psychedelic forum. just like most people here i bet. regardless of what you think, most people will branch out into one specific forum, and perhaps valuable input will be lost. maybe not so much in the short term, but in the long term no doubt. and if you think i'm reading through 5 pages of garbage well you're wrong. just take my posts as i'm agreeing with something already said.

 

[sixpartseven]

But you don't even know if you're agreeing with something that has already been said. How would you if you haven't read it? I shouldn't even be taking you seriously when you say "and if you think i'm reading through 5 pages of garbage well you're wrong." Obviously you don't care enough to read the discussion, so why should your opinion about it matter? How is your post any-more important than the other "garbage" posts you refuse to read?

Just because you won't visit two forums doesn't mean other people won't, especially when the new forum is going to be inside the original forum. It's literally right there in front of your face when viewing the threads you would normally view. It's literally a single mouse click away.

It would be like visiting OD right now and going into the OD Archive. It will be listed right there above the archive, just as easy to access as the archive is. Are you telling me no one goes into the archive? A lot of people do, and I would put money on even more people going to the new forum if it was just as easy to get to.

 

[triiper]

i might not know that i'm agreeing with something already said, but you do. and isn't that the point?

and if it's how you said and opioid discussion would be inside OD, then it wouldn't be a bad idea.

 

[sixpartseven]

^ No, it's not the point. Basically, you just argued against it, but because you didn't know the full story (because you didn't read it), it turns out you actually agreed with it.

So, in effect, you just wasted 20 minutes of our time arguing about something when, in fact, we both agree. (I don't mean to say I support the split, because I don't know yet, but I do agree that it wouldn't be a bad idea to do it as a sub-forum, if we do it at all.)

Maybe next time, you might wanna read the whole thread before commenting.

 

[triiper]

well i read most of the first page and you didn't make it very clear. so you're responsible for 10 of the 20min. 50/50 is all i'll take responsibility for.

 

[sixpartseven]

lol fair enough. I'll give you that.

 

[triiper]

glad we agree

 

[sixpartseven]

Agreed, then.

Ok, I got my Suboxone in me, Massive Attack bumping, so it's time I go through the thread and make a list of FOR and AGAINST arguments.

Expect it to be posted with-in the hour.

Whoever gets to split up the archive, if the change is made, have fun!!!!!!

If ODD is a sub-forum, it would share the archive with OD, so need to divide it up.

 

[sixpartseven]

List of all the FOR and AGAINST arguments

I'm going to post them in groups instead of a point/counter-point format. Please read both groups before arguing for/against any point listed, because most likely, your argument for/against any point is already listed in the opposing group. I tried to have at least one counter-point to each argument, but after you read both groups, if you see that any argument does not have its counter-point, then let me know and I'll add it. Just make sure you read both lists in their entirety first.

I tried to be as fair as possible. If you detect any bias in these lists, it was purely accidental. I went through the entire thread, read every single post, and summarized every argument made. There may be repeats, but that comes from the arguments being made in various ways and me not realizing that they were essentially saying the same thing as another argument.

Basically, don't take any of this as being my official opinion, or me trying to sway the argument in any way. Like I said, if anyone finds mistakes or bias, let me know and I'll do my best to correct it and make it as fair as humanly possible.

FOR -

• There is enough opiate discussion in OD to sustain a forum
• ODD gives members only interested in opiates a place to go and avoid other topics
• Rename OD after the split to reflect the drugs it covers to encourage members interested in these drugs to post
• It could be argued that opiates do NOT make up the majority of OD topics (50/50 split)
• ODD will only be one click away from OD; it will be a sub-forum of OD
• ODD will draw in lurkers who don't like the set-up of OD/are intimidated by OD/are turned-off by the format of OD, and just want to post about opiates.
• ODD will reduce the clutter in OD
• Forums will always have clutter, so citing ODD becoming cluttered as a reason against a split is not valid
• Problems with poly-drug threads would be solved by ODD being a sub-forum of OD. Poly-drug threads would stay in OD, while ODD covered opiates only.
• "Old Hats" like OD as it is because they are used to the format; they know where everything is. "If it aint broke, don't fix it." New members unfamiliar with BL and OD may not see it the same way
• OD Moderators specialize in opiates. We need a forum and Mods who specialize in different drugs. OD and its new Mods would be just that after the split.
• We have different forums that cover various drugs for a very important reason: organization. ODD would encourage more organization of information

AGAINST -

• Opiates are the majority of OD subject matter. A split will reduce OD to a shell of its former self. The 50/50 argument is based off one sample taken from the first page of OD.
• OD regulars and other major contributors would migrate to ODD, ignoring threads in OD because most of them are opiate users
• OD regulars would ignore ODD because OD is a "home" to them
• Those whose drugs of choice are opiates read non-opiate topics based on other factors - post count of thread, original poster, last poster, number of posts in the thread. Taking opiates out of OD would reduce the number of people reading and replying to other threads
• There would be a decline in quality of posts
• Where would poly-drug questions go?
• Don't split opiates off, but split OD into Uppers and Downers instead
• Creating a new forum for opiates would just be creating another forum full of clutter