Sports, Leisure, Gaming, and Gambling

[DG]

iso- i post quite often in drug discussion forums, i was one of the most active people in one particular one for well over a year as well. Your elitist attitude is what stops me from posting in your forum...

Notice that I am specifically aiming my comments at those who rarely post in Drug Discussion. I do not recall anyone participating in this thread (with the exception of perhaps one or two people) contributing to Drug Discussion since I first joined the site, over a year ago.

 

[DigitalDuality]

^
by "cause" i meant the cause of drug culture, legalization, etc Maybe my post was a little idealistic and dreamy.. but anyways.

What damage does having a community hurt? If the community becomes the focus, I understand that damage, but it is not.

there are about 90k registered users on this board. I'd venture to say a couple hundred are alter egos. I'd venture to say ALOT are no longer in use. But what's wrong with all of us having a community to discuss things related and non-related to drugs. I can only see developing a community as benefiticial on many levels, regardless of their relation to drugs.

And not to be rude in the least, but if you don't like a board, you're always free to create one on your own. (just don't ask for technical help in Second Opinion j/k )

But in my 4 years here, you are the only person I've seen advocate the deletion of the community and art section. Futhermore, if we placed a vote on in it.. in all drug forums, and all community forums.. I'd be the total would be in support of keeping them. Even the totals strictly from the drug forums. If you don't like them, you simply don't go to them..and voila, they don't hinder your discussion about drugs.

I don't know of anyone who agrees with all mods (even mods). I don't know anyone who agrees with the admin all the time. But i do know that Bluelight is a great place (and apparently you think so to or you wouldn't be here). Even now, you are participating in a non-drug related discussion.

The point is, we voice our opinions. SOmetimes they get heard, sometimes they don't. Sometimes our opinions get acted on, but no need for us to throw a hissy fit about it when they are not.

Each person, mods in particular, have their own idea of how bluelight should develop. There have been many forum ideas. There have been ideas advocating how stupid some forums are. But frankly it's a great community overall.. take it or leave it.

There's more to life than drugs. And bluelight provides discussion for that.

I enjoy talking about what would be great to add or take away from bluelight, and this isn't directed at anyone in particular, but here lately the bitching, pissing, moaning, and whining has gone overboard. Everyone has ideas and bitch when its not acted on. When new ideas are implemented people bitch. And i'm not saying to blindly just accept everything and be happy. There's alot of people with problems about our benefactor and Catch's decisions. There's alot of people with an infinite number of problems with this site.

Well lets face it, there are a shitload of members here. And no matter what anyone does or doesn't do, someone will feel the sky is caving in and cry about it. If you got rid of bluelight's community... i promise you, Bluelight wouldn't be around too much longer. People would just refer to Erowid, Shroomery, DMTworld, Lycaeum, Poppies.org, Overgrow, Grasscity... there'd be no enjoyable reason to come here. Bluelight is a community in itself, not just a drug resource.

While i disagree with certain ideas (or non action of ideas) on Bluelight, overall i like it. Many on here have created alter-egos here lately to cause a stir up shit on bluelight b/c they've had disagreements about shit. Mods have threw hissy fits and quit. It's just not worth it. Either participate or dont. Its that simple. ISO-- this isn't directly at you, so don't take it as such.

This is supposed to be informative, educational, and entertaining. No one is forcing anyone to like mods, Smods, or admin decisions. You are able to lodge complaints, but i just don't get all the drama lately.

Espeically the drama attacking mariposa, the former drama attacking other mods, even personal opinion conflicts being used to attack a moderator's ability (as a certain bluelighter has done to me). I dunno, no offense meant to anyone, but I'm just really sick of the complaining.

I have even entertained the thought of starting my own board, because sometimes the direction of the site doesn't agree with me, but I never take my personal feelings out about the board on the board. I know i have the ability to create my own, i know if i don't like it i can leave. Its that simple.

I've had threads closed and i didn't cry about it. I don't understand why people complain when threads are moved. People rally up to get forums made, and that's great, but don't expect anything to be created b/c of it. Actions speak louder than words anyways.

I just feel alot of negative attention towards the board lately.. and frankly its grown really irritating. You have the choice to come here or not. You have the choice to accept the forums or don't go to them.. or the board itself. You have the choice to be a mod, or quit.

I would like to see bluelight take on a more democratic approach to things, but with as many users, and hell even with as many mods as we have, i realize that is an exceedingly difficult and impracticle thing to do.

ISO-- i have posted in drug forums probably 2-3 times since i've been here. I now have three mod positions. I've never had one complaint by users in the forums i moderate, or by fellow moderators. There's hundreds of people that participate in each of these forums daily and they enjoy them. Me included. What do they hurt? What damage does it do to bluelight?

 

[DG]

This will be against my support of a sports forum but i will say this, the basis of bluelight in the beginning was drug based and it always will be.

 

[j22]

DD, someone sent me your quote...

just because youre a mod doesnt mean youre the only one who can tell people they are assholes and dickheads. I know you're dick has grown 6 inches in the process of becoming a mod, but so was I, and I've paid my dues around BL long before you even knew what it was. Stop harping on how you're a mod and that gives you special privileges.

You're one of the most bigoted inviduals I've ever had the displeasure of meeting, and I call you out on it, straight up.

 

[DigitalDuality]

^
it still is, and will continue to be so. I really don't think bluelight will lose that focus either. With or without community growth. Not everyone might agree with sky and catch all the time, but they know what they're doing. Bluelight will never lose it's drug focus, and i think that's a good thing.

 

[FoxyKel]

to iso: that is, if i'm not on ignore - just because users don't participate actively in the drug discussion doesn't mean we don't read them. i post from time to time when i have something to offer, but i am well aware of the fact that the regular users know more than i and have more to offer.

personally, i'm often too intimidated to post in the drug forums...

Bingo.

I do not contribute because I feel my knowledge is no where near the level of knowledge that many other posters have and due to that fact alone I find the idea of posting in the drug forums rather intimidating.

I certainly do read them though and I also enjoy the community aspect of the board. I think the community forums are important as it provides somewhat of a "playground" for the posters in which they can socialise and get to know each other without filling up the more informative forums with unnecessary junk.

Whilst I feel the Lounge could potentially be an embarassment to the board, I think the many other community forums place a positive aspect on the board in that the threads that are started and the posts that are made in those forums often show new users that we are not the stereotypical bunch of drug fucked losers, but that the people who make up this community are professional/career people, university students, arts and media inclined people, writers and poets, musicians, DJ's and basically just every day people that they may pass in the street. There is nothing embarassing about that at all.

 

[KemicalBurn]

^^{meant to add on from FoxyKel}

and because 90% of all drug topics relating to harm reduction have been covered and can be found in a search...doing a quick "is it safe to mix mdma and coke thread" is pointless as non-staff will give links to previous threads, report it and move on...utse.

Sure, new topics relating to harm reduction will pop up from time to time, depending whats in vogue at the time (see: GHB in Aus and recent popularity/DOD) but that wouldnt be enough for the site, it would lose its personality in the countless number of faceless drug boards.

Sure, it works for Erowid, but Erowid caters to a COMPLETELY different audience, im not sure if this was the sites intention, but BL seems to be aimed at a younger audience, read. follow:

• Young person interested in drugs
• Hears about this site
• Comes on to learn about XTC first time
• Realises its not as bad as media hype
• Learns about the myths (random one: ecstasy pills have heroin in them)
• Passes on facts to friends
• Friends Join site
• Sense of community starts
• More information is passed on
• Repeat Ad nauseum

They come to learn about drugs, they stay for the community.

(yeah, i realise this ISNT the case with some, but im guessing thats the case for most?)

 

[Pander Bear]

I do not contribute because I feel my knowledge is no where near the level of knowledge that many other posters have and due to that fact alone I find the idea of posting in the drug forums rather intimidating.

Thats amazing, that's the same reason I don't post in the lounge. I find it amazing that there are people who "come for the drugs, and stay for the community". The truth of the matter is that one can't simply go down to a coffee shop or a bar, and strike up a conversation about post-loading for MDMA, how to properly shoot oxycontin, how to extract DMT from mimosa hostilis root bark, or how to detox from benzos. Drug users needed a place like this becuase of the social stigma attached to drugs. Baseball, texas hold 'em, and counterstrike are perfectly acceptable. Hell, you can even start a fantasy leauge, gamble online, or play an FPS online. People who are dieing for new community forums don't want new places where they don't already exist, they want a new place to talk with the same people they already know from existing forums. I find that entirely unacceptable, and I, like iso, wil raise a fuss regarding any new community forums.

Every new non-drug forum, even every new non drug thread or post, is a deviation from this place's stated purpose. The fewer new people we have here who have just come to use the gallery, post their poetry, ask about anal sex, rant about agricultural subsidies in the third world, what to name their puppy, et cetera, the better off the drug discussion (bluelight's Raison D'etre) segment of the site is.

Its not that I don't like community forums. I do; I lurk in almost all of them, and I post in several of them. If given the chance to take them or leave them, I'd leave them, though. When I want to talk about off-topic stuff, I get up from my bed/desk, pick up the phone, or go outside, and find somebody.

 

[randycaver]

^^ while i agree with that - i want to again say that the people who come to this board are more likely than not people who share interests, hold the same viewpoints, etc. for an example: the liberal views that most blers have, people i know in person do not share those. they are few and far between. I wish I knew more outside of online, but unfortunately I do not.

I also believe that very few of the people who come here for the drug discussion even notice the other forums. I was here for a bit before I started posting in them, I posted in PD and OD and lurked often, there and in TR. I stopped because people acted as though I didn't know what I was talking about, because apparently if you talk about a drug few people know exists and you're a girl (i'm guessing) you must be a moron!

I moved on to the community forums, altho I still lurk in those other forums, and help out when I can, but my experience definitely lacks when compared to the new research chems that seem to permeate the forums I'd be interested in. Also, so many people seemed to hate me in the Lounge, so I just HAD to stay. I saw no other choice! :D


also - I agree that new forums that have nothing to do with the heart of BL detract from it - but forums that relate to it are still being added, and more so than ever before. The Harm Reduction Essays, Cannabis, Steroids, etc - are added, and do help the focus of BL. As long as those are added while the others are, it balances.. in my opinion, of course.

 

[FoxyKel]

Thats amazing, that's the same reason I don't post in the lounge.

You don't post in the lounge because you don't have the same level of knowledge as the other people in there? Level of knowledge about what? which bluelighter you would most like to fuck? level of ability to insult the bluelighter that posted above you?

Sorry, but you really missed my point on this one. Should I post something in a drug related forum answering someone's question when I am not confident that my answer is right, and should that person read my response before someone else has the opportunity to correct me, I risk putting that person at harm and THAT is why I am uncomfortable with posting. I leave it to the people who truely know what they are talking about to respond.

I find it amazing that there are people who "come for the drugs, and stay for the community".

I came for the information, and I still come for the information, but I also stay for the people. Yes, I can go to a coffee shop and make a new friend but the chance of that person being involved in the same "social activities" as I am (i.e. the rave scene, etc) is really a hit and miss thing. Throught the community forums in ths site I have made some amazing friends who are no longer 'bluelighters that I socialise with' but friends who happen to frequent the same board as me. I would never ever have met the volume of like minded folk in any coffee shop as I have met thanks to this board.

I find that entirely unacceptable, and I, like iso, wil raise a fuss regarding any new community forums.

If you bother to read the thread properly, you will find that I actually opposed this suggestion also as I do not think that Bluelight requires any additional community forums, I am merely stating that I believe some of the existing community forums DO have a place on this board.

 

[Pander Bear]

^^
there is knowledge requisite for posting in the lounge, trust me. I have no idea who most of the posters are, I don't get 90% of the jokes made by/about posters, et cetera. Other forums have their learning curves: I ought to know something about politics and world events if I want to participate in current events, I ought to know some philosephy before I start speaking in T&A, but the lounge's learning curve is intrinsic, and I feel like, somewhere, I got off the elevator, and its impossible to get back on and catch up. When I said I would oppose any new forums, I wasn't meaning to contradict you; just stating my opinion. I think you, and many of the other community mods do fantastic jobs, and you really do make BL a place worth posting at. I just worry about the hoards of people who have nothing to do with what this place is really all about. (the drugs, not the hard core ass fucking )

My real opinion on where we should go with community forums is this: If there's an increadible demand for a forum, then lets do it, but can we please close the lounge, and just lock crappy postwhoreing on sight?

 

[FoxyKel]

I didn't mind the lounge, initially... but now that Second Opinion has come into play and has leeched absolutely every thread which could possibly generate a decent response that requires anything other that name dropping, I have to say that I too would not be disappointed to see the lounge disappear (save for the fact that should it disappear, I imagine we would end up with a large portion of the post-whores attempting to ass-rape S/O with their crap).

But either way, the existance or lack of existance of the Lounge is not really what this thread is about

 

[Pander Bear]

You'd just have to become a nazi mod, thats all. Shucks kel, its hard to stay at odd with a person so agreeable as yourself.

 

[DigitalDuality]

DD, someone sent me your quote...

just because youre a mod doesnt mean youre the only one who can tell people they are assholes and dickheads. I know you're dick has grown 6 inches in the process of becoming a mod, but so was I, and I've paid my dues around BL long before you even knew what it was. Stop harping on how you're a mod and that gives you special privileges.

You're one of the most bigoted inviduals I've ever had the displeasure of meeting, and I call you out on it, straight up.

I had a long winded reply, but, ya know. I'm not perpetuating your drama with me across the board. If you have a problem with my political views to the point it bothers you personally, feel free to PM me, e-mail me, IM me.. or if you feel what i say is in violation, report me. If you can't handle or do any of that ignore me. Sorry you can't accept differences in opinion. And how not liking Reagan's policies makes me a bigot is beyond me.

 

[DigitalDuality]

Another point i should bring up...

Lets look at three boards.
Poppies.org (3 non drug forums, 11 drug forums)
DMT World ( 1 non drug forum, 7 drug forums)
Lycaeum (4 non drug forums, 6 drug forums)

These boards, especially when in comparrison to the shroomery, bluelight, overgrow, grasscity, etc.. are extremely slow. If someone has an important drug question, it doesn't get an answer, sometimes for weeks (while not moving down the page).

While the more popular forums that do have a well developed community outside drugs, well they are loaded with lots of replies, lots of issues, and lots of advise to share.

A community creates problems. But you take the good with the bad. Frankly i see if the community forums, even the lounge, were to disappear, Bluelight would become almost worthless, even in relation to the drug forums.

http://forums.lycaeum.org/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=14&t=000675
Lets take that thread i created on Lycaeum for instance. I posted that on May 13, 2004. The first reply actually came rather soon. But this thread hasn't left the top 5 position in the forum, not even now a month later and only 11 replies. I browse all the drug forums continuously. Lycaeum definately has some quality replies so i've seen, but where as quality is up, quantity is down. That may be good, could be bad. There is still extremely high quality posting in bluelight's drug forums, yet many more issues get covered. More advice given, etc..

Also, I created a similar thread here on bluelight, that evolved into the question i asked on Lycaeum. The thread got answered quickly. And generally their was a consensus on the replies between the two boards. So if i can get an equal quality of replies here, but faster due to the size of the board (largely attributed to community AND drug forums), looks like i will pick here for my next drug related question.

I for one, feel my life has been helped a great deal from bluelight. I've learned alot in the debates i've had on bluelight in politics. There's some definately quality material to read in Thoughts and Awareness. I just don't feel Bluelight would be worth spit without either side of it..but that's me..

to each their own...

 

[DigitalDuality]

^
by the way.. side note .. my previous post wasn't aimed completely at you.. you asked if i thought of you "a bitch" and i don't at all. Great posts and points

And maybe b/c of my lack of knowledge about certain things skewed my perception of lycaeum..

 

[xtcxtc]

"I sincerely think a forum which contains categories as broad as the ones I listed, yell which fall under one "umbrella" so to speak, would thrive."

i agree and vote yes.

 

[TopRocka]

^^ :D

 

[FoxyKel]

I wasn't aware that the decision of whether or not we create new forums was left up to 'votes'.

 

[xtcxtc]

I wasn't aware that the decision of whether or not we create new forums was left up to 'votes'.

really ?? then perhaps it should be ??