RFD: Focus Forum and Drug Discussion groupings

you do understand that all of the bluelight staff volunteer their personal time to help bluelight, right? sorry, but some of us do happen to leave our computers from time to time, and we can't all be here every waking out of the day. :\

i think you're jumping the gun a bit in relation to the social thread. however, OD is not a forum which i moderate, so i'm sure GM will chime in sometime in regards to that.

regardless, if the "noob" questions are bothering you, why don't you link the OP to a thread that is relevant? i guess it's much easier to complain about the situation rather than help making changes yourself.

if other OD regulars will only post in a thread that is only in that forum, i'm sorry, but that's their problem. if they can't venture out of their little hole in the wall and come to another forum to discuss the change in structure to other forums, then that's their fault. no one is jumping down anyone's throats here, but if you want your voice to be heard, make it heard instead of hiding and whining until it's too late.
 
wiggi said:
2) I report many, many threads whenever I spend time in OD. It's a shame that it takes the mods a few hours sometimes to close the threads.

Considering Other Drugs is the second most active forum on Bluelight behind the Lounge, with the second most active focus forum getting roughly a quarter of activity as OD does, I'd say a few hours is excellent response time. I'd say it's even better considering it usually doesn't take that long. Considering this isn't our job, we don't get paid for it, and we have lives outside of these forums, I think we do a pretty good job.


You say that it's only my opinion that "OD sucks" when there are many other members that are just as fed up with all of the shit.

I have a feeling it's a much smaller percent than you think.


What was the point in closing the social thread in OD? GM just seemed to be pissed off at me and closed the thing.

I've been against having a Social Thread in Other Drugs since day 1. Other Drugs isn't a social forum, and there are plenty of those on Bluelight where members can talk about non drug-related things. We decided to give Social Threads a try to see how it went. We didn't like how they went so we removed them.

As I said before, it's not just me that feels that OD is going down shit creek with no paddle. If you don't believe me, why not start a thread in OD asking other members what they think about the current state of OD? Sure there is the link to this thread, but most OD members won't even bother visiting here. I'm not trying to insult nor flame anyone and I think I deserve to be treated with respect just like anyone else.

Again, I think you're overestimating the amount of Other Drugs posters that agree with you.
 
Rogue Robot said:
you do understand that all of the bluelight staff volunteer their personal time to help bluelight, right? sorry, but some of us do happen to leave our computers from time to time, and we can't all be here every waking out of the day. :\

i think you're jumping the gun a bit in relation to the social thread. however, OD is not a forum which i moderate, so i'm sure GM will chime in sometime in regards to that.

regardless, if the "noob" questions are bothering you, why don't you link the OP to a thread that is relevant? i guess it's much easier to complain about the situation rather than help making changes yourself.

if other OD regulars will only post in a thread that is only in that forum, i'm sorry, but that's their problem. if they can't venture out of their little hole in the wall and come to another forum to discuss the change in structure to other forums, then that's their fault. no one is jumping down anyone's throats here, but if you want your voice to be heard, make it heard instead of hiding and whining until it's too late.
I realize mods volunteer their time to help out Bluelight. I just think it's pathetic whenever there are no mods around for hours upon end. If you read my post, you would saw where I said that I answered questions whenever I thought that the OP may possibly be in danger or actually needed a response. I'm not just complaining about OD, I have said what I thought would help bring positive changes to the forum. Many OD regulars haven't posted in this thread because I doubt they even know that it exists. True that it is a big sticky at the top of the page, but that doesn't mean they are going to click on it. IF there was a social thread, I would post a link to this thread so that others could actually see what this thread was about. I would like to hear what GM has to say about closing the social thread. I have nothing against him and I respect his knowledge.
 
GM, let's see how many OD'ers actually agree with me, perhaps I'm wrong, but I seriously doubt that I am wrong about this. Would you be willing to make a thread asking OD'ers how they feel about OD? Perhaps a poll?

What went wrong with the social threads? It was just like any other social thread and many members truly enjoyed it. The majority of the posts were actually intelligent conversation and I think it helped bring certain members of OD closer together. I would love to see a wider variety of Bluelighters post in it if you were willing to give the thread one more chance. Perhaps add more rules to the OD Social thread if you choose to re open it?

Edit:GM, I'm going to begin to work on a thread regarding the current state of OD, so we can draw an accurate number of agree or disagree with the things that I have been saying.
 
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wiggi said:
2) I report many, many threads whenever I spend time in OD. It's a shame that it takes the mods a few hours sometimes to close the threads.

That comment actually pisses me off. Do you really expect us to be here every minute of the day waiting on you to report threads so we can close them right away? We have lives too. We didn't give them up when we became Moderators.

wiggi said:
What's the point of even posting suggestions or opinions when they are just going to be attacked by various mods/admins? You say that it's only my opinion that "OD sucks" when there are many other members that are just as fed up with all of the shit. Just go read some of the social threads in OD or perhaps PM some of the very intelligent posters that choose no longer to post. .

Name some posters who no longer post, please.

As for "many other members" being pissed about the state of OD, I looked in the Social Thread. There's 5, including you.

wiggi said:
I don't see how you can say my post doesn't hold water TLB. True, I did not site anything I was talking about and it was pretty much a rant on the current state of OD. What I said though was true. The comment I posted months ago in June was "promptly responded to by an andmin only days later." A prompt response takes days later? I had no idea that IJ even responded to my post. A response that is given by an admin/mod doesn't mean shit really until we actually see results from our suggestions. That's why I said it's bullshit that our opinions are basically being ignored because essentially they are being ignored. I know that everything I say will not bring any changes.

Again, we have lives. Things take time. Personally, Bluelight is probably number 3 or 4 on my list of priorities, and I'm sure it's the same for a lot of staff. We do the best we can, as fast as we can. Expecting anything to be done in a matter of hours is, sorry to say it, stupid. It's not going to happen.

As I said before, it's not just me that feels that OD is going down shit creek with no paddle. If you don't believe me, why not start a thread in OD asking other members what they think about the current state of OD? Sure there is the link to this thread, but most OD members won't even bother visiting here. I'm not trying to insult nor flame anyone and I think I deserve to be treated with respect just like anyone else.

If we did do that, we would see a much larger portion of members happy with OD than we would members displeased.

As for the Social Thread, it was not closed on a whim. We had been discussing it for quite a while. It was not your fault it was closed. It was closed because it wasn't contributing anything to OD. There was a small, tight-knit group of posters using it, and that is exactly what we didn't want. We wanted it for everyone, but only a select few used it.

Plus, it was no longer a social thread. It was a "bitch about how much we hate OD" thread, which serves no use to anyone, especially when the people who were doing the bitching did NOTHING outside of the thread to help OD. And no, posting smart ass comments in threads you don't like is not helping OD.
 
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^ I'm not trying to piss off anyone 6/7 nor am I trying to insult yall. I do think that more mods could perhaps be added, so these kinds of threads wouldn't have to stay open. I know yall have lives, I'm just saying more mods=more closed threads. It would make things easier on yall as well.

Off the top of my head, Jasoncrest, TheodoreRoosevelt, and I'm sure there are more. I know there was a hell of a lot more intelligent posters in OD a few years ago, now there's only a handful.
 
No, more mods does not equal more closed threads. The new mods will have lives too. It will still take some time for us to get to every single thread in violation of the rules. It's the way it will always be, you're just going to have to get used to that.

EDIT - Jasoncrest did not leave because of the state of OD. He left for personal issues taking place in his life. TR did not leave because of the state of OD either.

Have you actually talked to these people? See, I have, so you are basically talking out of your ass right now.

What about Rachamim, one of the best posters to ever grace OD? They've come BACK, which is in direct contradiction to your claims that we are losing members.
 
I'm not talking out of my ass, true I did not know that they left because of OD because of the current state. All I'm trying to say is the fact that a lot of great posters have left and no longer post in OD. I'm not trying to argue with yall.
 
It's impossible to say for sure that someone left because of OD. They could overdose or have some other issue in their life. I may be wrong again, but didn't sunnyluv quit posting because of how pathetic it got? Anyways, can we put the trivial aspects aside and agree that OD doesn't have the post quality that it previously had? Even earlier on in 2008, things were going great, mainly because a certain mod was laying the law down upon the offenders. All I"m trying to say is the fact that something has to be done about OD. Agreed?
 
wiggi said:
It's impossible to say for sure that someone left because of OD. They could overdose or have some other issue in their life. I may be wrong again, but didn't sunnyluv quit posting because of how pathetic it got? Anyways, can we put the trivial aspects aside and agree that OD doesn't have the post quality that it previously had? Even earlier on in 2008, things were going great, mainly because a certain mod was laying the law down upon the offenders. All I"m trying to say is the fact that something has to be done about OD. Agreed?

No, not agreed. You're only noticing the negatives. Are you telling me every single thread in OD sucks? There is not one single thread worth being there?

There are just as many, if not more, quality threads with quality discussion going on. Every forum is going to have threads and posts that don't belong. This perfect, Utopian forum you're dreaming of can not and will not ever exist. It's impossible to maintain something like that.

So JC is what this is about? OD can't survive without JC? Look, I love the guy, he's a good friend, but he is not the savior of OD. It is no different now than it was back then. There were threads that didn't belong then, there are threads that don't belong now. There was misinformation then, there is misinformation now. No Mod can control that. We can do our bust to silence it and counter it, but it's not only up to us, and JC being a mod or not doesn't change the fact that MEMBERS also play a huge part in this. Correct misinformation. Report violating threads.

What more do you want? We can never make it so these threads and posts aren't made to begin with, so we have to deal with it the way it's always been dealt with.
 
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wiggi said:
Anyways, can we put the trivial aspects aside and agree that OD doesn't have the post quality that it previously had?

I disagree with that statement wholeheartedly.
 
i've been a member of bluelight for awhile now, but i'm relatively new to posting and for the most part consider myself a noob... that being said, i'm not sure how much my opinion even matters. from the very first time i visited bl, there seemed to be a stigma against new people posting... if you weren't a regular that was in the loop of things, it seemed as if the noob question was either laughed at, ranted at, told to utse (even though it can be quite confusing to new people, and not as easy to find what you're looking for, contrary to popular belief), or only had minimal responses that were gracious and informative. this can lead one to feel like they're an idiot for posting in the first place, and afraid to post again. that's not harm reduction imo. knowing what forum to properly post things in isn't always easy either if you're new. even some experienced bl'ers get their posts moved occasionally. it just seems to me since i've been regularly visiting the forums and actively taking part in some discussions that noobs get treated differently, and some have even had harsh cruel remarks made to them, that weren't deserving. i understand this to a degree, having been a reg of a different site for many years. there is a certain level of respect regs have for each other, and look down upon new people they feel aren't worthy of conversation... but in a site that seeks harm reduction as the main focus, this simply can't be. no matter how trivial you feel the question may be, the op needs (and deserves) an answer. to the regs that hate the threads they feel stupid and need not be there... simply don't reply. don't even read the post if you know by the title it will upset you. someone (most likely a mod) will answer them... eventually.

~koolaid~!

*edited for dyslexic spelling error
 
wiggi said:
I realize mods volunteer their time to help out Bluelight. I just think it's pathetic whenever there are no mods around for hours upon end.
that's not a good strategy to get people on your side. i'm here more than most and i still can't be expected to deal with every little thing that happens. :|

right folks, remember this thread is about all the focus and drug discussion forums, it's not all about OD. does anyone have anything to say about the rest of them?

drug FAQs
ecstasy discussion
cannabis discussion
steroid discussion
psychedelic drugs
(OD)

drug studies
drugs in the media
basic drug discussion
advanced drug discussion
the dark side
trip reports
drug culture


:|
TheLoveBandit said:
Yes, this would be where we re-hash the 'OD split' or whatever, but I've listed FF and DD together as all those forums kinda mesh with one another and I'd like to see us rethink, or at least re-evaluate, how we are with ALL of this content. Why do we have those two groupings? Should they be all under one umbrella, or shuffled a bit to move the likes of BDD and DFAQ closer? Obviously, part of the discussion is the eventual wiki effort and how that might mesh with DFAQ, but with that eventual timeframe it might be more accurate to look at the forums as they are now and how we can best manage the content.


If we get into any kinda OD split-merge-shuffle, should SD fall into that mix, considering the light traffic it generates (word is it was split from there originally due to being drowned out, but if we're doing anything along hte lines of STIMS-OPIATES-WHATEVER, it may leave more visibility for the SD content in the general OD umbrella, perhaps with more relevant info moved to a FAQ?). Perhaps DC should migrate out of 'serious' forums and over to more 'community' forums? Any ideas on how to improve visibility and use of DS? I know there is a recent thread in TPH addressing this, but now is an opportunity to do more than simply rewrite the guidelines and content description - and use it to generate more funds for our donation (still needed, btw).

Should TR and PD be moved closer together? Or merged? Should DITM be more utilized somehow? Should TDS be moved elsewhere, or given more prominence? Should BDD be re-evaluated to absorb or release any particular content (static or active)? I'm just throwing an assload of ideas out, some of whcih may stink and belong 'in-ass', but the idea is to generate suggestions and discussion.
 
felix said:
right folks, remember this thread is about all the focus and drug discussion forums, it's not all about OD. does anyone have anything to say about the rest of them?
I think its because OD has the most traffic and the most "devoted" posters.
 
Poly drug use

GenericMind said:
Drug-specific questions don't belong in Drug Culture. If we were to split of Other Drugs it'd be difficult to figure out where polydrug questions did belong.
I like reading about my 3 loves (opiates, stimulants and benzo's)in the same area. The only thing I do NOT like is the name "OD". I avoided reading the "OD" section at BL for a long time -- thinking it was for people recovering from a Drug Overdose or for dicksizing.

IMO give it a better name, add photo's of beautiful women and leave the content combined.

Will
 
^You avoided a forum actually titled ''Other Drugs'' because people shorten it and refer to as ''OD''??? That makes absolutely no sense to me at all. The forum is not titled on any page as anything other than Other Drugs . . .

I can only imagine the people that avoid SLR thinking it's a forum for cameras 8(
 
haha, i believe i have made that point before somewhere!

Other Drugs is only referred to as OD colloquially, never in an official capacity. that post makes no sense whatsoever. :)
 
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