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

Would you like to see opiate discussion split off from OD and into it's own forum?


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Whether I agree with this or not, I won't say, but it doesn't matter because none of that is an option.

You can't force someone to read something on the internet. How will you know they actually read it?

Aptitude test is out of the question because it would be extremely easy to cheat on, and most importantly, an issue that BA just brought up, is that some members/mods don't know much about certain types of drugs. Some specialize in opiates, others with amphetamines, others with psychedelics, and so on and so on. An aptitude test wouldn't be fair because for someone who knew everything about opiates but very little about anything else would be denied access because of this, when they could have been a huge asset to the site for what knowledge they do have.

Is a split the next best option? I have no idea. But it is an option, and until we come up with something better that we can actually implement, it's the only option, besides continuing things the way they have been going.

Would it be a bad thing to continue things the way they have been going? Not at all. The question is whether things would be better if we did something different.

Aptitude testing was a pipe dream, but you get my point. Perhaps I meant something along those lines, whatever the case, just thinking out loud. I agree it wouldn't be fair, no one needs to know everything about everything to join, especially as some members have legitimate questions and concerns regarding just one substance.

I do think there would ultimately be less clutter here by enforcing stricter moderation. I know nobody likes to have to discipline people or be a thread nazzi, but if I'm sick of seeing ignorant responses and threads I can't imagine how veteran mods must feel. And this goes tenfold for new threads, but I have to admit, the mods here are real quick to tell someone this isn't allowed or this is BDD material, or this is just plain fucking stupid etc., so maybe I ust need to shut the fuck up for a bit here... I'm sorry if I've digressed too much from the original topic... I suppose I'm trying to come up with alternatives to a split because I like OD the way it is, with the only exception being what I've already touched on, stupidity =D But I guess stupidity is inevitable in this world we live in, whether it's here or at the grocery store or driving down the freeway etc.

Good luck coming to a final decision, BL
 
Yea it seems like 90% of the posts in OD are for opiates anyway, might as well give them their own forum.
 
just some random points based off replies i've seen here

OD worked fine for years and years without a "Social" thread. there are plenty of better, more efficient ways to socialize than using a single thread in a forum.

up until recently (well, i'm not sure just how 'recently' due to my prolonged absence) most of the regulars were polydrug abusers, or still knew a lot about a variety of drugs, and the various methods of administration; were experts on needle use, experts on finding ways to smoke anything, had tried shooting just about everything, etc

OD has always been filled with stupid questions that have been answered a thousand times before.

I do think there would ultimately be less clutter here by enforcing stricter moderation.
bingo. thats part of why we were always such dicks in the past. after seeing 100 threads on oxycontin and drug tests and pill ids in a single day, it makes you want to overdose, or slap the shit out of all those idiots.
 
^ I suppose the question is: will there be less clutter, or will there be two forums worth of clutter?
 
at first i said yes

now i say no after reading some of the staff opinions on the matter

mostly Captain H and phrozen

good shit keep em together!
 
^ I suppose the question is: will there be less clutter, or will there be two forums worth of clutter?

I think that is a really valid point. I lean towards the more clutter side. We see soo many of the classic "how to smoke OC" or "How many hours do I have to wait in order to take my suboxone" that I think the opiate forum would get just as much clutter.
 
Every forum has clutter, and every forum will always have clutter. The idea that the Opiate Discussion forum could somehow stray from this norm is silly. It will be cluttered, just like all the other forums. If clutter stopped BL from creating new forums, we'd all be posting in the Ecstasy Discussion, because that would be the only forum we have.
 
Yeah i see your point 6/7, I just think it is one other con on top of the list.
 
The OD mods all specialize in opiates. BL needs more mentors/advice givers for drugs like coke, meth, etc.

I think that point is relevant. If OD is split then who covers the "leftovers"?

If there was on opiate forum, obviously combo questions would be allowed in there.

Not necessarily so obvious. If you where to post a combo question in ED on LSD + MDMA (for example) it'll most likely be moved to PD. If it were an MDMA + H combo question it'd probably end up in OD as things stand. Either way I doubt it'd be left in ED despite being a question about an "ecstasy" combo.

I admit, I fuck around here being a smart-ass every once in a while, it's my nature, but some people are downright rude, ignorant, and disregard that this is in place as a harm reduction site ("oh man just dissolve it an bang it," or "no tolerance, I'd take half.") What I'm getting at is, while it may lessen membership, every time I suggest an aptitude test to join BL, I'm fucking serious as a heart attack! I think new threads need to have some sort of auto-validity/auto-anti-repeat feature :) I also think that when someone writes "just bang it" or any other ignorant shit, more serious warnings need to be issued, and banning needs to be like a 2 strike (3 max) type thing... Sure, there may be less members (good!), but quality is far more important here than quantity on a site such as this.

Hehe. Much as I kinda like the idea of having to pass a drug aptitude test :)D) to be "allowed" to post on BL it kinda misses the whole point of a harm reduction site. As annoying as they are to read, the bazillion and one "Can I smoke oxy?" questions represent a bazillion and one people whose lungs may thank us down the line if their question is answered rather than sneered at :)

(Not suggesting that you or others are especially sneery but we're all guilty of it sometimes when it comes to noob questions.)

Every forum has clutter, and every forum will always have clutter. The idea that the Opiate Discussion forum could somehow stray from this norm is silly. It will be cluttered, just like all the other forums. If clutter stopped BL from creating new forums, we'd all be posting in the Ecstasy Discussion, because that would be the only forum we have.

Very true. The idea of a split has sod all to do with reducing clutter really - it's more about whether a seperate opiate forum would meet the members' - new and old alike - needs better :)

I'm also in the "Yet to vote" camp as my mind isn't dead set one way or the other so far. It's great to see the amount of discussion generated though :)
 
^ Although I'm undecided as well, I'm trying to play both sides in this thread so that we can discuss every aspect of this idea and hopefully make the right decision in the end.

Also, FWIW, 8 of the 17 people who voted "No" to the split are OD Social regulars ;). Just thought some of you may find that interesting.
 
^
On that note, for the "no" votes, 5 of the 17 are staff members [30%].

For the "Yes" votes, only 3 of the 59 are staff members [5%].



I thought you might find that one interesting. ;)



(I concede that my count could be off by one or two, I don't know all the crew members, especially of other forums. Anyone care to double check my work?)
 
also, 3 of the "no" votes are current/former OD mods, while none of the "yes" votes fit in that category
 
also, 3 of the "no" votes are current/former OD mods, while none of the "yes" votes fit in that category

...which supports my claim about the connection to OD and not wanting to change it. I should also point out that 6 active OD staff have not voted yet (myself, leftwing, djsim, Unknown, Shambles and Phrozen), so there is potential for there to be 6 "yes" and 3 "no" votes.

I'm not pointing this stuff out to influence anyone. It's just an observation I made that I thought was interesting. If the remaining 6 staff members vote "yes," it completely blows my claim out of the water. The claim is not really a claim at all, just a theory that has been based off of the votes so far.

As I've said, I'm on the fence still, so I have no agenda to sway the vote in any direction.
 
i think part of the old guard wanting things to stay the same is the "why fix it if it aint broke?" idea.

in a previous discussion on the subject (linked earlier in this thread), several well-written points were made about how more forums isnt necessarily a good idea, and how Other Drugs is the forum for polydrug abuse. making an entirely seperate opiates discussion forum would filter out all the non-polydrug opiate threads, but then a lot of lazy and highly intelligent people would likely pick either one or the other to focus on, neglecting the other one. a split would spread out the knowledge base, and would probably end up leaving questions not being answered as well as they could be.
 
i think part of the old guard wanting things to stay the same is the "why fix it if it aint broke?" idea.

It's not broke to the old guard because they are used to the way things are. You have to think of newer members and how they view the site. It's easy for us to find info because we know where it is. This does not mean it's easy for the noobs to find it, though.

in a previous discussion on the subject (linked earlier in this thread), several well-written points were made about how more forums isnt necessarily a good idea, and how Other Drugs is the forum for polydrug abuse. making an entirely seperate opiates discussion forum would filter out all the non-polydrug opiate threads, but then a lot of lazy and highly intelligent people would likely pick either one or the other to focus on, neglecting the other one. a split would spread out the knowledge base, and would probably end up leaving questions not being answered as well as they could be.

Where is the evidence to show that it would be disregarded by the "lazy, highly intelligent people?" What happens in OD to make anyone think this is true? Tons of posters in OD also post in other forums, so why wouldn't they also post in an Opiate Discussion forum?

I think these "poly-drug" and "OD would be ignored" arguments have no weight. Why couldn't poly-drug questions be allowed in the new forum, as long as the primary focus was on the opiates? What proof is there that any forum would be ignored by the creation of a new forum?
 
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).
 
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