What happened to forums?

[JMo15]

I just noticed that the debate forums and condolences forums were removed. Any particular reason? I really liked the debate forums and I thought that the condolences forums held a unique purpose that kept more of the reverent and respectful posts in one related area.

[Medical Marijuana]

Sorry to take so long to get back to you guys. The reason for closing condolences and debate forums is that they have both proved very negative...
death, and debate usually ending is anger and fighting, and losing us members as a result.
The pets forum was also closed. Pets are not 420 related and it was felt our message and mission were getting sidestepped for games and pets...
I hope that explains the situation for you. We are going through some innovative changes at the moment as we bring 420 to a more mature level, to take it's rightful place on the global cannabis awareness scene. Thank you for your feedback. It serves to keep us in touch with what our members are thinking.

[JMo15]

Honestly, what really locked into making an account and posting here was the Debate forums. I never thought that anything got too out of hand and I thought that mods did a good job of policing them where need be. I guess I feel like if you get angry during debates, you shouldn't be involved in them. If someone is outright attacking you, that is one thing, but if you are just angered by someone else's point of view, you probably are too emotionally attached to the subject to be able to debate it calmly.

I understand the reasons behind doing it but I also feel like those forums connected us deeper, beyond just being people who smoked, and also served to bring us closer together intellectually. *shrug*

[Medical Marijuana]

Thanks JMo15, I really appreciate your input. I too enjoyed the debates and I have taken note of your comments. Perhaps when the new changes have been implemented and things are running smoothly with the 420 Girls, we can discuss in more detail the idea of having debates again. It's such a shame when a few spoil it for all, but that is one of the perennial headaches in a public forum. What I can tell you now is that, at the right time, I will support a debates sub-forum, but at the end of the day it is a decision for 420 and his management team.
*****

[JMo15]

Hi. I have a brain underneath my vagina.

[JMo15]

Coming from experience, I'll tell you that if you make the site that focused, you will lose activity greatly. If he's wanting to slim down his amount of active users or bandwidth, then this is definitely the way to go, but if the key is to actually spread awareness to those who are NOT involved in it already, it's going to be counter-productive. I never post replies in MMJ threads or really very many of the grow threads, but I read them a lot and learn...just because people aren't posting doesn't mean they aren't reading. I just honestly don't know the answers to what people ask about their plants or prescriptions - but I still read and learn. That and the fact that they are less likely to stick around and learn more if there isn't a bit of flexibility to the site.

Like I said, General Talk and Debate sections made me actually make an account and become more involved. I learned about the cause and how to support it through reading around in the other forums, but I definitely would not have stayed around if there weren't forums that focused on other aspects that held my attention as well.

But that's just my two cents. I've moderated several different sites and watched how forums cycle in and out with old & new users. The ones that keep the most users are normally the most flexible.

If you're going ahead with new changes, I hope we we'll be allowed to debate within topics already posted.

[zolar]

i started smoking when nixon was pres and way back when we got into really good debates that occasionally got heated because of our passions and emotional connections but i don't see much of the trippy/cerebral buzz weed around these days that used to really kick start topics and talk.... too much couchlock around these days perhaps a subforum of trip weed topics ie talking sativa reinventing the world.....i miss that up weed don't see it much anymore...

[anonymous]

to be honest i'm with jmo on this one... i used to come on the site a lot more when it had a lot of different topics... it was kinda like a hobby of mine to just sit around stoned and bullshit on here... now i find myself coming here more for info, and i don;t need that nightly... but i still fully support the site and greatly appreciate all the hard work that is put in to inform people of 420 related topics... just mho...

[420]

Coming from experience, I'll tell you that if you make the site that focused, you will lose activity greatly.

jm... you come here to have fun and play games...
i built this website to creating cannabis awareness...
the only traffic i am losing are the people who just come here to play games, who contribute absolutely NOTHING to our mission.
i've dedicated the last 14 years of my life to this website, working around the clock, trying to make it the best cannabis site on the net...
after everything i've seen and tried, this is my final solution to what i am trying to do...
if i lose a thousand game playing members, but gain 10 serious who get involved and help us grow and deliver our message, i am happy...
the bottom line is... the serious people leave when they see all the games... period.

it was kinda like a hobby of mine to just sit around stoned and bullshit on here... now i find myself coming here more for info, and i don;t need that nightly...

exactly why i made the decision anonymous...
i don't want people using this site to come and bullshit anymore...
this site is for information, education and building our team of heads that will change international cannabis law.

there are many websites out there to play games.
go check them out... then come back later...
we are on a serious mission, if you are not on the same page, you are more than welcome to surf the net as you please.

[StonerGrower]

Mind you Rob, that many of your "Serious" members were included in the many that participated in those forums. Just a thought!

And another thought...Im not trying to argue against your point Rob. The thing is even the most serious cannabis activist is not going to join a forum, or a site if it is not fun to be a member.

I do find other ways of having fun on the forums though, and honestly I didnt even realize that the debate forums and condolences forums were gone.

[User]

There are so many good sites. Plenty of them, enough to meet everyones needs. I work here and enjoy myself doing it. If I need to go and just fuck around sometimes I visit other sites and just fuck off. But really... if what you want to talk about is marijuana related you can pretty much talk about it here. With a bit of imagination & some thoughtful wording most subjects can be related to marijuana. I'm always stoned so my entire life is marijuana related. If I need something other than what is offered here I go to someplace appropriate to my needs. I know of no policy about going to other sites. You just don't get to promote them on Rob's dime. Don't get me wrong anyone, I'm not saying go somewhere else, but there is no website that has everything. Its my personal goal to help make this the best source for marijuana related news online (if it isn't already). I miss some of the old threads but at the same time I respect Rob's vision and that vision is to focus on marijuana and the legalization of marijuana. So my advice would be when you want to fuck off and just have fun find a place where your comfortable doing that and when you need the many quality things that our website here has to offer always feel welcome here. I seem to find ways of letting some fun and jokes slip through all the time.

[DaMagoMan]

And User saves the Day !!!

Rob pays the bills Folks.

Me, I'm just the unoffical 420MagSpammer
(and not flirtin' is killin' me)

[anonymous]

i don't want people using this site to come and bullshit anymore...
this site is for information, education and building our team of heads that will change international cannabis law.

thats true,,, but i like the people here... i like lookin at pics of dogs... or reading all the fun stories ranger used to post... or flirting with bunny in a game thread... but i like doing those things in between contrubting to educating less experienced smokers or read countless threads to obtain as much grow knowledge as possible so when an oppurtunity comes for me to grow i can...

the only traffic i am losing are the people who just come here to play games, who contribute absolutely NOTHING to our mission.
i've dedicated the last 14 years of my life to this website, working around the clock, trying to make it the best cannabis site on the net...
after everything i've seen and tried, this is my final solution to what i am trying to do...

i completely respect that and u gotta do what u gotta do... these are just my opinions.. i kinda feel like sometimes u ask for feedback but respond kind of negatively to constructive criticism.... i am all about your mission and want to do everything to help, and the fact that you have been so successful thus far leads me to trust in your leadership and trust that the decisions you make are for the best... once more i love this site and this is all just feedback... whatever u decide to do u got my support and i kno you have the support of many other loyal members...

[Medical Marijuana]

^ I used to enjoy the banter and interaction with those folks as well matey, but when I look back now on the archive of my posts, I can't believe all the crap I and others posted. Readers of 420Magazine, who are the target of Rob's cannabis awareness mission by the way, must see all this crap as well. The boards were full of games threads, using them for stoner banter and other nutty things like trawling for rep points. All the important stuff like the grow room and news and mmj were bumped off the front page. So all readers saw when they came to our serious site was a bunch of childish games. That lost us converts to the cause of cannabis awareness, and even some members who got sick of the crap. When was the last time you saw any one member banned for flaming since the games threads went? I can tell you as a mod...zero! This new forum format has been streamlined and polished. This is our mission. We are serious about getting serious about bringing cannabis awareness to the world. I want you to join us with this new format, and do it vigorously! We want spirited and valued input from our members...it helps take that message to the frontier of the war on drugs.