That’s a pretty fair statement. All have noticed changes and every now and than the horses must be corralled and fences checked. It is important that rules be examined and enforced for the sake of all involved. Free seeds and the traffic they have brought are only 1 of the things being spoken of here. I know that everyone has opinions and it’s great that we can all get together and share them openly. I think that’s one of the things I love best about OG. Also being respectful of each other when opinions vary as they always will. Most places would just hammer out rules and tell people that’s just the way it is. Here at OG the team is inviting open discussion, that to me is just amazing
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Same here and I didn’t mind when you asked for clones. 
Frozen Cherry Coke here we come,
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We are free range kids lol
But I agree 
I love that everyone is respectful even if opinions differ ( even though a keyboard warrior fight is fun to watch lol )
I actually LOVE that OG Admin actually care to ask our opinions, it’s really amazing & honesty helps build a better community.
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high fives
Frozen cherry coke is going to be awesome!
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While I do appreciate his efforts in reviving OG and keeping it running, it is also a business for him, and more power to him, but he hosts many other grow forums in other languages as well as other sites on his server that he also hosts OG on. More power to him for being resourceful enough and smart enough to be able to make that happen, but we should also keep in mind the fact that it is a business for Joe, also. Keeping that in mind, I feel that all of the endless auctions etc that we have been seeing lately to fund the server are a bit much, and should be better coordinated and more evenly spaced out. Joe even got a cut from the group seed buy from Tony Green that so far none of us have seen any seeds from, so he is the only one that benefitted from that debacle.
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Yes your correct. Sometimes I forget about the business aspect of OG.
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Why does it matter if he makes some cash?
Why would he do it for free? Or actually have to pay for it? He obviously had to pay for it outta his own pocket in the 1st place to start it up, and probably for quite some time after that…
I still don’t see the problem with him getting what he put into and extra… I know I sure wouldn’t wanna do it for free or actually have to pay…
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Yeah I know what you mean, when I was here wayyyyy… back in the early 2000s this was like a closed group sort of like fight club …like if you ran into someone you sort of knew and they mentioned overgrow …(grab them by the collar and shove them against the wall “what do you know about OG asshole” lollol just kidding but it was a small group of people who were growing outside of the law. Now laws are opening up I mean hell just this month it is legal in my state to grow 4 plants.
If you dont want to give free stuff just dont. I get the annoyance of that though but I mean you are in control of your threads and who/how you post. OG is literally the original growers space online and my go to. It literally brought back so many memories of my teenage years growing in my closet and In the woods watching for helicopters and planes and shit lololol thinking I was going to get busted lolololol. Just use this for what it is and try to see the best in it. Cheers brother hope you stick around
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I think Tony did OK there, too - even though he’s said many times how much he sacrificed for us. Hugh seems to have gotten something, too.
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As I said a few times in my previous post, MORE POWER TO HIM for having the resourcefulness and abilities to make this happen, I am not slighting anyone’s abilities to make money at all, and if someone were to come along and want to hand me a bunch of cash in thanks for the great job I have done I would certainly not turn them away, however I think that there have been quite a few auctions and sales etc to benefit the server lately and in order to not make it seem like that is the main thrust of this site I think it might be better to find a way to lighten up on that or to coordinate it better, and to also remove themselves from any perceived legal entanglements that could be seen in getting percentages of group sales etc. to avoid the same fate as the original OG
yes I didnt forget about them, though Tony does seem to be trying to making things right currently (knock wood) he is a man of his word so I am sure he will do what is right, as for Hugh…
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if it was a sting…he played on Tony too I think since he would get about the same money but not have to package the beans. Just divide the lots.
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i imagine that Tony probably got about the same from selling to OG’ers here directly that he would have gotten from a bulk purchase from a seed bank. He isn’t going to undercut himself.
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Lots of this
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I came here for the trading too. Then when I saw all the experience on here, and all the insane strains these experienced people were handing out like candy that dealt with my specific issues…I mean I’d be stupid to not stick around, right? But really, the generosity is a really big cherry on top of all of this. The community here is what makes this place worth sticking around. Everywhere else is a bunch of elitism and gatekeeping.
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I also appreciate LJ for letting us openly discuss this matter, hope nobody is offended if I expressed myself too direct 
. There’s one way to stop these issues: putting a firewall … 
How to? Creating a level only accessible to TL2 (members) and moving there all the seed runs, giveaways, auctions and rest of freebies. Being out of the radar wouldn’t encourage the leechers to join and only those who have previously shown commitment to OG by participating actively in the community would have access to them.
Free seeds, OK, but for truly OG members who joined without being only focused in them … 
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Here’s my 2 cents on the original topic…
I started growing in 2001. I joined the original Overgrow in 2001. I got by first seeds that I grew from the same person who sold me 3 z’s of wicked bud when I moved away from CA.
Those seeds were planted, and I planted my ass in front of my computer and consumed as much info as overgrow had to offer. I quickly attached myself to BOG, and with his help and the general info available on the site, those first seeds turned into MONSTERS! They were massive. They didn’t, however, get me high. But that’s OK…I learned a LOT. And while those plants were growing, I placed my first order through Gypsy Nirvana, including some Serious AK-47.
Fast forward, continuing my attachment to BOG and learning how to build a grow room, and adding even more genetics into my garden, I had lots of great luck, incredible crosses, and world class buds. I was honored with the very last “Best New Grower” award the old Overgrow ever gave out, and received a stunning teak stash box from GN. I was a successful grower, and it was mostly thanks to the original overgrow.com.
Fast forward to 2015. Family sh!t caused me to pull the plug. I got rid of everything, including all my beans. But 2.5 years ago, I knew I wanted to start growing again. I had no idea where I would get my seeds because I’m not in a legal state. I wondered if overgrow.com was back in any meaningful way, and voilà - it was!
Not wanting to be one of “those guys” who just shows up and asks for beans (which is really the heart of the issue in this thread, right?), I started my account so I could interact. While signing up, I saw the Old School Member option, and that’s how I ended up with this stupid name (again!). I liked and commented in other peoples threads, and I started a few threads that weren’t (active) grow oriented.
Once I got nearly all my sh!t together several months later, I finally reached out in the Free Seeds thread and told my story. I was offered seeds from a number of members in very short order. So many offers, in fact, that I turned down all of them after the first 4 offers that I got. Then I mostly went silent.
TBH, I didn’t need any help growing, but I also didn’t want my failure to be broadcast for all to see! But I started every single strain that I received from those 4 members, and grew out all the females I got. Once my first grow was mostly in the books, I started posting about them. I also sent a PM to each of those generous members who hooked me up and sent the link to my grows so they could see I wasn’t just sniping their work.
I know this is a very long story; too long for most of you, I’m sure. But my point is, the Free Seeds thread has tremendous value and appeal for people who are looking to start or re-start growing. Putting up a barrier to entry makes sense, but it would also be easy to manipulate. No system will be perfect to filter out the undesirables. But if there were rules that were in place and enforced, that might help…
Regarding rules, I’m not trying to suggest any; there have already been a number of them tossed around, and some of them make sense. But if we have rules, like the one we have when someone tries to sell finished product, we - as a community - need to be the initial enforcement arm, and let the @moderators dole out the warnings and bans. It won’t be a perfect system. Ever. But we can’t let that prevent us from making overgrow an even better place than it is today…
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Is that what we want for here?
I could definitely get behind that
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I would like to make a statement that my post from my journal that I moved to the private thread was used for this, I didn’t create this nor was I asked to have my messages moved to start this thread. That said this conversation seems like it needed to happen
To start I never said I wasn’t okay with seeds being given out. There’s a difference to sharing and people getting their first seeds than some one collecting a hundred strains just for the sake of collecting and then telling others to come here as it’s the place for free seeds. No journal, no knowledge, why the hell do you need 100 strains?
My message was simply to be an explanation to those following my journal as to why I wanted it closed. You all do what you want. I don’t care. If you wanna give a person on their first grow a hundred strains and all their friends they tell that’s your business. If you wanna have auctions and donate all your funds to the site. Do it I don’t care. I do find it weird how in the past auctions we get 1 day old members bidding but that’s on you all. I just don’t participate.
If you have a journal and are participating in the site then I wasn’t talking about You BUT some ppl have got smart and just start it to shut people up (you know. Game the system) and never update it. I’m taking about the people who are just here for the dibs. That only go to the free threads. Like I said in my coop there’s 1/3 I don’t recognize but I’m here every day all over this site.
With how og is being perceived it opens the eyes up to government and all other sorts of activity.
Anyone thinking I’m whining or bitching well it’s simple those people wouldnt have followed my journal and you never would have seen this if it wasnt moved here.
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I would argue not. But I would also argue there’s a difference between having concerns and gatekeeping too. I see valid concerns and criticisms here, some of which have been addressed, some of which are just inherent to this forum. As long as you can justify your concerns and you’re willing to engage in the discussion about them I don’t think they’re the same thing. But I certainly hope this place doesn’t embrace the spirit of exclusivity. Seems to be contradictory to it’s intent.
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