This is a loaded question.
My main complaint is similar to others, they dominate the market. "More huge vapor" but what if I don't want that? Part of the reason vaping is successful is that it's customizable. Just listen to any reviewer and anything not oriented to big clouds is called "for the beginner". Why? Because it's convienent, easy, portable, stealthy, pretty (backlash against that too), simple ... so there is a mindset involved. A person either vapes for clouds or they are a beginner. Wrong.
That's my personal opinion.
In their defence, I enjoy being around people who enjoy themselves and their enthusiasm is infectious. I doubt the vaping industry would be what it is today without them. They tend to be the backbone, the drivers, the advocates, the ones who fuel the lastest developments even if it does look like they push equipment to the max. That's why we are using 50+ watt devices now instead of 15 watts. Tanks have evolved to satisfy them so it's not fair to complain too loudly since we all tend to benefit from their advances in equipment, just maybe a generation behind. It all works out in the end.
I do sorta wish cloud chasing would become more recognized as a hobby / sport, since I think that's what it really is. I've seen signs of it with "competition" gear and talk about circuits and tournaments in cloud chasing. From what I've heard, there is a talent developed to get clouds hanging together for 6+ feet. Competitions have equipment checked for safety and I think if it was recognized, some of the tension would ease.
However there is a huge backlash and I'm not a good one to explain it since I'm not fully understanding of it myself.
A lot of it has to do with kids vaping, many of them using 0% nic, but they are underage, attempting to buy gear and being very bold about it. Recently our local vape group discovered several kiddie Facebook pages. Just like adult groups, there were some kids mixing and selling eliquids (0-3% nic), mod builders, trading and selling with about 100 members per group. This is a town of 500k. One of our members recognized several being in middle school. YIKES. Their personal pages boasted blowing huge clouds - that was the sole focus of these groups.
That's the backlash against cloud chasers - whether intentional or not, the high visabiity of big clouds is that it's attracting kids. Try explaining to media that they aren't using nic. It may not be directly their fault (I tend to think any action with the word "ban" in it will attract kids), they are the ones left with the responsibility. It's a tough situation full of greys and it's under a microscope right now.
We all know that politicizing vaping is wrong. It would help appearances out a lot if cloud chasing was toned down a notch for awhile until this attraction to kids is figured out (along with the rest of the garbage from Wash DC). It doesn't help to antagonize.
Anyway, that's the backlash as I see it.
