As of now one of the main ways to be successful in Optometry is to go private practice in a rural setting. Your office hours are good and usually no weekends. The pay is still great among rural ODs.
The reason you don't hear much from them on forums is probably because they are booked out 6 weeks and too busy weekend.
So unless you plan on going more rural out of school , at this point Optometry probably isn't worth it. If you plan on living the city life which is fine, plan on making MAYBE 100K working late nights and weekends.