Old threads...

[Agent Proto]

I know some of the old threads are popping up, but I do not agree with all of them being closed. My reason? The discussion is being continued, and the person who revived the thread didn't spam. Why are they being closed? Because the thread is "old"?

I don't agree with that. Unless the post that revived the thread is pure nonsense and had nothing to do with the topic, then the closure can be justified. I'm sick of the old threads being closed just because the thread is old. If the discussion is being continued without it turning to spam, why end it?

[Dr Unne]

Old threads should also be closed if it's an old issue. Like "I need advice about my girlfriend", from 3 months ago; for one thing, the situation is probably already resolved.

For another, people don't look at the dates. And they respond to people who posted 7 months ago, thinking they just posted. It's an awkward situation, with people having weird one-sided conversations. It makes me feel awkward even reading it, anyways.

That's kind of the issue for me. What are we doing here? I think we're supposed to be having conversations. Threads aren't supposed to be "Everyone line up and post and leave". That kind of thing turns into a list of unrelated comments that no one bothers to read. That's not what an MB is supposed to be about, in my opinion. I know it is sometimes, but it's nice to prevent it if possible.

[Agent Proto]

Yeah, but some stuff that doesn't discuss anything personal, but rather just a overal question, like about abortion. The person who revived the thread answered and put down their opinion, and the topic is then continued without much spam.

Don't get me wrong, I do believe some threads should be left alone, but often times, if an old thread is revived that's been ignored till it's been revived that has a good impersonal topic, such as abortion, I believe it should have stayed alive. The person who revived it could start a new thread on the topic, but instead, they found the thread and decided to continue it.

Edit: I also started this thread for another reason. If reviving old threads was against the rule, then why isn't it mentioned in the FAQ? Shouldn't everyone be aware of this rule?

[crono_logical]

I think I've left alone the past 10 or so "reported posts" all by the same person who was pointing out "old threads revived" Dunno if anyone else bothered to close any of them, since I didn't think they were that old

Edit: I also started this thread for another reason. If reviving old threads was against the rule, then why isn't it mentioned in the FAQ? Shouldn't everyone be aware of this rule?

Netiquette or common sense in many cases, doesn't need to be explicitly mentioned

[m4tt]

I think I've left alone the past 10 or so "reported posts" all by the same person who was pointing out "old threads revived" Dunno if anyone else bothered to close any of them, since I didn't think they were that old

That's because they weren't old.

[Rainecloud]

I've created several threads about the same topic here at EoFF, but they have been made over a period of many years. My point is, if we left these revived threads open, there wouldn't be as much opportunity to create a new one concerning the same subject at some point in the future. Then, we'd all get bored and run out of ideas for brand new threads, and we'd end up with an overabundance of crap; IE - "Which Greek God/Goddess are you most like?"

At least I think that would happen. Think of it in terms of the real world. If you were having a conversation with a group of friends and then moved onto another topic, you wouldn't suddenly start to talk about the previous subject again in an hours time. Why not? Because nobody would have any clue what you're talking about, they probably wouldn't recall many of the points/observations made in the discussion, and it wouldn't have as much meaning. I like to follow threads all the way through, and if an old thread has been revived with 30+ replies and I haven't been following it, I won't even bother to look at it.

[Del Murder]

Some threads need a limit no matter how old they are. If I see 2003 in the thread somewhere, I'm closing it. Otherwise I usually leave them if the person continues the topic and it isn't a temporary or common one like 'I need help with this boss...', 'Which character is the sexiest?', etc. I've seen some closed that I didn't think should have been, but it isn't a big deal. We all use our best judgement and I think that works on the whole.

[Raistlin]

In GC or EoEO, I'd say close the threads.

However, I could definitely understand leaving them open in the gaming forums. I've noticed several threads being closed in FF7 forum lately for that very reason. Now, if someone wants to discuss that topic, they see a closed thread, and have to make a new one, where a lot of the posts will probably be just stating the same things discussed in the closed thread. So why close it to begin with? What does it matter if a thread about chocobo breeding was made 3 months ago? Chocobo breeding doesn't change. A thread about chocobo breeding now will have identical discussion to one made a year ago.
So I'd say leave 'em open in the gaming forums.

[Yamaneko]

Threads would never die if we allowed that. There would be hundreds of ongoing topics in GC. My head would explode before Unne's did. I say close them and that's what I'm going to do.

[Shlup]

If the post contributes to the discussion and isn't, as Unne put it, "and old issue" then I already leave it open. *shrug*

[Raistlin]

Threads would never die if we allowed that. There would be hundreds of ongoing topics in GC. My head would explode before Unne's did. I say close them and that's what I'm going to do.

In GC or EoEO, I'd say close the threads.

Yeah.

[Jolts]

What I don't get is, if it's old, we're not allowed to reply in them, but if we re-create the topic, it gets closed for duplication. So, once a thread is old, wether it's still interesting or not, we're not allowed to talk about it in any way, shape, or form anymore?

[Xander]

Jolts - If the topic is old, (in most forums I'd say this was around the second or third page back), you can make a new one and nobody should tell you off for duplicating. If it's on the same page then it should be obvious enough to see and people can still use it.

I think it's just a case by case thing, depending on the forum, topic and situation.

Of course you can talk about the same topics again later, it'd be silly to say a topic can only be discussed once, if we did that we'd have nothing left to talk about.

[Del Murder]

Feel free to post a new topic if you don't see it on the first or second page. If we close it and link you to a recent one, don't worry about it being closed if you post there. If it does get closed send a message to one of us and we'll make sure at least one of them stays open.

[Agent Proto]

Well, ok, thanks for making it clear for most of us.