Policy regarding reviving old topics

[fractalfeline]

So I'm a relative noob to this particular forum, and I love the idea of Crossfire, and the fun little debates that everyone engages in (well, everyone who actively participates, that is!) And well, as it is with noobs, I find it very tempting to read through all the old threads to see what kind of ideas spawn forth, and when I find an idea that I find interesting, or a particularly provocative argument, or a position stated that makes me feel like "omg someone else thinks that too?" or I think I have a "unique" perspective on a subject (by unique I mean hasn't been stated in this particular thread or on this particular forum), I get this urge to just contribute my little opinions.

By the amount of responses I get on some other forums, I've come to conclude that being a Topic Necromancer is generally regarded as a terrible crime against humanity, and frowned upon in most forums. There's even a flame warrior entry about it:

http://redwing.hutman.net/~mreed/war...ecromancer.htm

I kinda wonder what the general sentiment within this particular community is regarding this kind of aberrant behavior, is it tolerated, is it grounds for immediate termination of an account by an admin, etc.

P.S. I find flame warriors in general to be so darned true and quite hilarious due to it It's fun to try to figure out what kind of warrior you are

All in fun btw (No offense intended)

[Brandon]

We usually don't tolerate this behavior. Alternatively, if you want to "revive" an old topic, make a new and improved topic and we can get the current forum regulars active in them.

[noerrorsfound]

Reviving "dead" threads is only bad if you've got something useless to say. Why start a duplicate thread just because the old one got a little inactive? Continuing the old debate from where it left off is best. Starting the debate from scratch just leads to redundancy and people repeating what's already been said. Not that some redundancy won't happen anyway, but at least people see multiple pages and can read previous opinions if they wish.

[xav0989]

I believe that the decision to revive or duplicate simply relies on the context. If you indeed have some super important content that hasn't been mentioned yet, and the topic is less old than let's say six months - but then again, this limit changes depending on the length of the post you add - then I say revive it. If a topic is older then that, my opinion would be don't touch it, it might have rabies!
However, is a old discussion subject came back to the news recently last 2-4 weeks, then create a new thread, including a synopsis of the old thread, the new development and a link to the old thread.

That's just my 2 cents.

- I should try following those guidelines!!!

[diabolo]

as I was reading this, I just knew I had to login and post iin here with my 2cents

I also think it depends on what the topic is about. If it is a topic asking for help that is mad old (>6 months, as xav said) and the user is inactive, why open up the topic. If another user has the same problem, they can open up their own topic.

Why I find this annoying. That someone revives an old topic, and the orig. user is inactive, so it just falls back down again. It also takes up room for someone else that has a question, and is actually active.

[xav0989]

as I was reading this, I just knew I had to login and post iin here with my 2cents

I also think it depends on what the topic is about. If it is a topic asking for help that is mad old (>6 months, as xav said) and the user is inactive, why open up the topic. If another user has the same problem, they can open up their own topic.

Why I find this annoying. That someone revives an old topic, and the orig. user is inactive, so it just falls back down again. It also takes up room for someone else that has a question, and is actually active.

Reading diabolo's post, which I quoted to test the new quote button - which reacts the same way as the old one-, I find I might add a new dimension to my post. I mentioned the length of your projected post, the time since the latest development on the subject and the time since the latest post on the thread.

I'd like to add the type of thread (the category helps a lot for that) and the activity of the users who posted in the thread. By type of thread I mean news thread, help request, off-topic, etc. By activity of the users who posted in the thread, it would be important to look at the activity of the original poster and of the most recurrent repliers on similar thread. If the activity is null, then don't bother reviving and duplicate.

But, as always, it is a good idea to link back to the original thread.

Yeah, I'm at 4 cents now!

EDIT:

We should discuss on coming up with a real actual policy on old thread reviving.

[fractalfeline]

lol Someone necro-ed my topic! hah!

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

And here I thought the admin had thoroughly laid down The Law for All to Adhere To, No Questions Asked. But the topic has a life of its own! It's own will! It's... ALIIIIIVE mwahahahahahahhahah!!!!!!!

yeah I know I'm :nuts: but :thefinger