Necrobumping/Thread creation

I noticed that there has been an issue lately with thread creation. Basically: new person makes a thread that already exists, mods get mad and merge.

But it's sort of a lose-lose situation for the member too. If they were to necrobump a thread, they get slapped with a warning and more bitching from mods and other members for being "stupid".

Personally, if I were a new member here, I would be a bit scared to even do anything. If I make a thread wishing to discuss something, I get reprimanded. And posting in an already existing thread earns the same thing.

Yeah, I know, they should "read the rules" and all that, but I do think that we are a bit harsh on people who make these mistakes. They weren't in on any of our old conversations, and new members want to discuss these things with other new members. Are these forums not the place to do that?

It's perfectly understandable to punish someone for making a really dumb post like "wow it's a game", but when someone actually does attempt to bring about a discussion, I don't think we should shit on them for that.

I had been wanting to say this for a long time, actually. But anyway, yeah, tell me what you think.

 

We have a lot of old discussions that a good number of the current members weren't around for, and new members want to discuss those things but can't because we say "get with the times, kid" and then go back to talking about cats. Lace had the idea of locking the whole Theories section and beginning anew, but that wouldn't work with the whole forums. We might have to start letting people talk about things we've already talked about, and use our wisdom on the matter to guide them.
Because this place is basically turning into daycare, so why not.

 

You can't help the fact that with the release of Cave Story DS, we've had an influx of noobs. I think both approaches to old topics are equally flawed. If people get punished for REPEATEDLY bumping old threads, yes. If people get punished for REPEATEDLY failing to check if a thread already exists, yes. Maybe have a big logo saying 'CHECK BEFORE YOU POST' or something.

 

Maybe there should be an automated search function that searches for threads of the same name before you post one.
And possibly content related to it.

 

You don't need an automated search function. If you don't have the sense to use the search bar that is staring you in the face on every page, consider not posting here.

 

Both bumping old threads without basic courtesy and making new ones when recent and identical ones already exist are frowned upon almost internet-wide as acts of poor taste, because a small bit of effort on the behalf of one user could have saved wasting everyone else's time. Of course, if they do act in a fair manner, there's no reason they should receive complaints/hostility, but I can't think of any off the top of my head here where that has been the case. Maybe you could point out some specific examples that have bothered you?

The rules/mentality regarding thread creation iffier than they are for bumping, though, so that might be worth discussing. Part of the problem is that this is a relatively small discussion board that doesn't get a lot of new traffic, and also doesn't contain a great deal of opinion speak (e.g. GameFAQs-esque "I am a helpless damsel please tell me if I should play this game or not" type threads), so repeat threads are likely to be about topics that have already been exhausted by the whole community. I can only assume that people choosing to pointing out that a certain thread has been made before rather than trying to start a new discussion is because they don't feel like talking about it again, and, to a degree, I think the thread-makers only have themselves to blame, because if the new threads were of consistently good quality the general attitude toward them would be more positive. For as long as there have been enough threads for duplicates or necrobumps to happen, they have almost always the typical bad kind.

And they just continue to happen over and over again, one right after the other, often by the hand of the exact same person

It's like they're not even aware of what they're doing, even after they've been told

Like they're not even human

And

And

It makes me feel very sad.

 

Well duh.
However, people tend to overreact to bumps of any length over about a month, meaning that we get a lot of duplicate threads, and people get angry about duplicate threads even if the original is as ancient as Kilarney. This doesn't really leave any way for people to talk about topics that have been discussed in the past ever without fear of divine retribution.

It's also worth noting that even though us oldies have talked about the heck everything, the new members haven't. They should be given the freedom to have the same discussions we used to have, because otherwise, the forums cease to be forums and start to be, like, an encyclopedia or something.

I say:
-Make bumps of under six months socially acceptable.
-Allow new thread creation after six months.
-Do not merge new/old thread unless threadstarter requests it.
-Posts with the gist of "we already discussed this" or "don't bump" become bannable offenses.

 

Maybe you could point out some specific examples that have bothered you?

Well, the most recent example I can think of is when Lord Shadow made a thread asking for Pokemon friend codes. I forget the original title, but it was merged into Pokemon B&W: Friend Codes.

But his post replying to Noxid's about merging threads kinda concerned me

Well, Im not allowed to necrobump, so...
Want to challenge me, noxid?

Not sure if he was just giving Noxid some 'tude or if he was being serious. But it just sort of shows that people are a bit confused since we both treat necrobumping and duplicate threads with such disfavor.


And thank you Lace, you pretty much summed up everything I was attempting to say. While 6 months may be a long time, I think things may get a bit messy allowing thread creation with those rules, but I still think they are potentially good ideas.

 

Maybe there should be an automated search function that searches for threads of the same name before you post one.
And possibly content related to it.

There is one in DreamViews and it's really useful.
I agree

 

It's also worth noting that even though us oldies have talked about the heck everything, the new members haven't.

The point is that there won't be any real talk generated because nobody will have anything to say.

They should be given the freedom to have the same discussions we used to have, because otherwise, the forums cease to be forums and start to be, like, an encyclopedia or something.

Yeah but where are the new theory threads that actually have something serious to discuss?

-Make bumps of under six months socially acceptable.
-Allow new thread creation after six months.

Bumps of any length are already acceptable, as long as they aren't sillybumps. The problem is that most of them are.

-Do not merge new/old thread unless threadstarter requests it.

Why would someone make a new thread if they just want to request that it be merged?

-Posts with the gist of "we already discussed this" or "don't bump" become bannable offenses.

Yeah no. We already have that rule about not-responding to sillybumps, which is more than adequate.

Not sure if he was just giving Noxid some 'tude or if he was being serious. But it just sort of shows that people are a bit confused since we both treat necrobumping and duplicate threads with such disfavor.

It may have been possible that Lord Shadow was making an assumption, similar to the assumption he often makes that other people are going to have any idea what he's talking about

There would be nothing wrong with making it clearer when it's okay/better to do what, but I'm not entirely convinced it's not already clear and I'm not really sure what would be the best way to go about it. I'm planning to do another general rule overhaul at some point, but that won't be happening in the short term.

 

Two things, towards Double. One, I was never shown allowability to necro reasonably. Second, where else do I make less-than-understandable posts?

 

Everywhere.
All the time.

Sorry, but I didn't think he meant that game. The pun was for a different perspective. By definition of logic, I made a pun.

What does this even mean
It's complete nonsense

 

Ill talk to you about it in that thread. Stay ontopic here, I will explain myself there.

 

That's the definition of on-topic.
You asked for examples in other threads here you made no sense, and I provided examples where you don't make sense.
By the definition of logic, I was on topic.

 

I didnt say you werent. But now that it has been said and there is no more towards it, we go back to the topic of necrobumps and such.

 

Agreed.

Personally I think that bumping of any level on the Nerco index should be allowed, if they have something important/valuable to say.
Not sure what to think about duplicate threads, though.

 

Good idea.

Towards duplicate threads, I think that they are only necassary if this new allowability of necroing is not enacted.

 

It's not new

 

The problem is that the way the rules are written it doesn't state what is allowed, rather stating what isn't.

Maybe a rewrite from this:

6. Don’t bump old threads unless you have something new to add to the conversation. Random bumps or 'continuations' of n-year-old conversations are frowned upon, and will probably result in post deletion. Likewise, do not respond to dead threads when they are bumped to tell the person in question not to necrobump. Any such posts will be classified as spam and increase the chance of a thread being locked. Rouse at them using Visitor Messages if you must.

..to this:

6. You are allowed to bump old threads only providing it is with a post that contribute's to that thread's topic and that the thread does not exceed 6 months in age. In fact it is generally preferred over making a new thread. However any bumping of threads that do not meet these conditions are frowned upon, and will probably result in post deletion. Likewise, do not respond to dead threads when they are bumped to tell the person in question not to necrobump, since such posts are considered to be spam.

 

Perhaps people mistake a quiet forum for a reason to bump like it's going out of style?