Forum etiquette: necro post vs. new thread

I'm pretty sure most of them are just bots necro bumping old threads for no reason. I can't understand why anyone would make a bot to do that, but all the posts are by brand new users.

If the forum exists, it's best to necro. Unless the thread is dependent on time. Like "what do you for a living?" That may change time to time. However a thread like "What's your gender?" Should be necro, since, you know, gender don't change often.

Necro. The only problem with necromancy is when you dig out an old thread without contributing anything to it; if you're adding something new of value to the thread it's totally fine. And if you're not adding anything of value, it's irrelevant whether it's a necro or a new topic, you probably shouldn't bother posting it anyway.

I'll never understand the big deal about either one. If they're useless they're onto the second page in no time. Pretty sure there's bigger things to concern ourselves with in life.

The only problem with necroing is when you try to draw someone into an argument over something they said like two years ago. It's never happened to me, but chances are I wouldn't have the wherewithal to defend a point I made in ancient history, and I've definitely seen people trying to do this.

If it's a few months old then necro instead of making a new one. If it's over a year old then make a new one.

If I was @ravenlight, I'd post that "SEXISM!" picture right here.

The recent necroing I'd imagine is people finding a thread through Google and wanting to voice their thoughts so they make an account, post and never return. As for necro or new thread, depends on the thread and what you have to say.

@chibithor said:

@chavtheworld: I don't think bots post in threads on Giant Bomb. I have only seen them make new threads, with the thread title advertising whatever they're selling. As chibithor says, it's probably some jerks somehow getting to the old thread from Google, then signing up for an account just to make some inane post in a discussion that petered out months or years ago.

I think there is a greater chance of this kind of thing on a gaming forum because people might go back and play a game nobody is talking about currently and want to add their thoughts. I've resurrected a thread or two for this reason and wondered myself whether it would be better to make a new post or not.

If its a pretty funny necro then i tend to say well done to whoever popped up the topic again. On a more technical note How much space does a thread take? At what point if any does a thread start to take up space (stupid i know but say a wallpaper thread from ages ago may be better to necro rather than creating a new thread where around 50 new 720p+ pictures will be posted to the site). Also some topics if removed may just be a loop of the same conversation a couple months - a year later

I wish threads would auto lock after a year of no active posts.

I think it's okay to necro a thread, so long as you aren't quoting or @replying someone for a super old post, say, greater than six months back.

@tycobb said:

I agree. I think some sites do that way too quickly (GameFAQs would lock inactive threads within a few weeks), but very few threads maintain relevance after a year, aside from like ongoing photoshop threads, which have enough intermittent activity each year that they wouldn't be locked.

Thoughts, @rorie? You strike me as the person to ask about this. That, or one of the mods.

It should depend on the continued relevance (or lack of) of the thread in question, which just requires a bit of common sense.

"Which graphics card should I buy?" = New thread.

"Your favourite game from 1996????" = Necro.

Using a fixed time limit is arbitrary and dumb.

Not necessarily. I do agree it should be based on common sense, but people are dumb and common sense eludes most nowadays.

My suggestion for auto locking is to just stop people from necroing old threads for no reason. It is usually spam, someone wanting to start a quote a fight a year later for no reason, and my all time favorite -- bumping 3 year old threads to answer the question of "Should I buy a couch or a desk".

More often than not the mods are locking the threads up anyway, so why not try to remedy some of that? You can't fix stupid, but you can try to stop some of it.

Quick Edit: When I am saying auto lock threads, I am referring to General Discussion and Off Topic specifically. I wouldn't want it for game specific boards or articles posted to the forums.

Bots do occasionally post in random threads. They never have anything to do with the subject of the thread and the post is always made up of random words.

It was something that happened in seaserpent as a joke and somepeople seem to have forgotten the forum isn't in beta anymore.

@bisonhero: I can add this to my GB wishlist. Not a big priority for the team at the moment, but a nice idea.

doesn't matter, people get pissed for both of those for some reason.

I prefer if a new thread is made. That way people won't need to read through year old stuff without realizing it before reaching your brand new post. Then of course there is the side effect of people replying to old posts, with some people just simply replying to the OP.

Ideally keeping a subject all in one thread makes some sense in terms of navigation.

Still there's an art to adding value to a necro'ed thread properly. Unfortunately it seems to be a skill few possess. So perhaps the costs may outweigh the benefits on the average.

@rorie: @tycobb has an interesting idea on how to handle it , I agree with @jimbo that this isn't probably best fixed with a one sized fits all solution since there are legitimate uses for old threads but from a programming side I'm not sure how you would do it his way.

Both of you are right and wrong. Bots do post in threads, and sometimes they are relevant, but what they actually post is inane garbage. Like one picked up on some religious word in a random old thread and proceeded to go on some propaganda-like rant about some religion in some foreign country. But a lot of them also make these half-english sentences only a computer could spit out by choosing random verbs and nouns and connectives.

I kinda like necro threads, they're like time capsules and we're future space men exploring them. We wouldn't of got some great threads to go back to like these -

• Bioforge's graphics were 'face melting'
• Do you want Giantbomb to have emoticons?

I believe necroing threads should be discouraged but not a "bannable offense". I would rather see a new thread topic started with a link to the old thread for reference to continue the discussion "with a clean slate".

Necroing a thread is fine if you are adding information, asking a question ( but asking a question in a year old post, that has 100 pages is probably is not the best place to do so), Adding to an "established post" such as the creepy post your self thread that quickly became about chatting up girls. Or the Redheaded Girls thread that quickly became about Doctor Who.

What is not very cool is bumping a post and not adding to it, or trolling a post and not adding to it. If you are going to be snarky, at least put some information with that snark. Also replying to a user in a thread a week after the post, and trying to start an argument is not very cool.

I think some highly visible banner style warning when a topic pasts a certain age of inactivity and also makes the dates of a post more visible in that thread might actually be enough to curb the majority of perpetuated useless necros.

@jimbo said:

Basically, this and what a few other people suggested. Necroing threads is 100% fine if it serves a purpose, and I'm heavily against threads auto-locking. Creating a thread for a thing that already exists is way worse, in my opinion.

I suppose that is what is the important thing. If one is bringing back up a 2 year old thread because they got something meaningful to say then that is okay. If one wants to bring back up a 2 year old thread because they want to insert a "LOL good one" then that is not so okay.

Then again, I frown upon "I like cake. Discuss!" threads so many threads all over the place disappoint me.

New, by far. If the thread is over a month old that the original posters in that thread probably don't care anymore. Lots of new posters aren't going to post in a huge thread with really old time stamps.

Hell they should add in an auto-lock that locks threads that don't have any new posts for a month.

There's nothing wrong with trying to discuss something that may have been already discussed months or even years ago. It's crazy to necro a thread because that's never going to take off for good discussion again. Just because its been discussed before doesn't mean it can't be worth talking about it again. Hell probably with entirely new people.

Threads should be deleted after 30 days of inactivity

I say do whatever you feel like doing at that moment.

Personally I've never really cared about necros or repeats - it's just always been part of the "forums" experience.

NECRO-POST! *rah chukka chukka chukka*

Kill all the necromancers!

What good would that do? They'd just bring themselves back to life later.

Launch all the necromancers into the sun!

Zombie sun?

Oh so that's what Black Hole Sun was about.

As for "necro" vs "new", I don't care since I usually don't have a stick up my ass. Usually.

I think we're safe, that just means it eats other suns now.

Depends on the thread. Unless they're getting to be years old, I'd rather see threads necro'd than recreated every couple of months. The only thing that bugs me about all of the unnecessary necro threads that have been happening lately is that I'm constantly having to check when the thread was created to avoid replying to a post from a year or two ago.

Cannot answer poll because it's too much of an "it depends" case. Also, I have no idea what the answer is. There's been times where I've wanted to post something but the latest thread was years old and I stalled and didn't end up doing anything. I guess it more depends on moderation staff and what constitutes a repost. Also, is it a lesser-followed game with only a few forum threads to begin with?

If the thread is still relevant and you have something to add to it, there is no need for a new thread, you can just bring up the old one.

If the age of the thread makes it somewhat less relevant, a new thread is acceptable.

It's pretty much just common sense.