Max_Caine Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 (edited) When reading through the forum, I noticed quite a bit of Thread Necromancy that's been appearing recently. Tbh, it's always a bit jarring for me to have a thread that was 4 months dead suddenly burst into life again, especially if the subject discussed is as dead as the thread itself. I could only really see threads re-risen in the Bug Forum, when people are still having the same bugs several versions down the line. I think people should quit raising threads from the dead, and if they wanna talk about the same topic, start a new one, with a fresh perspective, personally. Edited September 9, 2012 by Max_Caine clarifying the example Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XenoMask Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 Kind of odd to see here a thread discussing about TV Tropes' thraed necromancy problem I mean, wouldn't it be more logical to discuss it there? .-. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max_Caine Posted September 9, 2012 Author Share Posted September 9, 2012 Modified original post to indicate the link is to a definition, not another forum's problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gorlom Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 Anyone attempting thread necromancy should read the whole thread first. Note when the last post was made, try not to engage an old (probably outdated) post but instead contribute something new. Most likely this will be too hard to do and just not worth resurrecting the thread... but i'd rather have thread necromancy over reinventing the wheel (ie recreating old threads) spam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazz Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 Some topics simply don't change, like the "no time units" topic over at XCOMEU. The topic doesn't change, the arguments don't change, and for the most part, neither do the posters. No point in having 5 similar threads litter the forum instead. The real thread necromancy issue is rather on or off topic. If the post is referring to current issues while the rest of the thread is about past and long-changed issues, the post is off-topic. Necromancy is just a redundant label. (although is sounds cooler) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingdisc Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 I think the only ones who really notice (and object to) thread necromancy is those of us who are long term residents and contributors to the forum. We are though, only the tip of the forum's readership - most people will get excited and hang out for a week, or dip in and out or just come in response to a problem or publicity. For them, a done conversation doesn't exist. I've been on the other side. I remember I got excited by Fall from Heaven (Civ 4) and fired questions at a number of forums and got told off from the perment residents for ressurecting dead threads and that A, B and C had been answerd at 1, 2 and 3, and why didn't I bother reading the threads before posting! I don't think this is fair to expect of the infrequent visitors (to take the time to read up on the historically conversations, which has taken us days of our lives so far, before posting). So now I am the other side of the fence with xenonauts, I think thread necromancy is just an emergent property of forum life where there are a mixture of residents and visitors - and just something we need to live with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gauddlike Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 Personally if I am going to post in a thread that has been dead for a long time I usually read back at least a few pages to see if I am saying anything new. I also check to see if the old thread is still relevant and if not I will open a new one. Sometimes though you just have the option of raising a dead thread and getting moaned at or starting a new one and getting moaned at because the point has been discussed before. If you have something to say that you feel should be heard then you make your choice and go for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buzzles Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 What Gauddlike says is true, however some people do just find what they think is a relevent thread via the search function and then just drop a post in it, resulting in thread necromancy. Tbh, it's always a problem on internet forums, we're not unique here. The only thing I could suggest is adding a slightly reworded version of Guaddlike's post to the rules sticky (if we have one), and have the mod team give people a telling off if they've not added anything constructive that warrants the thread rising from the dead in a zombie-like state like a hungover student on a Sunday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thothkins Posted September 10, 2012 Share Posted September 10, 2012 I'm looking forward to coming back to this thread in a few months and saying "yes" There are new people joining the forums all the time. Any one of them could well have relevant and/or interesting things to add to any of the threads. Therefore, they should feel free to post. Particularly the case for a game that evokes so many memories of a previous game such as X-Com. There are a umber of threads that could return form the dead on that alone. I don't expect new folks to have read every thread on the forums either, but reading back a bit on the thread they wish to add to would be nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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