Autolocking old threads?

[Falcrack]

I notice mods here really do not like it when old threads are resurrected. Which seems strange to me, I think there is often value in continuing discussion of certain threads even if they are old. But that's the moderators privilege I guess.

To prevent that, why not autolock threads once they have not been commented on for a certain length of time? You guys own the forum, so you should probably be able to write some code to do that which would save CBJ the need to write a little explanation each time someone necroes a thread. Would also save the frustration of individuals who necro those threads and see them locked, not having realized beforehand they are doing something taboo.

[CBJ]

Moved to Off Topic, as this isn't about the game.

The downside to auto-locking is that it's a very blunt instrument. The current system gives moderators the ability to apply a bit of common sense on whether to lock a thread that's been dug up from the depths. It's not something that we encourage in most cases, but there are occasions when it can be reasonable, useful, or even just entertaining.

On the subject of it being "taboo", that's a bit of an exaggeration. The reasons for discouraging it are practical ones, such as not confusing new players with out of date information on the front page. And digging up an old thread is not something a user, especially a new one, is generally going to get any kind of warning for. The closing comment from a moderator is generally for information purposes only, and usually indicates the alternative options that a player has to discuss what's on their mind. Only people who ignore that advice and dig up old threads repeatedly are likely to end up with a warning.

[Rapier]

I was going to emerge from the shadows to point out that people who had read the [url=http://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=80488][b]Fo[/b]rum [b]Rul[/b]es[/url] would be aware that posting in old threads was frowned upon, but I checked my facts first! It looks like the older sets of rules have been edited and had that part (which I'm pretty sure I added 'back-in-the-day') removed, while newer sets in the X4 forums do refer to what we used to call 'bumping'. So I slide back into the shadows, mildly amused at how still (figuratively) no-one reads the rules (not a criticism, just an observation - it was always thus.).

Edit: Not sure why that BBCode isn't displaying correctly in the message but is in my signature. I probably shouldn't be surprised that a 10 year old hack hasn't survived various forum updates. As a note to mods, the BBCode is what the swear filter replaces with if someone types Fo_Rul (without the gap)

[Alan Phipps]

Just to add to the mix: a necro of an old and dormant thread, even if with a seemingly on-topic and well-constructed post, is quite frequently a red flag for moderators to suspect an AI bot or human spammer.