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Forum Necromancy - Why does it happen?
hypl
Member Posts: 3,719 Arc User
I...just don't understand how this is a common thing. It shouldn't bug me, but now it really does. Because I am extremely curious.
Who does this sort of thing? Why do they do it? How do they do it? Are they led to old threads via search engines? Do they just jump back through forum pages out of curiosity? Are they just trolls doing it for the lulz? What's the deal?
Who does this sort of thing? Why do they do it? How do they do it? Are they led to old threads via search engines? Do they just jump back through forum pages out of curiosity? Are they just trolls doing it for the lulz? What's the deal?
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"Where monsters rampage, I'm there to take them down! Where treasure glitters, I'm there to claim it! Where an enemy rises to face me, victory will be mine!" -Lina Inverse
But in any case... replying to the same old thread as the new poster, and critiquing them, if they had a legitimate reason to reply to the thread, but instead offer a constructive critique explaining that the original thread was outdated or fixed or whatever... unless it wasn't and the new poster wanted to make a note they are having similar problems still and looking for a current fix.
Most of my forum experience is because I am actively looking for an answer to a specific question. I regularly ens up wading through old threads to find out how certain consoles work, which procs stack and which ones overwrite each other, what damage type certain enemies do, etc. Anything the game doesn't necessarily communicate well. What I am trying to say is that I easily understand why this is a common thing. Most people do not regularly read the forum and only look at it for a specific question. And as we know, this game has some questions that never get properly answered.
Also, the 30 day rule is really not well known. Yeah, it is in the posted forum rules but who reads terms of use for a throw-away forum account when all you want is a quick question answered?
I find that most offenders do have a single, or double digit post count.
Besides, it's not a 100% rule anyway is it?
They sticky something...folks are free to post in that thread 31+ days after the last post...yeah?
Telling folks not to necro things, has told some folks not to bother searching for things, just post a new post...and voila...we can quickly end up with multiple threads all discussing the same thing, where pertinent info to the discussion might be spread across multiple threads.
Then a funny thing happens, no? Cause then you might have to post the same thing to multiple threads, right? Posting the same thing to multiple threads is spamming.
But hey, say we go back to the person just posting the new thread because they did search - found the old thread - did not want to necro - but wanted to ask an additional question, yeah?
Somebody else sees that thread and has another question...so they ask that, but that question was already answered by the previous thread. Then we get into the thing again of having multiple threads, multiple questions, and answers spread out all over the place - eh?
So now try doing a search. Starts to suck, yeah? Folks realize that...they stop searching.
* * * * *
And generally why does the anti-necro rule exist? Cause people generally don't pay attention. One can take an old inflammatory thread, necro it, and get people all worked up again as if something is happening in the now...cause people just don't pay attention and look at the post dates to see that it's not the end of the world now...it was something claimed to be end of the world months or years ago that never was.
"But Virus, stop being so pissy...that's not the only reason."
Outdated information, yeah? Okay, so that outdated info thread gets locked as a necro. It's still there for searches, right? What if a person is just looking for something and has nothing to post themselves...they're going to read that outdated info and possibly not see current info, eh?
Imagine if instead of that thread being locked as a necro, the first post was edited at the start of the post to state that much of the discussion is deprecated and current information starts with post whatever with it linked, yeah?
Searching becomes easier...outdated information is better identified as outdated information...historic context can be maintained...new discussion can continue...woo-'effin-hoo!
But no...instead...let's turn searching into a clusterrompinthewoods, leave outdated information out there unidentified as outdated information, and all the fun that comes with the heavy handed "no necro" policy....
But anyway, someone that has posted on a forum where the "big bad" is duplicate threads instead of old threads, may believe they are being *polite* by searching for and posting in an old thread as opposed to starting a new one.
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My character Tsin'xing
I sort of works like this...
"Newb: Hey guys a new player here, and a quick question about..."
"Veteran: Stoopid NOOB! Why u no use serch engin and add to existin fred insed ov makin new fred..."
"Newb: Ok found this thread on what seems to be the same problem I'm having, but after reading the 47 pages, seems nobody actually answered the question, so any new thoughts?"
"Veteran: STOOPID NOOB! wai u necropostin, mods close dis now"
Don't get worked up over it, it's perfectly natural, happens everywhere since web-forums began.
Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life...</b></size></center>
Who determines the amount of time that would have to elapse before it is 'wrong' to post in it? This whole idea is ridiculous. If the discussion in the thread is still relevant, there should be no reason it cannot be continued at any time, regardless of elapsed time since the last addendum.
Since 'necroing' is always a whistle blown by users and not the moderators (who would just close the thread if it was a concern for them) it suggests that the problem arises from people with the need to making rules where they have no business making them. If someone pulls a thread from the bottom of the list (which is invariably burried under countless irrelevant, if not recent threads) it hurts no one. there is absolutely no reason to complain about it apart from complaining for its own sake, which in the absence of anything else better to do is done far too oftem among forum kiddies.
You have the option to ignore it, or complain about it, and the option to think rationally about wheter or not the behavior is truly disruptive. I submit the only disruptive behavior in question here is blowing a whistle at it citing some ridiculous rule of the internet that exists in your mind only for the sole purpose of giving you an opportunity to spew vitriolic bile and attempt to troll someone, or satisfy your ego driven urge to appear to strangers as an authority on right and wrong.
If these are the things that really bother you, you are indeed fortunate.
I know, I know - "who reads the EULA", right? You certainly should - it is, believe it or not, a legally-binding document which you electronically sign (by clicking on "I Agree"). You should never sign anything unless you've read and understood it.
As you can probably guess, I left because I got griped at repeatedly for posting in the most recent threads about certain game features. Oh well, life sucks like that sometimes.
My character Tsin'xing
Indeed. And it's just general forum etiquette to not necro dead topics, as it just clutters up the main page. The cycle of gathering information goes as so:
1. Search the topic in question first and see if someone else has already asked and/or received an answer.
2. If the topic has been queried, but not received a proper answer, start a new thread.
3. If you receive an answer, but it is not to your preferred liking, do not disregard it and proclaim the Devs are lying or incompetent. That's rude and really just shows how much of a butt you actually are.
4. There will never be a Tier 5/6/7/8/9/10+ Constitution class. Don't bring it up.
-Leonard Nimoy, RIP
I am half tempted to created a EULA that has the clause "half of your assets will go to Summon Cthulu for a Better Tomorrow organization". Just to see how many people actually bother to read EULAs.
That has already happened. Couple of years back a company in the EU I think, had a EULA clause that basically said that you (the customer/user) gives your soul to the company. Some people did actually read it and queried them about it. Official response I believe was along the lines of it was a joke to see if anyone actually would read this thing and we never intended to act on that clause.
I have also heard of people who when putting together the final version (that which will published to the world) of their PhD thesis insert jokes or some kind of comment somewhere in the document to see if anyone actually reads said thesis in detail. Can't say I have ever seen this personally having read a few thesis and I never did it in my thesis.
Yes, I fly a Dreadnought cruiser. Deal with it.
Some years ago, an EU based games company had a EULA that included several clauses that violated basic trading legislation/consumer rights in some countries. The last clause in this 'illegal' EULA was one stating that by reading the eula, you agreed to pretend the illegal clauses were not there.
In reality, most EULA's are not worth the paper they are not printed on.
Here's the last EULA I wrote...
Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life...</b></size></center>
EULAs get into the whole legal mess of contract law, and may or may not get upheld in court the same as any other contract.
My character Tsin'xing
I honestly believe it's just a policy issue, but some... uncharitable person might suggest it's because Certain Parties would like to hide that Certain Issues have gone unaddressed, and bugs unfixed, for literally years. :rolleyes:
My character Tsin'xing