Necroing Dead Threads & Thread Bumping in General
I've decided to address this issue since a number of forum users have questioned this topic and many don't seem sure about what is the right thing to do.
First off what is necroing?
Simply said it's when a user posts on an out dated dead thread causing it to bump back up to the top of boards in the more recent sections.
Will you get in trouble for necroing/bumping old or dead threads?
Highly unlikely unless you severely abuse the ability to necro/bump threads by just bumping up tons of old/dead topics with nonsensical or spam responses.
Is necroing/bumping a bad thing?
No in itself the act of necroing/bumping old threads isn't a bad thing however there are positives and negative results that may come from necroing as explained in further detail below:
Pros & Acceptable Instances of Necroing:- If there haven't been recent topics that you're interested in discussing in, you may decide to necro an old but relevant thread.
- You avoid clogging up the forum boards with extra threads on the same topic if you can necro a relating older thread.
- Perhaps you'd like to notify forum users that an update/edit was made to the original post of an old thread that you yourself created so you post to bump it.
- Perhaps you’ve posted a topic seeking help and the issue or request still hasn’t been solved within a number of days, then it would be understandable to politely bump it.
- You'd like to give thanks and praise under a very helpful tutorial and by necroing it you may give others an opportunity to find this thread and reap its benefits or just enjoy something that may have just been pushed back with time. (Same may apply to map, preset, screenshot, video, and art threads).
Cons & Unacceptable Instances of Necroing:- You necro a thread simply to boost post count but your response in said thread isn't thoughtful or relating to said topic.
- You necro a number of threads and they start to push back newer threads thus delaying or preventing the newer threads from being seen and responded to. This is incredibly inconsiderate to fellow forum users).
Example: Often times users will necro threads in either of the Help boards and this not only delays/prevents relevant threads from getting the much needed answers they need but it also causes confusion.
- It wouldn't be good to necro on an old roleplay topic because there's a high chance that the group is no longer active. (Same can apply to old preset/map/mesh request shops that may no longer be in business)
When deciding to necro any thread your best option is to consider the points made above. Is it still relevant? Will necroing this thread or thread(s) benefit the forum community or will it push back others threads, cause confusion etc? Is the response you're leaving on said thread(s) thoughtful?
We want everyone to enjoy their forum experience but to do that we all must be mindful of our activities and how they effect others here. Hopefully this clears things up for you all
If at any point you're unsure whether or not if necroing a particular thread is ok we staff encourage you to ask us and we'll be more than happy to guide you. Happy posting everyone!
