(05-18-2014, 04:53 PM)avih Wrote: The point is to have a rule and/or notice that a new post to an old thread must be relevant, or else it'll be removed from that thread.
There are and always will be subtleties and nuances which make some cases not fit the rules 100%, but we shouldn't let those prevent us from laying the ground rules.
Like with any kind of rule - the rules are few and the real-world cases are many. But the rules provide the guidelines which help us interpret how each real-world case should be handled.
I understand that you have a point, just I think you are putting too much faith in user's discerning capacity when many show unable to read even the rules when joining a forum.
Of course all older users have that discernment (coff, coff...)
Anyway, that's like creating new administrative problems and opening breaches for loopholes...
Besides, your point is yet applied. One can revive an old thread once is shown he had that good reason to do so. how it is now, necroing becomes the exception, not the rule.
Edit: That rule is not arbitrary, it was created because the many cases of issues necroing old threads can bring. One classic example is yet that from above, just the subtler one:
There is a thread reporting an issue with game XYZ. And then there are many recommendations to deal with the problem which are not valid anymore and actually could be harmful. Even so the current emulator's version is not even mentioned in the whole thread.