A Solution to Necro'ing?
TappedOut forum
Posted on June 13, 2015, 12:50 a.m. by Jay
I've noticed Necroposting to be an issue bugging a lot of people here, and seem to recall talk of the mods looking for a solution. I had an idea that might both solve the necroing problem as well as be a useful tool for the site in general.
Perhaps make it possible to automatically unsubscribe after x amount of time (2, 3 months?). This way even if you auto sub to everything you comment in, necro-ers won't bother you when they show their heads. If you don't mind necros and would want to continue discussion, just ignore this option.
Dunno if this is implementable, but seems like something to think about.
Going into an old thread and posting a comment after the discussion is over. For example, I post to a thread about Standard Bant Hexproof from when Innistrad was legal. Not really contributing anything, just causing a notification to pop up in everyone's inbox.
June 13, 2015 1:12 a.m.
Epochalyptik says... #6
@TehCoopeh: Explain to me why that's an acceptable idea.
We've talked about anti-necro features in the past. I personally think threads should be locked after a month of inactivity, with the ability for the OP or a mod to unlock the thread again.
June 13, 2015 1:23 a.m.
MagicalHacker says... #7
I had imagined that that would work better personally, because what if someone had something actually worth contributing to the discussion but was just late to the party. That way, they could ask OP to reopen discussion about their possible comment without requiring a whole new thread to be started where old thoughts would be inevitably rediscussed.
June 13, 2015 1:26 a.m.
magnetcrocodile says... #8
@MagicalHacker You might as well just create a new forum with more focused discussion than necro-ing
June 13, 2015 2:17 a.m.
I think threads should be locked after a while goes by with no activity, with the option for them to be reopened by various official sources.
I notably raised economics threads for this because we often speculate before a set comes out and then we want to revisit those speculations a month or so down the line to discuss what actually happened.
This auto lock option would facilitate the 'late to the party' and 'further discussion needed' because it still maintains the option for threads to be reopened.
June 13, 2015 5:14 a.m.
Also, everyone.
Can I just point out that the notifications menu thing is now longer and various bugs with notifications have been fixed. This means that having a necro take up a spot in your notifications is not as big of a deal as it used to be.
June 13, 2015 5:15 a.m.
FAMOUSWATERMELON says... #11
I second Chief's idea. Locked threads would definitely work well, and they could be reopened if really needed.
June 13, 2015 8:12 a.m.
The reason I like this over locked threads is because aside from pacifying necroposting it's also just a good feature (in my opinion). Chances are I won't care for a discussion from months ago, and in many cases they will no longer be relevant (if pertaining to Standard or shifting metas).
I might be the only one to think so, but if not it seems like a good idea. Particularly the more control given over this would make it even better, though naturally be more complex to implement. If you could set the window of time, or make it only for certain forums, or Standard decks, etc. etc.
June 13, 2015 10:31 a.m.
Epochalyptik says... #13
The extra subscriptions don't mean anything if there's no posting going on (which a hard control would guarantee), and, in the event that someone does necro or post in, say, an article (which can't be necroed, really), I like to know about it.
Thread locks are a hard control over whether necroing can occur. Unsubs are just sticking your head in the sand; hey don't change the fact that necros show up in recent activity. Someone who necros is likely to await a response only to never know why people aren't replying.
This is especially relevant in the Q&A. I often see followup questions asked by Google searchers a year or two after the question was resolved. I'd like their questions to be answered, even if they did necro.
June 13, 2015 10:35 a.m. Edited.
Epochalyptik says... #15
That would be exactly what a thread lock would force them to do.
June 13, 2015 10:45 a.m.
Epochalyptik says... #16
In case it's not clear, getting users to do something specific is largely a matter of limiting what is possible. As I think we've demonstrated over the history of the site, posting info pages or even warning banners doesn't stop people from incorrectly using the forums, Q&A included. The only way to actually prevent things like necroing is to institute some kind of restriction on user actions that removes their ability to do those things.
In a perfect world, users would read forum descriptions and other material. But many don't, and indirect or faux management strategies don't actually solve the problem.
June 13, 2015 10:48 a.m.
Unsubbing, as epoch said, actually doesn't sold necroposting. It stops you from seeing that its happening but its still there.
June 13, 2015 11:50 a.m.
That's true. I guess my line of thought was just that the actual problem with necros was just that it was annoying, so this kinda makes it less so. The closing threads definitely seems more efficient though; the only possible problem I can see with it is people either not reopening their threads at all (out of laziness or disinterest or whatever (which admittedly isn't so bad because another thread can be made)) or opening them for dumb reasons and essentially just letting the necroing happen. But I totally see your points about this treating the symptoms instead of the disease, so to speak.
June 13, 2015 11:58 a.m.
miracleHat says... #19
I am with ChiefBell and Epochalyptik. Just close the f*cking forum.
Arvail says... #2
June 13, 2015 12:56 a.m.