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welian

welian

#BlackLivesMatter
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Here's yet another suggestion from your friendly neighborhood welian - a script that automatically locks threads after 90 days of no activity. I know a few sites that do this (Reddit does something similar, where threads are auto-locked six months after their creation), and it's good for preventing necro-posting as well as keeping conversations relatively current. Could be useful to prevent dredging up old interest checks, or people posting on ancient announcements.
 
I too would like this, especially on the intros, maybe lock em down after 24, 48, or even72 hours regardless of activity. Those using intros as a means of discussion always end up hiding the other true new intros on the home screen
 
I wouldn't support this because I've had roleplayers in the past who've disappeared for like 4-6 months and then popped back on to resume, and I feel like it's just going to be a hassle to get threads unlocked for those of us who deal with this. Also, some people don't mind having their old threads dug up. Those who don't want that should just change the title so it says "Closed" instead of creating a hassle for the rest of us.
 
Fair enough, although auto-lock would be presumably turned off in the roleplay forums for exactly the reasons you described. I still think it would work great in interest checks, discussion forums, and the creativity forum. 90 days is three months, maybe you'd prefer a 180 day limit?
 
I did make a point about the interest checks.


How about instead of auto-lock, just the option to lock a thread if either roleplayer no longer wishes to RP? Or an auto-lock that can be disabled in settings for people that don't want it?
 
Unlocking a thread is not much of a hassle from a moderator's end.  I think it would be very easy for someone to create a roleplay support ticket if they desired to have their roleplay revived.  Having people select whether they would like an auto-lock for their thread just sounds more complicated.  The can live with or without it, so all or none.
 
It's really not. Lots of forums do this to encourage fresh discussion. Keep in mind, I'm talking about threads that have gone three to six months without a single like or post. In my opinion, if a discussion thread or interest check has gone six months without any activity, it's extremely unlikely it will see any future activity - unless, like I've personally seen on my own threads, it's some idiot nosing around and posting in ancient-ass threads in order to get a post count.
 
If it were 5+ months, I'd support it. Less than that, no. But people who do that just to get their post count up ought to be reported and warned. That's spamming and it is so not okay


I really can't support it with interest checks. It's making it harder for those who might actually still want to roleplay. Just change your title to closed if it's closed. Don't be lazy.
 
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I'm still siding with welian on this, an old thread....well it's pretty much that dusty old college book you'll never touch again after taking the class yknow? I say Lock em down, toss em in the archive or something, and should someone wish to have it revived then either have the option for a support ticket or have the gm have the power to lift the lock themselves, it is after all their roleplay, their intellectual property. And having an option at the beginning that asks "would you like this thread/forum to lock after X amount of days of inactivity?" Doesn't sound like a hassle at all, sounds more like an extra option hat could prove useful to some but not all users.
 
Yeah, I agree with you about the GM thing. It should be an option or not at all. Otherwise it's just going to be an annoyance for many users, when the users who want this could very easily solve their own problems by changing their interest checks to closed. And RPs already go to archives after a while, right? So that's a non-issue.
 
I support @welian on this matter. As mentioned before, if a thread is locked and wants to be brought back then you should just create a ticket. I don't believe it would be too much of a hassle. If it was so much of a hassle then obviously you wouldn't care too much about the RP
 
Creating a ticket for an issue that never needed to be an issue is ANNOYING. Really annoying. Most people would agree that creating a ticket for a stupid, not necessary reason like this is a hassle that doesn't need to be.


If you want the auto-lock, vie for an option. Otherwise, you're just being lazy and selfish. I'm done arguing.
 
If the creator of a thread wants it locked, they're welcome to ask one of the Staff to do so.  We'd be happy to.  Personally I think there would be less demand for that, than for unlocking threads due to auto-locks.
 
lol this thread is awfully heated for just an auto-lock suggestion.


In the past, I've had a couple of threads get bumped that I didn't want to get to get bumped. But why on earth would it occur to me to ask a staff member to lock a thread because it's old? Like, why would I waste the time of the staff to close a thread just because I don't care about it anymore? By the time I no longer care about the thread, I've forgotten it exists. I don't remember they exist until they get bumped, and when it's been like eight months since the last post, it's like... why? What's the point? You're not adding to the conversation, the conversation is over and done with. Get out of my thread.


That's why I think a quiet little auto-lock bot running in the background (on non-roleplay threads and not in hosted projects, we've already discussed this) would be a nice little tool. It's not about whether you as a singular user want to keep doors open for people, it's about what might help the site fresh.
 
Really need to stop talking as if you're speaking on behalf of the site, I don't find it annoying what's so ever, I feel that the auto lock is a handy little tool, but hey, everyone is entitled to their ideas and opinions and we should be respectful of that instead of calling it stupid
 
So apparently I'm not done arguing. Ugh. I hate when I say I'm done arguing and then it turns out I'm not. It's like, shoot me, you know? I hate being wrong. Ugh.


I didn't call her opinion stupid. I called the idea of having to repeatedly ask for unlocks stupid, or at least, that's what I meant, but of course, I have trouble making my meanings clear, so let's say that's mea culpa. I still find it to be selfish to ask for something that would inconvenience many, many members of the site, which I can definitely see this doing. But if it were put to a vote and the actual voting majority of the website agreed to it, OK. I'd be alright with that.


Alright. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. So I'm not going to apologize for mine. My opinion mirrors Kaerri-- there would be WAY more people asking to unlock threads in the case of the bot than there would be asking for locks in the 1st place. Why not just make a rule against necro-posting as it's called? Most people follow the rules, and the ones who don't, get warned. Or do the bot as an opt-in? Or, to prevent one from SEEING necro-posting, make some code that makes you stop FOLLOWING a thread after x days inactivity? That way it doesn't bug you so much when people do it.


I suppose I could soften my opinion on this. My real issue is the interest checks thing, but I guess if people are going to private message you about interest checks anyway, which it seems to me like 70% of people do, maybe that really isn't a problem, so long as the thread can still be FOUND. As in not moved like the old roleplays.


I definitely agree with an auto-lock on intros. And status updates. After like 30-36 hrs, that shit is ANNOYING. Shut it OFF. Especially since there's no way to turn off notifications for a specific status update.


In any case, I apologize if I offended anyone. I do not feel that this is a good idea as was put out there, but that's my opinion and I'd stand down to the opinions of the vast majority of the website and/or whatever poor mod decides to code it, should some poor mod decide to code it.


Now unless anyone has a NEW point they'd like to bring up, I've said everything I feel I need to say. So hopefully I'm done now but probably not right? Since I keep having this issue
 
I like this idea to some extent. But my issue also lies in Interest Checks. Because sometimes I like to look for partners for old ones that I started and I don't want to have to type a whole new one out and so I like to just bump an old interest check to get it back to the front page. Sometimes I even bump like ten separate ones from like a year ago. I don't want to have to send ten tickets out to get those interest checks open so I can post on them again. 
 
This is why I think owners of the thread should just have the ability to lift the lock so a ticket doesn't have to be sent in
 
I still don't completely understand what the issue with necro posting is. Does it offend anyone when an old threa dis suddenly bumped up, whether an intro, interest, what ever else? 


When the discussion dies down, it sinks away again. There is a particular reason why we never added it to the rules like most other communities have. The reason: it seems pretty anal
 
It tends to become an issue on bigger sites, and RPN is starting to get a bit up there in size. Why wait for a problem to show up if you can prevent it beforehand, you know?
 
I've always believed in prevention, that's why such a thing should be optional, those who don't want to use it don't have to, while others who want to use it can use it
 
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