Regarding Thread Necromancy Rules - A suggestion

[Crichton]

I just noticed a 'handbook' style thread in the 3.5e subforum got locked for thread necromancy, and it got me thinking. (The one I noticed was the 'Warlockopedia' thread)


These handbook threads should really be exempt from the thread necro rules.

They represent an ongoing crowdsourced effort of brainstorming ideas and organizing information on a particular topic in a game (such as a class or subsystem in a game), and as such, it's not in the site's best interest, or the userbase's best interest, for these threads to get locked and force us to start a new thread on the topic. All that does is further fragment the information and make it much, much harder for users to find and sort through topics like these. Wouldn't it be much better to exempt 'handbook' style threads from the rule, so that they can be an ongoing resource for the gaming community, centralizing the compilation of the information, and encouraging continued submission of ideas or thoughts?


In short: Please consider this my official request to change the site rules to make handbook threads in the gaming subforums exempt from thread necromancy rules.

[Mike Miller]

I concur. There are a number of quality handbooks that are continually being updated. The OP said it better than I can, but these are valuable resources. It is better to let them be updated than have multiple handbook threads for the same thing because a new "chapter" was created a couple months later.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

In short: Please consider this my official request to change the site rules to make handbook threads in the gaming subforums exempt from thread necromancy rules.

Aren't they already exempt? The OP can resurrect such threads without permission:

The original poster of a creation in Homebrew (and only that poster) may revive a creation beyond the 45 day threshold without prior Moderator approval.

But if the OP is not interested, or gone, then it is best to create a new thread, because otherwise the information is still going to be fragmented: any changes will not be reflected in the OP, but instead throughout the thread. Better to start over with OP editing capabilities. And as always, you can just request permission to resurrect a thread - the mods are more than happy to allow it when warranted. An ounce of prevention and all that.

ETA: I've just been informed that we are talking about a different subforum from homebrew - i.e. it is not so much changing the rules as much as extending the homebrew exception to handbook threads?

Grey Wolf

[Roland St. Jude]

Sheriff: This has been asked and answered multiple times, including less than a month ago. This is a discussion forum, not a repository. If there's an active discussion taking place, the thread will remain active. If the discussion has died off and you want to revive it, PM a moderator for the relevant section.

Sheriff: Handbooks have the same 45-day limit as other threads.
From the last thread discussing this...

Sheriff: No general exception exists beyond that stated in the Forum Rules. Any thread is eligible for an exception, you just need to PM a mod and explain why it's necessary. They'll decide on an individual basis.