Well I said we'd be bringing some changes and this is the first of more to come.

This announcement concerns two things so I'm going to break it down into two parts, surprising isn't it?

Necroposting

Something that a lot of people mentioned is the way we handle people posting in topics that are old, well we're dropping this rule from all but a few sections which wouldn't need it. The list will follow. This means that if you've found a topic via a pinned topic then it's fine for you to continue that discussion (Like topics from a Theory and Design Discussion) if a script submission is something you've always wanted then you're free to reply giving loads of praise for their hard work, also topics within general/serious that have some more points you'd like to bring up or even reply to previous points made, sometimes topics within the Game Lounge fall down the list and people are still interested in them then don't fear bringing them back and getting people talking about it again is now fine.
Just remember to add relevant content into your post and not simply 'bump' these topics up.

Now I mentioned forum sections which are exempt from this, necroposting is still in effect - though it's going to be extended, within the following sections:


So it's basically the help/support/instant sections which don't need bringing back from the dead.


Spam
We're now also going to be more relaxed on what we consider to be spam. Sometimes in the past people have pointed out that moderation has been too harsh and warnings served, so we're going to ease up and allow general conversation along the lines of the Original Topic without warnings - though a moderators duty will be in place to inform people when to get back onto topic if it drifts.

General comments for a topic are now also fine, by this we mean if someone is offering to do music tracks for people and someone posts saying how great they are and recommends them, this wouldn't be spam. Praise, Thanks, C&C, general responses like this are fine.

This can be used as a dual announcement because finding that script/resource/tutorial you've liked then you can freely comment and thank the original creator without fear of the bluenames

Use common sense, don't be an idiot.

People generally don't read rules. How are people going to remember which forums necroposting is allowed in? There are like 40 various forums and subforums, and now 15 don't allowed necroposting. Also, you didn't define necroposting in your post at all, is it a specific period of time or does it vary?

I usually try to follow the rules but trolling is my exception but I could not remember all those forums. I'll just necro if I feel it's worth it and won't necro if I don't.

Then again, I'm a lot lazier in my posting than I used to be so I would get bored looking past the first page anyway.

First, I'm liking these change of rules. While I've always enjoyed this site the most out of the most common game making sites, these changes will make the environment feel more relaxed and hopefully encourage more people to stop on over.

However, Rob points out a good question, at least in terms of necroposting timeframes. Unless that's still being debated. I also have never understood the need for necroposting guidelines in game topics, but I definitely understand why they are needed everywhere else. For me, putting necroposting rules in a game topic (Games Under Construction, Long Demos, Completed Games) drives the game further out of reach from the rest of the community. By this I mean, there are hundreds of games in these sections, many of which I may have missed myself, unless I'm willing to scour through the many pages of game titles. So when a person becomes scared or unsure whether to post their input in regards to a game, regardless if it's passed the threshold of a necropost or not, this keeps the game in the dark, never to gain fresh eyes or a new perspective, and the game potentially dies.

If we were to allow necroposting within the game topics, even if it's simple praise, this helps new people to also see the game for the first time, as it's been brought back out of the shadows. While this may do nothing for the game itself, it could encourage the developer to continue work on the project, knowing people out there are still playing and offering their praise and feedback.

One question I would like to ask, only because I'm not sure what it would take to manage. Is there really a need for necroposting rules in the first place? My thought is in regards to all topics where necroposting applies, with the exception to the game topics. If it's passed the deadline for a posting, wouldn't it just be easier to automatically lock the thread?

The obvious places where the revival isn't necessary, like I said at the end there it's common sense. It's say to know know what the:

Which is the main place where they're (as someone said) instant threads, support on an issue isn't necessary six months down the line for example.

It's in place with GUC because there's only developmental process where the user may not be continuing the game or moved on from the idea, difference with LD & CG is that there's things (Like actual content, bugs, etc) which the members can comment and reply to.
If you're the creator of a topic in GUC then you can also bring the topic back with an update - since it's still in development.

There's a load of great games within the Long Demos and Complete Games sections that are now gathering dust, though they still remain brilliant games they've fallen down the pages, it's not really right for them to just be forgotten and distant even if they remain popular amongst the ones who find it but can't actually post their views on it.


This is why we're lifting the rule, a lot of people don't tend to and though sometimes when it happens -even if it is solid content within a post- the topic is simply closed.
It's not really useful to have x amount of topics about one single subject.


It'll depend on the Moderators choice, if they see the post as relevant content or not.

Ah, sorry, I read through the list, but somehow when I saw GUC it also registered LD and CG. This is good news indeed.

Funny, such praise might have been spam at one point of time.

I think that the general idea is to have common sense when posting. If you aren't adding something to the conversation, then don't bump it. But I think that even with threads years old, adding a contributing comment can spark discussion in an old thread and there is no need to lock it or warn.

I think that the support/request areas should also be freed from the "necroposting rule".

Let's say, someone post an question 6 months ago and wasn't answered, today someone have the same question. What he should do? He can't expect people to post on that old topic to solve it, since it would be an necropost too, and also the topic is lost on the back pages. So his only option is to make an new topic with the same question.
So it's preferable 10 topics asking the same questions, than bringing up an old unsolved question?
The same apply to solutions, if there is an one year old unsolved topic, someone can't bring up this topic to solve it?

IMO necroposting isn't really an problem, if the post is ON TOPIC it's ok, but if the post is off-topic, it can be considered an flood/spam, so the no-spam rule would apply.

While I think many people may share a problem, sometimes the answer/solution isn't always the same for every person. Thus having individual topics for each person with a problem is sometimes a better idea.
It can be said both ways though, because some problems are with the source rather than the users. =]
Interesting point to bring up, just thought I'd mention that.

Thanks a lot for this, after reading this I get better understanding of the rules here cause I'm new at this forum and don't want to be a rule breaker.

I have a pastebin bookmark that I have that always starts up when Firefox is opened. I add rules to the pastebin thing for all sorts of forums.
not saying anyone else does that but. Maybe the Directors/Mods/Admins or whatever could add something to tell if Necroposting is/isn't allowed.

I fully support this and think it is very needed here. I have been saying this since I became a member here. The list of topics for necroposting or not necroposting is very confusing and tough to remember. and one of the posters brought up the automatic close idea too. Thank you for laxing a little and I am in no way complaining btw I just find the list a little tough because I know I can't remember it always.

I think my idea was a good one, but would that take a long time to implement? I don't want it to be difficult for any of the Administration.

I never really thought of our spam tolerance being too low maybe that's just because I haven't seen any for a loooong time!
Good change to the rules though I'd suggest putting a little notification at the top of the sections where we can't revive topics, just so that people can remember easily and stay on the guidelines!

It's a guideline based on common sense. I assume Long demos don't count the same as Games Under Construction, since they may have update notices. Likewise, necroposting period is common sense. If it's halfway down the page for a game in construction (that is, a game which has less than 30 minutes) then it doesn't need updating since any updates are kinda weak.

Though this assumption is based on the fact that I haven't gotten banned for necroing my thread whenever I get an update.

Right, I'm not sure that the period is "common sense" though, I believe there are specific numbers, hence my question.

Also, you are allowed to update your own thread. If your game is halfway down the page of Games Under Construction, of course you can update it.

Also even if it's halfway down the forum page, as long as it's within the allotted time, it's okay to post in. The topic could be at the very bottom of the last page on the forum, if the last date previous that it was posted on was a week ago, it's still free to post in today.

Well, the next update after a long pause on Under Construction would probably be enough to turn it into a short demo. If it isn't, it would definitely be considered necroposting. Hence, Under Construction is on the list of "don't necro."

Example:

You have one map with a few townspeople, a dog and a cat. If you add enough to make it worth a half hour of gameplay, you'd probably be able to bump it to a Short Demo, in which case you shouldn't be in Games Under Construction anymore. If on the other hand "oh look, I also added a parrot" nobody cares. And they'd think you were a bit of a spammer for updating over something that small.

This is what I mean by guidelines based on common sense. If you majorly revamped stuff or posted a new version of your game, talk about it. But if you haven't even posted it to somewhere like mediafire, and it's all on your computer, and it's an insignificant upgrade to boot, nah...

You are always allowed to update your own thread. Necroposting doesn't apply to the developer of the project.


Games with short demos should be in Games Under Construction.

Right. But what I was getting at, is that it's kinda silly to post super-minor edits on in construction games in the first place. Either update it to demo, or it's probably not worth talking about unless it's something like this.



Major art updates qualify as a worthwhile post even for games too short for short demo.

The rules told to me by the admins when I was first posting the game is that the actual game should take at least 30 min to play to qualify as demo. Unless it's a rare super-short complete game like Clock of Atonement.

Ohhhhhh. For some reason, I thought there was a Under Construction, then Short Demo, then Long Demo, and then Complete.

Giving this a bump- although we appreciate reports from you all- some forums no longer have the necroposting rule in place.

Ok question here, I saw that you cant necro post or whatever in Games under construction, now I have a game I made with a demo link a long time ago, and ive been reworking the game/ updating it, so what do I do when I want to let people know this? Or even ask for help? Do I make a new topic or necro post?

Well, just be smart about it basically. If it's your old demo topic, I don't think anyone would object to doing a big update. If it were reviving an old demo topic with just "bump", then yeah it'd be useless, but not if there's actually significant progress/a new demo or anything. For something like a question asked years ago, then just make a new topic for it instead.