Other Feedback: Old Threads Need To Be Locked

[TheEndOfTheRoad]

We're starting to encounter a frequency of this issue, where threads that are at least a YEAR or more old, are still getting responded to by people who are either in their youth (and lack the common sense to realize that the dev is no longer around) or people who have a complaint / demand / request / suggestion on a hack that has not been updated for over a year or more.

I know a YEAR isn't a long time, but when you look at account activity of the OP (original poster), 9 times out of 10, they have been completely inactive. It just seems weird to me, that when a hack is clearly DEAD or ABANDONED, that their threads stay open, or even remain visible to the public.

A good example of this is the ROM hack "Evo-Yellow". The dev has literally ABANDONED their hack, the source code hasn't been updated in years, the dev hasn't been active in years... so why is the thread still open? Why are people still allowed to comment or respond to, or even SEE the hack in the first place?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying these hacks should be IGNORED or REMOVED by any means, but I feel we need to buckle down and ARCHIVE the hacks that are clearly not gonna update any time soon, cause then otherwise people who lack the patience and curiosity to actually inform themselves on whether a hack is still ALIVE or ABANDONED are gonna keep responding to them, thus creating an infinite feedback loop of people complaining or criticizing or even (in some people's cases) attempting to HARASS or PROVOKE the developer by insulting their work or using their work to criticize another developer.

(An example of the last one is the hack GOLD SUPREME by ShinySylveon01... the hack is already 100% finished, the dev hasn't been around for a full year, and the most recent post is just someone complaining about that hack and why another dev is to blame for the name change)

So please, can we have some better moderation going on that locks down these hacks which have more or less been ABANDONED or FINISHED. Clearly the dev isn't gonna be back, and if they do come back, they can then unlock it, but until then, we don't need DEAD hacks, being showcased and used as a place for people to vent their frustrations.



Not to mention, when these old threads get responded to, many people that follow them or the section itself get unnecessary notifications or even a sense of hope that maybe the dev has come back, only to find out that it is literally just someone whining about how the hack isn't like Crystal Clear or how the hack needs open-world or how the hack needs free Rare Candies (because for some reason, being diabetic is a cool thing now), or how the dev made a bad hack and should off themselves, or some other obnoxious entitlement crap.

 

[Palamon]

Just report them with the report button, I'm sorry, but complaining about it won't help your case.

 

[TheEndOfTheRoad]

Just report them with the report button, I'm sorry, but complaining about it won't help your case.

This is the most unhelpful response. You want me to report people for replying to a dead hack? That seems counter-productive. All I was saying is that there are a bunch of open threads that have been more or less abandoned or moved on from, and they don't need to be open if the developer isn't going to respond.

As I said prior, the issue at hand, is simply that all of these DEAD hacks are still being actively addressed by people, who aren't aware the hacks are dead now or the dev is no longer around. This will gradually get worse, as more people play these old games that are INACTIVE.

 

[Palamon]

This is the most unhelpful response. You want me to report people for replying to a dead hack? That seems counter-productive. All I was saying is that there are a bunch of open threads that have been more or less abandoned or moved on from, and they don't need to be open if the developer isn't going to respond.

As I said prior, the issue at hand, is simply that all of these DEAD hacks are still being actively addressed by people, who aren't aware the hacks are dead now or the dev is no longer around. This will gradually get worse, as more people play these old games that are INACTIVE

Okay, and? You don't need to be rude? Reporting a thread for being posted in after it's been dead for a year will bring attention to a moderator to close it. But, whatever. I'm unhelpful, so don't listen to me.

 

[Hiroshi Sotomura]

Hey all, to clarify: we don't have a policy about closing old threads and this is an intentional move. We take generally no actions on any content that's necro'd, and this has been the case for a few years now.

Where the Fan Game sections are concerned, we expect people to exercise common sense as to why a fan game isn't being maintained - checking when the last post was and if the developer has made any updates. And even then, a game that has stopped getting updates is still worth looking at even if there's nothing further happening with it.

And in general, if nobody cares about a fan game, the thread will just sink back to the abyss once more.