Topic: Please archive, merge or delete the dead forums here.

What's the point in keeping a forum active when posting in any of the existing threads results in that thread being locked? I don't see a point in making a new thread on a dead forum when there's a perfectly good open thread just a few threads down from the top, and I don't call it "bumping" when posting in a dead forum causes a thread to rise from like fourth in the list to first. Soon its going to be that you can't post in the most recently active thread without it being locked.

So I propose Nintendo Life either

A - automatically locks every thread after being inactive for a certain amount of time
B - merge dead forums like DSiWare, Wii VC and WiiWare with the forum of console they are on so all the old threads are buried under all the new threads
C - completely delete dead forums and any new threads people want to make about the DSiWare, Wii VC or WiiWare can be made on the main forum of that console

I personally think "necro-posting" on dead forums should take into account of just how far down the list of threads the thread with the offending necro-post was. Posting in a thread from page ten is an obvious no-no in any circumstance, but posting in a thread only a few threads down on the list, what's the problem with that?

Those "dead" forums still have threads with recent posts from this year....so they're not really dead. WiiWare seems to be the only one that doesn't have much going on.

Yeah, but those are the only threads we're allowed to post on without them being locked.

https://www.nintendolife.com/forums/dsiware
The fourth open thread is from June 2016

@Bass_X0 The general rule is not to revive threads that are older than six months, unless they're game specific threads. Those are the rules, I didn't make them, but it prevents people from digging up old threads that are years old. Somebody had to draw a line somewhere, and it currently sits at six months.

I'm all for merging the DS sub-forums though, same for the Wii, and even the 3DS and Wii U stuff. Maybe @antdickens can do this some day?

I don't see why that “Games that were removed that you wished you'd grabbed” thread had to be locked. It is only increasingly relevant as more games get removed from the shop (until perhaps the Wii Shop Channel is gone entirely) and it's not a hugely discussion-heavy, time-sensitive topic like, “What do you think Project Café will be like?” Yeah, not every user in that thread is still active on the site, but I didn't see the harm in keeping it open. I guess I don't fully understand the purpose of this rule.

Edit: Also, I would rather old threads not get completely deleted as in suggestion C. Not that I'm the one keeping up this site's servers.

I personally don't see the need to have more than one forum dedicated to the eShop (and Virtual Console). I'd be ok if those similar sub forums got merged.

I'm ok with some necroposts, as long as it's not something inane like reviving a long dead thread where now-inactive people were discussing and someone new posts to say something like "oh yeah" or "you can do this...". You know, the kind of thread that is guaranteed to get buried again or that will only confuse others. Which btw, you also tend to do sometimes.

Deleting or closing threads automatically would simply be a bad idea overall.

I'm also for merging less-used sections like the DS, Wii, VC and all of that. It can make the forum less "confusing", and more kind of focused on newest platforms, like it should be from my point of view

Personally I think that 'rule' could do with being loosened a bit. There's been plenty of occasions where I've seen an old thread revived quite logically, then get locked and I've thought to myself, "Well what should the user have done, started a new thread using the same title?"

Like the other day, a 'Top 10 Gamecube games' list thread got revived then locked, when really such a thread seems timeless to me.

In my book, if an old thread is the most appropriate place for a user to make a particular post, better there than starting a new thread that duplicates the old one. Providing the new post is worthwhile, of course.

I've opened the thread again. I'm all for a bit more freedom regarding closing threads. To be fair; the thread popped up in forums/all and it was quite old, that's why I closed it. Maybe we should revise the rules some day.

I'm also for consolidating some of the older forums. I think the DS/DSiWare forums should at least be combined, same with the Wii/Wiiware/Wii VC forums. I've been wondering for some time on how long before those older forums are consolidated into the Retro forum, but it may be too soon for that.

Yep, I agree it's probably time to consolidate some of these... I'll have a chat with the mods and see what we decide