Poll: Do you read old threads?

[Drathnoxis]

According to the forums page, there are hundreds of thousands of threads archived and I want to know if anybody reads them. Occasionally I'll put a topic into the search bar and read a bunch of threads, usually they are a couple years old; it helps that I play a lot of old games and like to see opinions on them after I finish. I think it's kind of neat, it's like looking into a time capsule of how things were years ago.

So do you read older threads? Or are you only content with the newest and the shiniest? Or do you perhaps not read threads at all and only post?

Edit: Necros don't really count because it's really easy to not even realize that you are reading an old thread at first. It's not a conscious decision anyway, which is kind of what I want to know with this thread.

 

[IceForce]

The only time I visit old threads is when they get necro'd by someone else (very annoying), or when I'm following an old "User was banned for" link, to see what they were banned for (though unfortunately, quite a lot of the time, these banned links give 403 or 404 errors, which is also very annoying).

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Only accidentally, if somebody necro'd it, or if I get a hit while googling.

 

[King of Asgaard]

Offhand, no, unless I'm searching for something specific.
I generally only read threads that I may want to post in.

 

[Esotera]

Generally I won't read threads that go beyond a page, as everything tends to have been said already. Same thing goes with anything that is older than a couple of weeks - if someone wants to discuss it it's better just to start a new thread.

 

[Yopaz]

I sometimes end up reading some by accident. Most of the time it's because I read the thread on news articles because I've been clicking on related news. I remember once I did this and I was going to post (I rarely pay attention to dates) then I saw my name in the thread section. It was my own 2 year old comment on the thread, then I realized how stupid I am.

Since then I've been trying to keep some attention to the dates on posts that aren't part of the recently commented list.

 

[DoPo]

No, not unless they are a necro, and even then it's sometimes. Also, I should point out that I very rarely get "tricked" by necros, when I do, it's only for a few posts - it is very easy to tell if the thread is new or not.

 

[Harlemura]

Nah, apart from the odd necro'd thing, I don't think I've read any thread older than, like, a week.
My forum browsing is basically confined to what's on the "Most Recent" tab on the Escapist homepage, and since I don't make threads I never really search for topics either.

 

[SckizoBoy]

Not really... sometimes I'll be narcissistic and see just how pretentious [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.297863-Mes-pens-es-concernant-un-essai-de-Jean-Jacques] I can be, though...(!) ¬_¬

 

[krazykidd]

No , because i can't comment in them. Apparently necro-ing a thread earns you a warning.

 

[GundamSentinel]

Not really. I've got some old interesting threads bookmarked, but other than that, no. Plus, you can't necro, so you've got nothing to add.

 

[DoPo]

Also, necro'd threads (particularly very old ones) tend to have ridiculously high view counts for the amount of replies they have in them, probably from lots of people searching them up and reading them.

Hmm, I don't look at the view count, but I do look at the replies - if it's a new thread I hadn't seen before, and it has more than one page, chances are that it's either a controversial topic or necro (or both, sometimes), so then I just check the posting date of the OP. It is rare a thread with only 1 page of replies to be necro'd.

 

[tippy2k2]

The only time I do is for necros (or if I'm searching for something I said way/saw someone else say back in the day and I need it for some reason).

That said, let me earn a few brownie points and get my nose nice and dirty here

When the "do video game characters make you horny?" thread was necroed a few days back, I wandered in there. To anyone who ever complains about the "Low Content", go on in there and you'll see exactly why a rule like that was implemented. I swear to God for every answer, you received ten "X character" or "Yes" as answers. Nothing being said by a LOT of people...

/brown nosing

 

[Queen Michael]

Do I read threads where any reply that I post will get me suspended?

 

[Weaver]

I don't. However, if we had even a quasi functional search function on the forums to find relevant topics that might change my mind.

 

[Elfgore]

I don't think I have ever gone past the second page for the forums. I usually catch any thread I'm interested in on the first page since whenever I open my laptop this is the first place I go to.

 

[DanielBrown]

No, only current threads. The only times I've read old threads is when they've been necro'd, I'm checking old posts of mine or if it's this one: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.211546-The-scary-thread?page=1

You're welcome.

 

[Jadak]

No, not unless they are a necro, and even then it's sometimes. Also, I should point out that I very rarely get "tricked" by necros, when I do, it's only for a few posts - it is very easy to tell if the thread is new or not.

Indeed it is easy to tell, all the posts have these 'date' things attached to them

 

[FPLOON]

I only do that just to make sure that I thread I have in mind has not been "done to death"... I've only commented on one VERY OLD thread that was part of an anime review, but that's about it...

If it's a thread I created, I check my thread history before even trying to plunder back into those kinds of threads, especially if the last person to comment on said thread just happens to be me...

Also, this thread has taught me about necroing... So, as long as I learn something from just reading a thread, then that's a "mission accomplished" right there in my book...

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

I have a lot of bookmarks and occasionally I scroll through them. I usually don't re-read my threads though unless something memorable happened in it. For Off Topic in general? Sometimes I go to page 20 of the "current" threads in the forum and flip backwards to see if I missed anything interesting. Sometimes I find one and post in it.