UESP Forums

I was wondering if there was any scenario in which you would necro-post.

The rules say this:

Forum Rules wrote:No Necro-posting - This is bringing old topics back to life. If you have a legitimate reason for resurrecting a topic, to ask for more help on the same subject, that is fine. If the topic is weeks old, then they have probably received the help they needed. Making a comment in an old topic only makes you look bad, and is considered to be post flooding.

Like what if I went to the "Post your Character" topic in the Oblivion section and posted my character? Would that be ok? I am just confused because the forum rules kinda contradicts itself, because it says "If you have a legitimate reason for resurrecting a topic. then that is fine", but it also says "Making a comment in an old topic only makes you look bad". So which is it? Never necro-post, or only do it if you have something worthwhile/helpful to say?

Just posting a comment is far diff to actually adding something constructive to a topic.

Threads like Doros' "Post your Char" have a long pedigree are often good to keep going, as it then also gives a bit of a history of the various play styles over the yrs on UESP. There have been much older threads than that for posting your char, but the Doros one is the one that seemed to keep going over a longer time.

It's common sense really.

If it's purely a someone asking for help topic, and it's v. old, and esp if the question was answered, then posting a comment along the lines of "Well, uh, I don't really know, but let me think about this...." is not likely to help other posters appreciate your contribution to UESP.

So I can revive Doros' 'Post your Character'? I just made a sweet char....

Well I would for something like that. So if you get into trouble, you can blame me!!

Speaking of necro-posting:

http://forums.uesp.net/viewtopic.php?t=5063

http://forums.uesp.net/viewtopic.php?t=8745

I assume this would be what not to do.

Thanks for the heads up Vargon, that bot is now gone.

what I hate about the rule is that how do you know if there was a topic like that?

If you mean a topic that already has extensive info on what you wanted to make a topic about, if it's not on the first two pages nobody would blame you for making a new one. Actually, they probably wouldn't mind if it was on the second page either. Most people don't bother looking through all the pages for extensive topics on what they were going to post about, so it doesn't matter all that much. If you don't see a topic about it on the first page or two, feel free to post your own.

Ha... I remember I semi-revived that Doros character topic because I was being a spiteful newcomer, but according to the rules, since it was actually a nice contribution to the topic, it wasn't necro-ing, it was a continuation.

But, if you mean how do you know if a topic has been necro-ed... look at the post dates. If the posts before the newest ones are more than a few weeks+ back, it's generally safe to assume the topic was long-dead already. So it's most definitely best not to post in those unless you have something new and significant to add to it.

You could also make use of the Search feature. That's usually how most folk find out if a topic has been done before.