Feedback on Forums, Please

Very much agree with you. The date should be on the topics list AND more visible on every post within every thread. People come to individual posts from Google search and whatnot, not actually seeing the list of topics in a forum category. I've done the same myself, searched for something and then just clicking to get to the spesific post. We need a way to see the date more clearly.

Also, if they will shut down threads no matter what if its a year old (or however many months it takes to make it a necro), why not have a system in place that will close old threads automatically? Then players won't feel "dumb" for necro'ing, and moderators won't have to close down threads manually.

I just find it confusing, because we're not supposed to create a new topic if one excists already, but we're also not allowed to post in older threads about the same topic, because that would be a necro. So we'd have to look high and low for a topic that has JUST the right age. To me, it makes no sense. I'm not by any means challenging the forum rules, I'd very much like to play by the rules in any situation. I just get confused by it.

I feel like their(maxis/ea/whoever it is that runs this) presence on the forums is probably a lot lower than we think or they just don't care to patrol it more thoroughly. I have also noticed a lot less people on here posting as much recently which may be leading to the accidental necro posting

What I don't understand is why isn't there a timeline on what is considered necro? I mean some of these topics, especially game play problems or questions, are still relevant even if the pack was from years ago that the original post was made, game play functions don't change or aren't updated over time.

If you look at their rules, it says sometimes necroposting is ok, other times not, but there's no clear, defined rule or reasoning for when it IS ok.

I've seen them allow necroposting on posts originally started in 2017 and every so often throughout the years people have commented clear up to current day and that thread has been allowed to still be commented on. But, then I've seen posts made in January of 2020 and when someone posted on it in December 2020, the Moderator closed the thread due to necro.

It's quite confusing, especially for new members.

I liked the TS3 site setup. I could see the original post date and date of last comment before I clicked on a thread. :)

I also keep accidentally posting on a very old thread, well because someone apparently did that first lol.

Also in every forum that i ever been a part of, this is the only forum that literally dont send any notification when someone quoted my post, except user without a full member status.

Hey there!

Since necroposting seems to be a topic that affects many of you, I will try and address some of your concerns.

Showing the original date of each thread on the opening page of the category
I understand that it's not the greatest setup but, unfortunately, there is no functionality that enables showing the original date of each thread on the opening page of the category.

The date should be visible on every post within every thread
At least this feature we do have, thank goodness. :) This is what it looks like:

And when you hover your cursor over the date, the exact date and time that comment was posted are being shown.

Automatically closing threads
Unfortunately, this feature is not available to us either. Threads are never closed automatically by the forum system.

We shouldn't start new threads when there is an older thread on the same topic
This is a bit of a tricky one and I tried to explain it in the info post on necroposting: it really depends on the topic that the discussion is on and whether you have a question about the topic or are adding new details. I guess we can all agree that it is not very helpful to post an answer to a thread that has been inactive for 7+ years (I'd say it's fair to assume that the OP has got their answer at that point or that it's no longer an issue). But if it's a recurring issue or if you have a question about the same problem, you should be fine to post - just use your own sound judgment. And to reassure you: creative threads cannot be necro'd. :)
And if you are really, really unsure of what to do, you can always reach out to me and I can try and clear up any uncertainty.

It feels like there are not many EA staff on this forum or they don't care to patrol it more thoroughly
I can reassure you that this is not the case. Everyone from EA who is looking after this forum does very much care but, as you can imagine, there is a lot happening on the forum all the time and we simply cannot be everywhere. That's why we appreciate it so much when you report someone breaking the rules or things not being right!

Why is there no timeline on what is considered necroposting?
Because there is no 'one fits all' rule. For some topics, the 'longevity' of a thread would be longer than for others and it really depends on the kind of conversation that is happening - for example, if it is still relevant or if someone is just posting anywhere to get the post count up.
I understand that this is confusing and I wish I could give you all more definite answers but due to the nature of necroposting, I simply cannot. :(


I'm aware that you had hoped for more clarity on this and I'm sorry I cannot provide that. Ultimately, if any of you post in an old thread and accidentally necro it, it's nothing bad (unless, of course, it happens all. the. time.) and I'm always open to hearing from you and explaining the reasoning behind closing a certain thread if that's not clear.

I hope this helps a little bit at least.

- Leeloo

Thanks, everyone for your replies and for voicing your concerns.

Your suggestions here are great but, unfortunately, we have no option to change the way the date and time show up (or have a neat little notification like that pop up).
So, for now, we will have to go with educating each other and with keeping this conversation going, I'm afraid. Sorry that I don't have better news for you but I really appreciate that you have been taking the time to put down your feedback - I will keep it in mind and let you know if anything changes! :)

Not 100% related but one thing I really want to see on the forums is notifications when someone quotes my comment

"GalacticGal;c-17788120" wrote:

"Onverser;c-17787949" wrote:
Not 100% related but one thing I really want to see on the forums is notifications when someone quotes my comment

You don't get those? Do you get any notifications via your email? I try to read the snippet wherein it says "mentioned you" in blah, blah, blah post.

Ｍｅｎｔｉｏｎｅｄ ｙｏｕ ｉｓ ｗｈｅｎ ｓｏｍｅｏｎｅ ＠Ｎａｍｅ＇ｓ ｙｏｕ ｂｕｔ Ｉ ｗｏｕｌｄ ａｌｓｏ ｌｉｋｅ ｔｏ ｇｅｔ ａ ｎｏｔｉｆ ｗｈｅｎ Ｉ ａｍ ｑｕｏｔｅｄ

（Ｓｏｒｒｙ Ｉ ｄｏｎ＇ｔ ｋｎｏｗ ｗｈａｔ＇ｓ ｗｒｏｎｇ ｗｉｔｈ ｔｈｉｓ Ｉ ｃａｎ＇ｔ ｇｅｔ ｉｔ ｔｏ ｂｅ ｎｏｒｍａｌ）

(Turns out I was using my keyboards Chinese setting, which messes up here)

can the forums please get a dark mode option? and agreed i also want to know who quotes my comments.