Right, I think everyone's noticed that a number of very old topics, some even predating a number of our more prolific posters, have recently been brought back to life again.
Now, I think everyone will agree with me when I say it is rather annoying to see a ten page long thread that has been dead for over a year suddenly jump back to the top of the forum.
While there is no rule against it, the Rules & Guidlines thread does mention the following guidline when it comes to long inactive topics:
While it does allow posting if "you have something of value to add", it is generaly in the best interests of everyone to simply start a new topic. No one's going to mind if you start discussing a topic that has already been dealt with long ago, even if the conclusions of the new thread are identical to the conclusions of the old thread.If you wish to contribute to a topic that has been dead for a while please make sure you have something of value to add to the topic and are not just posting for the sake of it. Posting in an old topic is referred to as Necroing and can be annoying if done often and without reason. Generally it is preferred that you start a new topic and summarise the existing points in the first topic. Please include a link to the previous discussions in your introduction.
While what constitutes a long dead topic is somewhat subjective, it'd generaly be a good idea not to post in a topic that's gone more than one (1) month without any activity there.
There will, of course, be some exceptions for this. Threads in the RP topic are in general exempt from necroing, due to the fact that long periods of inactivity are naturaly (though please make sure only to post in threads that are relevant to the RP at that time). Also, due to the fact that there's a grand total of three topics there, the TAS threads can be commented on safely without really annoying anyone.
Keep in mind that although there's no rule against necroing, meaning you won't get punished for doing so, you will be getting on a lot of peoples' nerves in doing so. If you want to discuss one of the old topics, then start a new one.
*gets off soap box*