So, I’m hopefully coming close to my self-imposed deadline of getting an update for one of my whips out. However, I’m pretty sure the topic that I started with the last update is probably closed by now. I know that you can unlock topics, I’ve seen a couple of them that were locked, and then we’re unlocked. I’m not quite sure how I would go about it though. I guess I could always start another topic, but just to keep duplicates down.
How would I go about unlocking a topic, and I guess isn’t worth it in the long run? Like, is it better to just make a new one, or unlock an old topic?
So yeah, that’s about it. Hope those who find this have a good rest of your day, and hope that someone can get back to me on this question. I’m perfectly fine making a new topic, it’s just that from what I understand the old topic won’t get deleted unless you specifically request it to be deleted, and I’m worried that eventually there’s going to be a whole bunch of duplicates that will just clutter up stuff.
You can message a moderator, or the moderator inbox, and we can reopen the topic - that’s all fine. If it’s to do with an existing WIP of yours, I’d say have it reopened so that you can have it all in one place.
It depends on how you define “discussion” topics, because that could refer either to WIP threads, released game threads, or discussion around aspects of game development, mechanics, or writing, and and those are just the ones off the top of my head.
For any threads regarding individuals games, there are very few times we would assent to allowing separate threads.
For released games, we would try to move everything to its release announcement thread if appropriate, excepting if the new thread was specifically a game hint/help thread, or if discussion about the game itself would be better served by an individual thread than by keeping it in a simple announcement thread.
For WIP threads, we will always prefer to reopen old threads than create a brand new one, unless it has been 5+ years and the original thread had very little activity to begin with or (if neither of those things are true) if the game has been totally, completely rewritten, to the point that newer users finding the game are likely to be confused by comments about the previous version. Even then, it might still be worth it to revive the old topic, even if it’s just to announce and link everyone to the new version of the thread.
As for discussion threads regarding game development, game mechanics, or writing, we also prefer to consolidate all threads that might pop up into one thread, or to link users of a new thread to previous topics that have already answered or discussed a similar/identical topic at length in the past and lock the new one. Just as with WIP threads, the only reason I might keep the new thread up is if it’s been several years since the last, most similar thread had been active and if the topic at hand is something where consensus could have changed with time, or if the new topic of discussion is much more specific and has/can have very fruitful discussion on its own.
For example, say we have a consolidated discusson thread regarding ways to write more inclusively so that POC readers aren’t taken out of the story and several years later, someone creates a new thread seeking advice for describing POC characters’ skin color, hair type, etc. without being offensive. Yes, the younger topic could easily fit within the old one, and I would also hope that the old thread is brought up or shared onto the new one for additional context, but the newer thread is much more focused and its discussion more nuanced and granular in comparison to what might have been mentioned in the old thread.
Hopefully this wall of text makss sense, because I just woke up like thirty minutes ago, lol. 
What Rose said (it was very clear!) I misread and thought it was referring only to WIP threads so thank you for elaborating! 