Perhaps it's not my place to bring this up, but it seems to me that lately there are little or no topics going up on the forums that really intrigue me. Sure, sometimes someone gets really creative and does something like start an all-star list (something that people can participate in, and that is fairly unique), or someone asks a very specific question because they're new or honestly confused. But while these wonderful posts are nice to come across from time to time, one like myself, who thrives on more instantaneous gratification, craves a more frequent/consistant breed of entertainment. Even if to scrafice quality for quantity.

All of this leads to an all to commonplace trend of flaming and locking the topics that revolve around "favorite [insert game aspect here]" and discussion of power/balance/etc. Simply because they have (god knows how long ago) been done before.

But who cares to shuffle to the umpteenth page of a 3 month old post to say why they hate barretards, or why Jungle is the best map that Michal ever shat at us? Maybe it is noob-ish to think that it would be worthwhile to rediscuss these meaningless points, especially in the eyes of the high-ranking forum goers and the moderators themselves, the ones who started those fabled threads that we newcomers "should just stfu and search for". But I think that this kind of pointless bater is what a forum like this is all about. Afterall, it's just a game, and it's inconsequential whether or not we low-ranking folk play host to our fancies. The multi-starred dissenters have nothing to complain about other than the fact that there'll be another line of text for their eyes to skip over when checking for new and interesting posts.

I know that a lot of people think that relaxing our restrictions on "revived" threads will lead to a flood, but that's what the moderators are for. Relaxed does not mean dead. I am simply tired of looking at these boards and seeing a FAQ rather than a Forum; a place where questions are answered only once and only technical advice and utter uniqueness is tolerated. I would much rather see people talking about whatever it is that they care to talk about, no matter how pointless or redundant, and would like to know that people don't have to cover their arses just to pose a simple query and not suffer ridicule from pathetic people who just feel invincible at a computer. I don't even want to begin to express my opinions on the arrogance of so many posters today.

So that's what's on my mind. Attack or support my opinions as you will, but consider my point before deciding what you think.

Thank you,
TheRelinquished

Us bored old vets of the forum have nothing better to do than shout at you lot until something interesting and new pops up.

(btw thanks for the interesting topic. Refreshing)

I completely agree with you, my good sir! Honestly, it warms me up to see another person who really seems to give these forums an overall higher IQ. Without self-promotion, I can name only three right off the bat, including you.

On another topic, I don't see why people think it wonderful to flame others. Examples of this would be Dascoo, Mickle, and Paramud. People have been against them for so long. Dascoo and Mickle just recently made good-bye topics, and everyone bashed them in those topics. It saddens me to see how bad this community really is.

I Must say i agree with just about everything you say.

one major reason I never visit the suggestion forum is because a person posts a suggestion, some jackasses who think they have lots of power/authority will go into thier thread, and instead of posting thier opinions on that persons suggestions, will start bull(Please refrain from swearing)ting about how it has been suggested before or how to use the search function. It sorta disgusts me when I see a person bashing someone for "spamming" and then most of thier posts say "USE SEARCH FUNCTION NOOB LOZL" or "ITS BEEN SUGGESTED BEFORE YOU NEWBIE".

Just because there was a similiar thread 3 or 5 or 7 months ago doesnt mean it cant be posted again. Theres a whole new wave of members which enter the forums every few months, and those people havent seen those discussions or suggestions before, so why not start them up again?

quote:one major reason I never visit the suggestion forum is because a person posts a suggestion, some jackasses who think they have lots of power will go into thier thread, and instead of posting thier opinions on that persons suggestions, will start bull(Please refrain from swearing)ting about how it has been suggested before or how to use the search function. It sorta disgusts me when I see a person bashing someone for "spamming" and then most of thier posts say "USE SEARCH FUNCTION NOOB LOZL" or "ITS BEEN SUGGESTED BEFORE YOU NEWBIE".

Pfft, thats just not right. I agree with you, thats why there's suggestion forum.

I have always respected admins that answer the same question over and over again and not complain about it. Shows that they are very patient and a good leader.

You seem to be a very interesting person. Although we may be totally different with regards to our social standings (I read your 'space') we have a few things in common and I love your style of writing (Good luck with the book you're writing).

Anyways, this forum used to be a lovely place. The only reason why I am a member of this community is because when I had to drop out of school 2 years ago due to financial problems, I was stuck at home and could hardly see any of my friends (They were in school, which is a boarding school about 2 hours from where I live) as I hardly had the money to go visit nor did they have the permission to come and see me, so I was bored and signed up to these forums. I got to know a lot of great people, many of whom have taught me most of what I know about computer related stuff today. Yes, there may have been immature people back then, but they weren't too much of a problem as there were plenty of legendry people and interesting threads whose subjects hadn't been brought up before which kept us busy and interested.

Unfortunately times have changed; this forum has grown old and along with it so has the patience of the older members. As we slowly pounded the s**t out of every possible subject with discussions, arguments and jokes, the interest and enthusiasm of this board slowly deteriorated, inevitably explaining the departure of many of its 'founding fathers'. Things and people die out, and this forum is gradually coming to its end.

It's important to note that when Soldat started, most of its members were true gamers and it literally spread by word of mouth as it had no publicity. Now, however, Soldat has grown to be a popular game, featuring on many PC websites and magazines and although this may be good for Michal ($$$) and the game as a whole, for the community it was disastrous. Most of the people who read these magazines or browsed the countless pages of the websites are what I call 'new-aged gamers' already consumed in the (aggressive) internet trends that we find ourselves familiar with today. The forums were flooded not with newbs who were curious about the game as it had been recommended to them by friends, but newbs with attitude, who just wanted a peace of the 'action'. We may have had patience and general goodwill 2 years ago as we were happy to welcome any new member, but now we are flooded with 13 year-old pubic-less f**ks who can't be bothered to read any of the FAQ's nor respect our community and thus are treated with hostility. As you can see by Kazuki's post, mature members are highly welcomed (almost desperately) and those few immature members who managed to get through the "Please f**k off" wall have also been accepted (Put up with) which gives you the end result.

This is all that remains of this community.

Well said, Hitman. <3

one word... wow.

and i very much agree to everything that has been said here..even tho i dont have many posts or am not high ranking on the forums..i have READ the forums for a long time and agree 100%

I was visiting the bash pit and the lounge the other day when I thought the same thing TheRelinquished has posted. It had been quite a long time since I had been there and I was rather suprised to see how it had degraded. Although the bash pit isn't there for no reason, I found that most(if not all) topics were pointless with excessive offenses usually aimed at other members.

It was from this time I realised where this forum would be going. Unless a miracle happens or the admins enforce the forums in a Nazi like way, I see no end in this.

Since the dot boom I also noticed that the once high quality internet communities has been turned into senseless chatting areas where people will do anything for pleasure.

Of course anything that goes on for too long gets changed in one way(whether good or bad). Still it is sad to see this happening here. However, I am glad that some very logical and thoughtful members still exist in this forum. As long as there are people like these this forum should never rot out. Yet times come and go... even the good people must go on with their lives. Nothing will stay the same.

PS: Awesome post, Hitman. Made it easy for all of us to understand.

My sig says it all for the way the forums are now :\

wow way to keep a positive attitude hitman

I'm very proud to have drawn forth so many intelligent and worthwhile responses to what I felt was truly a topic worth bringing up. I feared at first that I would be faced with the usual flaming and badgery that I'd come to expect from the pathetic neo-gamers who stalk this place nowadays, but those fears are now without substance.

I would especially like to thank the support and contribution of Hitman, who touched on the aforementioned item from my post that I shied away from: my opinions regarding modern, or as he put it, new-age gamers. He has illustrated my thoughts perfectly, both on these petty thugs who give the honest, and old-school gamers that are just coming into this game (and more specifically, this forum) a bad name, as well as my point that the forum is dying.

I hope that by reading this there will be a new vein of courage for those who have things to say and ask, regardless of their inoccuousness and repetitive nature, and that there may be some sort of revival here. Perhaps I'll do what I can and even start threads that undoubtedly have existed prior to my presence here, trying to give my peers and I the chance to discuss what others already have before us.

But I don't want the veterans to feel outcast. Months or years can change your outlook and your opinions, respond with we forum-seedlings, and give us insight into your amassed wisdom. Who knows, maybe these newbs will actually take something away from the experience ^_^.

Thanks again, folks. Until next time--
TheRelinquished

The current situation is pretty sad, Hitman pointed that out pretty well. Some of us, the troll-breed, try to make fun out of it: just check out the bash-pit and you can see how Mickle got torn apart really fast. He came here as an offensive, helpless and annoying newbie, and he left pretty much the same. Most of the newcomers pick up hatred towards them around here, since they don't learn from their mistakes until they make them(I should know, I was a really annoying (Please refrain from swearing) myself). The problem is increased by the fact that a lot of people treat forum ranks as something really important, so they spam around to "level up", and make posts about reaching their goal. Another thing is IRC: if you want full understanding about things around here, you'll have to use IRC, otherwise you'll be blinking from surprise time to time.

i agree with all the points mentioned here, just because somthing was discussed 2 years ago on these forums doesnt mean that it cant be discussed again, especially with the suggestions forum.

more of a personal opinion is that somone should turn off this damn fooking censorship thing, i mean, anyone who is old enough to play soldat really...

I'll have to steal one of Demonic's main points: you have to visit the IRC channel otherwise you won't understand half of what goes on in the bash pit and lounge. There's a great deal of banter between those of us who are familiar with each other through IRC that is not only completely harmless but also friendly inside jokes. You don't notice how much you miss until you begin to actually converse with people in #soldat.forums... and then once you get used to it, you don't realize how much everyone else gets confused when you make playful fun at the other IRC members.

I won't deny the fact that the people on these forums have quite an appetite for flaming and an intense disdain for new people that can't seem to put on their pants without first asking how. An interesting aspect of these forums that I've noticed is that it isn't the people who have been around a long time that are flaming away -- it's either those that feel that they aren't "noobs" any more and have to prove to the world how superior they are to all the new members, or the people that don't exactly fit in and almost always for the exact same reason that they're flaming for.

In essence, the root of the flaming problem lies in a circle of people where the flamed become the flamers and the fact that they aren't hindered by most of the older members who have conveniently secluded themselves into the sections where they don't have to deal with the brunt of it; namely, the Bash Pit and Lounge. An interesting side-effect is that the older forumers who don't seclude themselves are generally recognized to be the most productive members of the community.

What, exactly, does this have to do with the fact that these forums are shunning old ideas? Everything. Because allowing old ideas to prosper is almost impossible. This is, of course, assuming that your attempted inspirational post -- although well written -- won't stem the tide of flames and, knowing who the flamers are, I highly doubt that your post will have any sort of effect whatsoever. It's impossible because it's an odd paradox. The only way to make it work would be to bring the experienced members back into the forums where the old ideas are being dug up while at the same time making sure that old ideas aren't revived so that the experienced members don't get bored or fed up and leave. You could, however, fix this problem with an unending avalanche of new and interesting ideas, but the probability that you could come up with anywhere near enough ideas to fill that void is close to zero.

But I'm sure that won't stop you from trying. Have fun. :)

I know I'm a newbie in the vet's area, but I just want to bring up something about the bashing.
When I first joined, I made the mistake of pointless spamming until one day, FliesLikeaBrick made a thread in the Bash Pit. After that, I was determined to hold a grudge, but after a PM about a post in the Lounge, I just gave up and let it be. I seriously didn't think Dascoo was as bashed as Mickle, but then again, the main diference between them was the ability to hold a grudge. Dascoo, If I remember correctly, never flamed or bashed anyone in a cold-blooded way, but Mickle, oh dear Mickle, held a grudge against very second member in this community. I'm not surprised he was bashed in his goodbye thread, considering what he was saying.
I suppose that you could say that this community is falling apart, but in my opinion it's getting better. I'm sure there aren't many vets now, but with every new member is a new opinion and opportunity for a great topic, movie, program or just a good discussion (Mickle had his highlight- the mod for S# graphics cards).

But then again, I could be wrong. I wasn't here two years ago.

sod forums, use IRC.

I do kinda agree though. I don't post much, but I still browse occasionally to see whats happening on the other side of Soldat.

I agree, that's why most of my forum time is in the Bash Pit, the last interesting place.

quote:Originally posted by KazukiI completely agree with you, my good sir! Honestly, it warms me up to see another person who really seems to give these forums an overall higher IQ. Without self-promotion, I can name only three right off the bat, including you.

Am I that other person!?

quote:Originally posted by Psykerwow way to keep a positive attitude hitman
It's just facing facts, honey.

I pretty much agree with everything in this topic (grats to Relinquished and Hitman), there's one thing I'd like to point out.

quote:Originally posted by TheRelinquishedAll of this leads to an all to commonplace trend of flaming and locking the topics that revolve around "favorite [insert game aspect here]" and discussion of power/balance/etc. Simply because they have (god knows how long ago) been done before.

I'm one of those who locks topics like that, but you'll have to distinguish between "what's your control setting?" and "WHY do you like <favorite thing>?"
Locking a topic with 3 pages full of "lol abrret sux" "deagles rock" is necessary in my eyes, but a topic with a real discussion is preferred.

quote:Originally posted by Poop
Just because there was a similiar thread 3 or 5 or 7 months ago doesnt mean it cant be posted again. Theres a whole new wave of members which enter the forums every few months, and those people havent seen those discussions or suggestions before, so why not start them up again?


Because the forum is for Michal to see new and unique ideas. Overcomplicated, not doable, biased or simply bad ideas might happen to be popular, like the controversial vehicle (or mortar) issue. I deleted/rejected more than 30 of those since I have been the moderator there, and the same I did for a lot of other ones. Without the old ideas being deleted, that forum would turn into "top 20 popular suggestions being discussed", while new ones are overlooked.
And the discussion over old topic isn't closed. Search is because you should revive an old topic rather than start a new one, so you can see what's been said and what not. Infact, when I turn down a suggestion, I look at what's been written. If it involves something new, about an old suggestion, I usually approve that. The problem is that often search is NOT used and this results in the same things being said over and over.
Also, most people revive topics to say silly things that do not help at all, so I'll only unlock topics from the archive at request.

I happen to disagree Meandor. I do not believe that these forums are just for Michal's private screening of the public, I mean obviously if these forums had never been created, and Michal had never seated the throne within them, then another forum would've eventually been created for discussion (since that's what a forum is, for pete's sake). Because that's what forums are for. The fact is that Michal is smart enough to use them the way he does. But that doesn't mean that it's your job to make it easier for him. Afterall, if there's a public outcry for a stupid idea, then try it out, and produce the results to the public. Don't just scoff at the ignorant posters and lock them up with a single trite remark about the futility of their requests.

And if you see a lot of these bad ideas, then there should be a sticky where they can be checked on regularly. Employ the "Top 20", if you like, and then no one will have an excuse to make unnecessary posts. The search is truly overrated. I shouldn't have to search to make sure my topic hasn't been started before. The search is for those who are looking for quick information. For those with specific questions, really. There's no reason why a discussion shouldn't take place again. So long as the posting is somewhat intelligent. Just because you see it over and over doesn't mean that everyone else done. Personally I've only been truly active for less than a month. So maybe I would prefer to be redundant, rather than revive topics that involved people I don't know or care to know now. You should be paying more attention to what the members want, rather than the moderators. Without the members there isn't a forum.

Oh and Boosta, I respect what you've said entirely. When I say complain about shutting down redundant threads, I sort of assume that it's the kind of thread that has real discussion in it. Not just meaningless jargon. Your policies are very respectable.

</rant>

~TheRelinquished

No, Michal knows what is good for this game better than a newbie that's been around 3 days.
There is a list with most popular suggestions, thanks to Kazuki. And what's the point in saying the same things over and over? Increasing your post count? I'll dig up a vehicles thread to show you how high the level of the conversation is.
Take a look:
http://soldatforums.com/topic.asp?ARCHIVE=true&TOPIC_ID=17061
http://soldatforums.com/topic.asp?ARCHIVE=true&TOPIC_ID=17669
http://soldatforums.com/topic.asp?ARCHIVE=true&TOPIC_ID=5344

I'm SURE there were MORE vehicle threads.

Meandor, Vehicles may be one of the more annoying suggestions which shouldnt be repeated, But im talking about a logical suggestion which can make sense.

Theres 2 types of forums/communities possible up to where I can see.

Our current forum:
Player A posts a relatively logical suggestion/improvement which is possible to implement, but this suggestion was also posted 4 months ago, before Player A joined the forums.
Replies:
Reply 1: umm, its been suggested before man, use search.
Reply 2: Its not bad but been suggested before
Reply 3: Dude use search function ffs newbie
Reply 4: Hmm, Interesting idea man, This can significantly improve soldat because reason A, B, C and D.
Reply 5:http://soldatforums.com/search.asp
Reply 6:SEARCH!

Moderator comes into this topic, notices its not going anywhere and locks it, mostly because reply 1,2,3,5,6, Which were posted by what I consider jackasses. If those 5 didnt post, Theres really no need to lock it because Player A and reply 4 could make this into a relatively intelligent and good discussion.

A much better forum:
Player A posts a relatively logical suggestion/improvement which is possible to implement, but this suggestion was also posted 4 months ago, before Player A joined the forums.
Replies:
Reply 1: Hmm, Interesting idea man, This can significantly improve soldat because reason A, B, C and D.
Reply 2: Nice points Reply 1, I concur and I think this is a very good solid suggestion. This will be better for soldat!

There wont be as many replies because the veterans have already posted thier opinions on this suggestion 4 months ago, But atleast theres no need to lock it due to unnecesary bull(Please refrain from swearing).

And about vehicles, Just look at most of those posts in the vehicles threads you posted up meandor, They are really useless crap posts. Before flaming the person who posted the suggestion about vehicles, I think you should probably ban all those _____ who posted stupid stuff. Maybe if you just leave the topic alone to die, the Newbie who posted a suggestion to include vehicles will realize his suggestion isnt approved by anyone.

MY POINT:
IF it was suggested before, YOU dont have to say "it was suggested before" In thier thread, because thats not accomplishing anything. If there was a thread like <Insert Thread here> Before, YOU dont have to say "There was a thread like this before", because again thats not accomplishing anything. Instead just leave the thread, and forget you ever saw it.

quote:Originally posted by Poop
MY POINT:
IF it was suggested before, YOU dont have to say "it was suggested before" In thier thread, because thats not accomplishing anything. If there was a thread like <Insert Thread here> Before, YOU dont have to say "There was a thread like this before", because again thats not accomplishing anything. Instead just leave the thread, and forget you ever saw it.


Its because its where all the star hunters go to collect their posts :\ They make those posts because its an easy way to get stars and stuff! Just like the map forum :\ "Learn Shading" "Good job"
I think it would be better if we removed teh post count all together >:)

quote:Originally posted by Cookie.
I think it would be better if we removed teh post count all together >:)

That would be a nice thing to do IMO. Or at least remove the stars and the title which are Completely useless.
Seriously, give me 2 good reasons to keep post counts.

Actually perhaps it would be better to award people on the time they have spent on the forum instead of post numbers?

Well then I could just leave my browser up day and night. Thus is the miracle that is DSL.

Unless of course you mean time as in from join date to present. Which in that case it doesn't imply participation at all. Only registration time. Seems that it won't work either way.

How about the old Karma system? Or have an award system that gives points to people who have posted good topics.

It would take more time and consideration than simple post count but it would be much more worth it.

While we're on the topic of replacing post count, and I don't know how we got to that topic, I would like to bring up a thread that I made a long while ago. It was involving a reputation system of some sort. You know, a system in which people are given points for making good contributions to the community, no matter what the format of the contribution itself. Many amends could be made to this idea. I still believe that it is a good idea, but who knows? Click here to view the topic.

Poop, that does not make sense. I know that those who post that crap in response should be blamed as well, but that still is not a solution.
Plus, there's still no reason to repost something that's been said, just to have an empty thread. I mean, it would be empty, if this forum wasn't full of (Please refrain from swearing) - and you can't change that.
This is why what you're saying is not viable. You can:
- ban 90% of the forum population, including most of the old timers
- keep the forum full of suggestions about old ideas, flames and weapon balance discussion
- delete threads that arouse such reaction

Go revive the old one if you actually have something to add, is it that hard?

quote:Originally posted by TheRelinquished
But I don't want the veterans to feel outcast.


? :(

Heh. :)

In any way, when i actually came here, to the forums, i used to post, a lot, i actually think most of them were non spamming posts. I liked the community back then, so i posted a lot. Over the years(yes years) it's grown more and more stupid. I just come here every 2 days or so, check the posts, of which i usually skip the whole suggestion, bugs, map maker, mod, and simular sections unless i see someone who i deem worthy has written something.
Really, otherwise it's such a waste of time and i just might get annoyed at some moron posting this or that and post something to start a flame war. Which I really don't have the patience for these days, as I have enough of it on IRC, where i can't really willingly overlook certain texts.
And this is what is the most common thing on the forums, flame wars. They usually start in some "good" area of the forum and escalate down to the bash pit then. What keeps me here is the rare topics that pop up from time to time, where discussion is actually on the level of a discussion. And those are usually in the lounge.
Now it's good to see there are newbies(no offense meant, you are new considering the first impression) still come in intelligent packages, so i salute you for that.
As for the forum, it's kind of hopeless since an overwhelming majority of newbies aren't like you.

Why should threads that get those type of reactions be deleted? And not the reactions themselves. I dont think 2 people who may want to start a discussion should be punished due to the overwhelming majority of idiots on the forums.

And about reviving topics, Why should a person have to search for a 5 month old topic, most likely with posts from a good amount of people who have already left the forum to express thier opinion? Why not start a new topic for those people who werent in the forum at that time, and why not start a new topic for those people who were in the forum but thier opinions may have changed about a specific subject. And if a person does go into a old thread to post something like "I agree with this suggestion", Most likely that person is going to be called a spammer.

Either way, Its impossible to stop those people (who dont read stickies, follow rules etc etc) from making topics which are prohibited, But instead of posting crap in the topic they made, just dont post in it. Personally, I think its easier to get older members to not post useless junk in topics made by newer members, than to get newer members not to post those topics in the first place.

So we should remove rules just because stupid newbies won't read them? Next thing you know is that the forum is full of spam.
And no, if someone is allowed to say 'I agree with this suggestions', or repeats an old suggestion, the rest is allowed to flame him because it plainly sucks. It represents what the forum users think.
Therefore - you either keep both sides, or eliminate the whole matter, that is just an inconclusive discussion about who approves what, and who doesn't, unlike what has been done in the previous thread, that might have a somewhat coherent (and civil) discussion. It is easier to keep track of it: anyone can realize which points have been made and which not, enabling him to contribute more efficently.

quote:So we should remove rules just because stupid newbies won't read them? Next thing you know is that the forum is full of spam.

Sorry, But i never suggested to remove any rules, what i sort of suggested was to add newer rules prohibiting members from posting stuff like "There was a thread like this before" or "Its been suggested before" and so on.
quote:And no, if someone is allowed to say 'I agree with this suggestions', or repeats an old suggestion, the rest is allowed to flame him because it plainly sucks. It represents what the forum users think.
Is this something you want to keep? The unnecesary flaming of eachother which makes this forum and community a piece of (Please refrain from swearing)? Also the point here was talking about posting in old topics. If someone posts this in a old topic and it comes back onto the first page, he will be called a spammer("OMG STOP REVIVING OLD TOPICS YOU SPAMMER"), but if someone posts that same line in a newer topic, not many people would care. I hope you understand what im saying. In a situation like that newer topics could mean less spam and less flaming.
quote:
Therefore - you either keep both sides, or eliminate the whole matter, that is just an inconclusive discussion about who approves what, and who doesn't, unlike what has been done in the previous thread, that might have a somewhat coherent (and civil) discussion. It is easier to keep track of it: anyone can realize which points have been made and which not, enabling him to contribute more efficently.

I really couldnt understand what your trying to say here. Once again, I understand that suggestions like vehicles and other radical ideas are not accepted by anyone(But moderators are here to delete those), but what I think TheRelinquished is talking about is those topics/threads/suggestions which can actually lead to some intelligent discussions. And I agree with him that there shouldnt be restrictions against posting topics like those again.

I've given it some thought lately. Despite I remain of my own opinion, I'll ask styx for a further forum. Suggestions shall remain for the NEW suggestions only, and the same rules will apply, so it'll be good only for that purpose. The other will be instead purely for discussion. Still, I'd like people to keep things in one topic to have a more linear conversation, but the rule won't be as strict. What do you think?

PS - I forgot to reply before about what you said - I don't delete aggressive posts (and that is not bashing/flaming) for many reasons: people quote and talk to each other, deleting many posts results in ending up with a messed up convo; a lot of people wouldn't be happy about that; they are, though not correctly, stating their opinion - it happens in some cases that if I delete all of them, it results as if there was no one opposing to that suggestion.

I don't mind people posting new topics discussing issues that have already been discussed, but I find that it's good to find the old topic if you can remember it and sort of fill in folks in the new topic as to what has been discussed before. For instance:
Member A: I've got this new idea, blah blah blah....
Member B: Sounds really good, can't think of any problems.
Member C: Actually, this has been discussed before, and there are a few problems, such as blah blah blah. [Post link to old thread]
This way, people won't waste time rehashing or restating their opinions, because attention has already been drawn to the past discussions. But this also would NOT stifle refreshing new diologue on old subjects. And of course if this doesn't work, the topic can still be locked, but at least you've tried...