@Sparda's rejected son: That is a good question and I'll try to supply you with an equally good answer.
The rules do state not to bump old threads, but they also say that there can be exceptions -
- Double-posting or reviving 'dead' topics is only allowed under very specific conditions. Use common sense to determine whether or not you have a legitimate reason to engage in either. Also posts that add nothing to a thread (constant meme pics, posts of only 'LOL' or a smiley etc) can be considered spam.
Even here it gives no credentials as to what could be classed as 'specific conditions', therefore I'd assume it implies that staff will sometimes allow exceptions.
What would an exception be? Well perhaps you have a thread where you update it over time with a new part of your story or add new pieces of artwork. That would be acceptable. And in other cases a thread you've made might concern an upcoming videogame/movie, so it gets updated every now and then. Which is also acceptable.
But lets say for instance 'Movie X' is being made in 2016, and it's early 2015. However, Movie X gets cancelled and it's not received all too well. The thread dies down after a while and vanishes for about 1-2 years, before somebody bumps it just to add a silly remark that adds nothing to an already dead topic. That's less acceptable.
This is where it comes down to "Well what if what I'm adding is contributing to the discussion?". Well, that's great and everything, but how you see it and how we see it may not always be one and the same. Really ask yourself if it's worth addressing an old topic before reviving it, or would a new topic work just as well or if not better? That means think before you decide to go ahead and bring back old threads.
These exceptions, from what I'm aware of, seem to apply to areas outside of the DMC boards. For instance, General Gaming Discussion, Fan Fiction and Fan Art and I guess in some cases General Discussion also maybe because of news on upcoming movies (that sort of thing) Despite these unwritten exceptions, we as staff have the right to lock/unlock any thread should we deem it to no longer holds much more of a purpose, if questions have been answered or no further news can be given and/or if such a thread reaches a conclusion that no longer warrants being left open. This is a right that we reserve, and in no incidences should a member request a thread's closure whether said thread has been bumped or not. Should you create a thread and wish for it to be locked you may request that it be closed, but only a thread's creator or a staff member can determine that decision.
Here are some further notes about bumping threads from Keaton. (Found here: POSTING AND FORUMS: A USERGUIDE [README])
Bumping, When to do so, when not to:
Bumping is a term that refers to when a thread is ‘bumped’ to the top of the thread list when a new post is added. This 80% of the time is a casual thing, especially with two popular topics, this is fine and is the sign of a healthy forum, however when someone posts in a thread that has had no new posts in over six months+, this isn't a good thing.
If an old or inactive thread is bumped to the top several things happen. The first is that it may cause flaming, trolling and spamming due to the topic nature (see below), especially if the thread discussion has been resolved and it has been bumped to simply add a small comment such as “yeah I agree”, “lolz that was funny” and “I still think Nero is Sparda!”.
Comments and bumps such as these serve little to no relevance to the ‘dead’ topic, and reviving it leads to spamming and flaming because the subject has been resolved – arguments for and against it mean and result nothing. It is better in this situation to start a new discussion about the subject, rather than drawing old posts (and possibly some done by now inactive members) into a new argument.