User blog comment:Essie Essex/Necromancy discussion/@comment-27038417-20151023185033/@comment-6301921-20151025004807

There are plenty more examples of necromancy. I think it's best that we simply have a set time and decide if a comment adds something new to a thread on a case by case basis.

Like, here's an example of a thread that a user replied to in Aug 2014 when the last comment was in Aug 2013. The person adds to it by giving their own argument and giving us something new to talk about.

But there are plenty other examples of necromancy that we don't want - responding to questions that were asked when we didn't have certain info that we do now, people responding to old threads with their experiences, people answering old questions that aren't relevant anymore, etc.

The vast majority of necromancy will be the kind we don't want, so defining every instance of it probably isn't the best way to go about it.

Encouraging users to start new discussions is good as long as the topic hasn't already been discussed extensively.