I think that almost every other forum in the history of forums doesn't let you silently kill topics and that, irregardless of this poll, there's enough drama here that being able to silently and permanently kill off threads you wrote that went bad on you isn't something we should allow.  If we had programmers in charge who could figure out how to make sure that there's at least an accessible record of the content for mods my stance might be softer, but as far as I know even the mods can't get deleted topics back.

I mean seriously, the fact that threads are permanent forces a lot of hot heads to think about whether they should hit that button.  For things like no longer developing a game, edit the first post or add a post to the thread or something.  There's very little need to delete your history if you just develop the skill of thinking before you post.

3. exactly

Two and three said what i was going to say. Doesn't vother me either way, but it is certqinly a safeguard against idiots who make a drama filled topic then try to pretend like nothing happened by deleting it. Plus, if people start a topic and others contribute useful insight and resources to the topic, that stuff goes down the toilet once the topic is deleted. Once someone contributes to your topic, it isn't just your topic anymore. If you stuck something in the wrong room, just request a move. Mods are on top of their game when it comes to that.

If you remember the original BD3 gaming topic, that one's no more.
That one was deleted years ago.
The person who deleted said topic is no longer on this forum anymore.

Yeah, other forums let you delete stuff.  But other forums have ways for mods to get back in and find out what was deleted, and for the most part you can't take out other people's posts.  Reading between the lines, audiogames.net doesn't even have reliable offsite backups for programmers/sysadmins, or even a sysadmin who can be contacted in an emergency.  So forget new/custom features, and far as I know the mods can't tell a thing got deleted either.  If it were possible for mods to restore/audit deleted content, I would at least consider this arguable though I would still come down on the side of having it off, but it's not so that's moot, since without it delete is a get out of jail free card--kill your thread and all the records die with it.  Nevermind the issues around being able to effectively delete content by others, we don't have to go that far to put this to bed.

Also: drama-free communities don't need delete buttons.  I think that's the most important point that should be made.  Almost no one on this thread is going to come over here and be like "I never delete topics because I think before I post, but we should let this happen on principle".  You only care about the delete button if you need the delete button, and anyone saying otherwise almost certainly has ulterior motives.  Because again, and I can't say this enough, if you think first then you don't need delete.

Also, you can still edit the post, hit ctrl+a, delete, type the word deleted, tab, enter.  SO it's not like you can't get rid of content you want gone.  You just can't take down other content and it's not a free action where you get to entirely escape from the consequences.

I mean instead of deleting it could be closed topic, so other people and mods can still see it. but yes, since forum hosters aren't here anymore nothing

Okay. What about a link to request topic deletion? Then moderators can decide if it should be deleted or left alone. seems like a fair compromise.

Clearly what needs to happen is that the community needs to migrate to a better maintained forum. The problems are:

1. If we start anew, we need some way to preserve, and quickly access, all these years of posts.

2. Someone would need to step up to the plate and start, run, and be responsible for the running of a new forum site. This would include hiring/choosing/electing admins, moderators, etc.

3. If it's going to be used, it has to get traction. People have to actually use it in order for it to take off.

That having been said, I've played with it a bit, and if my memory serves, PHPBB provides some features we could really use here. I'm pretty sure it allows topics to be deleted, where "deleted" actually means they're rendered invisible to the general public, but actually stay right where they are. Then, of course, moderators/admins/etc. can do a different kind of delete where that information is actually removed from the forum, so it's truly lost and gone forever. PHPBB also allows for multiple, customizable moderator/admin roles. So, for example, you could have one group who are allowed to, let's say, approve new members and move topics, but nothing else. Then you have another group with more moderator privileges, and your super duper admins who can add new moderators, etc.

Just some thoughts.

@Liam Ah okay. I keep overestimating what adminds can do.

@fonografico2: You're right. Taking care of that now.

Another no here.

I am by no means blameless in this area. I've deleted some topics in the past, too. For ... no real reason, to be honest. So perhaps, in the past I would've been in support of this.

But now? Nope. Because yes, you should have a right to modify your own posts. Both edit and delete. Sure, there is no log, but admins will just have to deal with that. It's your data, after all.
However, deleting a topic doesn't just do that. It also deletes posts of *other* users. Users who might've put effort into replying, cared about that topic, gotten a thumbs up there, or otherwise might not want it gone.
It's happened a few times already, such as with the already mentioned old BD3 topic. Pages upon pages of questions and helpful answers. Gone.
And that's not cool.

You can still edit the original post and the topic's title. You can still reply to the topic, saying you'll no longer be responding. You can still contact the admins and see if they'd be willing to make an exception and delete it for you.

But considering how irresponsible people have been with this feature in the past, it's for the best it was disabled.

Does this make you want to leave and start a better forum? Then, unpopular opinion: just do it already.
No, you don't need to figure out how to port all the topics and posts and whatnot first. Because most of us are staying here, so those topics will hopefully stay up for a while more. And if not, just remember to archive the important ones every so often.
Just go, make a new community, and see how it goes. Because people are always saying how they'll do it, yet only people who have no clue what they're doing ever do. Perhaps, if one of you clever ones gets on it, it will work out. Perhaps not. But either way, just do it, instead of saying how much you want to.
Fortune favors the bold, does it not?

well,  than we should be able to close our own topics at least