What purpose do locked, pinned threads serve?

[novapaddy]

Just in passing:

I noticed the 3 pinned threads which are now locked as well.
My understanding of a pinned thread is that the thread is important somehow?
I'm not arguing that they should not be locked, as this is a moderator's business and not mine.

But isn't it a bit silly to have a pinned thread, locked?

Better to get rid of the thread altogether, possibly?

 

[Victor Cortez]

Why is that?

They want some piece of info to be there and easly accessable by everyone, but without having any discussion.

 

[Secret Master]

The two functions are unrelated.

If we want to prevent non-staff from replying in a thread, we close it. If we want it at the top of the forum so everyone can see it, we pin it.

Note that locked threads can still accept posts from Devs and moderators. So some of those pinned threads that are locked are actually just locked for you guys, but the Devs might sneak in and change them sometimes. Think about this with the FAQ/Useful information thread. Moderators and Devs can also change existing posts in locked threads.

The rules thread needs to be pinned even if no one reads it. But it is locked so that no one messes all over the thread. (Think about how much trolling the rules thread would get if it was left open; I don't have all day just to press F5 while looking at it.)

The release date thread was wisely locked by Had a dad for complicated reasons. It is pinned so everyone can see the Devs response. But no one can continue the discussion there. We could nuke it, but then we'd just get replacement threads.

As I have learned the hard way, while few people read pinned threads, fewer people read locked threads off the main page. Sometimes, locking a thread and leaving it pinned cuts down on needless posts asking the same questions by 10%. That's a significant number when forums have lots of traffic.