so what I'm thinking is that if a person hasn't been on for a certain umber of days, that'll put a little symbol next to their name in a thread so you know that if you go into a thread and try to talk with them, you will know if you won't get a response back without going to their profile.

Critique?

Tbh, its only one click to get to their profile. No support because I don't feel its really needed. besides, msot of the time, its pretty easy tot ell just by lookign at the date the thread was posted, or what page it is on in the forums. IOf its farther down, suualyl best to check profile. If tis ont he first apge or two, might still be a good idea but chances are it was onyl recently posted anywya.

Maybe as an alternative to a symbol, maybe a "Last Posted" date under the avatar on the forum? (Like where Joined, Threads, and Posts are)

I think a Last Posted date is more telling than a Joined date.
(Other than knowing who's a newbie and who's not, but the Joined date is also a click away, on the profile)

While there's a ton of suggestions that should probably get priority, I don't think it's a bad suggestion.
When we're on the forums, we don't usually think about whether a player is active or not, unless we're waiting for a reply and end up trying to PM them or thinking to go to their profile to see their last online date.

I actually quite like this idea. Either a symbol, or have their avatar greyed out, etc.

Where this would help me: When going through my Free art thread, I have to check the posts to see if the person is still around. After all, why draw art for someone who won't see it. xD It's a lot of posts and a lot of people. And this task takes me quite a while at the moment. If I knew these people were inactive without going to their profile, it would help not just a little bit, but a lot more.

There are plenty of threads, such as guides, newbie posts, etc. Where the thread itself is either recent enough to not be locked, or important enough that it is still relevant, but the original poster has moved on with life.

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@Flute,
About the "date joined" being visible. I actually like this a lot as well. It was something I never knew I wanted before being on Sylestia's forums. I can figure out how much Sylestia lingo to explain when talking with someone in the forums based on this date. Or something of that sort. xD

That sound like a great idea! Or a last online.