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Can we put a limit on the downvote system please (I'm talking years)?

The reason is the SU rules change in regards to what is on and off topic. So current queue (at time of writing) is filled with software recommendations which appear to have been on topic X years ago, but are no longer.

What I'm seeing/guessing is people use downvotes to show that a question is off topic. And when we consider the reputation on the sites is it's award system, this is unjust. Why should some one answer an on-topic question in 2010 accurately to be downvoted 5 years later because it's no longer a good fit! Closing, fine, rules are rules, but let's not penalize them.

The same is also true, even if the OP doesn't ask for a software recommendation, I can still give one. And I'm sure if I had given a recommendation for software which isn't supported in the latest browser (or even if it now doesn't exist) then the post should be closed or commented upon to say "out dated", but leave the reputation as it was!

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Reset to default
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The reputation will be restored once the question has been deleted, as it's off-topic anyway.

Such a change to a core mechanic, like voting, is very unlikely to be implemented.

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  • Oh, is the question deleted after its closed? I never realised.
    – Dave
    Commented Jan 7, 2015 at 10:28
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    @Dave: Well, it should be. But you have to leave it for a while to give people a chance to adjust it so it can be reopened. This leads to closed questions living on the site for a long time when they should be deleted. However, in some cases off-topic questions are intentionally left on the site because they're simply too valuable to delete; these however can (and maybe should) be locked (locking a question disables voting), a mechanic that is rarely used.
    – Oliver Salzburg Mod
    Commented Jan 7, 2015 at 10:31
  • @OliverSalzburg - Would it be worth flagging for mod attention, asking for a locking to be applied in those cases? Or should we raise it on meta, and let the community vote first on whether a question is valuable enough to warrant reopen/locking?
    – Robotnik
    Commented Feb 6, 2015 at 4:39

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