Thread closable by thread starter?

[Abokasee]

Would it be possible for the starter of a Thread able to close it?

[Omanes Alexandrapolites]

Hi Abokasee,
I think that vanilla vBulletin does allow that feature to be used. I may be wrong though, so I'd wait for Tosa to confirm prior to considering yourself completely sure.

If it does exist, I'm not quite sure about whether it would be useful though - after all, members can simply talk to the mods if they want their thread modified. Also some members may also use the feature irresponsibly, closing their own thread if somebody chooses to disagree with them or if they are out-debated. If this was the case, then the moderators may have a much larger workload to deal with.

[Martok]

If it does exist, I'm not quite sure about whether it would be useful though - after all, members can simply talk to the mods if they want their thread modified. Also some members may also use the feature irresponsibly, closing their own thread if somebody chooses to disagree with them or if they are out-debated. If this was the case, then the moderators may have a much larger workload to deal with.

Allowing members to close their own threads would likely cause more problems than it would be worth. If someone starts a thread and then wishes to close it, they can always just PM the moderator(s) of the subforum in which they started the thread.

It's a nice idea, but it probably wouldn't be very workable in practice.

[sapi]

It's technically possible in vB, but as with the ability of members to delete their own posts, practically it's just not going to happen.

[FactionHeir]

The only place where I think this could be somewhat realistic would be the Throne Room for AAR and possibly the Gameroom for games that ended or are cancelled.

Some people for instance don't want comments in their AAR (and people post regardless) and instead of getting a mod to delete someone's post (not really going to happen usually) each time it happens, having a personal lock/unlock for those topics may be useful.
Similarly, if its an announcement thread for something you made (say, a mod) where only you should be posting and it would be taking a lot more effort from the mods to open/close it for you than doing it yourself.
Lastly, upon further reflection, the watchtower might also be a place where such a function would be handy for a case closed / I understood /got my answer. People tend to hijack other people's watchtower topics at times afterall.

Other than that, there usually wouldn't be a need for a personal locking option with moderators nearby (and willing). Example: Say a debate in a SP subforum is deemed done by the OP and he closes it. People who posted there still want to post however (and legitimately so). By locking it, it would create even more duplicate discussion topics than there are already.