I mean...you delve into a thread...if it goes past 3 pages, typically it's off topic or gets locked or becomes a platter for internet goofyness...  How do you have time to record and read a 35 page thread?

Haha - I guess it depends on the thread!  Some certainly have value.  If you mean the 'big announcement' thread, requests for emails aside, arguably everything beyond the first post is pure speculation, so not so much.
 
The problem could be that many apply your value restriction to other written material - like user manuals

There is if you intend to make a post, either a question or a statement!

I wish there was an easy way to identify the last page I read of a lengthy thread.
 
 

There is Bristol. Look at the last post under the title heading. There should be a time stamp of the last post and beyond that a listing of pages if it goes beyond 30 posts. Click on one of those and it will take you to that post or page. 

Bristol_Jonesey
I wish there was an easy way to identify the last page I read of a lengthy thread.
 
 

Just bookmark it/put it in Favorites, Jonesy. You can always delete the bookmark later.
 

Thanks John.
 
I guess I should have know that after 15,000 posts

mixmkr
I mean...you delve into a thread...if it goes past 3 pages, typically it's off topic or gets locked or becomes a platter for internet goofyness...  How do you have time to record and read a 35 page thread?

Sometimes there is value in long threads, though in this forum it’s often for demented entertainment.  The longest Internet thread I've ever participated in is the 156 page (and counting) thread over in MusicPlayer Network/Keyboard Magazine's Keyboard Corner, about Aspen Pittman's SpaceStation version 3 keyboard amp. There is less vitriol in that 156 page thread than there is in the current Ugly UI...SpLat 2016.5 five page thread here. Go figure.....

There's a UK footballing forum where I participate. One of the threads runs to 13,905 pages and 317,600 posts.
 
But it's not for the faint hearted. The competing factions can and are extremely abusive & vitriolic towards each other, although the use of expletives is strictly forbidden

I agree that the value after page 3 can depend on the thread. For example, Craig Anderton's "Friday's Tip of the Week" thread currently is up to page 10 and continues to provide very high value each week. Hope it goes on for many more weeks/pages.