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I posted a question back in 2016. As an open-ended challenge it was on topic at the time, and now it's not, which is fine. Now the question has been closed, which is also no problem for me.

The question is, was closing it now really necessary? The question had no activity for years and I've barely used this site since then, so it seems a bit of a pointless rigmarole for me to get a bunch of notifications telling me that my five year old question isn't on topic any more. The notifications were a minor annoyance, but if it's multiplied by every person who ever posted an open-ended challenge, then that's a lot of minor annoyances.

If closing old questions is the site policy then fine, but I note from the relevant meta-discussion that point didn't seem to be resolved, so it seemed worth asking.

The question in question is here in case anyone feels that's relevant, but note that I'm not asking for it to be reopened.

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    $\begingroup$ For some reason I didn't see another relevant (but low traffic) discussion here. $\endgroup$
    – N. Virgo
    Commented May 11, 2021 at 8:57

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Guidance from meta.se says close them.

I refer you to this question:

I think we can all agree that by Today's standards this question would be closed (with a couple of valid reasons to choose from).

However, things were different back then - well from what I can gather, I see quite a few questions like this from back in the day. This kind of question was clearly acceptable at one point.

So, should I vote to close it or leave it be? And just for extra understanding, what would happen to any rep for that question and the answers if it was closed?

Accepted answer:

View all question with today's standards. If the question fits as per current standards then leave it open; if it doesn't fit then vote/flag to close it. If we keep the questions which don't fit as per current standards, then people will ask why the questions are still open.

This sentiment is echoed several times across many posts at meta.se:

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    $\begingroup$ Thanks, that's helpful. Maybe I should bring up on the mother meta that closing very old questions shouldn't generate notifications (at least not ones that come across as demanding action), though I sort of doubt they'd change it. $\endgroup$
    – N. Virgo
    Commented May 13, 2021 at 6:03

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