Thread closing

[Parrot of Doom]

Instead of closing large duplicate threads, would it not be feasible to simply merge their contents?

[PetrolTed]

Potentially very confusing without true threading being visible.

[Graham]

I've suggested it before but I think it would be better if there was a different icon for threads that are closed due to being duplicates rather than the padlock. The padlock makes it look as if it was closed for another reason...