I really like this suggestion. One function of the offer you reply button is to invite people to get involved. By having it lead to the full page post (i.e. with replies) rather than an edit page, we signal that "yes, we want your response, but please see what others are saying first."

Except that it would be a confusing interface. A more accurate translation would be "Yes, we want your response. Here is a page that doesn't actually let you respond, but please don't be shocked or too confused and search for one of the links that lets you actually reply and click it and this time we'll actually give you a place to compose your reply. We hope you read the existing replies before you do that but we aren't actually going to tell you any of this."

So, these links could be such that they cause some explanatory text to be displayed above the thread. Of course, experience shows that exactly that type of explanatory text is the type of thing that people are very good at ignoring.

- tye        

I agree that it could be confusing, but so would the absence of any invitation to reply. What would you suggest as an alternative?

For someone not familiar with the site, it really might not be obvious that they can respond at all, let alone respond without becoming a "member". The presence of a "reply" link signals that this is an active conversation to which people can still participate. The usual signal on the web of a members only site/closed discusssion is listings of posts without a "You can reply button".

Maybe change the label to "Discuss"? That would invite without necessarily implying that you are going to enter a reply immediately. I think people would not be surprised to see "the discussion" instead of a reply box if the link was labeled "Discuss".

Much like the hints provided when you first preview, but not provided subsequently

Other forums actually include the original question and all the replies where perlmonks includes the formatting tips