Wanted to reply to this but didn't want to derail the thread.
As a general rule, we don't proactively make threads for things just to have a thread for things anymore. If there's news, rumors, or just broadly any sort of discussion that someone wants to have and a thread to house that conversation doesn't exist, a thread should definitely be made. Making a thread to have one for possible, unknown future conversation though is discouraged.
This is a change from our approach long ago so confusion is completely understandable. The goal is just to ensure that, when a thread shows up in the What's New feed, it is because there is a time-relevant justification for it being there and/or there's an active discussion of some sort taking place.