Being a mod noob I don't understand the thread as some posts seem to conflict with each other.
I can confirm however, that removing equipment so that only this remains from goblin entry in entity_default.txt (in the save raw folder) had no effect. Goblins still showed up wearing full gear.
Keep in mind the dates. Posts made before .31 will, naturally, not fit the .31 worldgen rules.
Also, you probably want to only read the first post.
Most entity changes require a new world.
You can create a new world gen if you mod the creature raws, but in cases where mistakes are made, on MUST delete old gens. They keep old data that may cause crashes or keep the old version of whatever creature you were adding/changing.
Not quite.
You just have to edit the correct set of raws. Old saves will keep the way everything was unless you edit that set of raws.
Changing the main raws will have no effect on your old saves. No decreased stability, no weird new bugs.
There's no absolute need to generate a new world in that case, unless you add or remove an entry.
The first post still fits. I've edited it to maintain some terminology that I coined back when the thread first came about to make things a bit easier to understand.