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There's a question where I do not have a complete answer, but I noticed something that, unless I'm mistaken, everyone else have not considered so far.

Should I write a partial answer featuring this issue?

This can't be easily edited into another answer without changing it drastically, and it doesn't fit a comment.

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    $\begingroup$ How does it not work as a comment? $\endgroup$
    – James
    Jul 14, 2015 at 16:36
  • $\begingroup$ @James because it's too long, if I'm going to elaborate it enough (as it should be done in an answer). Funnily, I've just noticed that it has been suggested in a comment, by you. $\endgroup$
    – o0'.
    Jul 14, 2015 at 16:39
  • $\begingroup$ And since that comment hasn't been considered in any answer, I'm even more inclined to write one myself, even if incomplete. But I'm not sure if that would be appropriate or not. $\endgroup$
    – o0'.
    Jul 14, 2015 at 16:40
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    $\begingroup$ I am kinda torn on this, lets see what other folks have to say. $\endgroup$
    – James
    Jul 14, 2015 at 16:41
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    $\begingroup$ It could be an answer but judging whether is a good answer or not is subjecting and will be different for every user. My best advice is : try. Short answers tend to be deleted even if they answer the question. Long answers are less likely to be considered useless. $\endgroup$
    – Vincent
    Jul 14, 2015 at 16:42
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    $\begingroup$ @Vincent's probably right, but don't add fluff to make your answer longer. $\endgroup$
    – HDE 226868 Mod
    Jul 14, 2015 at 17:15
  • $\begingroup$ @HDE226868 why should I? $\endgroup$
    – o0'.
    Jul 14, 2015 at 17:18
  • $\begingroup$ @Lohoris What do you mean? $\endgroup$
    – HDE 226868 Mod
    Jul 14, 2015 at 17:18
  • $\begingroup$ @HDE226868 why do you suppose I would "insert fluff to make the answer longer"? $\endgroup$
    – o0'.
    Jul 14, 2015 at 17:19
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    $\begingroup$ @Lohoris I was just making sure you (and others) know it. I didn't assume you would. $\endgroup$
    – HDE 226868 Mod
    Jul 14, 2015 at 17:19
  • $\begingroup$ To be honest, that would not be the first answer which starts with something like "I want to add something to the answer of X". I think a few thousands of those can be found across SE sites. But yes, if it is a two lines answer at the end, it will probably be deleted. $\endgroup$
    – clem steredenn
    Jul 14, 2015 at 19:14
  • $\begingroup$ @HDE226868 I know but I saw good answers deleted/deleted because they were short. Sometimes, it's not always a problem but some other times, when a explanation is required, 2 lines of text is not enough. For example: this is short, it's ok but could be longer : worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/18828/… No downvote/close vote but no upvote either because it doesn't show a lot of effort. $\endgroup$
    – Vincent
    Jul 14, 2015 at 19:57
  • $\begingroup$ I'm not sure what spawned the idea that it was going to be "a two-line answer", when I said from the start that it didn't fit a comment. I'm sure I failed to communicate somehow, definitely my fault, but I cannot understand what I did wrong exactly :/ $\endgroup$
    – o0'.
    Jul 14, 2015 at 22:23
  • $\begingroup$ @Lohoris It was just an example I mentioned. It was more or less on-topic. $\endgroup$
    – Vincent
    Jul 15, 2015 at 1:21
  • $\begingroup$ @Lohoris no one assumed anything. But they/we were just warning that too short answer, which might occur for "incomplete answers" are not always accepted. $\endgroup$
    – clem steredenn
    Jul 15, 2015 at 7:33

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It could be an answer but judging whether it is a good answer or not is subjective and will be different for every user. My best advice is : try.

Short answers tend to be deleted because they often show a lack of effort and could be just as useful as comments. These short answers are fine as long as they do answer the question, but 1 or 2 lines of texts is not always enough to fully develop an idea: that's usually the problem when they get flagged. Long answers are less likely to be considered useless. I have different theories about why these are more acceptable but I think I don't need to get into this now.

The other point is about the content of the answer. The content could be similar to another post but it would have to bring something new in order to be considered useful. A new element, a new perspective... otherwise it's could be considered a form of plagiarism :(

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