I've found World Building an interesting stack exchange, and I've answered a couple of questions. I'm considering asking one now.
However, I don't know what restrictions there are on questions. Do I need to be a fiction book writer, or a dungeon master, having an actual need for information, in order for it to be an "Actual problem" (a phrase mentioned in the tour for the site)? Or can anyone with an interesting scenario who needs specific information ask a question?
The focus here is on the question, not on the purpose for which the question is being asked. We do not ask people to justify the merits of why they are asking the question, if you had enough reason to ask then that is fine by us.
The important thing is that the question itself be specific, answerable, on topic, etc. The reason having an actual problem is good is that it helps you achieve those goals. The more realized your problem and the more you have already tried to solve it then the more specific and helpful the problems can be.
Having said that, I assume you mean this line:
Focus on questions about an actual problem you have faced. Include details about what you have tried and exactly what you are trying to do.
The tour is the same for all Stack Exchange sites and beyond changing the example question we are unable to edit it. That means that a few bits are not as directly applicable as we might like. This was originally written for people in Stack Overflow asking programming related questions where this applied more directly than it does here.
WB.SE is unique in the sense that we have a great workforce ready to answer almost anything that drops around the site. This can easily be seem if you look at how fast unanswered questions get a answer - this place is one of the most efficients on the whole Stack.
That said, each one of us can only answer so many questions in a given time.
I really like to help. I would love to be able to give some hints or some direction for someone writing a book or any other kind of media, and see that material taking off.
What I don't like, however, is to spend a considerable time writing an answer to discover a bit later that the asker just asked it because he/she was bored, and the time I spent on his question was basically moot. Really, I could have spent all the time that I spend thinking about that question on something else - my own works.
I could also have used that time to help someone that actually needs help.
Keep in mind that this is not a entertainment site, as much as it looks like. We are here to help people understand stuff, as much as every other other stack around.
Questions asked "just because" take off manpower that could be used on questions that have a legitimate need for help.
If you are just wondering something on the lines "What would happen if..." just to sate your curiosity, you can always use the chat!
I think that if you would use the question for something applicable, that would be the best.
