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A recent question I encountered at first seemed like it would be fun and playful to answer. It went something along the lines of:

"What would happen to a member of [this described species] in [this circumstance]?

However, the asker was wanting us to describe what would happen. The better detailed and gruesome, the better.

I can't help but think this isn't so much about world building - it sounds to me like its asking us to write a particular event for the OP. But I could be looking at it a bit harshly.

Should this question be closed as off-topic? Or is this acceptable?

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  • $\begingroup$ The question worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/q/32129/2138 $\endgroup$
    – DoubleDouble
    Dec 23, 2015 at 23:37
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    $\begingroup$ I do think that the question, as it stands, is off-topic, but I can't think of a good way to tell the asker to fix it. Mostly I just want them to be less specific, and stop asking for us to write the scene for them, but if that's all they want then maybe it should just be closed. $\endgroup$
    – DaaaahWhoosh
    Dec 24, 2015 at 2:00
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    $\begingroup$ Do note that the OP has now accepted an answer that specifically does not provide any gruesome ready-made scene, but rather points out how it wouldn't be particularly gruesome. That said, asking for writing assistance (which I think is what this boils down to, beside the on-topic question about what would happen to a species with specific adaptations in a specific situation) seems, at the very least, borderline. I probably wouldn't close a question by mod hammer at least just because of that, but it wouldn't weigh in the asker's favor either. $\endgroup$
    – user
    Dec 24, 2015 at 20:27

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In this case the question is asking for "detailed and gruesome answers", that's not the same as asking you to write the scene.

For example if I posted:

The eyeballs would burst out of the skull, blood would start getting sucked through the lining of the lungs causing them to drown, their bars would thoroughly foo.

That's not a ready-to-use scene, however it is both detailed and gruesome.

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that was my question! Yaay! Ahem. So, to justify myself, I wasn't asking for a particular event/scene, nothing like that. I was merely asking what would happen in this particular circumstance so that I could get a more scientifically accurate picture of this species' place in the universe. What happens to them in this particular circumstance is relevant to the way in which they behave, their technology, their culture, etc. I.e: world building! That said, perhaps my wording could have been better.

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