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In hindsight, I would have asked my first question in the sandbox before asking it for real, because while I got a lot of answers, they were a bit disappointing.

I've used other Stack Exchange sites, but none of them have a sandbox.

There should be some sort of mention, for first-time users, before they submit the question, that the sandbox is available. Maybe something akin to the "Don't ask fluff questions" warning that beta users get before they can ask questions, or a popup like the "Don't use the word "I"" popup box.

Once the user has asked the question, it may be too late to suggest the sandbox.

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    $\begingroup$ The problem is that you can only post on Meta once you get 5 reputation. So a completely new user can't use the Sandbox. It is good to mention it to users that ask a question that needs some work so that they have the Sandbox as a tool to their disposal for their next questions, but it can't be used for first-time users. $\endgroup$
    – Secespitus
    Jun 12 '17 at 12:00
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    $\begingroup$ Indeed; that's easy to forget once you get past the point where you earn the association bonus. $\endgroup$
    – user
    Jun 12 '17 at 12:35
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    $\begingroup$ First-time users with the association bonus, or ones who have rep from answering but haven't asked questions before, would still benefit. It'd just have to be worded so as to not frustrate the new 1-rep users. $\endgroup$
    – Monica Cellio
    Jun 12 '17 at 12:51
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    $\begingroup$ @Secespitus I posted a discussion a while back about possibly lowering the meta rep req to 1. Didn't see much in the way of support, but I think it's something maybe worth revisiting... $\endgroup$
    – Laurel
    Jun 12 '17 at 20:10
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    $\begingroup$ @Laurel You may be right, though I am not sure if the rep requirement can be adjusted on the level you imagined in that post. And I am especially not sure if the level can be adjusted only for WorldBuilding or if this would be something that needs to be implemented Network wide. Participation limits for Meta seem like a thing that I would imagine to be network wide. And we are one of the few sites with a Sandbox. Normally the motto on StackOverflow for example is to post questions and get answers quickly. We are different and we may have to live with a few things that are not perfect for us. $\endgroup$
    – Secespitus
    Jun 12 '17 at 20:34
  • $\begingroup$ @Secespitus As I said in that post (which you really should take a look at), it was changed to 1 for PPGC for exactly the same reason: the sandbox. $\endgroup$
    – Laurel
    Jun 12 '17 at 20:44
  • $\begingroup$ @Laurel I was a bit fast with skimming your post, sorry. But do you have any information about what Brythan mentioned? Is there data about problems that arose or positive feedback for the change? I am not active on PPCG and only saw that they have a lot of stuff in their Sandbox. But then again they have a specific kind of challenge for the people answering, which is very different from other SE-Sites, even WorldBuilding. I am not sure if lowering the rep requirement for Meta would be the right way to go. I don't know how big of a change this would be in the eyes of the mods. Maybe test phase? $\endgroup$
    – Secespitus
    Jun 12 '17 at 20:56
  • $\begingroup$ @Secespitus I've just asked about spam here (something I should have done earlier, I guess). The only problem I'm aware they had is the protect war with Community, and, if/when it comes to that, there is a fix. (I'm not active on PPCG (or its chat/meta) either, so there may be stuff I'm unaware of, too.) And a test phase is a good idea (maybe you should post an answer to my Q). $\endgroup$
    – Laurel
    Jun 12 '17 at 21:28

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