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Designing the most boring planet ever discovered. Part 1: planetary surface

I posted the above question. The purpose is to create a planet that everyone avoids, not because it is dangerous but because it is of no interest to anyone. There is of course to be a sting in the tail but I left that part out to avoid it becoming 'story-based'.

The question itself is specific enough to attract a 'best' answer in my belief.

I have down votes, and even a vote to delete. There are also several hostile comments.

Why?

Update - Since posting this, my question has been revived.

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I have down votes, and even a vote to delete. There are also several hostile comments.

Why?

It's not the first time one of your questions receives that treatment (7 of your last 10 questions have a net negative vote balance). As I have already pointed out in one of my comments to one of those questions, our help center, under the section "what types of questions should I avoid asking" states (emphasis mine)

Some subjective questions are allowed, but “subjective” does not mean “anything goes”. All subjective questions are expected to be constructive. What does that mean? Constructive subjective questions:

  • inspire answers that explain "why" and "how"
  • tend to have long, not short, answers
  • have a constructive, fair, and impartial tone
  • invite sharing experiences over opinions
  • insist that opinion be backed up with facts and references
  • are more than just mindless social fun

and one of the comments you received states that your question, like others,

have no real WB aspect to them and seem to have no other function that to mildly amuse the person asking them

You state that you have provided criteria to avoid the POB close, but in of the comments you have given you also state

I want it to be boring to everybody

which basically re-states that you are just fishing for opinions while being on the border of what we consider WB. I hope you agree that what is boring to John can be interesting to Alice, and vice versa.

Follow up:

Not everyone on the website is writing a serious story or even building a world that will be seen by others. A lot of people are here simply to create worlds in their imagination. What is 'fun' to one person may not be to another so that is a personal matter.

Then accept that not everyone on this site might like the question you post according to your taste.

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  • $\begingroup$ I said, "I want it to be boring to everybody" but you left out the context. I want it to boring to everybody in-world. I don't want the question to be boring on WB. As several comments by others have pointed out, a "boring" planet could turn out to be very interesting indeed. As for fishing, it's true that I mentioned in a note that other ideas would be welcome. Maybe that was a mistake but, knowing WB, members would be likely to do that anyway. I was drawing attention to make sure that my actual question was answered. I have deleted that note. $\endgroup$
    – chasly - supports Monica
    Feb 23, 2019 at 15:47
  • $\begingroup$ "mindless social fun". Not everyone on the website is writing a serious story or even building a world that will be seen by others. A lot of people are here simply to create worlds in their imagination. What is 'fun' to one person may not be to another so that is a personal matter. $\endgroup$
    – chasly - supports Monica
    Feb 23, 2019 at 15:56
  • $\begingroup$ "7 of your last 10 questions have a net negative vote balance" Yes. I'm well aware that a few people are targeting both my questions and my answers. They vote remarkably quickly. Very often up-votes end up cancelling that out when people who actually take time to read the question come along and remove my questions from hold or whatever. The deliberate downvoters clearly have a lot of power. They can make sure my questions disappear off the main page pretty quickly. I can only bring them back into view by offering a bonus. $\endgroup$
    – chasly - supports Monica
    Feb 23, 2019 at 16:01
  • $\begingroup$ "more than just mindless social fun" Again you have quoted out of context. This remark is directed at subjective questions. My question is factual - it is not in the least subjective. $\endgroup$
    – chasly - supports Monica
    Feb 23, 2019 at 17:46
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    $\begingroup$ "There is of course to be a sting in the tail but I left that part out to avoid it becoming 'story-based'" would suggest to me that this question is being asked as part of the world-building for a story and not just as "mindless social fun". $\endgroup$
    – F1Krazy
    Feb 23, 2019 at 22:54
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    $\begingroup$ "I said, "I want it to be boring to everybody" but you left out the context. I want it to boring to everybody in-world." So either the question is unclear because we don't know what your denizens consider boring, or it is still POB because what is boring to Alice may be great fun for Bob. $\endgroup$
    – The Square-Cube Law
    Feb 24, 2019 at 0:33
  • $\begingroup$ @Renan Whilst that's true in most conscious human experience, it is not a position one can apply universally, to claim so presents a fundamental misconception of what it is to experience. The point of a question & answer is to find the right answer to the question - not all the wrong ones. One of the issues at hand is that too many, in this users opinion, users - vote to close on the basis that they cannot conceive of an answer that might fit the question in a manner fitting WB:SE rules.. $\endgroup$
    – Giu Piete
    Mar 13, 2019 at 18:22
  • $\begingroup$ what should probably be obvious anywhere is that not every user has the correct data & appreciation of the question(however posed) to answer it, often until such time as they see that correct answer, though even then...some people for instance believe things to be a matter of opinion which are a matter of fact, something which probably cannot be solved satisfactorily in a populist setting.. VTC's frequently (anyway) in this sense promote a policy of claiming the low ground. $\endgroup$
    – Giu Piete
    Mar 13, 2019 at 18:24
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Looking through your 'recent' questions, this seems to be a trend you are experiencing.

Not knowing better I would guess it might have to do with the sheer amount of non-relevant questions you are pushing onto the stack (non-relevant as in, there's no red-thread or any other thing linking these questions to any discernible worldbuilding project(s)).

You are pushing a question to the stack about every other day. Subject, tone and contents vary wildly and so forth. It feels as if you are gaming the site to find a formula for 'good questions'.

I would wager many users on the site experience this as spam and abusing behaviour of the stack, with the sole goal of gathering as much reputation as possible.

At least that's what it feels to me.

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  • $\begingroup$ I don't really follow what reputation I have. I don't know what it's for and I gave up collecting gold-stars when I was a kid. I certainly don't intend to use any special powers it may give me. Maybe I'll just give it all away and start again at zero. Actually now I think about it, I do use reputation and that is for awarding bounties. Formula for good questions? I believe I have a question in the top 15 of all time, the Russian Dolls one, so I don't think that is a problem for me. worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions?sort=votes $\endgroup$
    – chasly - supports Monica
    Mar 5, 2019 at 22:13
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    $\begingroup$ @chastlyfromUK then what is your goal with the sheer amount? And do you at least see the points made, or can't you see them at all? $\endgroup$
    – dot_Sp0T
    Mar 6, 2019 at 5:11
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    $\begingroup$ Implies serial voting (or at least targeting the user rather than the content) is to be accepted and the fault of the recipient. If "the subject, tone and content vary wildly", the poster is the only apparent common thread. $\endgroup$
    – Giu Piete
    Mar 9, 2019 at 0:54
  • $\begingroup$ @GiuPiete what? $\endgroup$
    – dot_Sp0T
    Mar 9, 2019 at 8:16
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    $\begingroup$ Your answer says that you, and you expect others, have established a view of the OP that justifies downvoting his questions. Is that not the case? $\endgroup$
    – Giu Piete
    Mar 9, 2019 at 9:14
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    $\begingroup$ @GiuPiete strike the 'justifies' part in your comment and we are on the same line I think. What I did, is putting facts & circumstances in a post trying to highlight possible reasons why their questions are being downvoted - other than the content of the question looked at as a singular thing. I did not, to my knowledge, support/endorse any behaviour of targeting the user and their questions and systematically downvoting them - alas again, I am highlighting reasons why this certainly might be happening, and/or why people might be more biased to a negative vote $\endgroup$
    – dot_Sp0T
    Mar 9, 2019 at 10:42
  • $\begingroup$ @GiuPiete - You make some good points. I'm currently running a hypocrisy detector. Watch this space ;-) $\endgroup$
    – chasly - supports Monica
    Mar 13, 2019 at 9:30

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