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Contrary to most questions on here asking "Why was this question closed?" or "Why did I get downvotes?", today I'm actually concerned with the opposite.

Why was the following question so well-received? I gained about 500 reputation and several badges from this question alone, and to me it was just as interesting and thought-out as all of my other posts.

To take this question further, I'd like to know what my top questions do that my bottom questions do not do.

I've been reading How to Write the Perfect Question, but I'd still like to know specifically what I did correctly or why there was so much interest in my question listed above.

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    $\begingroup$ Not an answer because I can only speak for myself. That question gave me one of those "Ooh, I've never thought of that before" moments, a change in perspective about computer viruses - not my specialty. elemtilas is quite correct, the worldbuilding aspect is missing, but I (in my biassed, human way) up-voted it because it made me think, and I value that. $\endgroup$
    – Escaped dental patient.
    Oct 9, 2019 at 18:01
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    $\begingroup$ If it makes you feel better, should I downvote and/or vote to close? Personally, this post was the first time I saw that question, and the first thing that came to mind was, "Sure: send an email that, when opened, quietly downloads Norton/McAfee/whathaveyou onto the user's device, then mines the user's email list and forwards the email to everyone with a 'Hey, this was an awesome find!' message." $\endgroup$
    – Frostfyre
    Oct 10, 2019 at 12:45
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    $\begingroup$ @Frostfyre No that would not make me feel better in the slightest, thank you very much. $\endgroup$
    – overlord
    Oct 10, 2019 at 12:55
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    $\begingroup$ You're welcome! $\endgroup$
    – Frostfyre
    Oct 10, 2019 at 14:35
  • $\begingroup$ Usually, at least on Worldbuilding, it seems a question either blows up or doesn't. $\endgroup$
    – Radvylf Programs
    Oct 20, 2019 at 16:55
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    $\begingroup$ If your question gets upvotes quickly enough it ends of up on the "Hot Network Questions (HNQ)" list so that everyone across stack exchange sees it. This brings in a boatload of upvotes. $\endgroup$
    – SurpriseDog
    Oct 21, 2019 at 19:21

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Well, I think the answer here is that it's just the vagaries of Stack Exchange. It all depends on who's interested in what and who's reading your questions and what mood they're in.

Frankly, even though the anti-virus-virus question is well received it's entirely off topic. It's not about the fundamentals of nor the component systems of a fictional world. This question is more appropriate for some computer or coding forum. As such, it should be closed.

On the other hand, you've asked quite a few vèry interesting and, more importantly, on topic queries. Questions that are actually about fictional worlds and how they work. Differing sea levels, multiple axes of rotation, equatorial gashes, all metal planets --- this is the stuff and matter of geopoesy!

Sadly, most of those queries have gained little traction.

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  • $\begingroup$ Both the question and the linked question were directly related to a character in my story that designed a virus that made malware almost impossible. He essentially made an autonomous "cure" for computer viruses. Of course, he was later executed by the government for "cyber terrorism" despite being a savior of the technological era. $\endgroup$
    – overlord
    Oct 9, 2019 at 14:51
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    $\begingroup$ Neither are story-based, as they are both yes or no questions that help me establish realism for my worldbuilding. $\endgroup$
    – overlord
    Oct 9, 2019 at 14:56
  • $\begingroup$ Either way, neither of them are worldbuilding questions. But let's not get bogged down along those lines! $\endgroup$
    – elemtilas
    Oct 9, 2019 at 15:01
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    $\begingroup$ I don't think it lacks worldbuilding. I added reality-check there. I read it as "is this something possible in a world like ours, and if not, in a world somewhat more advanced technologically?" $\endgroup$
    – The Square-Cube Law
    Oct 9, 2019 at 20:06
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    $\begingroup$ It lacks worldbuilding because it's not about how to make a world or how a world works. This is a straight up real world tech question. It's about as related to worldbuilding as I am to the emperor of China. $\endgroup$
    – elemtilas
    Oct 9, 2019 at 20:43
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    $\begingroup$ @elemtilas, I agree with Renan's view, Namely, this question is about a hypothetical technology. Technology is part of worlds both real and imaginary. That puts it in worldbuilding. Funny usually I agree with your arguments & comments, It's odd to find myself somewhat disagreeing. $\endgroup$
    – a4android
    Oct 10, 2019 at 4:16
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    $\begingroup$ The book Daemon also had this kind of technology, though on a much much grander scale, but I certainly hadn't heard of any of the real-life examples posted as answers, so I can see both sides of the argument. Its not so off topic that I think it needs to be closed, but it...itches some, so its not worth an up-vote either. $\endgroup$
    – Draco18s no longer trusts SE
    Oct 17, 2019 at 20:29
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It's possible that, being more related to computers than most, it gained more attention in the HNQ list. Since a good chunk SE users are here for tech things (Stack Overflow, Server Fault, Super User, Ask Ubuntu, etc.), it may have contributed to its success.

As for how it got to the HNQs in the first place, it seems a bit hit-or-miss as to which ones make the list. Various factors likely influence this, unrelated to the post itself.

I think, based on the comments, one main reason is how it was an interesting, thought-provoking question, despite not being entirely on-topic.

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  • $\begingroup$ I'd like to point out that the title didn't originally specify "computer virus". By the time I edited it to clarify, it had already been in HNQ for over a day, and attracted multiple comments along the lines of "I was expecting this to be about biological viruses". $\endgroup$
    – F1Krazy
    Oct 20, 2019 at 20:12
  • $\begingroup$ @F1Krazy Although many people (me included) did still think about computer virus, especially with the word antivirus in the title, $\endgroup$
    – Radvylf Programs
    Oct 21, 2019 at 12:14

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