Questions tagged [questions]

This tag is for general questions about questions. Answers should be applicable to the vast majority of questions. Do not use this tag for questions on a single question, use the [specific-question] tag instead.

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Considered harmful: questions where the asker expects us to figure out a scientific explanation or alternative for their handwavium

Latest offender: Need counters for a near perfect Anti Thermal and Kinetic armor system in a near future setting Another example: Could alien organisms evolve to utilize Thermoelectric cooling(the ...
Ian Kemp's user avatar
  • 1,036
5 votes
14 answers
2k views

Sandbox for proposed Questions

The Sandbox works best if you sort posts by "active" (click here to do so). Welcome to the Sandbox! This "Sandbox" is a place where Worldbuilding.SE users can get feedback on ...
JBH's user avatar
  • 114k
1 vote
2 answers
91 views

Are ARG-related questions allowed?

Am I allowed to ask questions on Worldbuilding for an ARG (Alternate Reality Game) that I'm creating?
Tyler Selden's user avatar
0 votes
4 answers
957 views

Are questions about game mechanics in litrpgs allowed on this site?

In a recent question, the idea of discussing worldbuilding in the context of game mechanics and litrpg things was discussed. KerrAvon2055 and sphennings stated that game mechanics were off limits for ...
Nepene Nep's user avatar
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1 vote
3 answers
139 views

Can I get rid of dumb perfectionism anxiety attack fueled questions? (And other question fixes)

I have perfectionism anxiety about my creature design and world building, which sometimes come in attacks that compel me to ask a question on here that was dumb or obvious to me later. At least three ...
Chickenpeep's user avatar
  • 2,493
3 votes
3 answers
141 views

How far can we push the term worldbuilding?

I don’t know how much discussion has been on a topic like this already, but allow me to explain. The term "world-building" was first used in the Edinburgh Review in December 1820 and ...
Topcode's user avatar
  • 2,255
3 votes
2 answers
107 views

Do we need to justify every worldbuilding question with scientific criteria?

I recently made a question about giant mechs. I was criticized heavily for not justifying my answer by not having mechs, as mechs are scientifically implausible. For example Graham said this. @...
Nepene Nep's user avatar
  • 37.2k
3 votes
1 answer
220 views

Advice to Querents asking "is X plausible or realistic?"

A July 2022 renovation of the reality-check tag and others has changed the context of this question. It is now obsolete. Please see the following question and the link under "Conclusion." If ...
JBH's user avatar
  • 114k
6 votes
4 answers
153 views

Can I ask questions related to music making here? Music that I want to use for worldbuilding projects

TL:DR -I want to put music in my games, they are games about a fantasy world, can I ask questions about music here since the music will be used in worldbuilding projects?- I wanna travel to the USA ...
Amadeus's user avatar
  • 69
6 votes
7 answers
483 views

Is it Fair to Encourage People to NOT Answer Questions that Need to be Closed?

Introduction: WB.SE has a SE mandated format; the community has determined that certain rules need to apply to the asking and answering of questions; the community has in place certain policies & ...
elemtilas's user avatar
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2 votes
3 answers
187 views

Policy proposal: Questions about names and the process of deriving names are off-topic

I visited What calendar can be used for Venus, Mercury and moons of Jupiter and Saturn? and realized that a policy of the Stack had been left off A Concise List of "The Rules": the policy ...
JBH's user avatar
  • 114k
-1 votes
2 answers
112 views

Clarification concerning a loophole in the Real World Question policy

Policy Reference: A proposal to finalize the "are real world questions on-topic" debate Enlightening Comment: A proposal to finalize the "are real world questions on-topic" debate ...
JBH's user avatar
  • 114k
0 votes
1 answer
84 views

Im I ruining genre recognition when I deconstructed supernatural creatures to be Mutants I.E. X men?

Deconstruction is a terrible word to use here. But the only word I can think of to describe my world. But anyway genre recognition is when the audience can understand what genre a movie or tv show ...
BackBack33's user avatar
2 votes
3 answers
123 views

How should we handle possibly legally/morally sensitive topics?

This question was triggered by this one : Appstore application to assassinate anyone. I have a lot of troubles dealing with it. Quoting it, the core of the question is something akin to that (Know you ...
Tortliena's user avatar
  • 7,288
31 votes
5 answers
760 views

Real Life cannot be an overriding limitation on any question unless specifically requested

I have finally found the perfect question to kick-start this discussion concerning what I believe is a growing undesirable behavior on Worldbuilding How can the Sea of Japan be drained? The OP wasn'...
JBH's user avatar
  • 114k
15 votes
6 answers
701 views

When and how to challenge the back story?

I was in the middle of answering this newly asked question when it was deleted by the author. It had been up for 30 minutes. I can't read the OP's mind, but I suspect the question was closed because ...
JBH's user avatar
  • 114k
11 votes
4 answers
316 views

Should we narrow down the scope of the Anatomically Correct Series?

Quoting from JBH's comment on a recent Anatomically Correct Series (ACS) question This is a place to help people build worlds, not indulge in whims. There are clear precedents in Meta that this ...
L.Dutch's user avatar
  • 272k
5 votes
1 answer
75 views

Is it acceptable to post a re-worked draft of somebody else's question in the Sandbox?

This is a weird use case. When I have the time, I tend to edit questions and fix relatively minor stuff - spelling, grammar. I'd re-word something or re-write a sentence if the current version doesn't ...
VLAZ's user avatar
  • 7,841
1 vote
2 answers
105 views

Can the fairy-iron question be saved by worldbuilding our own world?

This question as asked was correctly (in my opinion, see note below) put on hold: Why is "Cold Iron" the only thing that can harm faeries? I’m not here to argue about that. :-) What I want ...
SRM's user avatar
  • 25.4k
2 votes
3 answers
43 views

What reason do I select in order to vote to close poorly written questions?

Every once in a while I will come across a question that is just so poorly written that I don't think it could be saved by providing critiques and giving the asker a chance to fix it. The most common ...
overlord's user avatar
  • 6,232
5 votes
1 answer
82 views

Is it a nuisance to ask multiple questions on one subject?

I’m building a creature and have needed to conceive locomotion, aerodynamics, structural design and other reality-based features. I have done this through several different questions, in an iterative ...
Vogon Poet's user avatar
  • 8,109
6 votes
1 answer
98 views

Is a question asking for a method to generate ideas generally considered "too broad"?

Last thursday I asked a question here on WB SE: How to come up with thoughtful positive & negative effect combos for magic items? and it was put on hold/closed because it was considered "too ...
Marv's user avatar
  • 305
10 votes
3 answers
182 views

The difference between helpful editing and vandalism

In relation to How to play recorded music without electronics?. Over the course of time I have encountered questions where people other than the OP edited the question in an effort to resolve issues ...
JBH's user avatar
  • 114k
37 votes
5 answers
7k views

Inactive Sandbox 2019-2022

This version of the Sandbox is now Inactive. The next Sandbox is: Sandbox for proposed Questions Questions still active on January 1, 2023 will be automatically marked abandoned and closed.
JBH's user avatar
  • 114k
25 votes
0 answers
236 views

Congratulations, Worldbuilding!

Congratulations, Worldbuilders. Today we hit a total of 20,000 questions on the main site! Good job on this milestone, everyone, and keep those questions coming!
Gryphon's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
39 views

If I asked a question yesterday, but edited it today would it reappear with the new questions?

If I ask a question that gets closed for some reasons (lets say the question is too broad) and edit it to be more specific, would it remain as a question from a day ago, or would people see the ...
Foosic17's user avatar
  • 1,110
2 votes
2 answers
50 views

Does our site ask people who haven't upvoted a question in a while to upvote questions?

On other sites, especially those I haven't visited in a while (weeks to months), I'll get a screen-wide drop-down that says something along the lines of, "you haven't upvoted any questions in a while, ...
JBH's user avatar
  • 114k
8 votes
3 answers
207 views

What happens if a poster's assumptions invalidate their answer when clarifications are made later

I am aware of On editing questions and invalidating answers but this is different. In my thread Would low-grade levitation be of any use? I gave basic rules. As time went by I received a flood of ...
chasly - supports Monica's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
68 views

How to lock my question and/or answers?

In my personal opinion, most of my questions and answers attract a lot of comments. Most of the time I am happy about it, sometimes it gives me frustration. Especially having the luck asking the most ...
Pavel Janicek's user avatar
10 votes
4 answers
235 views

Questions about worlds with low maturity - What to do when a question cannot be answered right now?

EDIT: I've added a 4th point that I want help with I have recently noticed a lot of questions that seem like quite chaotic approaches to world building. In my humble opinion, if your approach is ...
Raditz_35's user avatar
  • 4,459
6 votes
2 answers
83 views

Should a good question be mark a duplicate to another question that is closed?

Should this question which is clear and well received and be marked as duplicate to a poorly received closed question? Could a mirror could be put in deep space to see ouselves in the past?
Muze's user avatar
  • 1
18 votes
5 answers
173 views

Can a [hard-science] question be a duplicate of a non-[hard-science] question?

I bring before the assembly Exhibit A, A cure for the 'Kessler Syndrome'?, tagged science-based science-fiction hard-science as of revision 1. That question was closed as a duplicate of Dealing with ...
user's user avatar
  • 28.9k
12 votes
5 answers
184 views

Can we encourage people to put more research into questions?

There are many examples of questions that are perfectly valid and on-topic (in my opinion), but show very little research effort. I feel like some users are posting whatever comes to their mind on ...
ArtificialSoul's user avatar
7 votes
4 answers
140 views

Should questions be as specific or as abstract as possible?

Because of Ash's question "How curious is too curious?" and the old "Is Worldbuilding a What-If Site?" discussion I came to think about how I present my questions and if my questions could appear to ...
ArtificialSoul's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
60 views

Can we Sandbox meta questions?

Recently I saw this question draft in the Sandbox, entitled "Meta Question: Should the science-based and/or hard-science tags automatically require answers to use S.I. Units?" While I look forward to ...
FoxElemental's user avatar
  • 3,246
8 votes
5 answers
296 views

How to deal with questions that are clearly not meant seriously?

Yesterday there was a question by someone implying the real earth is flat and how a round world would keep all the water on it. It has been heavily edited since. The original question was: Water on ...
ArtificialSoul's user avatar
-3 votes
1 answer
125 views

Too broad questions,Really too broad or just my questions?

I have some time not to be active in the community, an hour ago I asked a question and only after the user ( StephenG ) accused my question of being too broad was closed, I want to compare my question ...
Seraph Myrmidon's user avatar
24 votes
5 answers
7k views

Inactive Sandbox 2018

This sandbox is inactive. Please visit the next Sandbox for Proposed Questions In order to make the Sandbox easier to use, a new Sandbox question will be posted when the old one becomes too full. ...
Bellerophon's user avatar
  • 5,898
15 votes
17 answers
2k views

Catalog of Question Types

In an effort to start building consensus after asking: Enough is enough. NOBODY can obey rules that are only in someone's head, I'd like to start with what I hope will become a canonical catalog ...
JBH's user avatar
  • 114k
-1 votes
1 answer
199 views

The Problem Everyone Has and Everyone's Talking About

I think we have a problem that everyone's talking about. I don't know when the breaking point was: I'm new. But I've seen it over and over. A new user posts their first thread, an off-topic/POB/...
FoxElemental's user avatar
  • 3,246
1 vote
1 answer
40 views

Review queues and Association Bonuses

I've been wondering: do the review queues cover questions from users who have a +100 rep association bonus, and if not, should they? I've seen review queues cleared before, and in some cases people ...
FoxElemental's user avatar
  • 3,246
4 votes
2 answers
93 views

Sandbox Question/Answers

Should we post questions we intend to answer ourselves on the Sandbox, and if so, should we post the answer we plan to write in as well? I'm asking this for a particular reason. A while ago I posted ...
FoxElemental's user avatar
  • 3,246
4 votes
2 answers
153 views

Ethics of answering your own question, even when you didn't think you would?

I've seen some posts where people answer their own questions, either because they've come up with a better answer or because they want to combine parts of all other answers to come up with one ...
FoxElemental's user avatar
  • 3,246
2 votes
2 answers
51 views

Pick 'n mix: How to fix

I have a dilemma I've seen, both in other people's posts and in mine. Lots of people come up with lots of great, different ideas for solutions to different parts of the problem. But since no one ...
FoxElemental's user avatar
  • 3,246
3 votes
2 answers
81 views

What to do when you receive unsatisfactory answers?

After waiting and receiving unsatisfactory answers (because everyone is misunderstanding what you're saying, even if you restate the important part several times) and not counting adding a bounty, ...
FoxElemental's user avatar
  • 3,246
6 votes
1 answer
73 views

How long should I wait before posting a bounty?

How long should I wait before posting a bounty? Two weeks? A month? This is considering the question is cycled upwards. Assuming the question has either no answers or just a few plausible but yet ...
FoxElemental's user avatar
  • 3,246
3 votes
3 answers
266 views

Should we generously allow questions that should be elsewhere but would never survive the VTC process?

In relation to this question. Edit: The original question has been edited. I'm delighted to see the OP working to make the question more appropriate for this site, but to fully understand my ...
JBH's user avatar
  • 114k
10 votes
3 answers
204 views

What's the preferred reaction to "bonus points for..." addendums?

I did a quick search and we ususally see someone try to sneak questions past the basic "one question" rule by using a "bonus points for..." clause a couple of times a month. It felt like I was ...
JBH's user avatar
  • 114k
2 votes
1 answer
140 views

Clarification for new users: when is a "fishing for ideas" question on- or off-topic?

Over the last couple of months I've seen a lot of what I call "fishing for ideas" questions. Questions that are either too broad or, more often, primarily opinion-based because the OP hasn't thought ...
JBH's user avatar
  • 114k
4 votes
1 answer
53 views

What constitutes asking another question?

I have a question on the main site which asked wether a creature of roughly 500 pounds could throw 2 tons. I went back over my math, and the creature would actually weigh twice as much as that. This ...
OneSurvivor's user avatar
  • 3,082