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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Inactive Sandbox 2017-18
In order to make the Sandbox easier to use, a new Sandbox question will be posted when the old one becomes too full. This Sandbox has been retired. You can check here for the full list of past and ...
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Inactive Sandbox 2014-2017
This sandbox got a little full, so we've created some more. You should still link to this one as we will update it whenever a new one is created.
Current Sandbox:
Sandbox for proposed Questions
...
- 10.4k
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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 ...
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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.
- 117k
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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. ...
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What's wrong with "idea generation" questions?
We now have a dedicated "Idea Generation" close vote/flag reason!! What does it mean?
What is the problem with "idea generation" questions?
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How to write the perfect question
Writing good questions can be difficult. To help you, the community came up with ten yes or no questions that will guide you and help you prevent common errors.
Follow the links for more information ...
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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 ...
- 117k
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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'...
- 117k
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Hypothetical situations and broad questions
I am seeing alot of questions that are very broad like in case of X what would happen, or if the world were made of X then how would life evolve?
I think we need to be extra careful to ask more ...
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Challenging Questions' Premises
This is something I've seen cropping up quite a bit lately, and has made me pause and think. Sometimes questions are based on faulty or questionable premises, one such question would be this one, ...
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Are questions based on movies okay?
Are questions based on movies OK? More specifically, is something like this acceptable, or should it be kept in chat:
reality-check evolution creature-design
Anatomically correct (insert creature ...
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Should we have weekly topic challenges?
A long time ago (four months) on a site far, far away (roughly two clicks), a great suggestion was made. Jon Ericson came up with the idea of weekly topic challenges. For those not willing to make the ...
HDE 226868Mod
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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 ...
- 117k
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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 & ...
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How can I remove the "hard science" notifice from my question?
I have a question that I had initially tagged hard-science. I then changed my mind (before any answers came in) and changed the tag to science-based.
However, there is still the warning box: "This ...
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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 ...
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How to approach worldbuilding ideas about gender and sexuality?
Recently I had a porn dream, which I wanted to put into a story. And then suddenly, instead enjoying porn/erotica aspects of the idea, I got myself into worldbuilding mode and asked a question about ...
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Do questions HAVE to be for some greater cause?
I love this stack. I've just recently gotten into it and have been absolutely enthralled with the deep discussions and thought provoking responses that I've witnessed in my short time here.
That ...
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Lessons in writing Questions
There are other posts on offering advice for writing questions, such as this list of suggestions. This post is different: it will give detailed lessons worked out on complete texts, showing before ...
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Is it considered good practice to edit your question after answers have been given?
Though only being around for a short while, I noticed that sometimes people edit the question they asked, even after one or several answers have been given. In some cases, follow-up questions that are ...
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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 ...
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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.DutchMod
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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 ...
- 117k
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How do I create open ended questions with subjective answers?
I wanted to ask an open ended question whose answer will be entirely subjective. But I think the question and answer would be beneficial to the site. This is technically something that should be ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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Reality Checking on questions not tagged "reality-check" | or ask questions differently?
In respect to the question here on Meta: Does adding context hurt questions?
I was checking out that discussion because I think my most recent question (and, I feel like a lot of my questions) is ...
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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 ...
- 117k
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Would a 'Handwavium' tag be a bad idea?
We have magic which is well used, and Handwavium is basically a technology/physics equivalent...
We have many questions that involve this physics-bending stuff, so I think there's a market for it. It ...
user10945
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Topic-Specific Vocabulary
Worldbuilding is an amalgamation of dozens of topics, geared toward building fictional worlds using expertise that pertains to those topics. Usually, this system runs smoothly.
However, sometimes ...
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Asked a bad question, can't delete, can't close by myself. What is the correct thing to do?
I asked a bad question today (How to defeat an AI wizard?) and I'm not sure what to do. I was going to edit the question when the answers kept popping up. I can't delete or close the question myself. ...
- 10.9k
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A tag for speculative questions
I was re-tagging questions and it occurred to me to make a speculative tag for all those questions that are "what if"s and the like.
Alarms went off in my head about what that encourages, considering ...
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Unfairly put on hold
My question about measurement system formation is there for a good reason. People on forums would probably say something along the lines of "Whatever" or "Just use earth measurements or even no ...
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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 ...
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What the scope of Worldbuilding is NOT about
... taking any question that isn't accepted elsewhere.
This should be a reminder, or refresher.
These days, there are many questions about trying to set objective and clear limits for the scope of ...
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How many questions here are really about worldbuilding?
Some of the recent questions on Worldbuilding have been interesting, and not just content-wise. Lately, we've had quite a few questions that seem (at best) tangentially related to building a world, ...
HDE 226868Mod
- 99.8k
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How to deal with "funny questions"?
I am in nit-picking mode today.
While my question about Christmas on Mars got great reception and loads of positive votes, and personally I totally enjoyed answering both questions about dining ...
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When to use in-universe point of view?
Assistance to fight off a silicon-based lifeform was asked from an in-universe point of view, and another user added a comment to the question that suggested making the in-universe approach "the ...
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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 ...
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About children and sex
It may be just me, but sometimes a question pops out describing a world that somehow justifies mixing kids and sex in the... "wrong order".
While I think that people should be free to write about ...
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Does a world in a given question need cohesion?
Today I caught myself almost entering a downvoting spree.
Not because I was enraged, hungry or somehow ill tempered, but because some of the questions that I read were a bit... hard on my mind. I'm ...
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Should workarounds be suggested when the question implies an impossibilty?
The title is awful but I couldn't come up with a better one, feel free to edit
What I'm wondering about is this: when presented with question such as this, this or this, where the answer is most ...
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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 ...
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What are the qualities of a great question?
After providing an answer to this recent site-favorite question, I got to wondering about what makes some questions so much more popular than others. As of this writing, we have 14 questions with at ...
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Can I ask questions based on a specific creature of my world?
I know that questions that are based on "Actions of individual characters, rather than elements of the world they inhabit" are off topic, but if I had created a specific creature, would it not count ...
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"Resource ID" questions
SF.SE has a (hotly debated) story-identification tag, used for questions about speculative fiction works which the querent vaguely recalls but can't find on their own.
We could help people track down ...
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Does adding context hurt questions?
Something that I'm sure others have noticed, but that always seems to plague my questions, is the fact that answerers tend to focus on parts of a question that don't actually matter. For example, ...
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'More Ideas' questions
I have a question brewing in my head, and already written up, and I wanted to check and see if it would seem appropriate here. I know that a question like this would not be appropriate over on Stack ...
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What should I do when I realize that I forgot to list a crucial criteria in my question, after answers have been given?
So I had a question and couldn't quite see why I couldn't picture someone's answer but then I realised I hadn't said the fleet was moving slower than light (I definitely meant to, I know the ...
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