53
votes
Why is Worldbuilding Stack Exchange so good at answering questions?
Because it's easier (and more quickly gratifying) to be a jack of all trades than a master of one.
We're a community with topics described foremost in breadth, secondarily in depth.
A large number ...
- 17.5k
22
votes
Why is Worldbuilding Stack Exchange so good at answering questions?
I think one of the things is that we have a culture where people don't have to be afraid of trying.
Let me borrow Durakken's reference to 2/10, 5/10, 10/10 answers.
On many scientific subject-...
- 28.9k
21
votes
When is "that's not possible" an appropriate answer?
That's Not Possible is a sufficient answer anytime the question is too constrained.
Questions that are Too Broad (unconstrained) are a problem because it's hard to know where to start answering.
...
- 34.6k
20
votes
Accepted
Why is this disliked?
The primary problem that I have with that question is that I find it unreadable. You wander off talking about crime and then start talking about a young man getting paid to go places and be good ...
- 25.3k
18
votes
Accepted
Accepted answer is a mix of given answers
Accepted answers are like car dealership stickers
Personally, I hate leaving one of my questions without an accepted answer. But that's me. Neither I nor you owe anybody anything. In fact, if you ...
- 117k
17
votes
The source(s) for my answer are NSFW. Should I link my sources?
I am great fan of a certain NSFW webcomic called Oglaf. It has a high-fantasy setting and a lot of the situations happening in it are perfect answers for some questions in this site. For example, in ...
- 136k
15
votes
How to handle "cop out" answers
We've had similar problems before with comments saying just use magic
This is basically a duplicate of a problem that has already been discussed on this site:
Are comments saying “just use magic” ...
- 17.7k
14
votes
Is a single rude remark inside an otherwise good answer grounds for deleting the whole answer?
NO
This is what the edit function is for.
I thought the comment was unnecessary and over the top, thought not actually "rude". I think it expressed a valid (if exasperated) position ...
- 39.5k
14
votes
Is it Fair to Encourage People to NOT Answer Questions that Need to be Closed?
As a user of this site, and as a moderator, I've seen a number of questions that received close votes for being 'bad', that to me as a subject matter expert in certain areas were eminently reasonable ...
Monty WildMod
- 56.1k
13
votes
When is "that's not possible" an appropriate answer?
Reality check is the big one for "that's not possible", I think a fair number of my answers are along those lines, but again, that to me is the point of the tag. Someone has come along saying "does ...
- 117k
13
votes
Real Life cannot be an overriding limitation on any question unless specifically requested
If the question doesn't specify the expected direction of answer, it's reasonable to infer from what information there is.
The Sea of Japan question doesn't specify any level of future tech, alternate ...
- 22.4k
12
votes
Should we delete answers that don't meet the requirements of the hard-science tag?
So my view on the subject.
Who is/are the arbiter(s) of whether or not an answer meets the requirements of the hard-science tag?
The community.
Instead of taking the step of deletion, I think we ...
- 17.5k
12
votes
Accepted
The Completionist's Dilemma
This is not something I would support. Learn to live with disappointment, and I do not mean to come off snarky.
The desire to be a completionist is admirable in my opinion (if you're not a little ...
- 32.8k
12
votes
Accepted
Is it acceptable for a question to have no accepted answer?
It is Acceptable
Stack Exchange has two different kinds of forums. It has Worldbuilding, where the expectation is that queries will be somewhat opinion based and responses will vary wildly in subject ...
- 39.5k
11
votes
The Completionist's Dilemma
I understand that doing this may reduce the quality of site
That should be your answer, right there. Why would we want to take active steps to reduce the quality of the site?
I can see no valid ...
- 28.9k
11
votes
Challenging Questions' Premises
We've discussed cases before when it doesn't work that way or that's not possible are valid answers if correctly written.
I don't think it's a valid reason to close a question, but it is a valid ...
- 117k
11
votes
Accepted
What to do about near-duplicate answers from unregistered user(s)?
If we're talking about this specific case only, I would say delete both.
The question asks about building a tower out of ivory. I think most of us would interpret that as asking about whether, if you ...
HDE 226868Mod
- 99.8k
11
votes
Accepted
How to lock my question and/or answers?
Locking can only be done by a moderator, or by the system under certain circumstances. It's not something you can do yourself. A locked post cannot be commented on, voted on, favorited, edited, or ...
- 1,398
11
votes
Accepted
How to make an answer using an existing work acceptable?
I think that the following two steps are needed to ensure the quality of the answer:
Provide proper reference, detailing out the specifics of the case
Explain why the referred example is applicable ...
L.DutchMod
- 277k
11
votes
Should I Start Flagging Answers on Underdeveloped Questions?
First of all, please be aware that moderators are volunteering their free time for handling exceptions that the community cannot handle.
Based on the above, raising tons of flag is not likely to ...
L.DutchMod
- 277k
11
votes
Is it permissible to cherry-pick someone else's answer for the same question?
The bottom line is that we're not here to compete with one another; we're here to write good answers (and ask good questions!).
I'm struggling to see where there's been any misconduct here. ...
HDE 226868Mod
- 99.8k
11
votes
Accepted
Is a single rude remark inside an otherwise good answer grounds for deleting the whole answer?
I will say that I do disagree with the deletion for reasons that many folks have articulated (though, as has also been acknowledged, the now-removed text was certainly over the line). Given that there ...
HDE 226868Mod
- 99.8k
10
votes
'It won't work' - challenging the frame of a question
I think this is a practice we want to avoid, because it can be frustrating to ask a question and only receive answers of the type: "your premises are faulty".
However, it might actually be useful. ...
- 6,817
10
votes
Why is this disliked?
This hit too close to our actual world and seemed to be some sort of sly remark on some current celebrity rather than an actual World-building question. While I don't love the implications, and I ...
- 32.1k
10
votes
Is it Fair to Encourage People to NOT Answer Questions that Need to be Closed?
Let's not become the Thought Police.
Given the site we are let's start with a quote from Babylon 5 :
I am Grey. I stand between the candle and the star. We are Grey. We stand between the darkness and ...
- 23.2k
9
votes
Why is Worldbuilding Stack Exchange so good at answering questions?
Because there are many experts at building worlds. We all do it every day in some way or another. We come up with what could possibly connect point A with point C if we can't see point B and know what ...
- 6,598
9
votes
According to reality check, possibility implies existence
I think a major factor in this effect is the "Open World Assumption." I find the Open World Assumption to be very popular among people developing worlds because it states that anything which is not ...
- 131k
9
votes
Checklist for the perfect answer - Idea refinement
Question: Are you actually answering the question, within the constraints stated in the question?
Should be answered: Yes
Worldbuilding SE is a part of the Stack Exchange network, ...
- 28.9k
9
votes
Accepted
Should ridiculous valid questions be answered or closed?
Just looking at the links you've provided, I think the answer is evident in at least the first and last questions as they've been closed. The last one in particular is clearly too broad and therefore ...
- 54k
9
votes
Good answers to bad questions, a voting issue
If the question is off-topic or otherwise unsuitable then it should be closed
Sometimes we get bad on-topic questions to which good answers can be given, but we shouldn't* encourage off-topic ...
- 117k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible