37 votes

How do we feel about questions where the answer is "it exists in the real world?"

Things don't have to be fantasy/fiction to be on topic for world building. Worldbuilding Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for writers, artists and others using science, geography and ...
James's user avatar
  • 32.9k
30 votes
Accepted

Should questions about painfully killing people be welcomed on this site?

In general, I don't have a problem with them since most of the time, those questions are posed in a clinical voice, much like a doctor might describe injuries from a horrific automobile accident. Yes,...
Green's user avatar
  • 52.8k
29 votes
Accepted

Let's talk about sexploitation questions

We should take the same approach as with torture questions and I think I'll just copy from my answer to the discussion you linked (see the original for further links): In general, I don't ...
Secespitus's user avatar
  • 17.7k
28 votes
Accepted

Is Worldbuilding a What If Site?

Yeah, I'd say we've moved from Worldbuilding SE to Whatif SE. I see three problems that need to be dealt with: 1)- External image. Our most popular questions don't actually seem to be about ...
DaaaahWhoosh's user avatar
25 votes

Is a "real world" question off topic?

Ok so this topic keeps coming up over and over again...and again. The WB site description: Worldbuilding Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for writers, artists and others using ...
James's user avatar
  • 32.9k
24 votes

Why is my question "Too Story Based" and how do I get it opened?

Rephrase the question to remove all references to individual actions and any "should" or "would" parts of the question. Off topic: Would Joe Marine 17 climb this hill wearing his ...
Tim B's user avatar
  • 77.1k
23 votes

A proposal to finalize the "are real world questions on-topic" debate

I am in total agreement with this. One minor point is that there needs to be room for differences of opinion and subjective view, even with the "bad questions". Regarding Don’t answer questions ...
AndyD273's user avatar
  • 34.7k
22 votes

Are History of Worldbuilding questions on topic?

The question asks about the first date when a concept was put in a story. That's not worldbuilding, but plain literature history. If I have a question about literature history I ask it on the ...
L.Dutch's user avatar
  • 284k
20 votes

Closing of True Name question

I would like to suggest that the burden on building worlds should go to those who ask the question, rather than those who answer it. I understand Worldbuilding SE to be a place where you can come with ...
DaaaahWhoosh's user avatar
19 votes

Is Worldbuilding a What If Site?

I've been wanting to start a meta discussion about this too. Thanks for bringing it up. I, too, feel that we're getting more of this type of question lately and that it's not good for the site. The ...
Monica Cellio's user avatar
18 votes
Accepted

What is the subject matter distinction between Worldbuilding SE and Science Fiction & Fantasy SE?

Scifi.SE focuses on existing works of Scientific Fiction and Fantasy, whereas Worldbuilding is to help people who are developing worlds of Fantasy/Fiction in various areas.
Aify's user avatar
  • 19k
18 votes
Accepted

How can questions be closed as being "primarily opinion-based" on Worldbuilding?

So . . . this gets back to the issue of Good Subjective, Bad Subjective, which is a concept Worldbuilding's struggled with since its conception. The main two points, as they apply here, are: It's ...
HDE 226868's user avatar
  • 101k
16 votes
Accepted

Should we answer off-topic questions?

I agree. We should model the behavior we want from others, and getting a bunch of answers for questions that should be put on hold doesn't set a good example. If you know that a question should be ...
Monica Cellio's user avatar
15 votes

Is Worldbuilding a What If Site?

I've griped about this in the past, so I'm glad you've brought this up. I agree with a lot of what has already been said, especially in Monica's answer. However, I have a different direction I'd like ...
HDE 226868's user avatar
  • 101k
15 votes
Accepted

Are questions based on movies okay?

I don't see any reason why a question based on a movie couldn't be on topic. In fact, I'm fairly certain that we have plenty of those, if for no other reason then because someone saw something they ...
user's user avatar
  • 29k
15 votes
Accepted

How can a parody of an out-of-universe movie question be Worldbuilding?

This question is on-topic because the author is trying to build his own world - he just takes inspiration in a humorous way from an already existing universe Yes, he clearly took paralleles to ...
Secespitus's user avatar
  • 17.7k
15 votes

"Only Three Books" question set

I was once a regional manager for a small retail chain. In a manager's staff meeting one day we were discussing how to improve the shopping experience with music. Managers were complaining that they ...
JBH's user avatar
  • 122k
15 votes

How curious is too curious?

I think you might have stumbled onto an issue that first reared its head about two and a half years ago, waaaaay back in early 2016. It started with Is Worldbuilding a What If Site? - a discussion ...
HDE 226868's user avatar
  • 101k
15 votes

Why was "Making a sword in the stone, in a medieval world without magic" *not* closed?

I am not sure you understand what we mean when we say story based So in the first question you linked, you have a very specific very answerable, no magic question, namely: How can a sword-smith ...
James's user avatar
  • 32.9k
14 votes

Can I ask about mythological creatures here?

Now that this is on Meta, I feel ok answering it. Absolutely We've got a whole bunch of "anatomically correct..." questions, along with several questions that branch off into related topics once ...
Draco18s no longer trusts SE's user avatar
14 votes

A proposal to finalize the "are real world questions on-topic" debate

For the record I'm against this change (let's call it a liberalization of policy). However if this is to be adopted I strongly feel we need formal rules and "reasons to close" which at least try and ...
StephenG - Help Ukraine's user avatar
13 votes

Why is my question "Too Story Based" and how do I get it opened?

Why is my question "Too Story Based" The key difference between Story based and World based is Will vs Can respectively. For example. Will Joe Marine climb this mountain? ...
13 votes

Should questions about painfully killing people be welcomed on this site?

It depends. Questions about building a world in which people may be painfully killed (for example my bonegrass question seem to me to be acceptable (obviously, or I wouldn't have written the question)...
Joe Bloggs's user avatar
  • 66.3k
13 votes

Is WorldbuildingSE suitable for writers whose works are, more or less, realistic?

It's normally fine to ask questions about building a world that is based on an existing real world, including present-day or historical Earth. Many, but not all, of my own questions fall into that ...
user's user avatar
  • 29k
13 votes
Accepted

Is questioning a well known trope on topic?

I would say yes. A trope is just a common bit of worldbuilding, it's no less on-topic than another perhaps more original question. The one place tropes can get a bit off-topic is when they start to ...
Joe Bloggs's user avatar
  • 66.3k
13 votes

Why is everyone suddenly so strongly against homework questions?

What is commonly called a "Homework question" on WorldBuilding.SE is basically a real-world question that can easily be answered by a little research and shows no interest in building a fictional ...
Secespitus's user avatar
  • 17.7k
13 votes

Why was "How can The Temple of Elementary Evil reliably protect itself against kinetic bombardment?" put on hold?

Popularity != Suitability This same question has been asked a number of times on Meta. Basically, "my question's popular with no comments but it got closed, what gives?" Popularity has nothing to ...
JBH's user avatar
  • 122k
12 votes

Should questions about painfully killing people be welcomed on this site?

Yes, I think it should be okay to ask on this site. If you find those questions distasteful, then you should also find any of the following distasteful: Murder mystery novels Dr. G - Medical ...
The Anathema's user avatar
  • 5,126
12 votes

Closing of True Name question

As the author of the question, and with a similar reluctance to @TimB to use my own modhammer to reopen, I humbly suggest that the question is in fact a perfect match for the Scope of our ...
Serban Tanasa's user avatar
12 votes

Should questions requesting help creating a terrorist attack be answered?

Terrorism is not Off topic We create worlds, and those world may include anything. More importantly, we tend to create worlds that matter to us. And terrorism has stricken minds a lot in the past ...
PatJ's user avatar
  • 3,314

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