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I recently posted a comment on this question: Why doesn't S.H.I.E.L.D. put Hulk on the index and lock him away? that included a link to some information about what the OP was asking. I did not write an answer because the information in my comment did not meet the specific restrictions that the OP requested but I felt that the information would still be of interest.

I realize that extended discussions will get deleted and answers in the comments will be deleted but this deletion seems to extend the scope of comment deletion.

Are comments no longer permitted for anything other than question clarification?

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3 Answers 3

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Unfortunately, as much as that kind of information might be useful, it's not what comments are for. Comments are meant to help improve the question -- ask for clarification, make suggestions for edits, etc.

When a moderator sees a long comment thread that contains discussion or speculation, or information that better belongs in an answer, there's a decent chance it will go away. Particularly if there really is an answer to the question, which should contain the relevant information.

I'm not really sure what the right thing for you to do here was; my first instinct is for you to just write an answer anyway, but mention the fact that you know it isn't an exactly answer but contains useful information anyway. Another option would be to edit your information into the existing answer, or (if you're not comfortable with that), leave a comment on the answer for the OP to edit in themselves.

(For the record, one of my comments on that question also got deleted, for the same reason: the information was used to improve an answer and was no longer needed.)

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  • Then, we should better change our policy. This site isn't Stack Overflow. That question had some interesting contents for fans to read. This could have drawn potential users here.. This is Avengers time, too.
    – user931
    Apr 15, 2015 at 19:56
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    No. You should change your behavior. If something is clarified in the comments, it should be edited into the question/answer as necessary.
    – phantom42
    Apr 16, 2015 at 5:24
  • @phantom42 "You should change your behavior". I see a lot of upvoted comments that don't serve to improve the question or answer in any way. Often, they seem to be just sarcasm, wit, or humor. I think using comments for purposes other than just improving question/answer quality is rather endemic, and the community clearly supports it. data.stackexchange.com/scifi/query/307471/…
    – user31178
    Apr 27, 2015 at 20:21
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    @CreationEdge I'm referring to changing behavior by editing the pertinent info into the question. If users want to banter in comments, that's fine - just be prepared for them to get cleaned up occasionally.
    – phantom42
    Apr 27, 2015 at 20:26
  • @phantom42 I see what mean, now. It was clear in your first comment, I just didn't make the connection.
    – user31178
    Apr 27, 2015 at 20:30
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Comments are not intended to be permanent.

The purpose of comments is mostly to solicit clarifications on, and suggest improvements to, questions and answers. Please see the Help Center writeup on comments for further information on this:

Comments are temporary "Post-It" notes left on a question or answer. They can be up-voted (but not down-voted) and flagged, but do not generate reputation. There's no revision history, and when they are deleted they're gone for good.

And:

You should submit a comment if you want to:

  • Request clarification from the author;
  • Leave constructive criticism that guides the author in improving the post;
  • Add relevant but minor or transient information to a post (e.g. a link to a related question, or an alert to the author that the question has been updated).

A flag reason of "obsolete" exists for comments, and it is perfectly reasonable to flag a comment as obsolete when the comment no longer serves it's purpose; i.e if the suggestions made in the comment are taken up in a question or answer, or if the question or answer is clarified so that the comment is no longer necessary.

It is also not necessary for a comment to be flagged in order for it to be deleted.

Your comment is not a special snowflake. Comment with the understanding that what you're posting is potentially transient content that may be deleted if and when it no longer serves it's purpose.

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Comments aren't meant to be permanent, so don't expect them to stick around forever. Much of the thread was various tangential ruminations on trying to restrain the Hulk, much of which now lies in the answers to the question. When I saw the huge comment thread, I simply wiped all of them out to tidy up.

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  • No way. Why would you do that? I even referenced the comments in another question..
    – user931
    Apr 15, 2015 at 19:31
  • BTW, few initial comments were useful too. You shouldn't have done that.
    – user931
    Apr 15, 2015 at 19:33

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