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This question; What's the most money actors earned for Star Trek in each era? was asked in August 2015. A few minutes afterwards it was closed as too broad on the grounds that it asks for answers about multiple series and films and hence should have been asked as separate questions.

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Since then it has been edited slightly and undergone three reopen rounds (1, 2, 3) all of which were unanimously unsuccessful.

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It has now been unilaterally reopen by a moderator with the comment

"I am going to reopen this question, as the answers seem perfectly reasonable in the question's current form"

Given the very clear community consensus against reopening, was this an appropriate course of action?

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  • Related scifi.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/2699/… following the discussion here, it was not too broad but comprehensive.
    – user65648
    Nov 22, 2017 at 23:08
  • @C.Koca - Echoing my earlier comment, a question in multiple parts should be asked in multiple questions unless the parts are so heavily related that they're essentially the same question phrased different way. In this instance, which way do we vote if half the answer is right and half the answer is wrong? Better to have one question and one answer...and then another question.
    – Valorum
    Nov 22, 2017 at 23:11
  • Then this becomes related scifi.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/11475/… especially the discussion under the answer. The problem in my opinion is there is no real consensus here on what is duplicate, broad, comprehensive and opinion based beyond when they are obvious.
    – user65648
    Nov 22, 2017 at 23:17
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    @C.Koca - We have a clear consensus, it's just that some people seem to lack the capacity (or desire) to understand it and follow it.
    – Valorum
    Nov 22, 2017 at 23:19
  • So is this why we have many open close wars? Anyway, I tend to agree on what you wrote, but I don't think we can agree on who lacks the capacity or desire to understand and follow it.
    – user65648
    Nov 22, 2017 at 23:21
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    @C.Koca - At this point, the only reason the question is open is because a mod reopened it against a clear consensus, invalidating the dozen close votes the question had on it. What's more frustrating is that because we've had a first-round of votes, all of those who want it closed can't vote again so it's a biased fight.
    – Valorum
    Nov 22, 2017 at 23:23
  • I get the story. That is why I suggested there is no consensus on these issues. Actually in my opinion people voting to close should pass through a quiz asking if this question is too broad, opinion based etc, but I don't think even all mods and +100k'ers would agree on quiz questions beyond the obvious.
    – user65648
    Nov 22, 2017 at 23:27

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
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This question has come up in the review queue again and I have voted to leave closed.

The "too broad" close reads as such (which was changed fairly recently IIRC).

Please edit the question to limit it to a specific problem with enough detail to identify an adequate answer. Avoid asking multiple distinct questions at once. See the How to Ask page for help clarifying this question.

In my opinion this question is "Asking multiple distinct questions at once", five to be exact. None of these are bad questions, and are actually quite interesting as it can give us insight as to how popular a particular series or actor may be.

At one time the OP commented

I'm going to split the question up to satisfy the 'too broad' camp. @MichaelEdenfield: you may want to port your partial answers there. - ThePopMachine

I think this would have been a good solution. Currently it seems the answer is only covering 2 or 3 of the questions asked, a good sign that the question is too broad.

To address whether a moderator should have forced the question open, I would say no. I agree with the assessment in this question body that the post had been through the queues three time and failed to be reopened. Even though some of the same users are seen in the queue, that is just how reviews can work sometimes.

I am also a bit confused on what the comment meant by "the answers seem perfectly reasonable". Does this mean the current answer(s) given or potential answers would be reasonable? The current answer seems to be incomplete and not sourced, I don't see it being a reason for answer to cause a reopen (as we sometimes do with questions closed as POB that end up having a canon answer). If it is about potential answer I defer back to the "too broad" close reason, there are five distinct questions to be answered here which would likely lead to more incomplete answers.

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  • The fact that I made such a comment and then didn't (because it was reopened at the time) should not be used as evidence of anything. That is not germane to subject at hand.
    – ThePopMachine
    Nov 20, 2017 at 23:02
  • @ThePopMachine I am not using your comment as evidence. I am merely stating that it would have been a good solution to avoid closure.
    – Skooba
    Nov 21, 2017 at 13:39
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    And now it's open again. Grr.
    – Valorum
    Nov 22, 2017 at 23:19
-9

Let me try this approach:

How can you claim a consensus to close because it was closed four times when it was also reopened four times?

Clearly there is no consensus. (Even if the reopens were done by mods (which I don't know, and I don't know how to look up), there is clearly no consensus because mods are generally experienced and reasonable.)

So again, I implore you: Justify the closure position on its merits, not on some imagined consensus. Or have we concluded that stating something is a fact makes it so.

I, for one, still believe in the rule of reason even if the world at large doesn't.

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  • The closure was justified on the grounds that the question is too broad. A dramatically higher number of users agree/d with that sentiment.
    – Valorum
    Nov 20, 2017 at 23:43
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    What? The question was only ever reopened once (which is what inspired this meta question).
    – Rand al'Thor Mod
    Nov 20, 2017 at 23:57
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    @Randal'Thor - I suspect he meant "dropped into the reopen queue four times"
    – Valorum
    Nov 21, 2017 at 0:04
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    Or have we concluded that stating something is a fact makes it so. Oh the irony. You do realise that you yourself are stating something as fact (that there is no consensus) and expect it to be so?
    – Möoz
    Nov 21, 2017 at 1:25
  • @Möoz: You do realize the bar for claiming a consensus is way higher than claiming not a consensus, right?
    – ThePopMachine
    Nov 21, 2017 at 16:40
  • I have yet to see someone offer an argument as to how a question with a cogent answer can be justified as "too broad". The evidence is right in front of you.
    – ThePopMachine
    Nov 21, 2017 at 16:41
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    @ThePopMachine - Because the current answer is the best effort to answer a very poorly phrased question.
    – Valorum
    Nov 22, 2017 at 23:12
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Yes, of course it should be reopened given the lack of justification for it being closed except for stubbornness. You have the same people voting the same way repeatedly. That doesn't constitute "very clear community consensus".

Rather than claiming a consensus that doesn't exist, why don't you try to justify a position on its merits?

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    11 unique individuals have decided that your question is too broad. Even the person who answered it didn't have the gall to answer it directly, turning it into a weak "Community Wiki" answer, presumably because they recognised that while it's theoretically answerable, it's also too broad.
    – Valorum
    Nov 18, 2017 at 8:54
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    Since you can't see this info without mod tools: for comparison, 4 individuals have voted to reopen / leave open: three reopen-voters over time (including Thaddeus) and one in the review queue.
    – Rand al'Thor Mod
    Nov 18, 2017 at 10:15
  • @Randal'Thor - versus now 14 against. Also, are you counting the OP in your figures?
    – Valorum
    Nov 18, 2017 at 10:51
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    "I'm going to split the question up to satisfy the 'too broad' camp." - Did you change your mind?
    – Valorum
    Nov 18, 2017 at 13:24
  • I have plenty of gall, thank you.
    – KutuluMike
    Nov 21, 2017 at 1:29
  • @KutuluMike - Bah. I deride your levels of gall!
    – Valorum
    Nov 21, 2017 at 8:54
  • I have yet to see someone offer an argument as to how a question with a cogent answer can be justified as "too broad". The evidence is right in front of you.
    – ThePopMachine
    Nov 21, 2017 at 16:42

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