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Even without all the content that exists only in the EU, there is still a lot of content that is present in the movies, and so remains in canon to this day. However, a lot of additional details - technical specifications, for example - that is provided only by the EU, and when the new Disney canon came into force, not all of such details are replaced by a Disney equivalent. Many areas have been "abandoned" and left blank. But people still have lots of questions about these areas even if Disney does not intend to provide an answer. This question demonstrates this.

Another example (Who is the Leader of the Sith?) represents a more general case: Different answers exist in both canon levels. In such cases, do we have a policy on which canon level(s) an answer should contain if the asker does not specify it?

The tag is supposed to indicate questions belonging to Legends and/or questions which the asker permits to be answered with Legends. It hasn't been followed hard and fast so far. People continue to give answers containing Legends material when the tag isn't there (I'm guilty of this, but only because it appears to be acceptable in other peoples' Q&As), and askers continue to accept such answers anyway even when they are aware of the canonicity. It appears many people are ok with answers containing Legends even though they didn't use the tag, and I don't see any enforcement that the tag is mandatory if answers containing Legends answers are used.

From my observations, there seem to be a few approaches right now:

  • Give both canon and Legends answers, organised separately (I do this currently after observing others do it)
  • Given canon-only answers if Legends isn't tagged or asked for
  • Give an answer based on either canon or Legends, depending on the answerer

In many questions, I see someone commenting to the asker asking if he wants canon or Legends, even though the tag isn't there. If this is going to happen anyway even with the existing-but-poorly-used Legends tag, I think a guideline should be established so that we don't need to manually ask "canon or Legends?" in comments for the rest of posterity.

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Reset to default
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Here's a better question: If you have enough information to provide answers to both canons, and the OP didn't specify, why wouldn't you give both answers, if only to be complete?

Perfect world

Both. Clearly mark which answer is which canon.

Perfectly acceptable

Disney Canon only. Many people don't realize there even is an EU/Legends canon. Answer based solely on canon facts. But I'd also suggest mentioning that the answer is based on Disney Canon.

Ehh, alright, I guess

Legends only. These answers should be clearly noted that the information is purely Legends based. Unless the OP asks for an answer based in either/both canons, answers based solely on Legends material should generally be avoided. Personally, I won't downvote these, but I'm not upvoting them either.

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    This would have been my answer, too. Most people will fall into one of two categories: 1) I know what Legends is, and will mention it in my question, or 2) I don't know what Legends is and just care about the movies. So, unless the user specifically asks for non-canon material, avoid it.
    – KutuluMike
    Commented Jan 26, 2016 at 19:26
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As much as it pains me to say it... [through gritted teeth] either are fine.
Phew, that was painful. I'm going to need to take a breather. Hang on, I'll be back shortly.... ok. I'm here again.

My usual modus operandi is to post Disney canon first, along with an indication of the canon level. Where an answer overlaps into a lower canon level (Legends), I'll post it, but I'll make it clear that it's not part of the main canon.

Obviously if the question is about something that's already Legends canon, I'd usually lead with a Legends canon answer.

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Answers should contain canon material (or a statement that canon is silent) if the question isn't tagged with and the text of the question does not indicate that Legends is acceptable. In other words, Legends-only answers should not be posted unless the questions indicates in some way that Legends is acceptable. Answers may include Legends sources as a bonus, but should clearly differentiate between canon and Legends.

If a question is not clear whether or not Legends is acceptable then our only choice is to ask in the comments (and add the tag if the asker confirms). Hopefully as the tag gains more usage people will use it more clearly.

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  • So if a user only knows a Legends level answer then they shouldn't answer as long as the question is ambiguous. I'm not a Star Wars buff, but I would find an answer at either level interesting and useful especially if the answer is different.
    – Erik
    Commented Feb 3, 2016 at 16:47
  • @Erik The problem is when someone posts a Legends answer quickly, and then the asker clarifies that they intended to ask canon-only. Now the asker can't modify the question because it would invalidate the existing answer. A quick Legends answer also has a tendency to gain upvotes and remain the top answer even after someone posts a canon answer. The asker might accept the canon answer and thus move it to the top, but that doesn't always happen. Users who aren't aware to make the distinction between canon vs. Legends tend to be newer and thus less likely to accept an answer.
    – Null Mod
    Commented Feb 3, 2016 at 16:57
  • True, but I still think that having one question answered with both levels of cannon is useful for the site and for the person asking the question. To flip your last sentence around, IMO the people who care enough and/or are aware enough about the level of cannon know enough to specify what level they're looking for. It is the rubes like me that don't know what level of cannon their looking for and IMO would find a legends answer equally as informative.
    – Erik
    Commented Feb 3, 2016 at 17:17

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