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not an answer

This was posted as an answer, but it does not attempt to answer the question. It should possibly be an edit, a comment, another question, or deleted altogether.

There have been a few times that I thought an answer did not really attempt to answer the question. For example this answer to the question How was Hector Barbossa resurrected? doesn't answer the question asked and is more of a comment in response to someone else's post.

No, makes no sense. If that was the case everybody that touches the coin becomes cursed tus Elizabeth and will turner shoud have been cursed. Since neither of them were, the only explenation let is that tia dalma or calypso used her powers to bring him back. It's a shame they didn't implement that in some kind of way.

So I had flagged it as "not and answer", but I got this in response:

declined - flags should not be used to indicate technical inaccuracies, or an altogether wrong answer

I wasn't flagging it for being wrong, I flagged it since it's a comment and doesn't answer the question asked by the OP.

Ellesedil even aggrees:

While you are spot-on, this should be a comment to an existing answer, not an answer itself. – Ellesedil

Even if it it technically answers the question (barely), it's still obvious that the poster meant it as a comment but they only have 1 rep, so doesn't that fall under "It should possibly be ... a comment" for the "not an answer" flag?

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    "[...] the only explenation let is that tia dalma or calypso used her powers to bring him back" - surely this at least attempts to answer the question of how he was resurrected?
    – Rand al'Thor Mod
    Commented Jul 13, 2016 at 23:15
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    that's absolutely an answer to the question
    – KutuluMike
    Commented Jul 13, 2016 at 23:19
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    @Randal'Thor I guess that part technically answers the question, but it's still obvious the user meant it as a comment but they only have 1 rep, so doesn't that fall under "It should possibly be ... a comment" for "not an answer"?
    – RedCaio
    Commented Jul 13, 2016 at 23:26
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    @KutuluMike While I would agree that this could stand in isolation as a (poor) answer, it is also clearly an attempt to reply to the answer directly above it. If the poster clearly meant it as a comment, we should probably help them out and make it a comment. Answers do not ping the person they are trying to respond to, for starters.
    – Adamant
    Commented Jul 13, 2016 at 23:31
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    @RedCaio But you didn't flag it as "please convert this to a comment on the other answer". You flagged it as "not an answer", which it is, if only barely.
    – Rand al'Thor Mod
    Commented Jul 13, 2016 at 23:37
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    @Randal'Thor but I thought that's what I was doing. To me, "not an answer:... It should possibly be ... a comment" means "this is a comment, please convert this into a comment." (Also, there is not flag for "please convert this to a comment on the other answer" and given that the "not an answer flag has "should be a comment" in it, I seemed obvious that I should click that).
    – RedCaio
    Commented Jul 13, 2016 at 23:59
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    You can always use custom flags :) No need to feel it necessary to use the default ones all the time. Make life easier on your mods, explain your flags :D
    – Catija
    Commented Jul 14, 2016 at 0:14
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    @Randal'Thor but why do a custom one if the existing one already says "this should be a comment", you know?
    – RedCaio
    Commented Jul 14, 2016 at 0:21
  • @Catija Custom mod flags makes life harder on the mods. The default flags have a chance of being handled in the review queues where any 2k user can handle them, without mod intervention.
    – Molag Bal
    Commented Jul 14, 2016 at 4:31

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
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I'm not the moderator who declined that flag, but I would have done the same.

The key phrase for the NAA flag text is

does not attempt to answer the question.

This answer does attempt to answer the question (which you acknowledged) in that it says

the only explenation le[f]t is that tia dalma or calypso used her powers to bring him back.

The second sentence in the NAA flag text which mentions "a comment" only applies if the first sentence is true. Since that's not the case here it doesn't apply.

It's true that the answer is addressed toward another answer, but the fact that it does contain an answer means the NAA flag does not apply. This answer can be fixed by editing it:

Another answer suggested that Barbossa was given the coin to be cursed again, but that makes no sense. If it was the case that everybody who touches the coin becomes cursed then Elizabeth and Will Turner should have been cursed. Since neither of them were, the only explanation left is that Tia Dalma or Calypso used her powers to bring him back.

The answer is now structured to refute a competing answer and provide an explanation by process of elimination.

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    While I very much agree that the answer can stand alone, I do feel that the author's intent was to reply to the other poster, which is probably best served by making it a comment.
    – Adamant
    Commented Jul 14, 2016 at 4:37
  • @Adamant If the answer can stand alone then I think editing it to fix it is better than deleting it (as an accepted NAA flag would have done). It could be useful as a comment too, but since comments aren't necessarily permanent and the flagged post makes a point that no other answer does I think it's better as an answer.
    – Null Mod
    Commented Jul 14, 2016 at 4:44
  • I agree that NAA would have been the wrong way to go. Comments are not necessarily permanent, per site philosophy, but then, neither are answers. They can both be deleted, and are both visible thereafter to a select group of users. Hopefully a good, relevant comment, such as that one, will not be deleted as obsolete.
    – Adamant
    Commented Jul 14, 2016 at 4:49
  • @Adamant The flagger could have both edited the answer post and commented on the other answer to notify that user of a counterpoint. That requires no flags or reviews on the post, we end up with a fixed answer, and we end up with a comment on the other answer. That seems like a win-win-win to me.
    – Null Mod
    Commented Jul 14, 2016 at 4:54
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    I agree that doing so would have resulted in a good situation, but it seems to me that the other user was basically trying to post a comment, without understanding much about how comments work on this site. I think we should just roll with that intent.
    – Adamant
    Commented Jul 14, 2016 at 4:58
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I can't say why it was rejected as NAA.

The language of the answer doesn't seem to be directed at the question.

The answer starts by saying that something doesn't make sense, mentions the cursed coins as if the OP used them in their question (they didn't, the only mention of the gold coins is in a different, earlier answer), and then agrees with the OP's theory. They weren't giving a rebuttal to the OP, it was to somebody else.

It appears to have been intended as a reply to one of the other answers.

Further, it doesn't actually answer the question, which poses "does that mean she had the power to make anyone come back from dead?" Instead, it only reasserts what was essentially given in the question: that Tia Dalma was involved.

Then, it ends with what is clearly a conversational piece.

It's a very low quality paragraph of poorly-written text, intended as a reply to another answer by a user without enough reputation to make comments. The "not an answer" close reason even specifies it's to be used for comments as answers and attempts to reply, which this clearly was.

The criteria are here: How do I properly use the "Not an Answer" flag?

It should be flagged as NAA again. If that gets rejected, then VLQ or custom flag, until someone does something about it.

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