Questions tagged [scope]

Use this tag when examining what is on-topic or off-topic, and why.

Filter by
Sorted by
Tagged with
18 votes
1 answer
339 views

Why are we punishing simple questions for "not doing research"?

I ran across this Hot Network Question about Dune, and why the Dune universe folks don't use guns. As someone who never read the books, and has seen the Lynch movie (which also apparently never read ...
10 votes
4 answers
290 views

Are questions about copyright law on-topic?

We've had several questions about copyright law, specifically when certain properties and concepts will be outside of copyright. When will copyright restrictions expire on Tolkien's works? When ...
4 votes
1 answer
75 views

When to ask on SF&F and when to ask on Arqade? [duplicate]

I have a question about Fallout 3 and I don't know if I should ask it on SF&F or Arqade. The question is Why does Moira insists on you getting a mine from Minefield? Should this question be on ...
-9 votes
1 answer
89 views

Is it okay to post obituary posts on meta for those who never were on a Sci-Fi or Fantasy work?

As you may know, obituary posts aren't allowed on Movies and TV Meta SE, and here, the scope is about Sci-Fi & Fantasy works. So is it allowed to post obituaries for well-known filmmakers, actors/...
12 votes
3 answers
1k views

Is The Clan of the Cave Bear (and related works) on topic?

I just stumbled upon this well-asked and received question about the series of novels of which The Clan of the Cave Bear is the first book. While certainly fictional, and predicated upon imaginative ...
17 votes
3 answers
366 views

If a sequel contains SFF content, does that make the original property on-topic as well?

There are a number of vanilla films, books and TV shows that have included science-fiction or fantasy content in sequels. The Oscar™-nominated Weekend at Bernie's had zero fantasy content. The sequel ...
20 votes
2 answers
918 views

Are the Donald Duck comics on-topic?

We have already determined that Duck Tales is on topic. Is Donald Duck on topic? There was already 1 question on the Duck universe, How wealthy is Uncle Scrooge in the Don Rosa/Carl Barks universe?, ...
11 votes
1 answer
252 views

Is Barbie (2023 film) on-topic? If so, how should we tag questions about it?

I am wondering if the 2023 film Barbie is considered on-topic. The film depicts a fantasy world called Barbie Land, where various Barbies, Kens, and other characters such as Allan live. A significant ...
-1 votes
1 answer
181 views

Clarification request: does this stack host questions about artistic license for film adaptations?

I posted a comment to Are the knife/sword fights too fast in Dune (2021)?. @AndresF. responded to the comment with a request to post the comment as an answer. I have nothing at all against @AndresF.'...
23 votes
1 answer
665 views

Gorilla vs. Shark - a Longer Explanation

An issues that has come up recently, that seems to recur every so often, is the question of what constitutes a "Gorilla vs. Shark" question on SF&F. We know such questions are off-topic, ...
21 votes
5 answers
803 views

Let's talk about Story ID requests for erotica

At the moment, so long as what we see on SFF is SFW, it is acceptable. However, I'd like to discuss clarifying the scope of what is considered on-topic for SFF. Specifically requests for identifying ...
5 votes
2 answers
140 views

Are questions about pornographic material allowed? [duplicate]

I came across this question on review tasks. So are such type of questions allowed on the site? I mean technically the OP does say that it has sci-fi elements such as the presence of a cyborg and ...
11 votes
3 answers
159 views

Is this story-ID question (featuring traditional roles with opposite genders) on topic?

In a recent story identification question a user was looking for a movie that, based on their description, was standard fiction with the exception that all the characters were opposite genders from ...
3 votes
1 answer
137 views

Is WWE on topic here?

Some of the World Wrestling Entertainment characters (such as The Undertaker and Kane) are clearly supernatural. There are probably more if we dig around enough into the earlier days of the WWF (World ...
18 votes
4 answers
936 views

Are children's literature and cartoons for children on-topic?

Books and movies intended for children very often contain fantasy elements. They are typically not considered part of the fantasy genre, but rather part of the specific “for children” genre. Does this ...
2 votes
0 answers
67 views

Are questions about the personal lives of authors, actors, directors and other staff off-topic? [duplicate]

The title is my entire question. I couldn't find it explicitly listed in either what's on-topic or in what questions should be avoided. If the decision were mine, I'd consider it off-topic, but ...
2 votes
1 answer
54 views

Would this specific modification to this question make it answerable on this site?

The question How is fission drive possible? was closed for being about real-world science, because it seemed to ask about how fission drives worked in general. Would it become answerable if it were ...
11 votes
3 answers
392 views

Is Thomas the Tank Engine on-topic?

Thomas is a talking tank engine. He lives on an island called Sodor and basically drives around having minor adventures with his friends and moving passengers and freight. Are the Thomas stories on-...
17 votes
3 answers
574 views

What are "future works"?

We have had a long-standing policy of closing "future works" questions as POB. What is unclear, and seemingly disagreed upon is exactly what constitutes a "future work". Is it works that we know for ...
2 votes
1 answer
97 views

Would a question about wind effects in "The Permanent Implosion" be on-topic here?

I recently asked a story ID question: Story ID: Oil well fire techniques used against space warp, got a prompt and correct answer with a link to the story, read the story, and i am now curious as to ...
-3 votes
3 answers
204 views

Improving threshold for asking story-identification

After watching the story-identification tag, I noticed that many questions are of poor quality, simply because the information provided is very minimal. This issue was already discussed here but the ...
7 votes
0 answers
157 views

Should questions in SciFi Stack Exchange about the meaning/use of Adverbs/Prepositions in Harry Potter start being deleted? [duplicate]

I've started noticing too many questions in SciFi Stack Exchange about the meaning of adverbs/prepositions, mainly in Harry Potter tag. With a simple search with relevant tag, someone would always see ...
10 votes
1 answer
255 views

Are stories that contain crackpot science and/or pseudoscience on topic?

Working our way around the edges of the "real-world science" category, there doesn't seem to be a discussion about crackpot and pseudoscientific ideas. There are a couple of near misses on ...
5 votes
2 answers
187 views

Are we allowed to have questions about Sherlock Holmes (movies, books, BBC tv show, etc)?

I recently asked a question about the Sherlock Holmes movie from 2008 on the site. It can be found here. However, I was told (look in the comments of it) that it wasn't appropriate for the site. Are ...
33 votes
4 answers
1k views

What's our policy on questions about fantasy/sci-fi creatures that aren't directly related to a specific on-topic work?

There are multiple questions on the site about fantasy or science fiction creatures that aren't directly related to a specific on-topic work. Most are eventually closed, but they're often quite ...
9 votes
1 answer
133 views

Would this Dragons question be on-topic?

I was going to post the following question about Dragons in Temeraire, but looking for appropriate tags started to think it might be off topic as science based. Could I get a feeling in the room? In ...
3 votes
1 answer
135 views

Why is the The Handmaid's Tale on-topic? [duplicate]

I see that there are a few The Handmaid's Tale questions on this site. I have only seen the TV-series, not read the book, and I may recall incorrectly, but I am not aware of any supernatural or ...
-7 votes
1 answer
3k views

How well does Inception fit into the Sci-Fi Genre?

I'm trying to work out why Inception fits into the Sci-Fi genre. What elements make it 'on-topic' on a site devoted to science fiction and fantasy?
8 votes
1 answer
150 views

Is the film Apollo 13 (1995) on topic?

Is the 1995 film Apollo 13 on-topic? The primary plot of the film (the crew of a crippled spaceship struggle to survive and stay on course after a disaster) fits a classic SFF mold, but it is not ...
14 votes
3 answers
352 views

Is a story identification question on-topic if it doesn't include genre defining elements?

I have several times seen people have an issue when asking story identification questions, simply put the details they remember from the story don't make the genre plain to those reading the question, ...
14 votes
1 answer
210 views

Are video game with non-human characters always considered SF/F?

I saw this recent question about the origins of Pac-man, and while video games are on-topic and the question is not about game mechanics, is it really an on-topic work? The only argument I can make ...
14 votes
2 answers
257 views

Are questions about SF/F fan forums on-topic?

Recently a question was asked about a website (Baen's Bar) which, as far as I understand, is/was a discussion forum for fans. There was some discussion in comments about whether or not this question ...
4 votes
1 answer
60 views

Is a question about Paul Hoffman's Left hand of God on topic here?

As per the title, I'd like to ask a question about The Left Hand of God. I've found only this question about it, but it's just a story identification question, so I'm not sure I can take the existence ...
0 votes
1 answer
53 views

When should I assume that a question isn't about sci-fi? [duplicate]

Basically, I recently stumbled on a story identification question that lacks sci-fi element in the way it's described (though until OP specifies whether or not it did or didn't have any sci-fi element,...
11 votes
3 answers
351 views

Is Laughing Gas by P.G. Wodehouse science fiction?

The British comedy writer P. G. Wodehouse wrote a book entitled 'Laughing Gas', in which a upper class British gentleman, and a boy both go into the dentist at the same time and both are given ...
1 vote
1 answer
56 views

Should this question about list of references go on the main sci-fi and fantasy site?

I looked around the other SE sites and found maybe one other SE site that this question could fall under (Literature), but the help section from both of these sites don't say whether or not its on or ...
4 votes
1 answer
74 views

Is a book recommendation site recommendation question valid?

Are there good services for similar series recommendations? I'm on the fence. Since it's not restricted to fantasy and sci-fi, it's arguably off-topic anyhow, but is asking for a site that offers a ...
2 votes
1 answer
130 views

Is it OK to ask a question in the form "Are there any sci-fi books featuring this plot element"?

Is it ok to ask a 'plot element' question? Something such as, "Are there any sci-fi books where a future Earth uses the gold standard'?
11 votes
2 answers
382 views

How about revisiting our policy about "is there any" questions being OK?

Since 2012, SFF's policy on "Is there any...?" questions is that they are suitable for this site; see How should we handle "any" (list) questions?. However, in some recent comments, meta ...
12 votes
2 answers
730 views

Is Mad Max (1979) science fiction?

I've seen several SF&F question comments asking the poster if what they were asking about was really science fiction. Some were (but neededmore detail), some weren't, some were edge cases. So, as ...
4 votes
4 answers
682 views

Would The Jungle Book be on-topic?

So let's start with the usual argument here that talking animals aren't on-topic, as established in the following meta discussion: Are anthropomorphic animals by themselves enough to deem a work ...
12 votes
1 answer
295 views

Is Richie Rich on-topic?

Richie Rich, the star of 50+ comic serials, multiple TV shows (and at least one truly terrible film) is famously the world's richest boy and scion to a vast fortune. But someone merely being ...
12 votes
3 answers
513 views

Is the TV show "Gotham" on topic?

Is the TV show Gotham on topic? In season 1, only one episode contains material that is seriously sci-fi in nature, which according to current guidelines only makes that episode on-topic, not the ...
16 votes
5 answers
617 views

Are works that may or may not just be dreams on topic?

The question Is Ramona Flowers from Scott Pilgrim vs the World is a symbol? was recently closed with the reason of unclear what you're asking. The question is unclear, so the final close reason makes ...
20 votes
3 answers
267 views

Are questions about writing SFF stories on-topic?

Is this a site for prospective writers to come and ask for significant help writing a book, or should such questions be more appropriately addressed at the Writer's SE site? Specifically, I found this ...
2 votes
0 answers
64 views

Santa animation questions...which category [duplicate]

I want to find info about an old Santa and reindeer cartoon that lasts maybe 4 minutes. Where should I post the question please?
16 votes
1 answer
519 views

Is the Joker movie on-topic here?

I am mostly asking out of curiosity to know better our community's standards. Joker (2019) is a movie by Todd Philipps with Joaquin Phoenix narrating the origin story of Batman's nemesis. Are ...
-4 votes
1 answer
86 views

How to narrow the scope of my question and define the topic

Many large franchises have multiple tags and hyphenated tags. If I want to define the scope of my topic as one subset of the franchise, do I use tags or another method? Example: Assume my question is ...
2 votes
1 answer
75 views

Is the producers' choice of language off topic?

If someone asks why a film was produced in English instead of Japanese (for example only), is that considered "behind the scenes" or is it off topic?
1 vote
1 answer
73 views

What parts of science-fiction/fantasy concept albums (and rock operas) are on-topic?

I think that science-fiction and fantasy concept albums with a clear-ish, consistent story, such as Drones by Muse and The Black Parade by My Chemical Romance, are on-topic. However, I’m not sure ...

1
2 3 4 5
8