32
votes
Accepted
Are answers that state "We Don't Know" acceptable?
Yes.
For many questions, "we don't know" is the correct answer - it would be beyond foolish to seek to ban such answers. Of course, a plain "we don't know" without saying anything more than those ...
Rand al'ThorMod
- 134k
28
votes
Check in on the accepted answer being unpinned; do we want to leave it as is or re-pin it to the top?
Let's go back to pinning accepted answers.
(Usual disclaimer that this is my personal opinion, mod hat off, and I do not represent the view of the whole mod team here.)
Anecdotally, in every case I've ...
Rand al'ThorMod
- 134k
26
votes
Answers that count religious texts as fiction
There're a few things to consider here:
Offensive content should be flagged to the moderators.
If it's obviously offensive or you, yourself find it offensive then please flag it as such. This is the ...
- 81.4k
25
votes
Are analogies acceptable as answers?
Of course.
An argument by analogy is a perfectly good example of a reasonable argument which can be used to support a point. If someone asks why X happens in a work of sci-fi or fantasy, it may well ...
Rand al'ThorMod
- 134k
24
votes
Should AI-generated posts be allowed?
I propose that we follow other network sites in banning AI-generated copy-pasted content. This stuff is (to use a technical term) dangerous bullshit. As you've noted, it looks plausible and well-...
Rand al'ThorMod
- 134k
21
votes
Accepted
Should Cursed Child answers be given to Harry Potter questions?
Information from new works should be used to answer old questions
Normally this is where I would discuss why I think that's true, but I'm at a loss for what to write; it seems so completely obvious ...
- 162k
17
votes
Are analogies acceptable as answers?
A poor attempt at an answer is still an answer
The bar for what constitutes "an answer" is extremely low. From what you say, the user was attempting to answer the question, which is more than enough ...
- 21k
17
votes
Am I misusing the "Not An Answer" flag?
The Not An Answer flag has nothing to do with whether the answer answers the question. It has to do with whether the answer is an answer. That is, was the person posting it at least trying to answer ...
- 103k
16
votes
Accepted
Time for a clear consensus on Wookieepedia
Like all Wikis (and indeed fansites and blogs), if someone cites wookieepedia as if it's a primary source, you should feel free to use the comments and, if needs be, the downvote button to express ...
- 667k
15
votes
Accepted
Quoting personal insider knowledge of production for an answer
The very short answer is yes, it's perfectly acceptable to claim to have personal or insider knowledge, although you may wish to cast your upvotes and downvotes according to how credible you consider ...
- 667k
14
votes
Should the people be allowed to both edit and answer a question?
Yes, they should be allowed to answer as everyone else is.
What you propose seems a highly detrimental solution to a problem that I'm not even sure exists to begin with. Whenever an edit ...
- 3,151
12
votes
Accepted
Why was this flag disputed?
Arguably this lump of text
"if like I said elves have dominant traits that would have a higher
chance to pass through each generation instead of the human ones then
technically Aragon would ...
- 667k
12
votes
Accepted
Is it considered fair to recommend that people upvote an answer if they feel it is worth it?
Absolutely you can.
If you feel that your answer is a good 'un, you should feel free to ask other users (in chat or comments) to upvote it.
You should, however, be aware that historically, asking ...
- 667k
12
votes
Why are so many questions unnecessarily answered with lists? And how to prevent it?
Answers are not just for the original questioner
If you are asking a question, you are certainly free to say that you prefer brief, concise answers. You can reward brief, concise answers with up ...
- 21k
11
votes
Accepted
How should old, highly voted answers that do not meet our standards be handled?
In general, if you see an answer that is obviously bad, treat it like any other answer. If it's not an answer, flag it. If it's a bad/incorrect/poorly researched answer, downvote it. Whatever you ...
- 103k
11
votes
Quoting personal insider knowledge of production for an answer
Is it allowed?
Yes. There is no requirement that answers be backed up by verifiable sources, quotations, or anything else. Answers that are impossible to understand, do not even address the question, ...
- 114k
10
votes
Accepted
What to do when Very Low Quality flags are not available?
Should we flag as Not An Answer? Presumably this is a bad idea if the answer attempts to answer the question.
Indeed: NaA flags should be reserved for actual non-answers. (For more information, see ...
Rand al'ThorMod
- 134k
10
votes
Answers that count religious texts as fiction
Treating religious texts as fiction is a surefire way to start wars. Let's not do that. Also, it does not adhere to the "be nice" policy of Stack Exchange.
Answers that treat religious works as ...
- 38.1k
10
votes
Accepted
Why do I have to do captchas while logged in?
Being a high-rep, logged-in user doesn't automatically solve the problems CAPTCHA is aiming to solve. Although it certainly means you weren't intended to be a spambot, it doesn't preclude you from ...
- 162k
10
votes
Answering questions with blatant fanon: What's our policy?
Questions are about canon unless specified otherwise (or when restricting to canon would be nonsensical, such as out-of-universe questions). Such answers should be downvoted as irrelevant.
Questions ...
- 9,413
10
votes
What question has the most deleted answers?
Technically it's a tie between two deleted questions (10k+ only):
What are some good SF books by authors not generally known for science fiction?
What works feature humans gaining immortality and ...
- 162k
10
votes
Why are so many questions unnecessarily answered with lists? And how to prevent it?
It is not a list, it is research!
By showing why you came to a conclusion, through the exploration of different avenues, is the way great answers are built. The "list" reduces comments saying "Hey ...
- 59.4k
10
votes
Accepted
Why was my answer downvoted?
I'm one of the downvoters here, both on the question and the answer.
NB, obviously the whole explanation below only engages me. I'm not speaking for the other voters, who may have other reasons to up/...
- 55.5k
9
votes
Who has answered the most questions?
A (very) slight improvement over KutuluMike's answer:
Users who have answered the most distinct questions
To nobody's great surprise, it's still Valorum, with DVK trailing by a wide margin
Usual ...
- 162k
9
votes
Why are so many questions unnecessarily answered with lists? And how to prevent it?
Why list answers are provided
People like lists
This is an easy thing to understand, as far as formatting is concerned, lists provide an easy way to:
Break up your sentence and paragraph structures
...
- 45.2k
8
votes
Who has answered the most questions?
As usual you can use the Stack Exchange Data Explorer for this.
Taking the query Mithrandir used in your first question, we can just change "questions" for "answers" and get:
Who Posted The Most ...
- 103k
8
votes
Should we make this answer Community Wiki?
My gut instinct is to say no, for the simple reason that the OP didn't just post a list of the current films and then abandon it. Since it was posted, they've made an additional 14 edits with their ...
- 667k
8
votes
Should we make this answer Community Wiki?
We should not do anything.
Per this question and the two answers, "no answer should be made CW". Sure, a user may choose to make an answer community wiki should they feel so, but it's never an ...
- 20.4k
8
votes
Accepted
Is it acceptable for the community to use an answer as Community wiki when it is not marked as such?
This answer should be marked as community wiki or another one should be posted as such in its place.
The thing is general practice with these sorts of posts in the past has been to post an initial ...
- 142k
8
votes
Should AI-generated posts be allowed?
I decided to get some input from the offending party itself, so I've created an account on OpenAI and asked ChatGPT the following:
Should AI-generated posts be allowed on the Science Fiction & ...
- 38.1k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible