Questions that don't have a 'correct' answer

Question

I am having problems on deciding which answers to accept on Questions like Rules of player inventions or, perhaps a better example, creating emotions. I mean, strictly speaking, there is no "right" answer, just a lot of house rules and different techniques to go about it.

I finally decided to accept an answer that was, in my opinion, very well thought-out, but that does not mean that the other answers are inferior or, god forbid, wrong.

I mean, this is not supposed to be my personal Q&A-site, but a site where everyone can find good answers on questions that have already been posted. And some people only read the accepted answer.

Do we always need to have 'accepted' answers? suggested to use the CW function for this kind of question, but it is one year old, and in that time, the general policy on CWs has changed, and before I start marking almost all of my posts CW, I thought I would ask here (especially because I as a non-moderator can't even mark them as CW).

Another things to consider is that I almost always add an example, and many of the answers then focus on the example instead of the general question, which would make it unfit for a CW.

So, should I accept no answer at all? Or the answer that is the best, in my opinion, but might not be the best for a random person strolling onto the site? Or the one with the most upvotes after X days? Or just (let mods) CW the whole question?

Answer 1

Ideally, you mark the answer that you used to solve your problem as the accepted answer.

So, suppose you get three answers:

• An answer that's correct, but just doesn't work for you.

• An answer that's less general, but which you ultimately use to solve your problem.

• An answer that looks good, but you never got around to trying (because the problem's already solved).

You would give the check mark to the second answer.

Don't worry about the "purity" of the accepted answer. That checkmark is strictly a way for you to communicate with future readers; to say "I went this way." The community will reward the others with upvotes.

It's much better to give an accept to a pet answer that works, than not to accept anything at all.

Another things to consider is that I almost always add an example, and many of the answers then focus on the example instead of the general question, which would make it unfit for a CW.

Some basic rules of communication apply here. Don't lead with the example; begin and end with your actual question. Prefix examples with "for example." Use formatting (particularly bolding) to highlight key points. Summarize.

In addition, there's a few other Q&A specific things you can do:

• Include multiple examples. If nothing else, an answer that solves both examples is more likely to apply generally.

• Comment frequently and swiftly to nudge future answers in the right direction. "Well, this solves the example, but how would you solve it in the more general case?"

• Look at where people are going wrong, and edit your question to make it clearer.

Finally, don't write questions with an eye towards CW. CW is, at most, something that's extremely rare. It's not a guideline that you should be aspiring to with all of your questions.