Should I have removed the [pathfinder-2e] tag from this question?

Question

This question was asked.

When I read it, it seemed to be a general one, and most of the advice was system agnostic, so I removed the [pathfinder-2e] tag and added the [system-agnostic] tag.

But, then I noticed some answers actually did include PF2E-specific solutions, and one person edited their answer to add a "Note: This question was originally about Pathfinder..." disclaimer. This indicated to me that I had disrupted an equilibrium, which (in stable ecosystems) is generally harmful.

Sub-question: If the opposite solution was better - editing the question to specify edition, but possibly causing people who don't care about PF to quickly parse the question as less useful - should implicit context be made explicit in edits?

Answer 1

I wouldn't have.

The tag text is:

For questions that are explicitly not restricted to any one particular system or rules, where the asker wants solutions to the question that are not directly tied to a game's mechanics.

(Emphasis mine.)

Prior to your tag edit, the question was not "explicitly not restricted" (if you'll pardon the double negative) "to any one particular system." It might have been implicitly not restricted (especially if the pf 2e tag had not been there) but it wasn't explicit.

And while there are many valid situations to edit a tag on someone else's question, doing so where the tag description itself defers to the asker intent does not seem to be one of those.

Answer 2

Slight balance to keep system

In general, many questions about player agency, problem players or GMs, and social contract are only minimally impacted by the actual game played, as long as the type of game matches. While the answer for Pathfinder might not differ too much from Dungeons and Dragons 3.5, as both can be classic dungeon crawlers. Likewise, an answer about Masks can be based on a profound knowledge of how to handle situations in other Apocalypse World settings.

However the game played can make the answer much better and have a huge impact on how to solve the question. There are nuances of playstyle and powers/equipment that inform answers.

Let me take one (very simplistic) example and just swap the game:

We are stuck at a closed door and have nobody with lockpicks and skills, no heavy tools and can't hire someone else. How could we get out of this pickle and get in?

• If this was tagged with any classic dungeon crawler, the answers might list things like the disintegrate spell, knock/open lock.
• If this was Shadowrun, you might get answers to jus buy the tools at the next Fixer, especially explosives (grenades) or an automatic lockpick. Other options are to hijack a car and ram the wall because the walls are always weaker than the doors (duh!).
• In Exalted it would be just a chance to show off and kick in the door.
• In MAID the answer could be as simple as "get the key from master by spending favor".
• In a game of Rats, however, the answer could be "this is not the right way, come back again later!"