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\$\begingroup\$

On every question (correctly) tagged with , somebody comes along and leaves a comment reminding answer's how to address the question properly. To make this more permanent than the ephemeral comments, RPG.SE mods should request a permanent banner be set up.

For example, Physics.SE uses these on book-recommendation questions, see Shog's answer.

EDIT

So this edit is mostly just to bump the activity to the front page. It would appear that the answer by SevenSidedDie is a minor tweak on the wording in my answer and the difference in votes between the two could just be attributed to age (mine came first).

Therefore -- in order to resolve this question and move on, I'll give it another day or so for comments for/against and I will accept SevenSidedDie's answer. Any objections or further discussion, leave a comment or pick it up in chat and let's finish this off!

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    \$\begingroup\$ Interesting, we asked in the past and never got any positive feedback, thanks for linking that in Physics. \$\endgroup\$
    – C. Ross
    Feb 1, 2014 at 0:56
  • \$\begingroup\$ @C.Ross Nobody knew it was possible over there, it was just dropped on us unexpectedly (and it's awesome)! Maybe with a precedent example you guys can get more traction if you ask again. \$\endgroup\$
    – tpg2114
    Feb 1, 2014 at 0:58
  • 1
    \$\begingroup\$ I think your post counts as asking. \$\endgroup\$
    – C. Ross
    Feb 1, 2014 at 1:36
  • 1
    \$\begingroup\$ I'm amazed that this feature has been around since 2011 and it's so little known! Yes, that is exactly what we need for game-rec. \$\endgroup\$
    – SevenSidedDie
    Feb 1, 2014 at 23:59
  • \$\begingroup\$ Is this something devs must do, or is it a hidden option that site mods can access? I couldn't tell from Shog's answer. \$\endgroup\$
    – SevenSidedDie
    Feb 2, 2014 at 18:13
  • 1
    \$\begingroup\$ @SevenSidedDie I believe the devs have to do it. We were told to ping them if we wanted more/changes/etc.. \$\endgroup\$
    – tpg2114
    Feb 2, 2014 at 18:38
  • \$\begingroup\$ We can do this for you guys if you guys come up with some verbiage for us to use (let's poke... coin flip... @CRoss as an additional name here). \$\endgroup\$
    – Grace Note StaffMod
    Feb 21, 2014 at 16:09
  • \$\begingroup\$ @C.Ross Can we make this Featured until we come up with a good wording? It would be good to get the attention of those who use this tag. \$\endgroup\$
    – doppelgreener
    Feb 25, 2014 at 11:52
  • \$\begingroup\$ "So this edit is mostly just to bump the activity to the front page." - It was already there, and it's featured, so you didn't have to worry about the bumping part. But, message appreciated! \$\endgroup\$
    – doppelgreener
    Mar 3, 2014 at 7:46
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    \$\begingroup\$ @JonathanHobbs I knew that but I guess what I meant to say is "make it look active so people look at it again" rather than let it be forgotten for awhile... \$\endgroup\$
    – tpg2114
    Mar 3, 2014 at 8:09
  • \$\begingroup\$ @C.Ross As tpg2114 commented on SSD's answer, we seem to have agreed on this answer and there have been no strong objections. Could you ping the dev group and get this set up? \$\endgroup\$
    – doppelgreener
    Mar 26, 2014 at 2:28
  • \$\begingroup\$ @tpg2114 Thank you for bringing this feature to our awareness and taking the initiative in getting it added. I really appreciate it, and I'm sure others here do too. \$\endgroup\$
    – doppelgreener
    Apr 8, 2014 at 7:01

4 Answers 4

Reset to default
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\$\begingroup\$

Done, tweaked as follows:

As this is a game-recommendation question, please adhere to the FAQ, the rules for subjective questions as outlined in Good Subjective, Bad Subjective and our rules for game recommendations. All responses must cite actual experience or reference others' experiences!

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Thanks! When will this start to show up on game-rec questions? Currently I don't see it, e.g. on this question. \$\endgroup\$
    – doppelgreener
    Apr 7, 2014 at 23:50
  • \$\begingroup\$ Whenever the mods here start using it - go ahead and flag questions that you think badly need it. \$\endgroup\$
    – Shog9
    Apr 7, 2014 at 23:59
  • \$\begingroup\$ So if I understand correctly, this can be manually enabled for each particular question. Will the mods be able to make this always active for every question under the game-rec tag? Currently every game-rec question gets the standard guidance comment, since we're prone to getting a certain kind of problematic answer in those questions. \$\endgroup\$
    – doppelgreener
    Apr 8, 2014 at 0:10
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Shog9 Something's off about the last X in experiences. rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/35654/… \$\endgroup\$
    – Brian Ballsun-Stanton
    Apr 8, 2014 at 7:05
  • \$\begingroup\$ That seems to be what our X looks like when it's bolded and at that precise size. If I zoom in or out one step with ctrl and +/-, it gets back in line with the other letters. Maybe our notices should be just slightly bigger? \$\endgroup\$
    – doppelgreener
    Apr 8, 2014 at 7:27
  • \$\begingroup\$ Whut. That's just strange. \$\endgroup\$
    – Brian Ballsun-Stanton
    Apr 8, 2014 at 7:28
  • \$\begingroup\$ Wait, I'm confused how this works - we usually just cut and paste the notice to game-recs, I thought this would be automatic - how is this helping? \$\endgroup\$
    – mxyzplk
    Apr 8, 2014 at 13:52
  • \$\begingroup\$ I see, arguably it's more prominent... But requires us, as opposed to anyone else adding the blurb. \$\endgroup\$
    – mxyzplk
    Apr 8, 2014 at 13:54
  • \$\begingroup\$ Read the thread tpg linked to at the start of this, @mxyzplk - the point is that it keeps meta information out of the actual post content. If you want to slap this on all tagged questions, we can probably tear through those pretty quickly - but doing this automatically isn't usually desirable, since ideally there's some experienced human oversight involved in determining whether it's appropriate. \$\endgroup\$
    – Shog9
    Apr 12, 2014 at 23:35
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Shog9 in 99% of cases it is desirable, so we'd rather use our human oversight to remove it in the 1%. \$\endgroup\$
    – mxyzplk
    Apr 12, 2014 at 23:42
  • \$\begingroup\$ Ok - all currently-tagged questions that aren't closed, deleted or locked now have the notice, @mxyzplk. Remove where needed, and add as new ones appear. \$\endgroup\$
    – Shog9
    Apr 13, 2014 at 0:10
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\$\begingroup\$

As this is a game-recommendation question, please adhere to both the FAQ and the rules for subjective questions as outlined in Good Subjective, Bad Subjective and on our Meta. In particular, all responses should be based on actual experience or cited references to others' experiences.

This is mostly the same text as in tpg2114's answer and that we've been using in comments to game-rec questions, but with "and" in the last sentence changed for "or" and the following words adjusted to fit that change.

The change is to more accurately reflect the GSBS guidelines and its Back It Up! principle, which requires answers to be based on experience: your own or using references to someone else's experience. Otherwise, our banner will be more restrictive than the actual guideline we are using to explain it.

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    \$\begingroup\$ @C.Ross Since there were no objections, can you guys ping the dev group and get this set up? \$\endgroup\$
    – tpg2114
    Mar 4, 2014 at 16:56
  • \$\begingroup\$ @tpg2114 C.Ross never heard that ping. You can only ping the post author, other commenters on the same post, editors of the post, or those who are involved in closing or reopening a question if you're commenting on the question itself (I think). I'll leave a comment on the main question. \$\endgroup\$
    – doppelgreener
    Mar 26, 2014 at 2:27
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Note: I don't really have any strong opinions on the wording since I don't actually do anything other than lurk around reading questions. If a mod comes along and leaves a comment on this answer, I'll "accept" it and ping Grace Note to use the wording here. Competing wordings (unless super minor edits to this one) should probably be a separate answer so the voting can sort out what the community wants.

So I guess since nobody has come up with the wording yet, I'll just propose that it be exactly what gets put in the comments now:

Banner Wording:

As this is a game-recommendation question, please adhere to both the FAQ and the rules for subjective questions as outlined in Good Subjective, Bad Subjective and on our Meta. In particular, all responses should be based on actual experience and contain references and examples whenever possible.

\$\endgroup\$
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  • \$\begingroup\$ This is pretty much our staple wording at the moment, so this is good enough for me. Those who frequent game-rec might want to provide some input here though! \$\endgroup\$
    – doppelgreener
    Feb 25, 2014 at 11:51
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    \$\begingroup\$ I've found that banner misleading. The Good Subjective, Bad Subjective page has a dead link to the Back It Up! Principle, preventing further sourcing. Further, the Back It Up! Principle as presented on that page mandates either actual experience or references, not both, like the banner does without justification. Just sayin'. \$\endgroup\$
    – Hey I Can Chan
    Feb 25, 2014 at 16:54
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    \$\begingroup\$ @HeyICanChan If you have an alternative proposal, write it up! This is here just to get the ball rolling and because it's the default comment used currently. \$\endgroup\$
    – tpg2114
    Feb 25, 2014 at 16:55
  • \$\begingroup\$ I think that's an invalid critique - that link is dead, sure, but they then go on to explain the principle at length in the post itself. We're not interested in traceability to origin, that's the guidance right there in that blog post. I endorse this wording. \$\endgroup\$
    – mxyzplk
    Feb 26, 2014 at 1:46
  • \$\begingroup\$ I also endorse this wording. \$\endgroup\$
    – Brian Ballsun-Stanton
    Feb 26, 2014 at 1:52
  • \$\begingroup\$ I don’t object to this wording but am holding off on my vote to see if @HeyICanChan can come up with a better one. \$\endgroup\$
    – KRyan
    Feb 26, 2014 at 2:20
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    \$\begingroup\$ I also have a problem with the "and" that @HeyICanChan points out, where GSBS mandates an "or" at most. It has caused problems here in the past, which have been fixed by extensive commenting, but that's something we should fix at the source in this wording. I like this wording otherwise; we just need to get rid of that misleading "and". \$\endgroup\$
    – SevenSidedDie
    Feb 26, 2014 at 16:20
  • 1
    \$\begingroup\$ @SevenSidedDie, put up your own answer with your optimal wording. \$\endgroup\$
    – Brian Ballsun-Stanton
    Feb 26, 2014 at 23:44
  • \$\begingroup\$ I don't think the and is wrong in this case - the wording is different than the GS/BS "experience or a reference"; if something's based on experience then we want examples right? \$\endgroup\$
    – mxyzplk
    Feb 27, 2014 at 0:32
  • \$\begingroup\$ Since no-one advocating "or" over "and" is going ahead and doing it, I figured I might as well post that variant: "As this is a game-recommendation question, please adhere to both the FAQ and the rules for subjective questions as outlined in Good Subjective, Bad Subjective and on our Meta. In particular, all responses should be based on actual experience or contain references, and should include relevant examples." \$\endgroup\$
    – GMJoe
    Feb 27, 2014 at 6:10
  • \$\begingroup\$ @GMJoe, I don't see your answer. Putting it in a comment doesn't actually allow voting :) \$\endgroup\$
    – Brian Ballsun-Stanton
    Feb 27, 2014 at 11:56
  • \$\begingroup\$ @BrianBallsun-Stanton Own answer up put! \$\endgroup\$
    – SevenSidedDie
    Feb 27, 2014 at 16:13
  • \$\begingroup\$ @BrianBallsun-Stanton You can upvote comments, even if they won't be ranked as a result. More relevantly, I interpreted this question as asking whether such a banner would be appropriate, not what the wording of such a banner should be. As such, a comment on this answer seemed more appropriate. It seems public opinion is against me, though, so I've upvoted SevenSidedDie's answer. \$\endgroup\$
    – GMJoe
    Feb 28, 2014 at 3:06
1
\$\begingroup\$

An alternate pitch.

Banner Wording:

A game recommendation question must adhere to those guidelines in the FAQ and follow the rules for subjective questions as described in Good Subjective, Bad Subjective and on the Meta. An answer to a game recommendation question must be based on personal experience playing the recommended game and, when possible, contain references to and examples from the recommended game.

That is, if the idea is to be clear that answers must share personal experiences. If I'm mistaken, let me know, but this is the sense I've gotten based on questions like this wherein a moderator says, "Answers that do not present personal experience here will be deleted," despite the current banner's should wording and the references or experiences of the Back It Up! Principle.

I've tweaked the wording a tiny bit, but the issue remains. If personal experience playing the game is mandatory for a game recommendation, that really does need to be clear in the banner.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Language like "personal experience participating in the recommended game" doesn't jive with the game rec tag, since it is also for recommendations for stuff for games. A significant portion of game rec answers aren't recommending a game at all! \$\endgroup\$
    – doppelgreener
    Feb 27, 2014 at 8:36
  • \$\begingroup\$ @JonathanHobbs It does, however, jibe with the game rec questions for actual games I've read that include moderator warnings that if personal experience isn't involved the answer'll be deleted without warning; I figured being up front about that was important. Suggest an edit? \$\endgroup\$
    – Hey I Can Chan
    Feb 27, 2014 at 13:21
  • \$\begingroup\$ I don't have a particular suggestion for this wording taking the game-rec tag as is, so this has prompted me to try to reconcile the issue a different way. \$\endgroup\$
    – doppelgreener
    Feb 27, 2014 at 22:34
  • \$\begingroup\$ well, participating in that game/using that product... Seems like a fine hair to split. \$\endgroup\$
    – mxyzplk
    Feb 28, 2014 at 1:54

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