Where do I find “Where do I find Obscure-RPG-Document”?

Question

In a quest to identify a product (a specific role-playing-poem again), I found one that might be what I am looking for. Now I am trying to track down more information about it, preferably the actual game in an accessible format.

Can I ask on the main site where to find a copy of it? Similar questions I found on the main are as follows.

• Where can I get a copy of Monsters of Myth? has been closed because “it takes no RPG expertise to answer.”
• Where can I find a copy of Thrilling Tales *First* Edition?
• Where can I get old D&D Encounters content?
• Where can I get Traveller 5 and when?

Should we consider these questions generally on- or off-topic, or deal with them case-by-case as is?

For my question, should I post it as I intended, should I instead post it as product-identification and hope that someone suggests the one I'm thinking of with a longer description, giving me clarity, or should I ask it somewhere else?

Answer 1

It's a bit sensitive to the exact nature and expression of the question, so it tends to be a case-by-case matter.

In general, asking a question of the form “What game/book is X from?” is a textbook example of the product-identification category that we do accept.

On the other hand, “Where can I acquire [book]?” tend more often to be shopping questions, with only the occasional exceptional case where it falls on the safe side of that line for some reason particular to that case.

Checking out main site chat I uncovered a bit more about the context behind your question. I think that in this case it's a borderline shopping question — it might survive voting, but it would more likely be closed. And it's not a type of shopping question that could meaningfully be converted into a “how” question and still be useful. (“How do I locate the book this is from?” is what it would convert to, but then it's a general research technique question not specific to RPGs.)

Normally I'd tentatively suggest trying in on the main site, with the caveat that it will probably be closed. But we'll never know, because I've saved that bother by engaging with your conundrum in the chat room already. :) This is the kind of thing that chat is good for, that main-site isn't!