Are questions about conventions and other RPG events on topic?
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3 Answers
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Most of these type of questions are On Topic, but many are also Too Localized. That is they only apply to a small period of time or a single location. That doesn't benefit the site as a whole. Certainly anything asking about "Dragon Con 2010" would be far too localized.
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5\$\begingroup\$ Although here's a question I have... Why is geographic localization bad, but other segmentation not? Game system: A specific question about Dark Heresy is probably only useful to fewer people as one about DragonCon. Time: A question about any kind of current event - "is that game out yet" for example - is only useful for a specific time segment. \$\endgroup\$– mxyzplkAug 22, 2010 at 5:10
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\$\begingroup\$ I'm still really interested in this question, because I think you're right -- questions about local stores are perennial, which tells me the information is useful. Less sure about cons, but the same logic may apply. \$\endgroup\$– BryantAug 30, 2010 at 13:36
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Very good questions, and I personally would say, yes. They are, but not for organization (such as "who is coming ?" or "where can I find the tickets?").
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Yes, these questions are perfectly on topic. Ask away!
"Too localized" is no longer a close reason, but localized questions still pull from a limited pool of experts. While that doesn't make questions about such events off topic, it does mean it may take a while for you to get an answer, and some questions may never be answered. This is ok.
Also, we have a number of community organizers and other people heavily involved with most major RPG conventions, as well as people who were involved with some major RPG conventions back in the day, so this is actually a pretty good place to ask that sort of thing.
answered Jun 11, 2017 at 21:29
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\$\begingroup\$ The "good" uses of Too Localized are still reasons to close a question. We're just expected to use our judgement about whether a Q has lasting value, and use a custom close reason if not. \$\endgroup\$ Jun 11, 2017 at 21:47
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\$\begingroup\$ @SevenSidedDie the "good" uses are, as linked, that the question is actually off-topic/disallowed due to specific site policies. Can't really see that applying here. \$\endgroup\$ Jun 12, 2017 at 4:45
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1\$\begingroup\$ The argument on the present (“That is they only apply to a small period of time or a single location. That doesn't benefit the site as a whole.”) is current site policy, not just because of old close reasons, but because some questions about conventions/events are questions that don't benefit the site as a whole, due to their lack of long-term relevance. \$\endgroup\$ Jun 12, 2017 at 5:38
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2\$\begingroup\$ AFAIK there is no prohibition on time-limited questions though. See: questions about prone-to-change beta material are an acceptable topic. It's fine if it's only going to contribute temporarily. People thinking stuff like this should be Not OK is part of why Too Localized was removed; the ambiguity of whether it really is or isn't OK is also why Too Localized was removed. Being limited in time applicability doesn't make something off topic. (I know your understanding is there's some kind of official malus on time-limited stuff, SSD, but I don't agree.) \$\endgroup\$ Jun 12, 2017 at 10:28
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3\$\begingroup\$ I gotta ask: What brought this 7-year-old question to your attention? (By the way, I think there are reasonable con-based questions along the lines of like How were competitive D&D modules run at early cons? or How did events at this particular con influence this RPGs metaplot? but questions like What gaming professionals will be at OctoCon '17? probably aren't.) \$\endgroup\$ Jun 12, 2017 at 12:16
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\$\begingroup\$ @doppelgreener It might be that we're thinking of different examples regarding time-limited utility? I'm thinking more along the lines of Hey I Can Chan's division. \$\endgroup\$ Jun 12, 2017 at 15:19
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\$\begingroup\$ @SevenSidedDie I would see a question like "Penny Arcade Expo has an official D&D tournament later this year but I don't understand this section of their tournament rules. What does this part mean?" as viable and on topic and appropriate for us. It may incur responses about their research effort or not asking the organiser, but then the asker may have legitimately tried those things, or they may not be issues otherwise -- and time wouldn't be the factor there. \$\endgroup\$ Jun 12, 2017 at 16:54
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\$\begingroup\$ @doppelgreener I'd agree with that. It would at least have lasting documentation value. \$\endgroup\$ Jun 12, 2017 at 18:25
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\$\begingroup\$ @HeyICanChan It showed up in the 'related questions' bar for a recently posted related question, and I clicked on it. Then it was 7 years old and the page's style was... a little out of date ;) Plus all the answers seemed to be like 'maybe... but also probably maybe not', which seemed absurd to me because RPG conventions have been such a focal point for major events and formative changes in RPGing since the beginning. The majority of [history-of-gaming] questions related to system creation are gonna need at least a little con knowledge, assuming they aren't questions about a con outright \$\endgroup\$ Jun 12, 2017 at 20:04
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\$\begingroup\$ @doppelgreener I think SSD's point is just that questions that have no benefit to the site can be closed, which is true. I think he thinks that these questions about ?future? conventions will often lack value and we as a site disagree, but I think that whenever someone asks a question we can evaluate that question on its own merits so there's no real need to reach consensus on that, since we all agree that being about an RPG convention does suffice to meet our requirement that a question be about RPGs or RPGing, so any good closure reasons would be separate from that. \$\endgroup\$ Jun 12, 2017 at 20:09
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\$\begingroup\$ The point of my answer is to emphasize that RPG conventions/tourneys/organized play/ whatever are certainly within our scope; questions about them are automatically on-topic in the sense that they pertain to RPGs, just like a question about D&D 3.5 as a system is automatically on-topic. There might still be reasons to use the 'off-topic' custom close reason, I suppose, but it's certainly not because the question is not about RPGing. \$\endgroup\$ Jun 12, 2017 at 20:12
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\$\begingroup\$ @HeyICanChan You know, after thinking about it, even 'who's going to OctoCon'17?' seems to turn into a reasonably good question when you turn it into 'What notable RPGing personages attended (insert famous convention/event' For example, one might ask 'What future game atuhors participated in Arneson's Blackmoor campaigns?' Which makes sense in terms of learning about the impact of the first couple major home games on the resulting industrial developments. \$\endgroup\$ Jun 12, 2017 at 20:16
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\$\begingroup\$ O, sure, and I'm on board with that kind of question because that's a history question. My sample question—"What gaming professionals will be at OctoCon '17?" (emphasis added)—was a general, lame Read Me the Program question. The site shouldn't field those formally; chat can handle that. \$\endgroup\$ Jun 12, 2017 at 20:22