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I play an obscure game that has very little Web presence. Over the years, the group that I play with has struggled through many questions about rules, implementation, DMing, etc. for this game.

Can I ask and self-answer some of the questions we've dealt with, in the hope of sparing possible future players the baleful journey of discovery that my group has endured?

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Yes, you may do that. This is in fact exactly the kind of scenario for which self-answered questions exist: describe a problem you've experienced and ask how to resolve it, then provide the solution you used.

Thank you for thinking to share what you've learned with others, I appreciate it.

If you have financial/business ties with the game, please remember to follow our aptly-named advertising policy: How to not be a spammer. This includes disclosing your affiliation. Financial/business ties means you work for/with the producer, you stand to gain financially from sales, etc — having bought the product or being a kickstarter backer is not necessarily an affiliation.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Is it worth mentioning that its good practice to leave it a while before answering to give others a chance to answer? \$\endgroup\$
    – Wibbs
    Oct 29, 2017 at 22:20
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    \$\begingroup\$ @Wibbs No, they can and should answer it straight away, even from within the ask page if they prefer (by ticking the box at the bottom). Leaving it waiting for answers as if they don't already have a solution defeats the point of the exercise. People have plenty of chance to answer even once another answer is posted or even accepted. I do not consider the practice of waiting a day to be a good one; I'd rather people see existing answers as a challenge to provide and demonstrate an even better solution. (I might have advocated something along those lines years ago but don't any longer.) \$\endgroup\$
    – doppelgreener
    Oct 29, 2017 at 22:22
  • \$\begingroup\$ (Sorry if that reply sounds brash @Wibbs, that's my stance on that though.) \$\endgroup\$
    – doppelgreener
    Oct 29, 2017 at 22:43
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    \$\begingroup\$ Also, given that it's about obscure games, leaving it unanswered invites answers from people who have never even heard of the game, let alone played it. If an answer is already there, that becomes less likely. \$\endgroup\$
    – Miniman
    Oct 29, 2017 at 23:46
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    \$\begingroup\$ The only time this is questionable behaviour is when you have a connection to the game you are Q&Aing about. Like, if I were to start asking a buncha Q's about Mist or if @ExTSR were to visit again and post a bunch of Q's about Mentzer D&D or if KRyan started doing Q&A for the 3pp stuff he's produced. My understanding is we want people to disclose that sort of connection when posting questions, at least sometimes (and better safe than sorry). Might be worth touching on in the answer, btw. \$\endgroup\$
    – Please stop being evil
    Oct 30, 2017 at 8:09
  • \$\begingroup\$ @doppelspooker no apology needed. I was certain that at some point in the past the advice as to wait a little while before self-answering, but that wasn't something I particularly agreed with anyway :) \$\endgroup\$
    – Wibbs
    Oct 31, 2017 at 13:41
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Wibbs Related, I also disagree with our "wait before accepting" advice for similar reasons -- the checkmark can be changed, and I'd prefer people who think they could beat the accepted answer see doing so as an acceptable norm. I think asking people to wait reinforces the idea people should be somehow apprehensive about answering a question with an accepted answer if they think their answer could be far better than the accepted one. (It also means people who oblige to wait, then don't come back again, never checkmark anything at all.) \$\endgroup\$
    – doppelgreener
    Oct 31, 2017 at 13:48
  • \$\begingroup\$ Have you considered asking and answering those question — How long should I wait before accepting an answer? and Should I wait before answering my question myself? — both so those can be discussed and so as to give folks a place to link conveniently when such topics arise? \$\endgroup\$
    – Hey I Can Chan
    Oct 31, 2017 at 19:32
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Can and should. The stack welcomes this kind of FAQ behaviour by design.

Stack Exchange is a network of sites with one goal in mind: To build a knowledge base on each particular subject.

Can I answer my own question?

Yes! Stack Exchange has always explicitly encouraged users to answer their own questions. (...)

And from Jeff Atwood himself:

It’s OK to Ask and Answer Your Own Questions

To be crystal clear, it is not merely OK to ask and answer your own question, it is explicitly encouraged.

A search on the subject of self-answering can lead to more opinions on the network. Here are some:

Is a short description of a question OK if self-answering?

Self-answering questions without other answers

Can you answer your own questions on Stack Overflow?

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