Questions tagged [close-reasons]

This tag is for discussions of our canonical and custom close reasons.

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Reconciling how we treated two questions asking for DMing advice

Three days ago new user Billy Lane asked How do I become a great gm?, with the full text of their question reading: I’ve played D&D on Discord now for a year, and I used to play D&D way-way ...
Kirt's user avatar
  • 49.6k
6 votes
1 answer
154 views

Are questions about the viability of a campaign or mission's premise acceptable?

I'm currently in the early stages of planning a campaign where my current idea is that the PCs will be travelling over a large continent, and the primary thing keeping them together is a curse that ...
Newbyte's user avatar
  • 1,115
5 votes
1 answer
163 views

Should this question be considered "idea generation" and closed?

This question apparently doesn't have a single correct answer: What are some monsters that could trap NPCs for a long time without killing them? On the other hand, it is pretty narrow for being "...
enkryptor's user avatar
  • 67.7k
8 votes
3 answers
346 views

How can I better formulate this question about Easter Eggs in 5e adventures to make it stackable?

My question here is about What popular culture Easter Eggs exist in published adventures? There was a lot of discussion in the comments already, with the overall gist that the question is not hopeless ...
Nobody the Hobgoblin's user avatar
4 votes
5 answers
228 views

How should we handle questions with a straightforward answer that only requires basic research?

I've seen this problem many times on this site, but the most recent question, which also incentivized me to write this meta post, is Do effects that activate on a critical hit still activate when the ...
PixelMaster's user avatar
  • 26.1k
3 votes
0 answers
64 views

Can we get a new question close reason for this new policy? [duplicate]

Based on the most highly upvoted answer to Re-revisiting the "don't guess the system" policy, it's pretty clear that this policy is here to stay. One of the things I hate about how the ...
NathanS's user avatar
  • 78.9k
5 votes
0 answers
44 views

Can we add a "please tag your system" on-hold message? [duplicate]

This question has a common problem where a new user is unfamiliar with the requirement to tag questions with the correct rules system (e.g. dnd-5e). The question was put on hold, but with the generic "...
Quadratic Wizard's user avatar
38 votes
1 answer
609 views

We should talk about the word "should"

Occasionally a question gets asked that is approximately of the form: I have this problem, what should I do? or I have this problem, should I do X? These are then closed as opinion based, ...
Someone_Evil's user avatar
  • 48.2k
6 votes
1 answer
269 views

Is this question about a chaotic evil character in a heroic party too opinion-based, or is it experience-based?

I recently asked What challenges arise from playing a Chaotic Evil character in a heroic party? which has been voted to be closed 4 times as of this writing for being primarily opinion based. However, ...
Brandon Olson's user avatar
14 votes
3 answers
442 views

Should this dice question be open or closed?

This meta is about the mainsite question How I can I roll a number of non-digital dice to get a random number between 1 and 150? It was closed by five users, then reopened by five other users. (Many ...
nitsua60's user avatar
  • 101k
14 votes
2 answers
369 views

When do we close a question for drawing opinion-based answers and how can we try to get ahead of such closures?

I'm not talking about opinion-based questions, but the flipside of when a question could generate good subjective answers, but doesn't. This question does have several parts that are tied together: ...
NotArch's user avatar
  • 125k
11 votes
1 answer
109 views

Why is it a problem to ask what other people have done in their games?

When we get a question asking what others have done as GMs or players in their games, the question is almost always closed as “primarily opinion-based”. Sometimes they’re not put on hold, but they’re ...
SevenSidedDie's user avatar
3 votes
0 answers
48 views

Is there any way to fix the Help Center "Scope" page?

Compared to the other PHB races, where does Mousemen homebrew race stands, in terms of balance? has been closed as off-topic. The only stated reason for close, is 'because "Evaluate my Homebrew" are ...
Ben Barden's user avatar
  • 25.5k
8 votes
1 answer
120 views

How do we handle changing the close reason on a question?

How should we handle if a question has been edited and the current reason for its closure no longer holds, but it is now close-worthy for another reason? For example if it was closed as a duplicate, ...
Szega's user avatar
  • 61.5k
8 votes
1 answer
160 views

Highly-downvoted duplicate questions

I've noticed that this recent question is probably a duplicate of this question. However, as a recent recipient of the 5e gold badge, I'm hesitant to unilaterally close it as a duplicate. I have the ...
Icyfire's user avatar
  • 63.6k
27 votes
1 answer
718 views

Does "Ask the DM / GM" equate to "Primarily opinion based?"

I've noticed that in some cases people vote to close as Primarily Opinion Based when they think the only possible answer is "Up to the DM". There's a slight twist in this community where it'...
RyanFromGDSE's user avatar
  • 5,307
13 votes
2 answers
219 views

Could we have a separate close reason for missing system tag?

A lot of the times we close a question for being unclear, it's because it's missing a system tag. I would guess that's the case for over half of our closed-as-unclear questions. With this in mind, ...
kviiri's user avatar
  • 54k
1 vote
1 answer
57 views

Could we rework/reword the "unclear what is asked" closure reason?

Often questions are closed/set on hold with the reason that it is unclear what is asked. In almost all of those cases I come across I'm more or less certain that's not the real reason because it is ...
Umbranus's user avatar
  • 5,958
1 vote
0 answers
60 views

Differentiate between close reasons in terms of required votes when displaying close-voters

I agreed with SevenSidedDie's Argument, that the question What does thieves' cant sound like? is off-topic because it asks for the sound of an existing language/slang and thus belongs to another ...
Thyzer's user avatar
  • 18.3k
9 votes
0 answers
48 views

Our custom off topic close reasons need updating to HTTPS

I found a spot on our site where links haven't been updated to HTTPS yet: our custom close reasons. The links in them still point to HTTP:// locations. Here's an example:
doppelgreener's user avatar
6 votes
2 answers
116 views

Should Bad Answer Attraction be a Custom Close Reason?

Writing this has convinced me 'is drawing too many bad answers that aren't getting dealt with properly' is a close reason we really should add to our custom close reason list. Thoughts? I remember ...
Please stop being evil's user avatar
12 votes
2 answers
200 views

Should questions be closed because there are speculative answers?

Why is the word "Rötschreck" spelled with an Umlaut? was temporarily closed with the reason that it is 'drawing primarily speculation/opinion' (emphasis mine). I'd like to point out ...
user avatar
15 votes
2 answers
327 views

Close Reason for "Homebrew this for me" questions

I've recently noticed a couple questions that seemed like "make me some suggestions for this homebrew idea I had". I voted to close both as an off-topic Shopping/Recommendation request, as to me they ...
inthemanual's user avatar
  • 12.2k
-1 votes
3 answers
260 views

My question was incorrectly put on-hold for "being about video games"

I have a question about my Role-playing Games Stack Exchange post: Are there any published sources on what a "Templar" should be? A member of the community incorrectly placed my question on-...
a3eb5744's user avatar
18 votes
0 answers
149 views

Statistics on RPG.se Questions Closed and Reopened in 2016

Shog9 has put together a bunch of statistics on question closing and reopening in 2016 for all the sites on MSE: 2016: a year in closing. I've pulled in the data for just RPG.se here, for the ...
SevenSidedDie's user avatar
22 votes
3 answers
644 views

Why is one +21 question On Hold when a similar question is ok with +53 votes?

For what reasoning was this question (What to do about a player who takes risks and dies (without consequence)?) with 21 upvotes and no downvotes On Hold as opinion based and most of the (IMO more ...
Dronz's user avatar
  • 5,902
5 votes
1 answer
89 views

Question on opinion based posts criteria

There is currently a question on the board (with a bounty even) that is asking how to make their game interesting for a specific character combination. Oddly enough, a similar question from the ...
JPicasso's user avatar
  • 1,318
3 votes
2 answers
93 views

Closed question as unclear but has good answer

I posted this question Which classic ruleset monster description might give information to use for complete home-brew game rules? for which I got a very good answer for which I'm happy I asked this ...
YannickSSE's user avatar
0 votes
3 answers
98 views

(Why) should this question be closed?

I think How to cause a missed shapeshift roll for Dungeon World should be closed: it fits all the hallmarks for the things that make list/idea-generation questions bad. There are a number of good, non-...
nitsua60's user avatar
  • 101k
14 votes
1 answer
124 views

Typo in close reason

Currently, one of the off-topic close reasons reads: Questions about playing video games and developing video game are off-topic here, but may be on-topic on Arqade and the Game Development Stack ...
Glorfindel's user avatar
  • 2,047
-3 votes
1 answer
209 views

There are practically no objective questions about imaginary worlds, I suggest to use the VtCs as "opinion based" not so seriously

This site is about fantasy role playing games. These games are games in our minds. Their worlds is the product of imagination. If I ask something about these world, it is not like if I would ask, for ...
Gray Sheep's user avatar
  • 1,024
13 votes
2 answers
218 views

Are requests for specific users' house rules on- or off-topic?

Recently, a user posted a question asking for a specific user's house rules. This question was promptly closed as off-topic, and I feel like the community made the right decision, but I can't put my ...
GMJoe's user avatar
  • 22.2k
24 votes
4 answers
568 views

Are questions about roleplaying within a video game context on topic?

Based on the following question, which happens to be about a roleplaying game taking place within the (non-roleplaying) videogame of Terraria. How to deal with erotic role play (ERP) frequency in a ...
Erik's user avatar
  • 80.7k
7 votes
2 answers
172 views

Our shopping recommendation off-topic close reason is too generic

The off topic close reason for shopping questions is this: “Shopping” questions and other recommendation requests are off-topic, but can be asked on any one of a number of role-playing games ...
doppelgreener's user avatar
8 votes
1 answer
261 views

How should we handle "Let me Google that for you"-type questions?

Inspired by this question, which lay dormant since 2013 but was recently dug up and answered. I feel like this question should have been closed, as the answer can totally be gotten by googling "dice/...
Sandalfoot's user avatar
  • 3,129
-3 votes
1 answer
149 views

How to handle the case if the closure of my question was clearly a misuse of VtC power against newcomers?

This is about my this question which was initiated by @Ruut user and is now closed as "too broad". On my opinion, I gave so many details, that a closing vote as "too broad" was simply nonsense. From ...
Gray Sheep's user avatar
  • 1,024
30 votes
0 answers
825 views

Why was my question closed as too broad, unclear, or opinion-based?

There are a good number of questions, especially from users new to the site, that get closed as too broad or opinion-based. This is a post we can link them to for more guidance than what comments can ...
mxyzplk's user avatar
  • 175k
19 votes
6 answers
546 views

What's so wrong with taking a question at face value, just because someone suspects an XY Problem? [closed]

Someone asks a question, and it's a valid question that has answers that we can provide. And then someone else comments that they think it's an XY Problem, asking what their real problem is, and votes ...
SevenSidedDie's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
58 views

Off-Topic Flagging options vary with the questions

For some questions, when I try to flag for closing due to off-topicness, I get three options, one of them with one sub-option: Questions about video games are off-topic here, but can be asked on ...
Anaphory's user avatar
  • 3,965
11 votes
5 answers
264 views

What custom off-topic close reasons should we have?

Custom "off topic" close votes are coming to RPG.SE soon, and the NC and NARQ close reasons are being (partially) replaced: Closing changes: [on hold], unclear, too broad, opinion-based, off-topic ...
SevenSidedDie's user avatar
6 votes
2 answers
133 views

Why does the list of reasons to close a question include neither astroturfing nor spam?

I think it would be useful to distinguish between well-intentioned but off-topic questions and those meant to promote a service or advertise a particular product. Is there a way to give advertising ...
Jadasc's user avatar
  • 54.3k