Homebrew-related questions need to be received better
It's taken me a while to find a way to say this, but this meta question puts a finger on it. There is (or seems to be) a perceived bias against homebrew that is likely dampening some questions where the community's experience and expertise in this game form could be of great value.
At the risk of being a Jonny-one-Note, I will again offer a cogent observation on a core value of RPG.SE from @BESW
We aren't here on the Stack to read the rulebooks to people. We're here to help people learn how to synthesize the mechanics, the non-mechanical text, the social context, our personal experience, the learning of the broader community, to apply all that to a particular real-life problem someone's having and find a solution for it.
Part of the fun of many role playing games is homebrew, or minor adaptations to a rule set to get the game to fit better at a given table. What appears to be happening in some cases (though it's hard for me to put a magnitude on it) is a received negative connotation of homebrew.
I tripped over this comment and began to wonder how prevalent this perception is.
This underscores my complaint that moderation by people who are concrete reasoners vs those who are abstract reasoners creates lot of tension on SE, in general. It's probably the #1 reason I see questions on hold, because the questioner used abstract thought process in posting, but the people who put the question on hold are concrete in their reasoning, and can't get beyond the depth of something that was worded just out of their reach. It's painful to watch. – user9570789 20 hours ago
As @doppelgreener pointed out in a comment under the meta in question, some of this has to do with being open to multiple playstyles, but there may be more to this. If I can put a name to it (I can't at the moment) I'll either add it to this answer or open another meta. Full disclosure: I am pretty sure I have been guilty of what that comment complains about at least once, if not multiple times.
Actionable Suggestions
(1) Flag and report hostile comments (we should already do that), and be alert for dismissive comments directed at home brew content in questions.
- It seems that VTCs as 'primarily opinion-based' are a common response to such material, as if anything that isn't first-party rules would somehow be off-topic. (thank you @the dark wanderer). That does not relieve the requirement to back it up -- GS/BS guidance must be respected.
(2) Work with querents to assist with the elements of a homebrew related question that can get an SE style , and identify those elements which remain within the domain of a table. Tone matters.
- There was a time when questions involving homebrew got comments along the lines of "How open are you to changing your homebrew?" These were more common a few years ago than they are now, and are an example of how comments can help form and frame a question. (@daze413 thank you) Part of sharing our expertise is in helping someone to form a better question. As I learned the first few times I asked questions on RPG.SE, asking a good question (that shows some research) is a bit of an art form.
(3) Use experience with similar homebrew/modification as applicable.
- make sure to link this experience to the problem to be solved in the question, and show how the two situations are similar enough that your experience adds value.