What's wrong with this question?

Question

https://gaming.stackexchange.com/questions/81637/how-exactly-critical-mass-build-with-living-lightning-nerfed#comment112983_81637

I am asking how liviing ligthning is nerfed for critical mass build. I think that's a reasonable question.

I didn't see that on patch 1.04 note.

Answer 1

I don't know why the others downvoted, so they might have a different reason entirely, but I re-read the linked thread, trying to figure out what fbueckert was referring to, and found:

Also this build is dead. I'm starting to wonder how blizzard intends us to play.

This post was dated May 25, months before 1.0.4 came out. Assuming you didn't just link to the wrong thread, this question is based on a false premise: the alleged nerf didn't happen in 1.0.4. As it is, I think this counts as not a real question: we can't answer your questions because they require accepting a premise that isn't true (that 1.0.4 had something to do with the nerf of a build from May).

I think it could be saved by rewording it to be a question about Diablo III history. Something like:

In [this thread] from May 2012, a build centered around Critical Mass was described, but later comments mentioned it was dead due to a Critical Mass nerf. What was the nerf?

I don't think, as revised, it would be closeable, but a question asking about nerfs from months ago doesn't seem to be very useful. A down vote's main purpose is to indicate the usefulness (not necessarily the appropriateness) of a post, so in my estimation, the down votes would still be deserved.

In general though, I've found it's helpful to do as much of the legwork as possible in writing your question, as it demonstrates to others not only that you did your homework, but that the question is hard and interesting. Your question, as worded, is:

http://www.diablofans.com/topic/43925-stun-lock-critical-mass-build/

Some said that by 1.04 this is nerfed. How is it nerfed? Is the proc rate reduced? Why it's not mentioned in patch notes?

Who said it was nerfed, and where did you hear that? The link you provided is to a build from May 2012. Are you sure it was 1.0.4 that nerfed it? Is it really nerfed, or is your source just mistaken?

Why would Blizzard mention a specific build from May 2012 was nerfed in the patch notes? Or are you referring to a specific thing in the build? If so, what, specifically, are you referring to?

When you looked around, what did you find? Did you notice anything in any patch notes about Critical Mass?

Basically, sell people on the interestingness of your question. Doing so not only prevents downvotes, but can garner views, upvotes, and incentivizes people to answer your question.

Answer 2

The reason your question is getting downvotes is because it shows no research effort at all. Asking questions is a great thing, but remember, the idea is not for us to do your thinking for you. This question is a prime example of how NOT to ask.

Here's what I've saw:

1. Zero effort to explain what your question is. All you're giving us is a link to a thread, and asking how it's nerfed. Never mind that the thread itself is three months old.
2. "Some said that by 1.04 this is nerfed." - Who said this? Where? Did you try the build? You're providing no context to go off of. Chances are extremely good that whoever DID say that is providing their reasoning as to why they think it's nerfed.
3. No effort to corroborate on your own. Contrary to popular belief, not all of us have unlimited time to try everything or help everyone with everything. At a minimum, we expect some effort expended on your own behalf, to eliminate the simpler things, such as what you've tried. Narrowing the focus is a good thing.
4. What you're asking is extremely unclear. If you boil the question down, what you're asking us to do is:
   A) Check the build.
   B) Record what skills are being used.
   C) Run through all the patch notes to see what was changed for each and every skill in the build.
   D) Attempt to figure out what you mean by nerfed. Some skills might have reduced values, but it's hard to tell what, exactly, you mean by nerfed.

This is from this question alone.

Looking at your question history, what I'm seeing is 12 questions closed out of the total of 36 questions asked. I'm not checking the close reasons, but from what I recall, lots of these are either duplicates, or extremely vague. When fully a third of your questions are closed, that tells me that you expend very little, or no effort yourself prior to trying to ask the question.

We expect the question asker to make an attempt to see if it's already been asked, and if it hasn't, limit the scope of the question to a specific problem. From many of the questions I've seen, what you ask is extremely vague and hard to understand what you're asking. This question is a good example of that. Other questions have been asked before, and a basic search brings them up.

For this question, you are asking about crit chance, and it's synergy with Critical Mass. Since that's already been asked, we closed it as a duplicate. Indeed, the answers there should give you a good explanation as to what proc coefficients are, and how they apply to skills. That answers your question without issue, unless I'm misunderstanding what you're asking. But based on your comments, I don't think I am.

You definitely have some questions that I've learned something new from. That means you certainly have something worth contributing, so I'd rather you ask good, interesting questions that benefit the community as a whole. So, here are some tips for questions you ask:

• Make it clear what you're asking. When we get open ended questions that are vague, we close them as Not A Real Question, because we don't understand what you're asking.
• Limit the question as much as possible. Limit it to a specific skill or mechanic. Or both, if the two align.
• Expend some effort yourself to attempt to ascertain the solution. There's a reason simple questions get downvoted; if it's trivial to answer, chances are really good it takes less time to figure it out than it does to ask in the first place. Most especially, try things before you ask. This question, especially, you could have answered yourself, I believe.
• Lastly, the overall trend I'm seeing is you're asking us to do your thinking for you. Not all your questions display that, but that's the overall trend I'm seeing. Questions such as this, where it may not be straightforward to figure out, are good questions. Questions that ask for discussion, are very broad, or trivial to determine are bad questions.

I'd recommend, at first, expending some effort yourself to see if you can answer your question yourself before asking it here. Then check to make sure it hasn't been asked before. Chances are extremely good that if you can figure it out within five or ten minutes on your own, that's it's pretty trivial.