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What is the policy for answers like this? https://gaming.stackexchange.com/a/30020/17179 (Note: the question remains, but the linked answer has since been deleted. I guess that was the policy I was looking for.)

The answer wasn't really wrong back then; it was a good guess at the time as to what might be in version Beta 1.9 (in fact, he even quotes the developer). However, as version Beta 1.9 appeared with completely different mechanics, his guess for the future is now just dead wrong.

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  • Since this question can be generalized to the other StackExchange sites, is it better to ask this question here, or post it to meta.stackoverflow.com instead?
    – IQAndreas
    Commented Jul 14, 2013 at 6:52
  • Here is always fine for network issues, but this kind of thing can fall under site policy so it's definitely better here IMO.
    – Matthew Read
    Commented Jul 14, 2013 at 7:14
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    I'll give that answer my default treatment for wrong answers with a lot of upvotes: deletion.
    – badp Mod
    Commented Jul 14, 2013 at 7:43
  • @badp Is that policy? I'm asking because the currently most upvoted and only answer in this post states that "You could edit in a note that Notch ended up doing something different. Or you could leave a comment for the poster. You could downvote it as incorrect, and/or upvote if it is improved." If the answer remains deleted, no one can edit, comment on or up/downvote that answer.
    – galacticninja
    Commented Jul 19, 2013 at 4:07
  • @galacticninja When I deleted it, I did leave a comment for the poster. The main reason why deletion is necessary in this case IMHO is because the answer has a lot of upvotes and you'd have to bring the score down while it's out of date and then back up when it's fixed. It's messy. Deleting it and forcing the user to write it anew (if necessary) works better.
    – badp Mod
    Commented Jul 19, 2013 at 9:50

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
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Since the question appears valid and not particularly speculative, my normal answer of "the question should have been closed" does not apply. The answerer was just giving extra info.

So, treat it like any other answer. You could edit in a note that Notch ended up doing something different. Or you could leave a comment for the poster. You could downvote it as incorrect, and/or upvote if it is improved.

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  • I'm usually hesitant to downvote: although downvoting the answer would help the question, should the author be punished? After all, they gave the best answer they could at the time.
    – IQAndreas
    Commented Jul 14, 2013 at 7:19
  • (Or am I viewing downvoting incorrectly? What really is -2 reputation for a user with several hundred or thousand?)
    – IQAndreas
    Commented Jul 14, 2013 at 11:27
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    It should be about raising good/correct answers up and pushing bad/incorrect answers down, not about reward or punishment.
    – Sterno
    Commented Jul 14, 2013 at 16:58
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    @Sterno If the up/down voting was not meant as a form of reward/punishment they whey attach rep to the action at all?
    – AdamP
    Commented Jul 16, 2013 at 2:36
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    @AdamP I'm not saying it's not a factor, but it's not the primary purpose. Correct answers should rise up. Bad answers should sink down. This should be our main consideration when voting. We do not want incorrect answers to rise to the top just because we don't want someone to lose their rep. The user will still almost always come out ahead on rep with the answer voted back down. If the user is active, he can always edit his answer, too. If he's not, rep loss won't really hurt him. This is how you maintain answer quality, which is after all what the whole purpose of the site is.
    – Sterno
    Commented Jul 16, 2013 at 10:41
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    Agreed, rep itself is a reward/punishment but voting is not: giving/taking rep is not the purpose of voting, it's a side effect. Rep should be irrelevant when you vote.
    – Matthew Read
    Commented Jul 16, 2013 at 15:33

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