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I can't find it now, mostly because it has been probably already deleted and I have no privileges to see that, but a question was closed being a dupe of this one: How do I fuel my spaceship?.

OK, it was exactly the same question, but the problem is: this answer is outdated. I suggested an edit but got rejected saying that it "deviates from the original intent of the post", while all I wanted to do was simply updating it.

What should I do since the edit got rejected and there's no updated info for future searches and duplicated questions? Make another answer addressing the new content?

2 Answers 2

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If you know the updated answer to the question with an outdated answer, you can simply just post a new answer on that question and mention that the old answer is out of date, and this is answer based on up-to-date information.

Alternatively, you can leave a comment on the outdated answer letting the user know that this answer is now out of date, and hopefully they will update it. This obviously won't help in the case that the member who posted the answer is no longer an active member here.

Also, if you have reputation to spare, you can offer a bounty on the question to attract people to answer it so that there is an updated answer to that question.

Additionally, you can leave a comment on the question letting the op know that the answers are out of date, and if they see it, they can unaccept the old answer if it is accepted, and accept the new updated answer if one is provided. You can also edit in a notice to the old answer letting people know that it is outdated, and you can add a link to the updated answer there as well. This way, you don't change the authors intention, but let people know who are reading it that it is updated.

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If it's asking the same thing, it's a duplicate. The age of the answers doesn't matter at all; it's all about whether or not the question has already been asked. If the answers are outdated, you can place a bounty. That's not a reason to re-ask the question.

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    My complaint wasn't that about the "pls don't close as duplicate". What I'm saying is: the answer is outdated and I feel that this is bad for someone getting a duplicated question but with an outdated answer.
    – DH.
    Jul 28, 2016 at 12:58
  • That's what bounties are for. SE doesn't have any other mechanism for updating answers, I'm afraid; as it stands, re-asking a question to get an updated answer is rather frowned upon. We don't want to split the information between separate questions, where readers have to read more than one to find their answer. That's what re-asking the question does; especially for games where what version you're playing is up in the air, all answers are potentially still useful.
    – Frank
    Jul 28, 2016 at 13:01
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    To me, it's more important to have the correct information somewhere than to close everything as a dupe of a question with a wrong answer. Saying to use bounties for this is a really, really bad solution. I would love to come up with a better one. I'm still thinking about what that would be. Jul 28, 2016 at 13:03
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    @StrixVaria As it stands, though, this is how SE works. That's literally one of the reasons bounties exist. Any other solution will require massive moderator overhead, and you guys have enough on your plates to shoehorn a different methodology for outdated answers into Arqade.
    – Frank
    Jul 28, 2016 at 13:06
  • And that's the point: I know the updated the answer for it, but what I do? Since updating the accepted answer for the current version got rejected just because the question is based on the outdated version.
    – DH.
    Jul 28, 2016 at 13:33
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    @Frank Bounties should be an option to get updated answers to a question, if you don't think answers are good enough. They shouldn't be the only way to get updated answers to a question if the answers are wrong. That's ludicrous. Jul 28, 2016 at 13:37
  • @StrixVaria I agree there's very little recourse when it comes to outdated answers. That is, unfortunately, how SE works. I think that's what they're trying to address with Documentation for SO, but it's a struggle every site has. What we've normally done in cases like that is had someone else place a bounty on it in an effort to get those updated answers. It's still an issue, but that's currently how we work around it. Not ideal by any stretch, but so far, an accomodation to the failings of this issue.
    – Frank
    Jul 28, 2016 at 13:53
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    @DH. If you have an up to date answer, post it! That's all you need to do. Suggesting an edit to an existing answer is generally frowned upon, if you're changing it to say something different. Even if it's right, that's not what edits are for.
    – Frank
    Jul 28, 2016 at 14:00
  • @Frank I agree with you 100% there. Post the correct, current version as a new answer rather than as an edit to the old answer. Jul 28, 2016 at 14:11
  • @Frank That's the answer I wanted from the start :P
    – DH.
    Jul 28, 2016 at 14:30
  • Relevant cc @strix
    – Dragonrage Mod
    Jul 28, 2016 at 19:15

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