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I posted this question 15 minutes after the game was released and got downvoted to hell cause I couldn't find a list of accurate controls on the Internet. Then came the edit.

Apparently playing the game with someone else: "we" is not acceptable. And "sometimes" has been replaced with "sometime," which is a grammar rule I am completely unaware of and think is wrong.

So here's another list question: Where are these hidden etiquette rules about posting as more than one person?

Why is Arqade the most inhospitable place to post gaming questions I have ever come across? I'm afraid to post half the time.

Am I missing something?

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    You should consider that edits are not personal attacks but rather attempts to make your question more readable and accessible to other users. Approach edits with a "oh, that happened" rather than a "this person is out to get me".
    – Yuuki
    Aug 9, 2016 at 17:47
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    When you say you are afraid to post, are you worried about the edits (you shouldn't be -- they only benefit you) or the downvotes (a different issue, one we can also probably help with.)
    – KutuluMike
    Aug 9, 2016 at 17:52
  • Well, I understand Yuuki's point, but in this case the edit is completely not helpful at all, in fact, even erroneous.
    – Cabbit
    Aug 9, 2016 at 17:54
  • Your original question was straying into unclear and opinionated territory; what constitutes a useful control? Why is it useful? Why does it get listed, when a different one doesn't? The edits were an attempt to salvage the question and meet our quality standards.
    – Frank
    Aug 9, 2016 at 18:00
  • This kind of "what is this human emotion called love" question seems so strange to me. What is a good-faith guess for the word "useful?" A rambling list that doesn't distinguish between walking and flying controls, perhaps. Or one that is way too long. Or one that is inaccurate. Should I list the ways? At what point does your "quality standards" become nit-picky and no longer contribute to the readability and goodwill of the community? I just find the passive aggression (and if we're going to talk about hypocritical, there was a mistake in the edit itself), not conducive to the discussion.
    – Cabbit
    Aug 9, 2016 at 18:05
  • I don't think you understand what SE is all about. I'd recommend taking the tour to learn that. But to your points: what is useful is rather opinionated, and therefore, doesn't have any objective answer, which means it gets closed. By editing the question, we were trying to make sure you still got your question answered, while conforming to our standards. Those, above all else, are what we're here to try and maintain.
    – Frank
    Aug 9, 2016 at 18:41
  • @Frank, I'm on SE for work on a different account, so I'd disagree with that. But gaming is a different community altogether, and for some reason here, I find myself lurking the majority of the time because the discussions are so inhospitable. On more technical forums and communities it seems I feel confident in asking the most basic and convoluted questions and would still feel a positive contribution.
    – Cabbit
    Aug 9, 2016 at 18:44
  • If you browse SE on a different account, you obviously haven't run across SO, the predecessor to them all, where the focus is so much stronger on quality. It's all about building a high quality library of content. Full stop. That's it, that's all. Your question was trying to be salvaged to help fulfill that goal, and I don't understand why an attempt to keep it was so disliked. It wasn't perfect, by any means, but it was a step in the right direction. Yes, we're gaming. But we still adhere to those same principles.
    – Frank
    Aug 9, 2016 at 18:47

2 Answers 2

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To answer the actual edits:

  • The title change makes the question more long-lasting. "So far" implies that there is an amount of discovery left, but a complete answer would include all controls period.
  • The change from "we" to "I" makes this less awkward to read, because accounts are meant to be for single individuals, not entities that may be plural somehow. Even if you're asking a question "on behalf of some community", you personally are still asking the question.
  • The change from "sometimes" to "sometime" looks wrong to me too. Feel free to fix that.

To answer the real underlying question:

Why is Arqade the most inhospitable place to post gaming questions I have ever come across?

I'm really sorry we come across like that. There are definitely new user interactions that I personally am trying to find ways to fix, because user experience is an important access of using any website.

As for editing posts, however, you don't really "own" the posts you make. All posts are intentionally allowed to be edited by anyone in the community. There is a review process for new users who want to edit, and established users can edit without going through review. The intention here is that as a community we have the resources to improve all posts to be maximally readable, categorized, and correct.

People who do these edits are acting in good faith to try to improve the site, not out of any kind of personal grudge or idea that you might be inadequate. Try to let the edits go and fix things up yourself if the edit doesn't agree with your own sense of grammar.

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  • "So far" was to try to explain why I was asking such a newb question on controls ... it was 15 minutes after release, and likely won't have longevity. I acknowledge the "awkward" to read part, and can forgive that. It just seemed very nitpicky.
    – Cabbit
    Aug 9, 2016 at 17:59
  • I understand the editing part and not owning anything. I am used to that on wikis. It's rather the passive aggression and lack of goodwill that I take issue with. If we're going to say "editing for clarity" then at least, the edits should not be hypocritically wrong and unclear.
    – Cabbit
    Aug 9, 2016 at 18:07
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    @Cabbit The user who edited likely made a mistake. There was no hostility that I can see in the edit, nor any hypocrisy.
    – Invader Skoodge
    Aug 9, 2016 at 18:09
  • Sorry, I didn't clarify. The passive aggression wasn't in the edit. There were several other comments that were akin to "why don't you just Google it." If it were just me, I'd post a link to some accurate controls I found. Hope that helps. Boom, done.
    – Cabbit
    Aug 9, 2016 at 18:09
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    I just took a look at the comments on the question and they all seemed to be quite helpful, one providing a link to a resource with your answer and the other providing information on how to get at the information in-game.
    – Invader Skoodge
    Aug 9, 2016 at 18:12
  • I thanked the one with the resource, but I didn't understand the "what do you mean by useful" question. The other gave me information I was not looking for. I can find the options in-game, but I was looking for a list online so I don't have to flip back and forth. I also listed inadequacy with how the game was providing such information, hoping for a different approach online.
    – Cabbit
    Aug 9, 2016 at 18:15
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    On the subject of "useful controls", when i first read the question, I was rather confused by this myself. Genuinely so. "Aren't all controls 'useful'?" "Are there some hidden controls or something?" "What would a non-useful control be?" The question was propably just trying to for further clarificatons on what exactly you were looking for, so there wouldn't be a need for guesswork. At least I think so. I can't find the question any more.
    – DJ Pirtu
    Aug 10, 2016 at 6:25
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To answer my own questions: There is no list of hidden grammar rules or etiquette that particularly include the trespasses on my initial post. As for "Why is Arqade the most inhospitable place to post gaming questions I have ever come across?" After reading your comments and answers I've come to the following summary.

First of all, all the comments and replies here were polite and helpful to this question. It explained things that I was asking for, and displayed some form of diplomacy. I work in IT, and I specifically deal with diplomacy and communications in terms of technology, and I think I've pinpointed what could contribute to a more inviting environment here, and it's not limited to my post, I've seen this complaint elsewhere on this site.

Logic dictates pretty much all edits here, for "clarity" and for other purposes. But ultimately it is for the purpose of providing accurate information. From an external perspective, the probing and comments like "what does useful mean" and "you can find this in the options menu" are robotic representations of what a goodfaith understanding would be of the question. Someone wants a list of controls, they couldn't find one. Provide them a link, "is this what you were looking for? Does this look useful?"

To me, it's not clear what the edits were supposed to accomplish, it muddled with the spirit of my question (while 'I' and not 'we' is more "clear" it is also not true), and is generally confusing to me how such a short-lived question warranted so much consternation and effort. Clarity doesn't have to mean logic and function. It can also mean friendly. Your "what does useful mean" is my version of "what does clarity mean."

I am very active on Steam, and in the same discussion thread on No Man's Sky asked that question. My answer there to this question was this:

"It's the Internet, and they like to argue."

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    You've got to understand that we are a varied user group, from varied backgrounds and walks of life. What's useful to me, is maybe not so useful to you, is maybe not so useful to @StrixVaria, etc. etc. In the same aspect, comments to questions, and indeed a step further with edits, are going to be extremely subjective. Words like "edits for clarity" can mean absolutely different things between users. For me personally, it's become more of a "I don't want to go into too much depth on what I've edited, so 'clarity' it is".
    – nightsurfer
    Aug 9, 2016 at 18:57
  • You've also got to understand our position on this website. We are constantly spammed (no, really) with the same questions about Pokemon GO and Minecraft. After a while, it can be easy to fall into the mindset that most new users to the site need a LOT of help with their questions. This can bleed into other games as well. I don't believe there was any attempt at bashing you or your question or how you asked it. Rather, it was the community attempting to better your question so that it follows our guidelines.
    – nightsurfer
    Aug 9, 2016 at 18:59
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    I can't figure out what the point of this answer is. Is there a thesis statement? You say that there are no rules and that the comments were polite and helpful. I'm with you up to that point. The 3rd paragraph is just a jumble. You're upset about someone trying to clarify your intent? Or something? As was pointed out, "I" is both useful and true. You asked the question. Don't know what you mean "short-lived". Someone making an edit isn't consternation, that's just trying to be helpful. Asked what question on Steam?
    – DCShannon
    Aug 13, 2016 at 0:56

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