11

I just saw this question here on Gaming.SE: Terminology: Gosu?

The term "Gosu" is explained with a very quick Google. The first hit is Wikipedia's own page on the term (which the first answer here inevitably links back to).

Is there really any benefit to encouraging this type of question here - one for which an answer is already so readily available?

I think Gaming.SE is far more useful as a repository for difficult-to-find information, not as a backup for the rest of the gaming web.

Your thoughts?

3
  • While it has been recently announced as network policy, we'd have first to see all the questions it applies to, lest we start getting "why can they ask when I can't?" complaints.
    – badp
    Mar 4, 2011 at 11:34
  • 3
    Related inquiry from early on: What's the policy regarding "easy" questions? Really, my thoughts on this mirror my thoughts from back then: some of these, I'd like us to be that first hit on Google.
    – Grace Note StaffMod
    Mar 4, 2011 at 15:12
  • 3
    First off, I completely agree with Tom on this one. If you're looking for the answer to a question where literally 5 of the first 10 search results have the correct answer, then it doesn't need to be here. However, there are a large number of answers (on wikipedia or elsewhere) which are largely incomplete. Just because an answer exists else where doesn't mean its the best answer, or even the right one. My advice would be: be careful when closing these questions.
    – tzenes
    Mar 4, 2011 at 17:12

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
17

Check these parts of the recent blog post by @JeffAtwood.

Are Some Questions Too Simple?

The key distinction to make here, in my mind, is that all questions are ultimately in service of the people answering them. That is the audience you need to satisfy if you want to have any hope of creating and sustaining a community of peers learning from each other. The minimum bar for a question is not “is this on-topic?”, but rather “is this somewhat interesting and on-topic?”. I’m not saying every question needs to be utterly fascinating, but please endeavor to make your questions more than a constant stream of no-duh underhanded softballs requiring nothing more than a quick cut and paste from Wikipedia, IMDB, or some other standard internet reference site.

There’s nothing useful any expert can learn from ultra-basic questions. Allow your Q&A community to fill itself with enough “General Reference” type questions and you’ll soon find no experts at all.

— Stack Overflow Blog - Are Some Questions Too Simple?

For now, until the close reason is there, most people vote for off-topic and leave a comment.

2
  • This is exactly what I needed. Now, how about someone with high enough rep go over and close that question?
    – YellowMegaMan
    Mar 4, 2011 at 10:55
  • @YellowMegaMan: Just flag it or wait for someone to pass here, I don't have enough...
    – Tamara Wijsman
    Mar 4, 2011 at 10:59
3
  1. StackExchange sites have a very good brand. If I google a question like "How do I jump in Mario?" and see gaming.SE, I definitely click it, and 99% of the time find the answer faster than I would have on some more long-winded forum.
  2. I think of it like, with questions that are too easy the problem is basically the askers are not doing their part to create a good repository. Likely they will be both answered and downvoted. This makes enough sense to me.
  3. In either case, sometimes the simple questions are quite polished or detailed and sometimes the answers are very good explanations, and beat the other answers that appear in search results.

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .