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Today I asked 2 questions about Skyrim, a game I've never played. I also answered one question through some crafty internet research (tm).

One of my questions has been accused of being blatant hat fishing, but only sarcastically. However, the sarcastic comment got 4 upvotes, and the question itself has 4 downvotes and 2 close votes. Someone who saw the question in the chat feed also protested it.

It is safe to say that I am venturing outside my comfort zone in terms of game questions - I have ignored several tags on this site previously that are games that are seriously popular, but I don't play. However, for the purposes of this Hat competition I've been trying to find ways to make a small contribution to questions and answers with those tags.

I honestly have spent 0 hours playing Skyrim, and know very little about the game mechanics and the plot/story/setting, aside from what I know from playing both Morrowind and Oblivion. The question is easy - this part of the game is a meme, and I'm sure if I plugged "fus ro dah" into google I could probably figure it out in a few clicks. Then again, I don't know that the simplicity of answering a question is a barrier to posting it. I felt like perhaps it being so popular, having a question on it would not be off-topic.

However, I feel like, although this was not my intent, some among us feel I toed or crossed a line that I should not have crossed. If you are one of those people who felt this way, I apologize. I'd hate to cause issues over something so very silly as a hat that means effectively nothing and will disappear in a few weeks regardless of what happens. Please forgive my collectible OCD, and any offense I may have caused by stepping outside my comfort zone.

...or perhaps it was just a bad question, in which case I'll commit to do better next time.

If the question is truly bad or off topic, I have no issues with it being closed or deleted completely. Regardless, I furthermore commit to answering or asking at least one additional question about Skyrim so that if anyone feels my "hat" is "unjust," I will have atoned.

I hope that this apology is accepted in the sincere manner in which it is offered.

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    FWIW, it didn't seem like hat fishing to me, but as a fellow non-Skyrim player I'm slightly mad that you beat me to asking that. I'd been kind of wondering the same thing. :P – Adam Lear♦ Dec 18 '11 at 0:06
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    @AnnaLear seems like you wanted to ask the question, but then took an arrow to the knee ;) – alexanderpas Dec 18 '11 at 0:44
  • I'm sorry I opened this can of worms. And here I thought I was just making a joke. :/ – LessPop_MoreFizz Dec 18 '11 at 0:45
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    For what it's worth, your question was extraordinarily enlightening to Gnomeslice, who had no idea what Fus Ro Dah was until your question was linked in chat. – Raven Dreamer Dec 18 '11 at 0:49
  • That wasn't the only allegation of fishing either, I posted one on The Bridge, too. Particularly since the original subject was "If my car broke down, would I need to Fus Ro Dah it to a mechanic?" – user2974 Dec 18 '11 at 1:13
  • @powerlord, Yeah, I knew it had something to do with pushing from context, so I thought that might be a fun title. I think Raven changed it, I added it as a postscript to the question since he'd referenced it in his answer. I mentioned your opposition but didn't use your name. – agent86 Dec 18 '11 at 1:15
  • Honestly, I feel like your Minecraft question was more hat-fishing than this one. – Raven Dreamer Dec 18 '11 at 2:41
  • Apologies if that was a problem. I think I was at 3 for minecraft before I posted that - I was going to ask that in chat, but I figured I could probably help someone else get a hat if I posted it as a question. This whole thing has turned out to be waaaay more drama than I was expecting. I'll try to make up for it. – agent86 Dec 18 '11 at 2:47
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Just my opinion, but somebody should say it so we can vote it up or down and make a collective decision :)

I think it's a perfectly good question. You're right that it's becoming a meme, and not everyone knows what it means. As far as I'm concerned, it passes the sniff-test of "Would a real gamer ask this?", and "Does it have a real, definitive answer?". There are already several answers out there (Know your meme and Yahoo! Answers come up first for me) but in my opinion our answer is more direct than Know your meme and more informative than Yahoo! Answers.

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    Raven Dreamer: Officially more informative than Yahoo! Answers \o/ – Raven Dreamer Dec 18 '11 at 2:42
  • @RavenDreamer I'd add it to your resume. – user56 Dec 18 '11 at 20:45
  • I would like to add that I just used the question for reference, (just to find out the spelling, but still) and came to Gaming.SE cause I knew I'd get the right answer. Seems on topic and useful to me. – WillfulWizard Dec 21 '11 at 3:19
  • I agree, the question was valid enough in my mind. I cast the final reopen vote, so the question is back in its former glory. – Dave McClelland Dec 21 '11 at 22:00
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Even if the question was hat-fishing which I'm not saying it was, I'm not sure that I could, in good conscience, blame a gamer, on a gaming website, for treating an event about earning hats as if it was a game.

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