At least, the tag easter-egg is evil and should be murdered forthwith. Its definition is ambiguous and it doesn't add any value to the questions it's on. A good portion of them are closed as off-topic anyway.
asked Dec 27, 2011 at 16:53
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2 Answers
I'll do it myself. Only a few at a time, since there are about 20. When I'm done, I'll accept this answer.
answered Mar 6, 2012 at 14:56
Just because a good portion of the existing uses of the tag are not on-topic, I wouldn't say that the tag itself is 'evil'. I can see many good questions that might use the tag. For example:
I've heard that in Halo 3 there is a picture in the moon. What is it of?
To which there is a single answer, it is (at least in my opinion) on topic, and it does relate to an easter egg.
answered Dec 31, 2011 at 19:24
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1"Why does the code work?" is because the developers put it in the game. That question would be closed as off-topic, so can't serve as a good example of anything on this site. Even if it were on topic and remained open, the easter egg tag adds nothing extra to that question. Commented Dec 31, 2011 at 19:44
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@StrixVaria That code is an easter egg because it was put in specifically for being the Konomi code, and I would argue is on-topic for that reason. Maybe phrasing it 'why does it work' is not the best. Maybe you'd prefer "Why did the developers make it so that when you insert this code on Half Life 2, it gives you extra life?" To which the answer would be "That is the Konomi code, and is infamous amongst gamers and developers, and is included in many games." Commented Dec 31, 2011 at 20:01
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1See also: “Why did They design it that way, anyway?”, and why do we allow or disallow these? Commented Dec 31, 2011 at 20:10
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@John I agree that "Why did they design it this way?" questions are not suited for the SE format. But you'll notice that isn't how these questions are. Specifically, if you look at my last example "I've heard Halo 3 has a picture in the moon. What is it?" it is a valid question, answerable with facts and references, and it relates directly to an easter egg. I still think it is possible to have valid questions related to easter eggs. Or if your looking for 'problems you have', how to get to and obtain easter eggs. Commented Dec 31, 2011 at 20:13
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Actually, your first two questions are "Why did they design it this way?" questions. The third one might be ok. Commented Dec 31, 2011 at 20:17
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@John I agree. They are not phrased the best, but my goal with the question was a sort of "What are they referencing?" sort of question rather then the why. I'll delete the first two and leave the third, since I do think that is the best example. Commented Dec 31, 2011 at 20:21
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1This new Halo example still does not benefit from having an easter egg tag. It can simply be tagged halo and that's that. Your answer does not argue that there is a reason to keep the tag, only that the tag could exist. But we already know it can exist, since it already does exist. The point is should it exist? Commented Dec 31, 2011 at 22:03
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1@StrixVaria Benefit from the tag comes from those seeking information. If I'm seeking information about easter eggs in halo, it is relevant. With that same argument, we could file everything under xbox or ps. Granularity comes from the question and from those seeking the information. I would still say that it can be useful to have the tag, since I can imagine a scenario where that information is being sought specifically. Commented Jan 1, 2012 at 1:48
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1We specifically don't file everything under xbox or the relevant playstation tag, because we don't want needless clutter. In most cases, the platform you're playing on is completely irrelevant. We limit use of those tags specifically to when platform is integral to the question. Easter eggs are ambiguously defined, and wholly limited to a subset of features that are "because the developers made them that way", which is addressed in John's link above. If you want to search for easter eggs in halo, search for halo. If you want to search for easter eggs in general, join a forum. Commented Jan 1, 2012 at 13:02
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1But you can liken that to "If you want to search for jQuery on SO, search for javascript." If the question is related to easter eggs, I'm not sure what the harm is to have the tag for it. At the very worst it is making a questions tag a bit more descriptive. Commented Jan 1, 2012 at 18:19
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3Except jquery is an actual thing with a useful objective definition, unlike easter eggs. The only way to define easter egg objectively is as "Something the developer classifies as an easter egg.", in which case questions relating to it are off topic anyway according to the question John linked above. If you define easter egg subjectively, then it has no business being a tag. Commented Jan 1, 2012 at 19:20
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1Well, I think easter egg has a very clear definition. To steal from Wikipedia "A virtual Easter egg is an intentional hidden message or an in-joke in a work such as a computer program, web page, video game, movie, book or crossword." I don't think anyone would classify the old flight sim in Excel to be a "feature". Nor a Leeroy Jenkins NPC in WOW a coincidence. And while I do agree there are some easter eggs that are subjective in nature, I think there are very objective and strictly defined ones as well. That said, while I stand by my points here, I can see I'm certainly not in the majority. Commented Jan 1, 2012 at 22:08