'Sounds like a List question' = subjective votes?

Question

I recently asked How can I identify games that use Pando Media Booster, and is there a workaround to download the installer without it? where I also wanted to know which games use it (clearly explaining why it was relevant). This quickly attracted 3 down votes because it 'sounds like a list question', in hindsight I could have perhaps rephrased the question title - but its obvious (to me atleast!) from the actual description that this is not the case.

Fine, I understand there is a general hostility to any sort of lists here, which is perfectly fine - when in Rome etc., and I should expect downvotes even if I'm asking for useful info as it goes against some site policy.

Then I come across What are the names of all rank levels in Bejeweled 3 and Bejeweled Blitz? , mainly due to the recent edit to clear up the title. As far as I'm aware, the 'no list questions' policy has been in place/consideration from 2010, before the question was posted. Still, this question (which seems very clearly to be a list) has received only upvotes.

Now I'm confused as to what constitutes the grave offence of asking for a list, or what are the exceptions where it is allowed. I tried searching on Meta, and despite a lot of discussion the category itself seems to be ill defined.

Thus, I have a few questions (not a list!) on what constitutes a list and should be downvoted:

• Is there a single clear description of what is considered to be the kind of list question that is discouraged (official policy, highly upvoted answer/comment on meta etc.)

• What would be the specific exemptions to the general policy. e.g. if a list is being asked so that people can avoid potential problems, is that allowed? Some examples:

  • What are games that use <problem software> so I can avoid/be wary of them?
  • Where do the enemies for the unique enemy achievements spawn? (note the upvotes and general usefulness of the answer)
  • Is there a list of the 'levels allowed' range for joining public games of a particular quest and difficulty? : again, no downvotes in this case; and it actually asks for a list

• When I encounter older list questions, should I be downvoting them or bringing them up in chat for reconsideration?

Answer 1

The key thing to note that is different between the list you asked for and the other examples you cite is that those other lists are inherently limited in scope to the individual games in question. Your question is an unbound list, which has no clear limit on the number of items it will contain, which is the sort of list that's problematic.

This has been a 'settled discussion' for something of a while now, but here are a few particularly relevant links:

List questions for The Old Republic / MMOs -- CW, closure, other?

Can we get these obviously off-topic questions closed?

How is an answered question closed for not being an answerable question?

Answer 2

We consider "List of games that fit the X criteria" questions to be game-recommendation questions and thus automatically off-topic.