4

This question: https://gaming.stackexchange.com/questions/136641/mutliplayer-data-on-both-xbox-360-and-xbox-one has an answer, and the source is Microsoft. Even though it's about an unreleased console, shouldn't it be reopened and answered? This is one of those questions that will likely come up as much as the PS3 and 360 multiplayer compatability ones have in the past, and one single one that can be pointed to as a duplicate would be helpful.

The answer is on this page: http://www.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-one/multiplayer?xr=shellnav at the bottom (although there may be a better page for it):

 multiplayer between Xbox 360 and Xbox One not supported.
1
  • 21
    Just how many times has Microsoft announced something about the XBox One only to retract it later?
    – badp
    Oct 25, 2013 at 6:07

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
10

No, it should not. We do not allow questions about unreleased games or consoles. Whether it's answerable or not doesn't even come into the equation. The main point is that this question, while answerable, is sheer luck. And not only that, but the data could change in the meantime. We can update gameplay questions; we play those, and can see where stuff has changed. Updating questions answered somewhere does none of that. We're not a news service, and trolling the internet doesn't play to our core expertise.

We're about gaming. None of the knowledge to answer that question is a skill that plays to our strengths.

17
  • I'm confused by this: "Updating questions answered somewhere does none of that. We're not a news service, and trolling the internet doesn't play to our core expertise." Many answers on this site use an external source for an answer. There is an answer, the source of it is the hardware maker. How does an answer about software that runs a console change that? Software can be updated, hardware can be updated, and the answer can be changed to reflect that if the situation changes.
    – Doozer Blake
    Oct 25, 2013 at 1:54
  • And the FAQ doesn't allow speculation about future releases (which can mean games and consoles). It doesn't forbid questions that can be answered (at least that's how I read it).
    – Doozer Blake
    Oct 25, 2013 at 1:55
  • 1
    @DoozerBlake: Except we interpret it to be that any question regarding a future release inherently requires speculation regardless if there's a solid source. Things change, which means you can never be 100% sure of what the future holds. Also, the FAQ does dis-allow speculation: "Speculation of the future of the industry and of upcoming releases"
    – MBraedley
    Oct 25, 2013 at 2:18
  • @DoozerBlake Always on Kinect and used game fees were also confirmed at one point.
    – user9983
    Oct 25, 2013 at 2:57
  • 7
    Whether it's answerable or not is in fact precisely the reason that questions about unreleased games or consoles are closed: They are closed because we can't answer questions about a game we can't play. On the other hand, we can definitely answer this Xbox question. Furthermore, knowledge about what features a console supports are the very kind of thing one would expect a gaming expert to know. This is a Q&A site for passionate videogamers on all platforms. The knowledge to answer that question plays exactly to our strengths.
    – Brant
    Oct 25, 2013 at 3:35
  • 1
    @Brant I disagree. Our strength is playing video games, not trolling websites to find information, obscure or otherwise. If a game gets updated, we can be reasonably relied upon to notice that and update our information. That's unreasonable for anything unreleased, because it would require us to continually monitor that information on a different website to ensure we were up to date. That does nothing to play to our expertise whatsoever, and essentially turns us into a mirror of the site for that information.
    – Frank
    Oct 25, 2013 at 3:40
  • 4
    Does it matter whether the information comes from a website or from our own personal experience? Our strength is that we're gaming experts. People ask us questions because we, of all people, should know the answer. If a question doesn't require that expertise (or benefit from it, in the case of an unanswerable question about an unreleased game), that's when we should tell people we can't help them.
    – Brant
    Oct 25, 2013 at 3:53
  • 1
    @Brant It most certainly does. Gaming expertise comes from games. While we can answer some questions by parroting websites, that has nothing to do with gaming whatsoever. It also places an undue burden on us to keep that information up to date. Simply put, we're reporting on news at that point, which is not our focus at all. Once the console or game comes out, yeah, have at it, answer everything, because at that point, our expertise comes into play. Anything before that does not.
    – Frank
    Oct 25, 2013 at 3:57
  • @fbueckert How does a question about a game console have nothing to do with gaming? There are plenty of questions on this site about consoles in general. Are you saying they all don't belong here? Do you really think we wouldn't notice if the Xbox One and Xbox 360 multiplayer started working together? It isn't news, it's a feature of a console. I don't think it qualifies as some obscure fact.
    – Doozer Blake
    Oct 25, 2013 at 13:37
  • 1
    @DoozerBlake A console that has not been released. Until it has been, it does not something we can help with. Once it comes out, I will support asking questions about it all day long. Until then, all we have is heresay.
    – Frank
    Oct 25, 2013 at 13:43
  • I agree that the answer to this question is "No." However, I do not agree that it is because it doesn't play to our strengths. As gamers, many of us to keep up with current gen and next gen console offerings. Many of us do have expertise in where to get reliable console specs for future consoles. badp's comment about how many times Microsoft announces something and then retract it shows that we do have expertise. As experts we know to consider anything Microsoft says about XBox One specs to be speculation.
    – ken.ganong
    Oct 25, 2013 at 18:48
  • @ken.ganong What expertise is at play? The ability to keep up to date with what the marketing people say? Remember, we have no capability to verify or otherwise ensure the data is accurate. At best, all we're really doing is repeating what's already been said, in which case we can just link to where it's said. We pride ourselves on being able to provide more than just a straight link, and indeed, we delete link-only answers. And just copy/pasting info from a different site. We literally cannot provide any information beyond what's provided. That's bad.
    – Frank
    Oct 25, 2013 at 19:21
  • 1
    @fbueckert I agree that we have no capability to verify or otherwise ensure that the data is accurate. This is because future specs are speculation. That (the answer to the question) is where we agree. The smaller point in which we disagree is whether keeping up with console specs plays to our expertise. I think it does, you think it doesn't. I think gaming expertise can include such things as knowing which sources about specs are reliable and which are not and which types of specs to expect versus types for which not to hold your breath.
    – ken.ganong
    Oct 25, 2013 at 19:59
  • 1
    @Lyrion No, Hearthstone can be played. There's a rather large difference between a beta that gamers can play and verify, and a game/console where all we have is corporate hearsay. When I say released, I mean, "Able to be played/used". It's not meant to be used as, "officially released". If that was the case, we wouldn't allow Dwarf Fortress questions, and perhaps not Minecraft, either.
    – Frank
    Oct 29, 2013 at 13:38
  • 1
    @fbueckert Hearthstone is invite only, i'm not invited... I can't play it... I can't verify it. Hearthstone is still unreleased. Everything you said can count to Hearthstone aswell.
    – Lyrion
    Oct 29, 2013 at 13:41
5

No. As badp pointed out in the comment, we cannot know how things are unless there is a wide audience who can tell us wrong. If the only source of information comes from the developers themselves, we can only speculate whether that will change or if it already has. In development things change fast and quietly, which is why they're a terrible subject for Q&A that is supposed to last and be useful to a wide audience months later.

"The console will have support for this and that" is speculation by the developer. They cannot know with 100% certainty if they will have the time or experience to do that.

0

I was going to make a comment but it ended up a bit longer than that.

I am in agreement with others in saying NO. Unreleased things are not appropriate for Stack Exchange sites. While it is true we strive to be a place for answers, we are really not qualified to be the definitive source on any piece of unreleased product or future implementation.

However, I disagree with the reasoning that it is due to lack of expertise or the possibility of it changing. Gaming is one of those fields where things change quite often. Example, the first released version of games like Minecraft or DOTA 2 were quite different then their current version, not even considering alphas or betas.

To start off my argument for why this question is not accepted, I need to first point out that having an answer does not make a question acceptable. Questions must stand on their own. That is not to say that all questions are valid, but having an answer does not necessarily determine the validity of the question. If this was not the case, then in order to ask a question, a user would need to know that the answer exists. In such a case, every question would show a lack of research effort.

So, onto the issue of unreleased products. First up is the issue of where the information is most likely to exist. Who is the most likely group to have this information? Other gamers? Game Developers? Hardware Manufacturers? In most of these cases (if not all), gamers will not be the highest authority (at least until after gamers have access to it).

So say they do come to gamers. How will Arqade be able to answer such a question? We can speculate (bad) or look at other forums speculating (also bad) or check out what the developers have said. Now if we go to the developers, then how is that any different than the OP just going there? Additionally, if and when the answer changes, the developer's info will change first. So our option then is either continually update until release or have an answer that is just a link. Neither is a desirable result.

Second point involves our desire to help future visitors. Asking about unreleased products is usually not going to be helpful in the future, however in this case it very well could be helpful. However, without access to the system, we have no way to test it either way. Until then, our answers cannot help future visitors in a definitive manner. As an example, say I asked "What are the differences between the difficulties in the game Destiny". Arqade cannot play this game and therefore cannot answer this and even if we could, it is not helpful to anyone until after the game is released.

One final reason why questions on future releases are not allowed is to avoid users just looking for rep or badges. I could easily ask about different difficulty settings for every major future release and I'm sure after the game came out I would gets lots of upvotes. I'd probably also be the one credited with creating the tags for all those games as well. This is a scenario that we would like to avoid as much as possible. The purpose of rep was to award users that ask good questions and, more importantly, give good answers.

So does this mean you cannot talk about future releases? Of course not! Go to the chat and talk with your fellow gamers about whatever you want.

2
  • 4
    Quibble: "I want to know more about this product so I know whether or not to buy it" does not make it a shopping rec. That is actually the kind of question we prefer, because they're not asking us to read their mind about what they like and make the decision for them, but instead asking about something with an objective answer. We don't care what they're going to use that information for, even if it's for making a buying decision.
    – SevenSidedDie
    Oct 29, 2013 at 18:44
  • @SevenSidedDie Good point, removed that part.
    – Batophobia
    Oct 30, 2013 at 14:54

You must log in to answer this question.

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