When people say that opinion based questions are off topic without qualification, I think they're way off of the mark of what was intended with the implementation of the P.O.B. close reason.

@Lawrence I disagree on this point, albeit just slightly. The research just helps us ensure that we don't provide answers that a questioner could have reasonably found themselves using existing resources. That might help direct us to the answer they want, by showing us what they do not want, but ultimately if a question is so ambiguous as to be unanswerable, that's why we have the unclear question, and it can be applied irrespective of whether research was conducted or not.

Applying the right close reason is important if we want them to know which problem they should remedy.

@Tonepoet No, not at all. :)

Hi @KevinMark.

@Tonepoet True, that was where this canned reason came from - looking up standard references. Maybe I'm just anticipating the next development :) . One thing I like about Stack Exchange is that the founders seem to have wanted a thinking and introspective community, not just a Q&A free-for-all. As such, knowing the reason that someone's asking a question is an important factor in crafting a good answer to it.