The Bridge

Ben Brocka

5:00 PM

@bwarner too localized :P

Grace Note

@bwarner We don't allow that on the main site, I'm not letting you do it on our Meta!

user30

ohoho

user30

Just got overflow on Draw Something

user30

Cue Stack Overflow logo

Ian Pugsley

@bwarner only if you ask "Why are all the questions on the front page on May 15th about Diablo III" :P

Sterno

5:01 PM

> @GraceNote Also, there's a related issue... how close to release do we stop closing these questions? 3 days before? 1 day before? 2 hours before? – Sterno mar 2 at 15:55

I'm still curious about the answer to that.

Grace Note

I don't have an answer

Ben Brocka

@Sterno when the question is answerable? Seems like release is the fitting time to allow

Grace Note

But I'd say, just seriously, if there's a day left, just wait a day. Don't ask in advance. Period.

Sterno

This question was the one that provoked that comment

typing fail

Fabian

Contests are probably effective in stopping people from doing that, if you ask too early the question doesn't count for the contest.

Sterno

5:04 PM

Let's say it's an otherwise valid question though. What's our close reason we should use when we VTC for "the game isn't released yet"?

Ben Brocka

@Sterno Too localized: This question is unlikely to ever help any future visitors; it is only relevant to a small geographic area, a specific moment in time, or an extraordinarily narrow situation that is not generally applicable to the worldwide audience of the internet.

Sterno

@BenBrocka Yet a day later, it will no longer be too localized?

Ben Brocka

questions asked before the game is released are likely to exclude details that actual players of the game will know and may not fit the problem

Sterno

Specifically I think this will come up in the case of people who are playing pirated versions of the game, and thus have it early. It's the full game. The question won't change

Ben Brocka

It's a made up question, it's only no longer too localized after you play the game and understand enough to have asked the question

Sterno

5:06 PM

I realize we don't support piracy. But the questions won't be about piracy

Ben Brocka

@Sterno extraordinarily narrow situation is what we should consider that, IMO

Grace Note

@Sterno Prior to release, it's a question of speculation. So I'd actually lean towards Off-Topic or Not Constructive.

Ben Brocka

the general public isn't playing a pirated game

Sterno

@BenBrocka Understand I like the idea of closing these pre-release questions. I just don't think any of our close reasons are particularly good for it.

OrigamiRobot

@fredley What did I do?

Grace Note

5:07 PM

Speculation is not a good fit for our Q&A, that's why it's even right there on our FAQ.

agent86

bwarner

@GraceNote I agree, although I think it falls again into the trap of "esoteric rules" that we are currently debating on Meta.

Grace Note

@bwarner This is kinda why I suggest, as I always do, leave a comment explaining the closure in more detail.

Ben Brocka

I think too localized works because of how rooted it is in time, and it's impossible to answer at the time of asking, hence too localize

we shouldn't reopen those questions because they're basically cheating and are usually crappy because people don't know enough to ask a good Q before the game is out in many cases

Sterno

@BenBrocka I strongly dislike the idea of closing a good, valid question that is absolutely dead on accurate about the game with the reason "too localized", while we close our eyes and pretend that magically the question is bad because release date is still a day away.

I mean, I honestly like "we closed it because shut up that's why" better as a reason

Ben Brocka

5:09 PM

@Sterno The other close reasons have the exact same problem

bwarner

@GraceNote Agreed, but tzenes stats suggest that that isn't always enough.

Grace Note

@Sterno Being a day before is no less "bad" than being two weeks before.

Ben Brocka

It's suddenly "off topic" or "not constructive" because it was asked early?

Grace Note

@bwarner How many of those stats reflect us actually leaving comments?

Ben Brocka

Too Localized at least emphasizes that time is a factor

bwarner

5:09 PM

@GraceNote I'm presuming that most closed questions have a comment, because that has been my anecdotal observation.

Sterno

@GraceNote I guess in the end whatever reason we choose isn't a big deal so long as someone leaves a comment.

James

Meh

Every time I work up a question about DragonVale my research into writing a good question leads to the answer :)

Breeding times == Hatching Times

Sterno

@BenBrocka I think the average person gets as far as This question is unlikely to ever help any future visitors; on Too Localized and then says "BS! Everyone's going to be asking this in a day/week/whatever"

James

So you can tell immediately what type of dragon you are breeding

Grace Note

> The unanswerable nature of a pre-launch question is the same as the unanswerability of a question to which we simply lack the requisite knowledge to explain. That is, the feasibility of getting bad answers of people positing unverified facts is still present whether it's because the game hasn't come out yet versus no one actually understands that mechanic.

bwarner

5:12 PM

@James So ask the question and answer it yourself. If it was a good question before, it is still a good question after you figure out the answer.

Grace Note

> The ultimate point being here that we don't close pre-launch questions because the answer is not currently available - we close these generally because the lot of them are speculation and are soliciting it. They ask in advance because they want the speculation of the elements happening.

Sterno

@BenBrocka Off-topic at least fits because it refers you to the FAQ, which in turn says speculation about unreleased games isn't allowed

Granted, it's still not really speculation.

James

@bwarner answering my own question actually puts me off.. so does anyone who posts an answer to their own question :)

Sterno

Hopefully I didn't just VTC whatever question I just had open so I could look at close reasons...

Grace Note

And to quote myself when agent asked me what to tell people when closing a question a day or two before release:

bwarner

5:13 PM

@BenBrocka Yah, if I ask a question about Inferno difficulty 30 minutes after release, should that be closed because nobody can possibly know the answer yet? I'm pretty sure the answer is no, we just let it sit until someone does know the answer.

Grace Note

> "Next time you shouldn't have asked a question that you knew couldn't be answered yet", if you want to be harsh but strictly true.

@bwarner Three messages up of mine, is where I'm addressing this point as why this isn't why we close these.

bwarner

@GraceNote Yep, I was agreeing with you.

Grace Note

Time isn't the major factor - it's the speculation component through the lack of any material for answerers to work with.

Sterno

The more I think about it, the more I like Off-Topic as the close reason. It's the catch-all since it points at the FAQ

Hrm

I just got an idea for a userscript

bwarner

@GraceNote To be honest though, it is also specifically to try to stop people from "camping" questions. Even if you wrote "Don't answer this until the game has released and you found the answer", that doesn't make it acceptable.

Sterno

5:16 PM

which can throw comments on a question you VTC'd which describe common close reasons and maybe points at relevant FAQ/Meta discussions

OrigamiRobot

Accessibility is a major factor.

Grace Note

@bwarner "If you didn't want people to answer before the game is released, don't ask before the game is released!" is what you tell that guy as you close the question. I'm not opposed to adding more about "question camping" in the FAQ if we could enumerate it properly.

Tim Stone

86

Q: AutoReviewComments - Pro-forma comments for SE

No more re-typing the same comments over and over! This script adds a little 'auto' link next to all comments boxes. When you click the link, you see a popup with 6 configurable auto-comments, which you can easily click to insert. This script was inspired by answers to this question on meta....

script

Sterno

@TimStone Awesome

bwarner

@James You can count me in that group. :p

James

5:18 PM

@bwarner You answer your own questions or that it seems a bit of an odd thing?

Sterno

@TimStone Getting some of the regulars to use something like that would go a long way towards helping with the "esoteric rules" probably too

bwarner

@James I have asked and answered my own question

OrigamiRobot

@James I agree usually, but if I haven't gotten an answer in a long time, I will self answer.

bwarner

As well as asking a question I knew the answer to because I thought it was a good question (that someone else then answered)

Tim Stone

@Sterno Aye. Admittedly I think Gaming does quite well in this regard already, but anything to make that easier is definitely a plus. :)

James

5:19 PM

@OrigamiRobot Aye, I did that with a minecraft question I asked a very long time ago

Sterno

I really need to look through that site and see what other good userscripts are on there

Tristan

Zam's internet crashed in the middle of our game. =(

James

Was sick of having an 80% acceptance rate so tested if the question was even possible again in current version minecraft.

@Tristan eeeevil

OrigamiRobot

@James And this answer was a joint effort between @Tristan and I.

I would have self answered if it wasn't a two person job.

agent86

@Sterno when the question comes up on meta about improving the new user experience, I plan on posting my pro forma comments for all to use :)

I have one for each entry in the FAQ

James

5:24 PM

@OrigamiRobot Haha, Nice answer :)

Sterno

@agent86 Why wait? I'd love to get that script now.

agent86

###Prohibited ITG
This is a question that falls under the category of "requests for game identification," which is currently prohibited on the site. Please consult the [FAQ](http://$SITEURL$/faq) if you're not sure if a question is allowed.

###Prohibited ShopRec
This is a question that falls under the category of "shopping advice and recommendations," which is prohibited on the site. Please consult the [FAQ](http://$SITEURL$/faq) if you're not sure if a question is allowed.

###Prohibited Catalog

@Sterno ^

I have a few more for answers, but most of those are kind of mod specific (ie, I'm deleting your answer cause it should've been a comment, etc)

Sterno

awesome

agent86

I'm pretty sure the person doesn't get to read the comment when I delete the post, but eh, it's 2 clicks

Sterno

One day, when they're 10k, they can look back and agree with you

agent86

5:32 PM

there's more to this hypothetical "be nice to new people" post that hasn't been written yet, but if you just want to cut to the chase, there you go

LessPop_MoreFizz

Fill out a survey, get a free copy of Paradox's new Transit Sim, Cities in Motion

agent86

@Sterno yeah, also other mods looking at flags can see it. I'm honestly not sure if people can see their own answers which have been deleted by other people though, since I've seen on at least one occasion where a person changed their answer post-delete, and they specifically said nasty things to the mod who deleted it, implying that they a) could see it, and b) could change it, and c) could tell who deleted it.

user2334

@agent86 On deleted answers, the poster can read mod comments. On deleted questions, it's a little dicey. They get the inbox notification, but can't see the full comment because they can't load the question. So if you wanted to comment on a deleted question, keep it short.

agent86

@LessPop_MoreFizz you had me at "free copy"

@MarkTrapp good to know, this is what I figured.

since questions tend to go into the "closed" state for a while pre-delete, it makes less of a difference there, I suppose

Ian Pugsley

@agent86 he lost me at "Transit Sim"

agent86

5:35 PM

oh, university of Linkoping. Small world.

Sterno

I like lying to surveys. It makes me feel like I'm striking back against the marketing industry that besieges my telephone!

agent86

@Sterno for the statement "Sterno is a terrible person" I would be forced to check the box marked "Strongly Agree"

OrigamiRobot

0

Q: What's the policy for answering closed questions?

I think I've done this at least a half dozen times in the past few days, either in comments or before it actually gets closed. I don't think my answers are unreasonable, since people frequently report back with some sort of thanks or upvotes. Examples: What kind of companies sponsor pro teams?...

discussion

Sterno

@Decency What's the "this" you're referring to in It's kind of annoying to have to do this?

The Stack Exchange Blog

Blog - Stack Exchange: Careers 2.0 New Features for Hiring Developers

David Fullerton on March 28, 2012

Stack Overflow Careers 2.0 re-launched a year ago, and since then we’ve been steadily making improvements to it. While we’ve added a lot of new features for developers to find great jobs and show off their stuff, we’ve been a bit…neglectful of the employer side.

Well, not any more. We’ve just wrapped up a big set of changes to how companies find and track the perfect developers for their jobs. So if you’ve ever considered hiring a developer, read on for the details.

Stack Overflow Careers launched with one goal: help developers find great jobs. We do that in two ways: developers can go looking f …

Ronan Forman

5:44 PM

@Tristan You not signing up for ultra-hardcore?

Tristan

@RonanForman Not sure yet whether or not I'll be able to play.

Ronan Forman

'mkay.

agent86

@OrigamiRobot I'll put something together for this

OrigamiRobot

@agent86 I'm on it, but I don't know the "official" policy (if there is one). I am just writing my thoughts on the subject.

Jason Berkan

@OrigamiRobot I thought the official policy was "don't". The answer textbox goes away when the question is closed.

OrigamiRobot

5:50 PM

@JasonBerkan I am basically writing "Don't do it on purpose, but everyone makes mistakes."

Jason Berkan

@OrigamiRobot Or good passive aggressive comments "I'm not answering this, but if I were, I would point you to ..."

OrigamiRobot

@JasonBerkan I personally think that is OK.

Jason Berkan

@OrigamiRobot Gnome usually leaves good ones like that on game recs.

Lazers

2

Q: What's the policy for answering closed questions?

I think I've done this at least a half dozen times in the past few days, either in comments or before it actually gets closed. I don't think my answers are unreasonable, since people frequently report back with some sort of thanks or upvotes. Examples: What kind of companies sponsor pro teams?...

discussion

0

Q: Do breeding times match hatching times for dragons?

I am trying to find some meaning to the time it takes a dragon to breed and use that information to better guess what type of dragon egg to expect so I can prepare a proper habitat for it. I have so far bred 3 dragons: Moss, Flower and Lava. The Lava dragon is hatching now and I have a 4th drag...

dragonvale

1

Q: What does it mean to be dominate an enemy?

There are 2 achievements for dominating an enemy (and a bunch more involving killing enemies who are dominating): Repeat Offender: Dominate an enemy Decimator: Dominate ten enemies Some how, I am at 2/10 for Decimator, but I do not have the Repeat Offender achievement, what exactly does d...

cs-global-offensive

0

Q: When is stacking items like Rod of Ages inappropriate in LoL?

Is stacking items, like Rod of Ages, considered bad gameplay?

league-of-legends

OrigamiRobot

Great addition @Sterno.

agent86

6:00 PM

0

A: What's the policy for answering closed questions?

I have done more than my share of this sort of thing, (I like to ANSWER ALL THE THINGS!) but I've largely attempted to stop. A closed question is one that doesn't belong on the site for whatever reason - part of closing is saying "this question should not be answered" for one reason or another...

Sterno

@OrigamiRobot I was writing up an answer that started with that but then 3 other answers came in. I decided that was the only useful bit I had to add :P

OrigamiRobot

@Sterno I had just finished my answer when I saw the notice, so I posted it.

@agent86 You kids and your fast typing.

agent86

@OrigamiRobot psh. get off my lawn

you kids and your definition of what kids are

OrigamiRobot

@agent86 Only if you stop listening to raps and shooting up all the jobs.

agent86

@OrigamiRobot ehhh, in my day we didn't need no fancy internets to tell us what the weather was or how to input the konami code. we had to figure all this stuff out for ourselves! now be quiet so I can watch matlock, or I'm coming over there and giving you a good smack with my walker

Sterno

6:09 PM

Pfft. Real old people watch Perry Mason

OrigamiRobot

@agent86 I'm an old soul. My favorite TV show is M*A*S*H and I love old music.

It's not my fault I was born a couple decades after my time.

agent86

@OrigamiRobot well, you're talking to a guy whose handle is from a tv show that went off the air a good decade before he was born.

Tristan

I have one question keeping me from 100% accept rate. =(

agent86

@Tristan this is why we're disowning you and cutting you out of the G.SE inheritance.

Tristan

@agent86 Says the guy with 5 unaccepted questions.

agent86

6:14 PM

nothing less than perfection will be tolerated

@Tristan do as I say, not as I do, duhhhh

and I don't know what you're talking about, I am at 100%, clearly

I think I might have just given myself the "popular question" badge for one of those, hah

badp

@GraceNote but is it worth metal?

Tristan

I'm still shocked at how quickly that knockback answer got all those upvotes. o.O

badp

also this ambush business is being annoying

Grace Note

@badp It cost not more than the steel of my blade

badp

@GraceNote a weapon? Half a scrap? That's... pretty bad as far as hats go.

Lazers

6:21 PM

0

Q: How does the rested experience system work?

When I first started playing Star Wars: The Old Republic, I was pleased to see a rested experience system in place. I had made extensive use of it in World of Warcraft, and planned to do the same here. I was quickly disappointed to learn that all of my rested experience was eaten up after a short...

swtor experience

Grace Note

@badp Well, yeah, it doesn't provide any stat benefits. But it's dapper.

Tristan

Why can I approve Tag wiki edits, but I can't create tag wikis? O.o

badp

@GraceNote for a hat to be worth that little I guess it must've been given away for free to everybody on Earth

Grace Note

You can make them, they just need to be approved. It basically makes it more of a cooperative process.

agent86

@Tristan you require more vesp... I mean more reputation.

@Tristan you've got to synergize! with synergy. and other people.

Grace Note

6:26 PM

@badp I had to beat down a giant missile tree for it.

Tristan

@agent86 Seems like they should be switched then. Shouldn't I be able to create them before I can deem other users' edits worthy?

OrigamiRobot

@agent86 Double backwards synergy.

Grace Note

Hence the "steel of my blade" point

agent86

@Tristan you can suggest edits to existing wikis, which then have to be approved by other people

Grace Note

@OrigamiRobot Ultrasound Graphics Synthesis!

agent86

6:27 PM

it's like launching nukes, but... with less radiation.

OrigamiRobot

@GraceNote "point" heh

Tristan

Huh...

Well, anyway... I'm gonna go play some Dota 2 just to see how crappy it is. <.<

Grace Note

@agent86 You can also suggest edits to create new wikis, too

agent86

@GraceNote can you suggest wikis to create new edits?

Grace Note

@agent86 Yes

OrigamiRobot

6:28 PM

How many nested quotes is too many?

Sterno

@OrigamiRobot 3

OrigamiRobot

@Sterno I have bad news.

Sterno

I am the authoritative expert on nested quotes.

OrigamiRobot

2 mins ago, by OrigamiRobot

@Sterno I have bad news.

Sterno

I can see where this is going

badp

6:32 PM

So the local police doesn't like it when I go hacking around other's stuffs :(

OrigamiRobot

@Sterno Nah, I just couldn't resist.

Sterno

@badp The proper reaction is to knock them out and stuff them in air vents.

Grace Note

@badp, @agent86, ~~my office~~ other room, now.

Ian Pugsley

@GraceNote uh oh!

OrigamiRobot

Somebody's in trouble. (I don't know how to music note)

Tristan

6:38 PM

Dota 2 is the worst game I've ever played.

murgatroid99

@Tristan I see you got caught up

Sterno

Why?

Tristan

@murgatroid99 Oh... No I didn't. <.< It was the banner image on Equestria daily.

LessPop_MoreFizz

informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/…

badp

@Sterno There's like 20 of them.

Sterno

6:42 PM

@badp Yeah. That's what makes it extra funny when you just leave one guy up to walk around the building, wondering where all his fellow cops went.

Grace Note

@badp That's a finite number. Just do it 20 times then.

If there's a limit to the number of cops, there's a limit to their ability to stop you!

badp

@GraceNote There is a limit to the amount of bullets too.

Ian Pugsley

@LessPop_MoreFizz I want to print this out and hang it up at work but I'm afraid that might send the wrong message

Grace Note

@badp You don't need to shoot to use a gun!

OrigamiRobot

@badp There is no limit to neck snaps.

badp

6:44 PM

@OrigamiRobot Battery is a hard limit to neck snaps.

At least the rate thereof

agent86

@badp you have to be patient, grasshopper.

OrigamiRobot

@badp If you're adding "in a timely manner" to the criteria, that's a different story.

user2334

@LessPop_MoreFizz I hate stuff like that: it makes it too easy for people to say "Your argument is X fallacy, check mate." which is—in itself—fallacious

Lazers

3

Q: Spectre intel terminal authorizations from ambient conversations

There are several conversations between NPCs on the Citadel that result in an authorization on the Spectre intel terminal. Some examples are the Asari commando and the nurse in the Hospital, Private Talavi and the sergeant in Normandy's Dock, and the C-Sec officers outside Purgatory. I would lik...

mass-effect-3

Sterno

@badp ^

badp

6:49 PM

@Sterno Somebody didn't get new lungs

I also haven't so it's good.

user2334

@Sterno None of those things in Adam Jensen's column require extended stamina, something running does. Presumably he lacks said stamina due to the burden of carrying a mass equivalent to a Geo Metro on his chest.

Ian Pugsley

@MarkTrapp nah man, this is the future - they've got lightweight polymers and metals and such like

Sterno

I was happy that Mass Effect 3 got rid of that whole "sprint for 3 seconds, rest for 6" trope

Ronan Forman

Time for more ultra-hardcore practice!

Grace Note

Y'know, y'all'd have much easier travel if you just stuck to jet boosters.

OrigamiRobot

6:52 PM

@RonanForman Nooooooooooooo

user2334

@Sterno It kept the "unlimited bullets" (for pseudo-scientificalistic reasons) thing though, right? Does it have health regen?

Ian Pugsley

@RonanForman we should set up a multiplayer server just for this

Ronan Forman

@OrigamiRobot Yessssssssssssss.

@IanPugsley Practice now?

Ian Pugsley

play it non-HC with the server and client mods

make sure @MarcoCeppi is set up for Sunday and all

user2334

@GraceNote Jensen has those, but their function appears to only be to prevent fall damage and make jumping take 10 seconds longer than it should so you can see a cool cut scene every time

Ian Pugsley

6:53 PM

also allow people who haven't played MC in ages to not die immediately :P

Sterno

@MarkTrapp ME3 didn't have unlimited bullets. It had shield regen and partial health regen. You get like 5 bars of health. You can regen a partial bar, but can't go past that bar

OrigamiRobot

@IanPugsley if Marco is running it.

Grace Note

@MarkTrapp This is incredibly inefficient. And I say this with the ability to transform into a plane sometimes.

Ian Pugsley

@OrigamiRobot whomever, then

user2334

@Sterno I thought one of the effects of the eponymous mass effect was that guns create bullets at will, and the limiting principle is overheating or something silly like that. Pretty sure I read that in a reddit comment somewhere, and reddit comments are never wrong.

OrigamiRobot

6:55 PM

Wrong ping

user2334

@GraceNote That seems like a great line item on a CV. "Do you know Python?" "No, but I can transform into an F-22." "Hired!"

Sterno

@MarkTrapp First game had something like that. 2nd game got rid of it. There was a funny conversation about it in the 3rd game

murgatroid99

@MarkTrapp I'm pretty sure that the guns fire tiny shards of metal, so they effectively never run out and heat is the problem, but it's not actually infinite

Sterno

You don't really have "ammo", you have "thermal clips" which you replace to cool down your weapon

which works exactly like ammo (in ME2 and ME3)

OrigamiRobot

@GraceNote I can fold myself into a plane.

James

6:57 PM

@OrigamiRobot Or a swan

user2334

@murgatroid99 @Sterno huh.

murgatroid99

@MarkTrapp I remember one of the books describing something like that