TRPG General Chat

BESW

00:04

Escalation determines the maximum severity of potential outcomes, and it happens when you add dice to your pool representing new threats you're adding to the conflict. As I remember from many years ago, bringing a fist to a gun fight doesn't remove the gun dice from the pool, so it doesn't remove the potential for gun-level severity fallout.

At some point in the conflict a gun was wielded, so there's still a chance somebody got shot.

BESW

00:20

(If I recall correctly, DitV as written is pretty materialistic and literal; guns are always more lethal than fists no matter the context.)

Mark Wells

00:36

That does seem like a very strange example, though: should there be shooting contests in a system/setting where the assumption is that guns = the last step of escalation?

BESW

Nah, it's pretty reasonable for the fiction.

Guns aren't the LAST step, they're the most LETHAL step. You can totally start with guns and then go to swinging fists later because you're running out of gun dice and need to add your fist dice. But it doesn't step down the lethality: escalation determines the most lethal force used over the course of the conflict, not the lethality of the last force used in the conflict.

(Also, guns by default have some of the best dice in the game, but it'd be reasonable for someone to use their customizations over time so that their fists have better dice than their particular gun.)

(or any other quality; DitV's dice-valued qualities are open and phrasal so you can assign conflict dice values to ANYthing the table allows. Your dog, your singing voice, the ghost of your grandmother, whatever. One of the default qualities everyone starts the game with is a cloak that is the physical expression of their authority in the land.)

MikeQ

Wait, grandma ghosts can be used instead of guns to resolve conflicts?

BESW

Presuming the table agrees that the effects of grandma ghosts are such that you can apply her to that particular conflict.

A big part of the conflict mechanism is maneuvering narratively to permit your best qualities to come into play.

MikeQ

Never bring a gun to a ghost grandma fight

4

Mark Wells

OK, so a shooting contest can be a conflict (because anything can be a conflict), and if it is, it's a potentially lethal conflict (because everyone has their guns out)?

BESW

00:46

Yes.

Basically, in DitV a conflict is presented as rounds of poker-like raises and holds. Everybody declares what they're using in the conflict and rolls the associated dice. The resulting numbers on each die are what you've got available to you for bidding.

If you start to run out of dice, or have bad dice, you can add new things to the conflict in order to avoid dropping out.

But when you take hits (have to use too many dice to add up to meet the current bid), that means Bad Stuff is liable to happen as a result of the conflict--and it may not happen to you, it could happen to another PC or to any NPCs who are nearby.

And the potential severity of the Bad Stuff is determined by the stuff everybody used in the conflict to justify rolling dice.

If somebody draws a gun, even just to threaten with it and with no intent to shoot, that means somebody MIGHT get shot.

This is the ethical core of the gameplay: what are you willing to risk happening to bystanders in order to get your way?

(Disclaimer: I do not recommend Dogs in the Vineyard. It's got a clever idea but its execution uses real-life religions and marginalized people as exotic allegories, and it's designed to provoke real-life ethical consternation at the table without any tools for handling that safely.)

Bardic Wizard

01:07

I have finished all but one of the Christmas gifts I have to make!!!! Except now i might have to make another one as well

So maybe I’m not done after all

AncientSwordRage

01:22

@BardicWizard progress is progress though

@BESW Good Taste But Awful Execution

As they say

BESW

Heh. I think it goes a bit beyond that, but it's probably not necessary to dissect the game and its context too much.

NautArch

@ThomasMarkov so far so bad on that armor question.

BESW

Just, I've seen people thinking that if I'm talking about a game that means I recommend it, so I'm clarifying that this is not the case, especially for DitV.

Bardic Wizard

01:38

@AncientSwordRage it turns out I actually didn’t even finish the one I thought I had cause it’s two inches too short

I’m going to guess that the amount of time it’s taken me to finish Christmas presents this year is at least tangentially correlated with the fact that I hit 200.0 minutes of playing the hat dash game on the winterbash website just now

Maybe I’ve been a little distracted

AncientSwordRage

@BESW do you have any suggestions for other games that do have ghost grandmas?

BESW

There's an absolute ton of games with open-ended phrasal qualities that are limited only by what the group agrees is reasonable.

AncientSwordRage

@BardicWizard I'm sure you'll manage something, we've all agreed here that presents may arrive late and none of my relatives seem too concerned

BESW

Balikbayan has at least one playbook with a LET THE DEAD SPEAK move.

The Santelmo playbook is for a character who was created as a machine powered by the grief and fear that lurk between humans and death, and is now waking up as it returns to the spiritual forces left behind Earth.

(I love Balikbayan's setting and themes so much.)

Edwardians with Hatpins vs. Street Harassers #Shorts

►

Bardic Wizard

02:07

@BESW what’s balikbayan?

BESW

Balikbayan: Returning Home by Jamila R. Nedjadi. In this Cyberpunk-Supernatural game, you are Elementals on the run from the CORP. You have returned home to a city that's fallen apart: can you bring about the rebirth of Machine-Magic before your masters catch up with you? In this daring game that based on the innovative Belonging Outside Belonging system, create an amazing story based on Filipino folklore, myth, and legend.

In common usage, balikbayan means a Filipino who lives outside the country for a long time but returns or intends to return, and/or the packages of money and goods they send to their families back home.

Ben

Hullo thur

BESW

In the game, it refers to the supernatural powers and beings enslaved within machinery and taken by humanity to the stars, now escaped and returning to Earth to build something new of their own.

AncientSwordRage

@BESW they sound good

@Ben hallo

BESW

[wave]

Ben

02:20

How is everyone this [existential dread of Christmas looming how did it come so fast it was October only a week ago I swear] afternoon?

AncientSwordRage

@BESW sounds really good

@Ben I'm good!

You?

BESW

@Ben Panicking about getting this not-Christmas card done in time.

KorvinStarmast

@MikeQ we are about to start, if you are still able to make it

Ben

Currently at work managing a network and server rebuild; partner is at home dealing with two unruly boys that have been acting so well for the past 3 days, then suddenly out of nowhere are misbehaving worse than I personally have ever seen, invited my parents to Christmas dinner with the rest of my partner's family (which we are both dreading), but we're very excited to see what christmas does bring.

The boys have got new bikes and new archery gear

@BESW is it a joint effort (lots of people contributing to the one card), or is it for a bunch of people (therefore requiring an extended message), or is it a home-made project card?

Bardic Wizard

@Ben I made a hat 2 inches too short and now I’m hastily trying to fix it but stopped to untangle a new skein and so I’ve lost about the last half hour. Christmas comes too fast

BESW

02:33

I'm drawing and animating a digital card to be sent to family and friends.

Ben

@BESW Ohh that's very cool!

@BardicWizard I couldn't agree more haha.

BESW

I bit off more than I can chew with the animation, unfortunately.

Ben

I just relaised that it's too late to post the presents I got for my sisters that are out of town.

Bardic Wizard

02:47

@BESW I don’t think you can eat animation.... </making-a-tasteless-joke-about-a-metaphor>

Ben

@BardicWizard You are what you eat, as they say.

I'm noodles

BESW

Hey, quick question from a friend: what's a couple good brands for a Windows laptop?

Hot RPG Questions

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Q: Can the Telekinetic feat from Tasha's be used to shove an object 5 feet?

RAW, the feat clearly states "you can try to telekinetically shove one creature," and we know there are no size limitations. You could attempt to shove a giant or a dragon. RAI -- is there some reason it would be game-breaking to extend this to objects that aren't nailed down (like STR-based Push...

Ben

@BESW Acer; Lenovo; Dell

Top 3

What's it for specifically?

BESW

03:04

Cheap durable homework laptop.

Ben

Yup. That'd be my picks then

Probably lean towards Dell

BESW

Thanks!

BESW

03:18

[grumble] Why did I choose a gecko for my second animation project in fifteen years.

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BESW

I have yet to master Scrivener.

Akixkisu

@BESW it is such a good tool.

BESW

I need to master the PDF export markdown so I can get it to do chapter-specific headers.

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05:29

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Hot RPG Questions

07:34

7

Q: "Escalate" the other way around

Can escalation go the other way around? such as from gunshot to melee or from melee to just talking? For example, two players were having a shooting contest, and I called for acuity + will, at some point the losing player decided to "escalate" and punch the contender on the face. Other example: T...

dogs-in-the-vineyard

trogdor

07:44

@HotRPGQuestions I think you are looking for "what is de-escalate" for 400 Alex

XD

honestly I don't think the game has a de-escalation mechanic? but I played it like once 5 years ago or something so I dunno?

I think we got a lot of the rules wrong too

it might,... even have been longer than 5 years,.....

BESW

08:03

About nine years ago.

trogdor

08:14

wow ok

I was searching chat to see if I could find out when it was

then I got called away for chores

actually I have something like 8 years from chat, maybe stretch it to 9 because it's just about the end of the year now

then again I guess we probably played it a little before the first time one of us mentioned playing it

so 9 seems about right

BESW

It was well before either of us joined SE.

trogdor

hmm

BESW

We were still playing 3.5 at the time, and we were already playing 4e when we joined SE. That puts it before summer of 2011.

trogdor

it might have been longer than 9 years

it might have been like 10

oops hand slipped

BESW

My notes have it in early 2011.

trogdor

08:21

no I was not playing any tabletop RPG 20 years ago no

XD

ah

that's right you practice the arcane wizardry of keeping notes about these things

XD

BESW

Well, I haven't updated THAT list for about seven years.

But for games where I made any digital prep or notes, I have the metadata on the files to date them.

I don't have DitV metadata but I've got metadata on D&D campaigns that I know roughly their relationship to that one.

trogdor

ah

fair enough

I,... I can't do that kind of thing

BESW

Matt was with us, so it couldn't have been before the UOG Era which started spring 2010.

trogdor

I tried keeping a diary and a journal and a dream journal (not all at once) I just can't force myself to update something like that every day

BESW

That narrows it down to between mid 2010 and early 2011.

trogdor

08:25

especially because I like,... most days was putting really banal stuff in there just,... not interesting to write, think about, or read XD

I know this because I did literally all three of those things and was bored at each interval

BESW

08:54

Your semi-regular reminder that the D&D 4e DMG advice was Not Bad, Actually.

3

The 4e DMG also went through GM prep by hours available. "If you've got one hour for prep, focus on these things. If you have two hours, add these things," up to five hours.

trogdor

lol

BESW

I just appreciate so hard that the DMG is like "Yeah, this happens and it's totally cool, here's how to support it."

trogdor

yeah

4e was surprisingly good for,... D&D

XD

although I admit at the time the thing I always appreciated the most was the innovations they made with the mechanics

because every class was still unique but there wasn't a huge power disparity between most of them

besides like, Seeker and Vampire mostly

BESW

You were engaging with it more often from a player angle, so that makes sense. You also appreciated the system's openness to reskinning mechanics and improvising skill applications.

trogdor

Seeker was mediocre and Vampire was,... someone was on something making the Vampire class

I don't know XD

@BESW I liked a lot of things about it XD

kviiri

09:16

@trogdor :D that's a great way to put it

trogdor

lol

I mean, honestly it's not even like I no longer like 4e it's more like it does a thing I already,... get from games I can play solo?

and most people I play with are either burned out on it or not interested in it or tried it and didn't like it or are more interested in other games

so I don't see a reason to play it anymore really

it was great for the time when we were playing it, it's not something I think I need anymore

if I was looking specifically for a wargame type thing 4e would be at or near the top of the list

but that's just not what I look for now

(partly because I can scratch that itch with like, video games instead if I ever have it)

I realize I just said a lot about it but the way I feel about 4e is complicated XD

I think it's the best version of D&D for what D&D does best

but I also don't think I ever have to play it again and I can still have a very fulfilling TTRPG life XD

BESW

09:31

That, and the online builder/compendium elements mean that it's one of the few TRPGs for which active support by its creator actually mattered, and the discontinuation of that support tangibly affects the quality of play.

trogdor

09:49

true

it would be a lot harder to play now

AncientSwordRage

11:34

2 days ago, by AncientSwordRage

Second thought, hacking 4e powers to be stunts and handing them out like candy

it could work

BESW

It's definitely a thing I'd do!

A lot of those powers are super evocative and have intense narrative potential.

Hrmm. [ponderates]

Mark would probably translate to... turn one dice to a - after rolling.

AncientSwordRage

@BESW The rate of pondering is through the roof!

@BESW even if you didn't translate all of them

BESW

Oh yeah, mostly the class-defining features.

Everything else can be handled with spending fate points on declarations, or creative application of the actions using character aspects to justify context.

AncientSwordRage

How would pushing work? Fate Core doesn't seem interested in grid based combat

BESW

So, push/pull/slide are tools to achieve certain effects. I'd skip the tool and go straight to the effect. Like...

> Shield Bash. When I make a successful melee attack with my shield, I can also push the target into an adjacent zone.

But often, it doesn't need a feat at all:

vicky_molokh- unsilence Monica

11:52

@AncientSwordRage Zones are a thing, and IIRC there are Stunts that allow pushing enemies on an attack (probably in Mecha vs. Kaiju, but I might be misremembering).

Whether they're worthwhile Stunts is another matter of course.

BESW

"I use Overcome to Forcefully pull the stormtrooper into my zone with my whip."

AncientSwordRage

@vicky_molokh-unsilenceMonica yeah but zones are not the same as grids, because grids would imply discrete spaces to move between, such as 5ft squares.

@BESW that makes sense

BESW

"With a series of quick feints, I use Fight to back the panther into the shipping crate by creating the advantage Boxed in."

AncientSwordRage

4dF

BESW

"I use Deceive to slide my dance partner into position under the chandelier without him noticing. I think that's an opposed Overcome check? or am I creating an advantage like Perfectly positioned?"

(The answer is, whichever makes sense in context and it's likely either is reasonable. Fate's not picky like that.)

A big thing about Fate that took me a while to learn is, stunts are totally optional. They're extra mechanics to sink your teeth into, but it works just as well without them if the table is willing to allow the effect of rule-breaking stunts to be created via fate point expenditure and/or just letting aspects give permissions as appropriate.

Stunts are great tools to focus the game and a character, to reinforce and encourage behaviours; or to hang extra mechanics that pump up the system, automating bits that would otherwise need to be negotiated during play.

But almost everything a stunt does is either give a bonus or break a rule and fate points already do that.

(I like stunts a lot! But I find my relationship to their role in the toolkit changes over time.)

AncientSwordRage

12:09

interesting

BESW

Someday I'd like to try a Fate game with no skills or approaches and no stunts, just aspects and fate points.

Each useful character aspect gives +1 to a roll, +2 if it's your high concept. Everything else is done with aspect permissions and the point economy.

AncientSwordRage

seems interesting... what affect would that have do you think?

BESW

I think it'd boost the fate point economy and its cycles of crisis and victory; one thing I've noticed about stunts is that they have a chilling effect on the passing of points back and forth.

I'd like to see how it impacts the kinds of actions that are taken; without needing to fit a given action's narrative into a given skill or approach, things get a lot more open-ended. That could be good (more creative freedom) and bad (too many choices without enough guidance) but solid aspect writing would alleviate most of the bad, I think.

BESW

12:31

I've been noodling on this for about four years but haven't yet actually done it:

Oct 5 '16 at 21:27, by BESW

@SevenSidedDie I'm planning to experiment with the aspects only version of roll modifiers as laid out in the Three Rocketeers, but I'll probably actually be using it in a Fate of the TMNT game.

BESW

12:46

@nitsua60 [wave]

nitsua60

@BESW hiya

last day of 2020 school for the kids today!

BESW

Oooh. How's that feel?

AncientSwordRage

13:32

heya @nitsua60!

Has anyone else looked at

237

Q: Swag is coming back!

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discussion featured swag

NautArch

howdyhowdy

@ThomasMarkov that really is great answer by quadratic to the plate question

Thomas Markov

It is. It's a great answer to an on topic question that wasn't even asked.

kviiri

13:51

@trogdor Yeah, this is exactly what I mean

NautArch

@ThomasMarkov that, too. But others don't seem to agree. oh wells.

i'm a bit shocked at the downvotes to my meta, but meh

I think we can reopen this question

kviiri

The bits that I find 4e to do well are the bits that I like in DnD (in which case I find the 4e implementation to be superior), the bits that 4e doesn't do that well are bits that I find DnD to implement rather shakily in any case

(disclaimer: I've only got substantial first-hand experience in 4e and 5e)

Thomas Markov

@NautArch Yes, but I dont think Darth's answer is valid anymore.

NautArch

@ThomasMarkov it's not and they don't care.

and neither do the mods, so I guess let it be with a downvote.

Thomas Markov

Flag NAA?

NautArch

13:57

@ThomasMarkov disputed

Thomas Markov

Custom flag: "dispute this bruh"

(didnt actually do that)

@NautArch Probably was disputed in review queue, not by mods.

NautArch

as well you shouldn't :P

@ThomasMarkov oh! I thought those flags went to mods. My apologies to the mods!

Thomas Markov

Yeah, it got 1 recommend deletion and 2 looks okay in the review queue.

AncientSwordRage

@ThomasMarkov I seems to answer the title of the question? Or am I missing something?

NautArch

Maybe declined is mods, and disputed is community

@AncientSwordRage See the meta for the confusion.

The question really isn't clear, to me. Title alone doesn't make a question.

Thomas Markov

14:00

@AncientSwordRage The question asks rather specifically for information outside of 5th edition, that answer gives information only from 5th edition.

> I'm asking about the lore side of this spell in different editions of D&D, so my question is focused on different source materials (e.g. official books, magazines, maybe tweets etc) and what the Mage Hand has been classified as across editions.

AncientSwordRage

@ThomasMarkov I'm talking about the plate question

Thomas Markov

Oh haha

AncientSwordRage

Naut mentioned the plate question to you, you said it wasn't what OP wanted, and I got confused

NautArch

yeah, we were talking about both

sorry for the confusion

Mage hand lore history should be reopened.

Darth's answer should be removed if not updated

Plate question, tho...

Thomas Markov

breast plate lore and history should be closed.

Someone_Evil

14:02

NAA also go into LQR review which can mark it disputed if the review ends as "Looks Good"

We can still see those flags, but usually just let the review queue handle it

Thomas Markov

Its custom flags that go straight to the mods.

NautArch

@Someone_Evil Gotcha. WHat are your views on the plate question now?

Adrendire never responded and we have had several answers that had to be deleted and flagged.

AncientSwordRage

@ThomasMarkov it's exceptionally close to being on topic though

Thomas Markov

@AncientSwordRage Agree, and I explained how it could be easily reworded to be on topic in my meta response, and that Quadratic Wizard actually answered the on topic version of the question.

Someone_Evil

How would it need to edited/refined be clearly asking for QW's answer, in your opinion(s)?

Thomas Markov

14:06

Just to ask about the development of the terminology through the editions.

NautArch

@Someone_Evil The meta conversation holds a lot of information there about what folks think. I personally don't know, and it's why I asked the meta (and presumably why you asked adrendire for more info)

I really want to make a snarky comment back to kryan about policy from the comments under @ThomasMarkov's answer.

MikeQ

Best not to. That way lies madness and arguments in the comments.

2

NautArch

@MikeQ oh, i won't.

i just want to :P

Thomas Markov

That's what discord is for, right?

Not sure asserting your opinion as policy is fair play, but okay.

NautArch

we dislike policy except when we agree with policy

3

Someone_Evil

14:18

Well, policy is that questions asking for designer reasons are off topic because of the answers they inevitably draw, our guidance is that history of gaming questions are on topic because they don't need the intent and (usually) don't draw the same problematic answers

NautArch

@Someone_Evil Kryan seemed to be suggesting there is a policy and guidance on history of gaming, but what is that? And this question does not clearly seem to be asking a history of gaming based on the language. It can be interpreted as such, but that's not what it's asking.

And that's why I asked what it was asking, because it really isn't clear. OP didn't want to answer, and the two current meta answers suggest that it's not clear and how to clear it up to make it on topic.

Medix2

@ThomasMarkov I mean, the topicality aspect is policy

Someone_Evil

14:36

Ok, maybe I'm being slow today, but I'm starting to think the problem is different interpretations of what "origin" means; one side reads it as "why the term was chosen" whereas the other reads "how was it used outside/before use in the game". Does that seem reasonable?

Thomas Markov

@Someone_Evil Yes, and both of those are off topic.

Medix2

Also the fact that "rules intent is usually off-topic" and "rules intent is on-topic" have very similar scores and then I've also heard "rules intent for 5e is off-topic because people are terrible at actually answering them and voting well" thrown around... *sigh* agreement is hard to find

NautArch

@Medix2 yep, and that's why it'd have been helpful to narrow down the question to something that wasn't problematic (like what QW answered.)

AncientSwordRage

@ThomasMarkov why is the second one off topic?

Thomas Markov

tbh, there has to be a better system for determining topcality than post-hoc examination of the quality of answers.

2

Medix2

14:37

@AncientSwordRage Better suited to History. SE

Thomas Markov

@AncientSwordRage Cuz it doesnt have anything to do with RPGs.

NautArch

not answering, but needs one more vote to reopen.

@ThomasMarkov Although sometimes a question is borderline, and how the community answers pushes the needle one way or the other.

Medix2

@ThomasMarkov I feel it should've been closed as, well, anything really

NautArch

And on this one, we've got several bad answers, and one answer that's good but may not actually answer what is asked.

RevenantBacon

@NautArch Answers should not influence whether a question is on or off topic.

3

AncientSwordRage

14:39

@Medix2 only if it's on topic there, and I'm not convinced it is?

Medix2

But do keep in mind the entire reason design intent is off-topic is because people answered with speculation and lack of citations which site users upvoted.

RevenantBacon

If answers end up being off-topic, then we need to remind the people posting those answers that they are off topic

Not close the question

BESW

Yeah, topicality has always and by design, across the ENTIRE Stack Exchange, been based on whether a subject can be answered within Stack guidelines with minimal curation.

2

The "with minimal curation" part means that patterns in answer quality are a crucial element in determining topicality.

AncientSwordRage

@BESW that's more a holistic view of all answers, not one single answer

Medix2

I think two different things are getting talked about at once XD

NautArch

14:42

@RevenantBacon but they do and have! And that's why things came in place to make questions off topic because things that should be on topic can't be because of how the community answers.

BESW

Like the system or not, that's the system: the pearls, not sand attitude means answers are the final determiner of the Stack's value judgement on questions.

Medix2

@NautArch +100

RevenantBacon

@NautArch And like I said, then we need to remind the users that are posting off-topic answers that those answers are off topic.

Medix2

@RevenantBacon They tried

AncientSwordRage

"how was it used outside/before use in the game". is still relatable to D&D though, because it establishes it as being related to the game: "It was in a popular fiction book" vs. "It's a historical term" are answers that would make it appropriate on completely different stacks. The only unifying factor is that it care that it is now a game term.

Medix2

14:44

Users posted answers that were speculative and lacked citations. People upvoted these answers regardless. Thus, the only way to delete them was flagging for mods, which also, of course, resulted in big reputation losses (that's never fun) all the while giving the mods plenty more work the community should have been doing itself and couldn't/wouldn't/didn't

AncientSwordRage

The question aims to solve a problem for gamers, "Why is this game term not found IRL?". I know it's phrased with emphasis on "I can't find it IRL", but the unstated fact that they only looked for it because it was a game term is important

NautArch

@RevenantBacon when those answers get upvoted, they can't be deleted except by Mods. And I don't think the mods want to do that.

Medix2

Important Note: I was not a Stack member at the time of the discussion of the topicality of designer intent. These are merely what I've heard from users who were and discussions that persist today or from reading older ones

BESW

RPG.SE spent years trying to make, for example, game recommendation questions "work" for the site by teaching people how to answer properly. Personalized comments on every answer, generic reminder labels on every question, zealous voting, every tool in the kit was used until nothing was left and nothing had changed in a sustainable way.

NautArch

@AncientSwordRage does it? It's not clear to me. You may interpret that, but I don't think it's clear.

RevenantBacon

14:45

@Medix2 While a reputation loss isn't fun, gaining undeserved reputation isn't really fair. Speculative answers are specifically not allowed

NautArch

and it doesn't mean you're wrong, it just means they aren't being clear as to what their question is.

BESW

The questions were all great, but the extremely poor-quality answers were so consistent and in such a high ratio that the topic had to be dropped. Reluctantly, and to great discontent.

NautArch

"This is why we can't have nice things"

2

RevenantBacon

@NautArch Story of my life

AncientSwordRage

@NautArch if in doubt, assume the title is accurate

BESW

14:48

(Note: I'm not defending the Stack's attitude here. I consider "pearls, not sand" a damning declaration of the Stack Overlords' priorities and ethics. But it's the sea we swim in here and any given site in the system can only swim against the current so hard.)

NautArch

@AncientSwordRage No way. I"ve been burned by different questions in title/body. Title and body need to match. One does not override the other. If anything, the title is a summary, but the body is the actual question.

AncientSwordRage

I guess the way I stated it isn't exactly how I read it, but it's still an RPG expert/enthusiast problem

NautArch

@AncientSwordRage It could be, yes.

BESW

0

Q: Is focus on a question's title rather than the text acceptable?

I feel that some of our users have taken the change in norms with subjective questions too far. This comment is the last straw. Any actual experience with allowing players to vote what can or cannot be killed? – {Mołot 22 mins ago} It reflects a complete misunderstanding of the answer...

discussion specific-question answers

Medix2

I definitely read the plate question as simply asking "what was the first use of these terms?"

BESW

14:49

16

Q: Are questions with title opposite to text ok?

There are a large number of questions like this one ("Does a Warforged barbarian get fatigued?") one or this one ("Can a Summoner Cast the Summon Monster Spell With His Eidolon Out?"), where the question asked in the title is the opposite of the one asked in the text of the question, i.e. a 'yes'...

discussion questions

AncientSwordRage

@NautArch then someone needs to do some editing, but from experience, people seem to assign more weight to it

BESW

17

Q: What to do if I can't manage to find a suitable and accurate title for my question?

I'm currently writing a question for the main RPG stack site. As usual, I start writing the title first, then the question. But while I was writing my question, another question added to the first, making the question two. I don't think these need to be separated to be answered separately, so p...

discussion questions

NautArch

Heck, it may even probably be. But until OP makes it clear, requiring the stack to parse it correctly doesn't seem right.

BESW

General consensus has always been that the title is an eye-catcher and the question itself is the body text.

AncientSwordRage

@NautArch I read that question as, Title: Question summary, Body: here is the research I've already done.

Medix2

14:52

Reading the plate thing again... I'm not sure what's unclear anymore

NautArch

@AncientSwordRage I'mnot saying you didn't interpret it correctly .I'm saying we shouldn't need to interpret.

Medix2

"What's the origin of these terms [...] Is there historical use of them? [...] Were they coined for D&D (or similar)?" They seem like a very unified question to me

AncientSwordRage

@NautArch I'm saying it seemed so intuitive to me I didn't realise I had done any 'Interpretation' beyond basic comprehension

@Medix2 agreed

NautArch

@AncientSwordRage Sure but that's personal. And ignores other users who are having that issue.

AncientSwordRage

@NautArch I guess so

NautArch

14:54

@AncientSwordRage But the two bullet points they want answered are: 1. History.se and 2.speculative.

How a pop culture term may have influenced the designers?

But 1 xould also be answered here by our experts.

2 is clearly off topic.

1 is what QW answered

Medix2

@NautArch It doesn't mention that? It just asks whether it was coined (first used) in pop culture

AncientSwordRage

@NautArch no they want " any information on the origin of the terminology ", the list is just a suggestion on how to answer, because it says 'such as'

NautArch

But with all of that is why I was asking Adrendire to clarify, and they refused.

AncientSwordRage

@NautArch suggestion: delete that part of the question

NautArch

I am generally not a fan of editing other questions like that without approval by OP.

Others may do so, but it always feels icky to me.

and I'd rather OP do it.

If only simply as a learning exercise.

@AncientSwordRage Showing how they want a question answered affects topicality.

AncientSwordRage

14:57

@NautArch it is icky

@NautArch agreed

NautArch

ALl of your viewpoints are based on your interpretation of the question, not the actual question.

So we either go with that, and leave interpretation up to the community, or we try to help querents post questions that fit and are clear.

Medix2

TIL questions are hard...

3

NautArch

And I always thought the latter was our preference, based on the flag we can actually put up about that.

But maybe I'm wrong.

AncientSwordRage

@NautArch thats true of everyone though, but we're trying to reach a consensus ...

BESW

@NautArch I'm reminded of the allegory of the cave, AKA "Plato's kidnapping lawsuit."

AncientSwordRage

14:58

Here is a question I tried to ask on English SE:

2

Q: What to call a winged unicorn?

What is a word for a winged unicorn or horned pegasus? I've heard a few ways of describing such a fantastical beast, but I don't know which is correct. They are known as both Alicorns (ali- supposedly from ala (wing), and corn meaning horn), as well as Pegi(a)corn, a portmanteau of Pegasus and...

single-word-requests etymology

but it got closed, which is what I think would happen to if we tried to ask the plate question on history.se

Medix2

Oh, that's a very interesting close reason

BESW

Oh yeah, "too narrow" was removed as a close reason a while back.

NautArch

@AncientSwordRage depends on which part of the plate question.

AncientSwordRage

@BESW they don't/didn't seem to care

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