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As reference: How can I record demos of my gameplay?

I don't see what the difference between this question and other closed questions is. Some of my own questions were closed too. It was asking for a gui that helped improve my fps within Team Fortress 2, but it was closed as being "not constructive" and would instead "solicit debate from others".

Simply put, why are suggestions not allowed on ArQAde?

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    -1 Sorry, but you really need to provide more examples than just "other closed questions" for us to be able to address your question.
    – Wipqozn Mod
    Jan 24, 2013 at 16:36
  • Yeah, I'd like some examples if you could.
    – agent86
    Jan 24, 2013 at 16:45
  • I had another question that was closed, asking for fps boosters for TF2. I'm bad at wording questions, what I mean is: what's the difference between the question I posted and questions you close for soliciting suggestions? Isn't the question I posted techinically asking for suggestions?
    – childe
    Jan 24, 2013 at 19:04
  • The only non-duplicate closed question I can see of yours is this, which has nothing to do with suggestions. The question you linked is currently closed, although on the brink of being re-opened. I'd recommend choosing something a little less controversial as your example.
    – Frank
    Jan 24, 2013 at 19:07
  • @Retrosaur, I can't find the question you asked about "fps boosters" (and I can see them even when they're deleted). I think my answer is generally good, but with specific examples maybe I can help more.
    – agent86
    Jan 24, 2013 at 19:08
  • Can you search up the keyword Chris config
    – childe
    Jan 24, 2013 at 19:17
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    This is it, I believe. (10k only, as it was deleted). It was closed as a mod-rec, but since then I've campaigned (somewhat successfully?) to stop closing all of these as a category
    – agent86
    Jan 24, 2013 at 20:03

3 Answers 3

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The word/concept "suggest" is similar to "recommend" in that they can be used in both good and bad situations.

Both can potentially fall into the "not constructive" trap:

As it currently stands, this question is not a good fit for our Q&A format. We expect answers to be supported by facts, references, or specific expertise, but this question will likely solicit debate, arguments, polling, or extended discussion. If you feel that this question can be improved and possibly reopened, see the FAQ for guidance.

This is a close reason, and close reasons are used to suggest to question authors what they can do to improve a question. In the case of a "bad suggestion" question, consider offering good subjective or objective criteria for solutions to the problem.

If there's just no way to ask the question in a way that gives these criteria, it might just be a question that is not a good fit for the site.

When a question is detailed enough to fully frame a concrete problem, asking for a suggestion or a recommendation is a natural way to say "I need help with this."

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"Multiple different answers that are all correct and different" is not necessarily a question stink. Often there are multiple ways to skin a cat and it is also up to the answerers to not stop at the "what" should I use and also explain "how" and "why."

Take the sample question: it is objectively and constructively answered, without the pitfalls of shopping recommendation, by saying that when you have games such as Counter Strike you might want to use the ingame demo recording tool because you get (for example) to render it at a later time at full quality while taking a minimal toll on the system resources as you play; in all other cases you have to record the game as you play it, and you either use screen recording software such as Fraps or you can try doing fancy hardware things with your video outputs.

Now I agree that it is not practical or feasible to turn that question in one where this kind of answer is encouraged; there's bounties and a lot of votes and it's probably easier to start over from scratch. Still — I would like to take this opportunity to say that avoiding bad subjective questions is a burden that also lies on the answerers.

When answering a borderline question such as the sample one, do make extra sure you don't just say "what" but also "how" and more importantly "why."

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Questions that solicit suggestions are subjective in nature. Raven has already discussed this on another meta question:

Imagine that someone creates a new question on Geology.Stackexchange that can be summed up in four words: "Bring me a rock". Rocks (answers) flood in, and the asker is the sole governor to determine if the answer is correct, and should be accepted, or if the answerer has brought "the wrong rock".

In a sense questions like this become, "I'll know the right answer when I see it."

This is the wrong way to build a question.

The question you linked is a good example of such a question - there are multiple correct answers that are all different. As such, it doesn't fit well with the SE paradigm. I've voted to close the linked question as not constructive as it doesn't fit well with our Q&A format.

As a side note, we're always willing to discuss interesting subjective questions in chat - they just don't work well on the main site.

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  • I wrote a long reply, but it's too large to fit in this page border. You can find it here.
    – badp
    Jan 24, 2013 at 20:14
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    This is a misapplication of @ravendreamer's post. Multiple correct answers is not inherently problematic. The key problem is not a question with 'multiple correct answers', but rather, a question with multiple correct answers amongst which nobody but the asker is qualified to judge on any constructive or objective basis. Jan 24, 2013 at 23:51

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