A few days ago, the automatic comment when voting to close a question as a duplicate was changed from:
Possible duplicate of [x]
to:
Does this answer your question? [x]
While some people may disagree with the change, the merits of this change and whether or not you prefer it are irrelevant to this post.
However, this comment makes literally zero sense if the proposed target question is unanswered. This is true no matter which side of the camp you're on.
While this situation is rare on main Q&A sites as the system blocks normal users from choosing an unanswered target unless it was posted by the same author, it is common on meta sites as no such block exists on those. Duplicate closures are often used on meta sites in the same manner as duplicate closures on issue trackers: if the same bug report or feature request was filed in the past, but didn't receive an answer, a newer one requesting the same thing will be closed as a duplicate.
Can we please change the comment for cases where the proposed target has no answers, to something like this?
Is this the same as your question? [x]
Also, for cases on main sites where the proposed target was posted by the same author:
It appears you may have already asked the same question at [x]