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This question of mine, What games other than Ars Magica encourage Troupe play?, was just closed as off-topic. Specifically it was judged to be a question asking for recommendations.

This was never my intention. There is a specific mechanic from the game in question which I have heard has been reproduced/re-implemented in other games and I was curious to know which ones, since I had never played any. There is no subjective judgement here: a given game either does, or does not, use the mechanic in question.

This seemed to me to be pretty clear from the original question, although I have made a small edit to try and make it more so.

Presuming, then, that my original intention was clear, this question on factual relationships between games was still deemed off-topic. I'm struggling to see why this is problematic for the Q&A format?

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    \$\begingroup\$ Can you give an example of how an answer could be most correct under the question you asked? \$\endgroup\$
    – fectin
    Commented Aug 30, 2017 at 14:46
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    \$\begingroup\$ @fectin There is an assumption in the question which is that the number of games where this is an official option is quite small. I have played quite a number of systems and don't recall seeing it. So a "most correct" answer would be "Here they all are" (ideally with a design reference to connect to AM) or "your assumption is incorrect - here's a couple but in fact there are too many to list". That assumption is not stated in the question, because your comment teased it out of my head, but I guess it's not enough to save it. Which is a shame. \$\endgroup\$
    – Bob Tway
    Commented Aug 30, 2017 at 15:17
  • \$\begingroup\$ This may answer your question: rpg.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/6052/… \$\endgroup\$
    – mxyzplk
    Commented Aug 30, 2017 at 16:26

2 Answers 2

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As I said in a comment: There are thousands of published systems, many more are unpublished and any of them might have been influenced by troupe-like play from Ars Magica or a related game that uses a similar mechanism.

It is a shopping/recommendation because you are asking for games that feature a specific feature -- Are Game Recommendation Questions On Topic, Revisited. It is a list of things which stack does terribly and are generally closed as off topic. Finally, it is massively over broad. There could be hundreds of such, each listed as one answer making this a long list without a best possible answer.

[Aside] "Troupe style play" is a subjective feature. It can vary in meaning massively between Ars Magic players let alone between different games. Is it okay for me to play your main character or are all characters common? Do I get to pick a character or many to play at once?… Of course, if the question means "just like Ars Magica interprets it", then there is only one answer: Ars Magic. But that is beyond the point…

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    \$\begingroup\$ It's not a shopping question: this is no different than asking about a particular part of lore in a given game world or, say, what WOD books talk about Ghouls. There's no intention here to do a comparison as much as a focus on curating a list of what games have specifically called out "troupe-play". The crux of shopping/recommendation relies on that: your argument is incredibly flimsy (though I'm sure well-intentioned). \$\endgroup\$
    – PrometheanVigil
    Commented Aug 30, 2017 at 16:14
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    \$\begingroup\$ Well, we could reopen it then close it again as Too Broad instead of as a shopping question. \$\endgroup\$
    – doppelgreener
    Commented Aug 30, 2017 at 16:54
  • \$\begingroup\$ @doppelgreener But if it's not a long list, why would it still be too broad? Presuming nothing is going to convince people this is a valuable question, I would still like to get an answer. I can rephrase it a couple of ways. First, "Name an example of one system in which troupe play was directly inspired by Ars Magica". Second, "Here is a specific definition of Troupe play: what (few) games use it, or something similar". These seem to me of less value then what I actually asked, but they fit the format better. Are they likely to be closed? \$\endgroup\$
    – Bob Tway
    Commented Aug 30, 2017 at 19:13
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    \$\begingroup\$ @MattThrower Both of those sound likely to be closed, yes. \$\endgroup\$
    – doppelgreener
    Commented Aug 30, 2017 at 19:15
  • \$\begingroup\$ @doppelgreener OK. Well, it seems like a useful question is going to be bypassed by over-zealous modding, IMO. Y'all disagree and y'all get to set the rules. \$\endgroup\$
    – Bob Tway
    Commented Aug 30, 2017 at 19:46
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    \$\begingroup\$ @MattThrower There's a lot of generally good questions which just don't fit our format, which is why we collect a big list of forums people can also refer to. We're interested in collecting good questions only if and when those questions can work well inside our format, and working well is a minimum quality bar. \$\endgroup\$
    – doppelgreener
    Commented Aug 30, 2017 at 19:55
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    \$\begingroup\$ @Sardathrion I suggest adding a link to rpg.meta.stackexchange.com/q/1475/23970, possibly in the "there are thousands of published systems" line. That meta's relevant, and it has lots of links to questions like the one OP posed and specific discussions of why/how they're difficult. \$\endgroup\$
    – nitsua60 Mod
    Commented Aug 30, 2017 at 23:21
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    \$\begingroup\$ @MattThrower Questions that solicit broad lists are not a good fit in any stack because there can be no best answer. So asking for games that feature X (aka game shopping/recommendation) are now closed. We used to accept it, but it generated more noise than anything useful. Now, comparing two different systems that use troupe play or asking about the main benefit/failure of troupe play or asking how the authors of Ars Magica came up with it… All of these could be good questions which I strongly encourage you to ask. 1/2 \$\endgroup\$
    – Sardathrion - against SE abuse
    Commented Aug 31, 2017 at 7:09
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    \$\begingroup\$ @MattThrower Whereas compiling a list of links to rpg.now with popularity votes gives nothing of use. I know many French role players used Rolemaster in troupe play in the 1980s. It had nothing to do with Ars Magica and came before it was even known to many players let alone owned and read. So, is Rolemaster a troupe style play game? Yes, because it was used as such. No, because there is no formal rules for it. Is that a good answer or not?… Hopefully that makes things clearer. \$\endgroup\$
    – Sardathrion - against SE abuse
    Commented Aug 31, 2017 at 7:13
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In this instance the features isn't "specific" (or at least not specific enough) and to ask for a list of all games is too broad and never ending as new games are constantly being produced.

If the feature was a specific game mechanic or about the origins and development of a more general mechanic we could be in business.

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