How do we ask and answer subjective questions?

Question

On RPG.SE, we deal with a fair number of questions that don't have a strict, objectively correct answer. Some game rules questions do, but we also have a good number of questions about how to run a game, how to play a game, which game meets certain criteria, how to handle issues within gaming groups, et cetera, which are by their nature subjective in part or in total. Are these questions on topic and how do we ask and answer them in the spirit of Stack Exchange, where we want people sharing real expertise and not random opinions?

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Answer 1

This topic was initially addressed in the beginning days of the site under How much subjectiveness is OK? but our understanding of this issue and best practices surrounding it have changed somewhat so this is the new normative guidance on RPG.SE and subjective questions.

Some, but not all, subjective questions are on topic, and there are rules you need to follow in answering them. Only constructive questions and answers are on topic.

Asking Subjective Questions

Many questions on this SE will have some element of subjectivity, except for pure history and rules questions. "What's the best way to do something" has some to a lot of subjectivity within it depending on what the topic is.

Read the site help center under What types of questions should I avoid asking. It's basically all about the boundary between good subjective (constructive) and bad subjective (speculative) questions.

Rule #1 for any SE is "You should only ask practical, answerable questions based on actual problems that you face." Most qualities of a bad subjective question flow out of deviating from that basic premise. Polls, hypotheticals, rants, brainstorms, list questions, and idle curiousity where there is no real problem to solve do not qualify as a legitimate question. These kinds of questions will be downvoted, closed, and/or deleted.

Answering Subjective Questions

The blog post Good Subjective, Bad Subjective is the gold standard for understanding how to make good on topic answers to subjective questions. The heart of it is using the Back It Up! principle, which states that you should only answer based on:

• Something that happened to you personally
• Something you can back up with a reference

Here, "happened to you personally" means real play experience. We understand that some people believe that given their wide experience in games they think they can tell someone the right technique or system or solution to use for their particular need even though they haven't done it themselves - but when everyone does that, it leads to opinion-laden chaos. "Good Subjective" is constructive and is based on experience and expertise. "Bad Subjective" is speculative and is based on conjecture and opinion. Speculative answers will be downvoted, commented on ("Back It Up!"), and/or deleted.

A popular specific subjective question type is the game recommendation question; see Are game recommendation questions on topic? for guidance on that but it boils down to the same thing; if you haven't used that game for the questioners' purpose, don't suggest it. Expertise stems from actually doing something (or having something specific you can cite like a fact or someone else's experience); armchair theory is not welcome here.

Why?

Some new users don't understand why we are so strict in our format on RPG.SE. The reason is that there are many discussion forums out there in the world, and if you want to conduct random discussion and have free flow of ideas you can use those. Stack Exchange sites present a pure question and answer format, where experts answer well defined questions. It makes the whole site full of high value information as the community collaborates and votes on high quality answers so that we can capture the wisdom of many gamers while minimizing noise. We would rather have fewer, longer and more complete answers that have passed peer review by other gamers than many dashed-off and unsupported thoughts. Think of us as being midway between a wiki (one answer only, wrangled over and refined by all users) and a forum (an answer per user, only refined through long discussion if you're lucky). We don't aspire to fit every informational need, but when you want a well thought out answer to a real problem you have with gaming, we believe this is the most effective format.