What makes a good question?

Question

Hello community,

since we are always looking to expand our Help Center with information and tips on TibiaQA, I wanted to ask what, in your mind, makes a good question? Are there any specific requirements that you have to consider the question good and worthy of your up-vote? Please share your feedback here. If you have any examples of good questions, you are welcome to attach them here as well.

Answer 1

I will separate this answer in different sections , the first part will be the bases of a good questions and how to recognized a good questions , and in the second part I will show you some  examples of good questions and why they are that good.

---

• CONCISE: The question have to be clear and easy to understand.
• NEW: The question have to be unique , check before you create the question to see if there is already a question for your doubt.
• RICHNESS: Try asking questions that can help many people, the questions that are not opinion based are more usefull for making a good database of information related to the game that will have more uses.
• SIMPLE: Don't make a question that involves many things , is better to make 2 or 3 questions instead of one so in this way will be easier to people to search what are they looking for.
• TIMELESS: Do not ask questions that have a short duration, the questions must be timeless.
• GOOD TITLE: The title have to fit the description of the question , so with this we avoid the confusion to the people, also is important to dont make it very long, the simplest the goodest , this also helps on internet searchs outside the website.
• TEMPLATES: If its possible make a template for your question , this will help the people to put a more reliable answers and the information will be more easy to read and to understand for everyone.
• OPINION BASED: In case you want to do an opinion based question you should avoid this 2 types:
  • ask for a single-player story (eg. "Do you have any unusual habit in Tibia?", "Why you love your vocation?", "What is the biggest war you remember?")
  • ask about a "favorite" stuff (eg. "What is your favorite outfit / achievement / quest / hunting place?"....) - most of those questions can be easily fixed to be more general, like "What is the best looking outfit?" - note the addition of the specific, but opinion-based criterion - "best looking"

---

Example  : What are the best charms for each vocation?

---

Another examples of good questions:

https://www.tibiaqa.com/3674/do-creatures-killed-after-i-log-out-count-in-my-bestiary

https://www.tibiaqa.com/3067/how-to-use-elemental-wall-runes-correctly

https://www.tibiaqa.com/22/is-it-possible-to-have-2-prey-on-the-same-monster

https://www.tibiaqa.com/5721/does-the-raid-alert-after-unlocking-an-area-also-apply-unannounced-raids

Answer 2

Asking a question following the recommended standards can make all the difference on the quality of the answers received, which is why those seeking for answer must also carefully think on what exactly they want to know. Ellotris Guardian has already summarized the key points to good questions in QAs website, which are a consensus amount dozens of communities about different subjects. Thus, I'll focus my answer on Tibia-specific points:

• Search first, ask later. If you're having trouble with a quest, first read the spoiler in your preferred fansite. There are many fansites with different guides for the same quest, and it's likely that in one of them you'll find the answer you're looking for. The same is valid for specific stats of an item or properties of a creature. And why do that? First of all, you're more likely to get a good answer if you show you have done your homework. Helpers are here to answer, but not to simply copy the result of a Wiki or Google search. 
• Avoid subjective questions. Remember that Tibia is a game, and the point of playing the game is to have fun. Different players have different visions of fun, and thus on how to play the game. This means that asking whether it's best to spend money on an expensive addon or on training weapons is pointless, as the value of this game elements vary from player to player. If you're unsure if the weapons are worth it, you can ask specifically about their efficiency. 
• Don't be overly specific. This may sound contradictory with the last point, and it in fact is. Remember that the objective of a Q&A website is to slowly create a community-based knowledge database about common problems. Other players may have a similar question in the future and come across yours. So do not ask questions such as "I'm a Druid level 200, is it worth to use 10 training rods to get ML 90?". Not only this greatly reduces the scope of players who will fit into the answer, it also makes finding the question harder. Instead, you may want to ask "How much does Magic Level influence in Damage an Healing" or "What's the efficiency of using training rods?". 
• Be patient, Tibia constantly changes. Tibia is a game in constant evolution. There are major updates, patches, events, and all sorts of things that are new to the game and to all players. If you have a question about an event or item that you know is new, and you haven't found the answer on any specialized fansite, it's likely that nobody has the answer for you. 

Answer 3

• Search: You can use the search function to try to find the answer to your question. Duplicated questions don't help, as it is better to centralize all the answers in only one thread, allowing people to find all the answers to a specific question in one single place. Please, take into account that duplicated questions will be closed
• Hints: When typing the question on the title box, related questions will be displayed above it. Pay a look, maybe the answer is already available!
• Leverage! If find that your question does not appear amongst the search and hinted questions' results, you might still use some information from those results to enrich and improve your own question.

 Example on similar questions suggested automatically:

• Background: The questions should always be Tibia-related, as this is a Tibia-based fansite
• Formulation: Always formulate the title as a question (as this is a Questions and Answers website)
• Goal: The goal of the title should be to make someone understand the global idea of the of your question with a few words
• To the point! You should try to do the question as succinct and clear as possible

Below you will find many points to guide you on how to write a good question. Some are crucial, however not all of them need to fit necessarily in one question. Use them wisely to write the best question ever!

• Content: Use the description box to provide more details about your question. You should look for a good compromise and balance between elaboration, quality and quantity
  • Elaboration: dedicate the necessary time to explain with a good level of detail and care, and to expand on your idea
  • Quality: on top of elaborating, try to bring into the explanation the key information. Avoid redundancies, and try to find the right words
  • Quantity: try to not write too much, just the right amount of information for the people to understand the question and the context. Manage the quantity of information
• Trigger: It is nice to explain how you got to ask yourself that given question. This can be a short introduction before getting into the question, or a clarification after you have formulated it. This addition can help others relate to your question and see how the answer can be put to use within the game
• Research: If possible, add information to show what you already know about the answer, and how that information does not satisfy your question. It shows that you have made your research and it can help people to give you a better answer by skipping the path of investigation you’ve already taken. It can also guide them in understanding better the scope of your question
• Uniqueness: Many questions can look the same if you don’t add specific information that helps differentiate your inquiry from the others. Add the necessary key information to help make your question unique
• Timelessness: It is good to ask questions that won’t have a different answer over time. However, sometimes it is inevitable that some questions will have to be updated in the long term, but this should be more the exception than the rule
• Revision: once you’ve written your question down, take your time to read it from beginning to end. Sometimes you might even feel to rewrite it to capture your idea best!
• Edition: Don't be afraid to edit your question later on. Sometimes after some hours we find that word we were looking for or a much better way to express what we were trying to say in the first place. Additionally, even if English is your first language, nowadays we have many corrector tools to help you correct typos and other errors. That shows effort in writing up your question and will make it more understandable
• Disclaimer: When you feel your question might be misunderstood, and you need to give contextual information, but you don't want to pollute the question with these peripheral clarifications, you can use a disclaimer with italics. Try to make it succinct
• Use the editing tools: bullet points, colours, underlying… There are many tools available that can help you with the structure of your question. A better structure helps others to understand much better the information that you present
• Do not overuse the tools: In contrast to the above, do not make an overuse of colors and highlights, as that might trivialize the purpose of these tools and confuse the readers!
• Pictures: do not hesitate to use pictures to complement your idea. A picture is worth a thousand words! You can also use tables, formulas, or any other resources that you consider that will help.

Example of a question with some of the concepts above highlighted:

• Purpose: The tags are useful to group questions belonging to the same subject, helping others in their search for answers related to the same topic. Don't forget to add tags before posting your question!
• Opinion-based: If a question can only expect a subjective answer, you should tag your question as opinion-based. If possible, when asking opinion-based questions, it is good to add how it can help other people when playing the game.

• Be thankful: You can show your gratitude with those that put their effort and took their time to answer your question; this can be achieved not only by upvoting but also with the comments section (if you feel that’s appropriate)
• Be strict: If someone does not answer your question correctly, you can use the comments section to hint people into the right direction, especially if you have the impression that they invested time in trying to help you. Maybe that means they did not get your point, and that might be an indicator that you need to revise your own question (if so, don't hesitate to add clarifications or edit accordingly). However, you can also downvote an answer if you believe that someone is not taking your question or the website seriously; you can revise the voting you gave if you see that people rectify
• Be respectful: don't overreact when people post a comment you don't like, when they disagree with your question or downvote you. Try to see if they are providing valuable feedback which can help you improve your question. If you don't understand their point or why they are asking that question, you can always ask. :)
• Best answer: Lastly, use the best answer feature when you truly believe your question has been answered. It’s okay not to use it and leave it for later if you think you can still obtain a better answer.

Remember that this is a community that focuses on a game. Keep a nice attitude to others while helping to build this Q&A database! :)

Answer 4

What makes a good question? ( https://i.imgur.com/g3wNznM.png )

Answer 5

For myself, a good question contains the following:

• Proper, concise but clear summary. The question title/summary must contain all of the relevant information included in a question. E.g. an example of a bad question summary is Doubt about training. An example of a better summary is What is the most effective way to train melee skills?
• Correct tags. Assigning senseless tags is a straight -1 from me.
• Clearly presenting the problem. Often the question post contains just a single sentence with a few words. Sometimes it makes it very difficult to understand what exactly is expected in an answer. A good question should contain at least a few sentences.
• Adding context and what has been tried so far. For example, in "Where to hunt" questions, it's always good to know what places the person asking the question has already tried, as most often, the answers will contain the most obvious hutning spots.
• Non-opnion based. Opinion based questions are allowed, but they don't bring that much value as non-opinion based questions in my mind.  

Some examples of great questions:

• Which items should I avoid selling at Yasir?
• Are store items destroyed if you throw them into a dustbin?
• Do creatures killed after I log out count in my bestiary?

Answer 6

A good question needs to lead to discussions, player that will answer it correctly needs to do some tests or researches that are not easily found at wiki or google.

When writing the question you must present the context that created the question and what information is relevant to this question and will refine the possible answers to your goal. 

The question must be well written and not ambiguous. Furthermore the best questions are timeless and not related to a single update or moment in the past. 

While opinion based questions are not bad no question should be made to create your opinion. It must be an improvement to an existing opinion.

Examples of bad questions:

"How does speed on tibia works?"

1. The answer is easily found at the week.
2. The question is not precise. Is it about how the speed number of a character is calculated or about how much time it takes to move from one tibia square to another?

"What are the best color combination for outfits?"

1. How a character looks like is related  to the player perspective and history. Only the player can answer it.

"What do you miss the most about old tibia?"

1. What is the definition of old? The question is too broad.
2. This year update will be old tibia in the future. This question won't be useful to future players looking for answers.

"What is the best armor for druid?"

1. The quest can easily be found by searching the list of armor at wiki.

Examples of good questions. The context won't be given here but are desirable on a real topic:

"How can I define the price of an item that was never sold or seem before?"

1. This question is timeless, the answers could be used by future players.
2. It is a recurrent doubt. Every update will have new itens and rares.

"What changes could you make master sorcerers unique in team hunting"

1. This opinion based question that can lead to a health discussion. 
2. The question is not creating the opinion of the author.

Answer 7

What makes a good question?

The first thing you need do is check the Code of Conduct on the Help Center.

Enter on the Help Center to see the Code of Conduct and more.

Before posting your question, use the search tool on the site to make sure there is not another similar question posted yet.

Search tool on TibiaQA.

Check the suggestion when you type the title to see if there is no coincidence with your question.

Questions related with the title of your question.

---

I gonna explain a ‘‘good question’’ in four parts, every part have useful recomendations. It is by no means intended as a definitive list, but it gonna help you to makes a good question.

Good question, have more upvotes.

---

The Title: This is the first view of your question, It need be clear and simple also it helps the Search Google System to found it.

The Tittle.

Searching on Google.

• Lenguague, always use English on the site to all.
• Respectful, be respectful with all user and staff of TibiaQA.
• Grammar, if English is not your first language, you can use many corrector tools like Google Translator to help you correct typos and other errors, but it can make some mistakes so check it before posting.

Google Translator.

• Question mark (?), a question ends in a question mark (?).
• By the start, is good idea use:

Ask ‘what, when, where, who’ to gather fact and context.

Ask ‘how do you’ to uncover processes and flows.

Ask ‘how might we’ to investigate opportunities.

Ask ‘why’ to find underlying reasons and motivations.

• Short questions, do it short and this gonna be more easy to understand.

---

The Format: A good question have good format, use correctly all the format options like Bold, Italic, Size of letters.

Format options.

• Visual, an image can help to understand the question most quickly.

Images tool.

---

The Question: Here you can explain more the details and context of your question.

The Question.

• Timeless, try to dont questions that won’t have a different answer over time of course sometimes we know this is inevitable.
• Examples or your own opinion, at the end of your question is not bad idea put and example of the answer do you expect receive or your own opinion about the question.

• Sentences, some times just one sentence is not enough to understand properly the question, add more sentences, information or details on the question is always a good option.
• Context, when a user read a question is normal just think in the commons answers, so its better if you lets know youre looking for something different, then user can think on anothers answers and not commons answers.
• Concise, make your question clear and easy to understand to all.
• Simple, focus on one topic, you can make separate questions for each topic.
• Non-opnion based, this type of question are allowed and are an important part of the total questions of the site, but at the same time by the type of question theres no right way to answer this, because in the most of time, its depends of the point of view of each user and the thematic are not big contribution to the community in general.

Use the Primarily opinion based, if necessary.

• Patient, remember Tibia have three big updates (Summer, Autumn and Winter) per year and others changes, so maybe the user need make some tests when the question is related with fresh content to give a properly answer.
• Editing, don't be afraid to edit your question later on. If you think you need make some changes, add more details or expand the question.

Editing, button.

---

The Tags: The tags put on every question help the system to organize them in differents categories or topics and relate your question to others questions posted on the same topic, by example hunts, vocations or items.

Tagging a question.

Question tag.

Related questions by the Tag.

But be careful with the number of tags do you use, more is not better, so only use the most relevant and descriptive tags that describe the topic your question is about.

---

Examples of Good Questions:

• Which items should I avoid selling at Yasir?
• Do creatures killed after I log out count in my bestiary?
• Are store items destroyed if you throw them into a dustbin?

---

The Feedback: When you posted a question it's not the end of the you part, there are some things you need review to help other users.

• Comments, is really useful to to delve into a part of the answer, solve doubts or ask by more details (Be respectful, your opinion don't have more value than others users).

Comments button.

• Thankful, a lot of users gonna put is time and effort to give you an answer, so theres no better way than give them your thanksful in form of upvote with one single click.

 Upvote button.

• Best Answer, as an author of the question, you get to choose the best answer. To do so, click on the check icon displayed next to every answer in your question. But is good idea wait one or two days and give some time to all user, with this you make sure to choose the right Best Answer.

Best Answer button.

Comments

I suggest to change a little bit your answer, because copy-paste from this site:
https://medium.com/@chris_162/part-1-what-makes-a-good-question-477ddd4e64e3
... is quite unfair to the other participants. Getting information from various sources is good, but not in this way, not by copying word by word somebody's article.

---

Yes, I use 3 points of the article (Question mark (?), By the start and Short questions) on my entry because are really great, if you think im broken a rule, please contact to the admin of the fansite Ellotris Guardian by the email: tibiaqa.adm@gmail.com

Link: https://meta.tibiaqa.com/contact

---

It's always good (and expected) to link to any sources that were used to help build the post.

---

On this case is needed (I taked 3 short points but with my own words)?
If the answer is yes, i'm disqualify?

Answer 8

I'm going to go against the grain here and say that opinion-based questions are awesome! And here is why:

1. Many fact-based questions are easily looked up or asked in-game. While it's nice to have a single place to search for them like here on TibiaQA, many questions I've seen being asked can be looked up on the Wiki or in the game's own documentation. Good fact-based questions can also be great, though!
2. It can be invaluable to get other perspectives on the game, some you might not even have thought of! Imagine asking the question: "Which outfit colors are best for a PvP character?" You may have asked the question because you want to know a cool color combination that looks nice, but suddenly someone answers "I always pick colors of the area where we will be fighting, so that enemies are less likely to target me." You might not even have considered this part of the question! Then someone replies "Why does outfit color even matter for camouflage, everyone uses the battle list for targeting anyway." Hhm... also a good point!
3. (Almost) everyone can contribute. Fact-based questions can be super useful, but once a single player answers them, the question is usually done with and there may be no further participation. Opinion-based questions can always get more input, as people's opinions are rarely exactly the same. And once you've contributed, that inspires further participation!

So, what makes an opinion-based question a good question?

1. The question applies to a large group of players. Overly specific situations tend to not be very interesting for other players to read about.
   • Bad question: Why does the guild Ellotris Guildian on Imaginera always kick me out of my spawn?
   • Good question: What is the best way to keep ruling guilds from kicking you out of a spawn?
2. The question inspires answers that have a practical use for players. While purely theoretical questions can be fun every now and then, the best questions lead to answers that can actually be used by players.
   • Bad question: Which Tibian god would look best in a bikini? (I'll admit, I'd actually love to see this question answered)
   • Good question: What's the most efficient way to split loot after hunting.
3. The question doesn't have a clear-cut answer. Questions that are posted only for validation are not useful.
   • Bad question: Is it just me or do mass kicks suck??!
   • Good question: Is buying premium time worth it, and why?
4. Mention the scope of your question. If your question related to PvP, mention the type of server. If you're asking about older updates, mention which Tibia version you're talking about. If your question is about something that is no longer in the game, explain what it is or link to documentation about it.
   • Bad question: What's the best spawn in Tibia?
   • Good question: What's the best spawn in Tibia for level 50-75 elder druids if you want to level while making a profit?
5. Ask yourself: if I saw this question on TibiaQA, would I click on it to read the answers? This will not give you a definitive answer about whether or not your question is a good one, but it will give you an indication.
   • Bad question: How many leaves should CipSoft draw on each tree sprite?
   • Good question: Which quests are fun to do without looking up spoilers?

So, all in all, while I feel fact-based questions can be super useful and handy, I personally much prefer to read (and answer!) opinion based questions as they broaden my Tibian horizon. For everyone who's contributed so far, or may contribute in the future - please keep them coming!

Answer 9

A good question should be:

• Clear and concise

It should not be long or include multiple questions in one. 

• Should have a direct answer (if non-option based)

The question should not be to broad to make it hard to come up with an answer that is fact.

• The question should be timeless 

People should be able to look back at the question and see answers that are still correct in the future.

• Have the right tags 

This is important to make it easier for others to find in the future if they have a similar question.

Answer 10

A good question is simple and clear, provokes and focuses on research work. It must challenge assumptions and open new possibilities. Also good questions have the power to stimulate new questions. 

To make a good question we need:

1. Look for the subject:  first of all you must search for the subject at TibiaQA, to check if your question no longer has an answer.
2. Take time: before ask, do your won reasearch about it.
3. Boundary: you must be clear and specific to avoid an wrong interpretation from others users.
4. Known/unknown: make clear what you  know and what is unknow about the question subject.
5. Make neutral questions: specially for "opinion-based" questions, if you express your own opinion at the question this can influence tha answers, let to do it later as an answer.
6. One question at a time: DO NOT ask two different things at the same question, confusing the respondents is as bad as influencing theirs reponses
7. Title: let to make the title for last, after your finish your question read it a couple of times than create your question title.