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Are History of Worldbuilding questions on topic?


Is a “real world” question off topic?Are cartography questions on topic here?Are questions about how to develop worldbuilding software on topic?Should the help center be updated to specifically list real world history questions as off topic?Fortnightly Topic Challenge #27: HistoryIs “check out my world” on-topic?Should I delete this off-topic question, or try and rework it?Why is my question about the feasibility of keeping different tools outside in threat considered off-topic by some?How are the “anatomically correct” questions asking for evolutionary insight on-topic?Have worldbuilding-resources questions become off-topic?A proposal to finalize the “are real world questions on-topic” debate













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See this question: History of Worldbuilding - The Flying City



Should questions such as this be considered on or off topic?









share









$endgroup$

















    9












    $begingroup$


    See this question: History of Worldbuilding - The Flying City



    Should questions such as this be considered on or off topic?









    share









    $endgroup$















      9












      9








      9





      $begingroup$


      See this question: History of Worldbuilding - The Flying City



      Should questions such as this be considered on or off topic?









      share









      $endgroup$




      See this question: History of Worldbuilding - The Flying City



      Should questions such as this be considered on or off topic?







      discussion on-topic





      share












      share










      share



      share










      asked 10 hours ago









      Tim BTim B

      62.3k1964




      62.3k1964






















          2 Answers
          2






          active

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          13












          $begingroup$

          The question asks about the first date when a concept was put in a story. That's not worldbuilding, but plain literature history. If I have a question about literature history I ask it on the pertinent SE community.



          That the OP states that it helps them in worldbuilding, doesn't make it a worldbuilding question, same as asking "how do I conjugate to be in space?" remains a grammar question and not a space exploration question.





          share











          $endgroup$













          • $begingroup$
            You seem to deny that history is a resource. By finding out what previous world-builders did helps us to formulate our own ideas and build on them or indeed avoid reinventing the wheel.
            $endgroup$
            – chasly from UK
            10 hours ago






          • 4




            $begingroup$
            @chaslyfromUK Please post an answer making that argument and see if people agree with you. :)
            $endgroup$
            – Tim B
            10 hours ago






          • 1




            $begingroup$
            @chaslyfromUK Your answer should explain why it's specifically relevant to worldbuilding and how it actually helps you to build a world.
            $endgroup$
            – Tim B
            10 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            @chaslyfromUK Even more, if a question is not obviously about worldbuilding, it helps to specify in that question how it is a worldbuilding question.
            $endgroup$
            – a CVn
            10 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            @Tim B - I will at some point. However I know that Meta is inhabited by a cadre of hard-liners who can't get their heads around any new idea whatsoever.
            $endgroup$
            – chasly from UK
            10 hours ago












          • $begingroup$
            @a CVn - That is a fair point. I'll do that.
            $endgroup$
            – chasly from UK
            10 hours ago






          • 5




            $begingroup$
            I think this has parallels to the Stack Overflow "Boat Question" meme: You can't just stick "for Worldbuilding" on the end of an unrelated question, e.g. "What is the best snack to eat while Worldbuilding"
            $endgroup$
            – Chronocidal
            9 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            @Chronocidal I think my answer to the old question Is a “real world” question off topic? applies there...
            $endgroup$
            – a CVn
            9 hours ago












          • $begingroup$
            @Chronocidal - So the history of world building isn't related to world building? That makes no sense. How does that have the least similarity to 'eating a snack'?
            $endgroup$
            – chasly from UK
            8 hours ago












          • $begingroup$
            ""how do I conjugate to be in space?" - How to conjugate "to be" in time travel was an important part of Douglas Adams' universe. Admittedly that might be better dealt with on conlang but in itself conjugating a verb isn't necessarily off-topic. Maybe aliens have a fourth person singular and plural.
            $endgroup$
            – chasly from UK
            7 hours ago








          • 2




            $begingroup$
            @chaslyfromUK My example was taking it to an extreme, to emphasise the point: The "for Worldbuilding" part of your question was entirely superfluous, because deleting it doesn't change the question, and shows it as common form of Science Fiction & Fantasy question. It isn't about building worlds, it's a history question about worlds that other people have already built
            $endgroup$
            – Chronocidal
            7 hours ago












          • $begingroup$
            @Chronocidal - In the old days artists would be apprentices to the great masters. They would study their works and then build on their techniques to develop their own style. The same applied with classical music. It is a long tradition in any area of creativity to be willing to learn from previous masters of the trade. Note, I'm not talking about writing skills - I'm talking about learning world-building skills. I simply can't see an objection to that.
            $endgroup$
            – chasly from UK
            7 hours ago












          • $begingroup$
            @chaslyfromUK Learning world-building skills would be on-topic. But that's not what your question was about.
            $endgroup$
            – Chronocidal
            7 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            @chaslyfromUK "In the old days artists would be apprentices to the great masters" "I'm talking about learning world-building skills" So, again, how does knowing the year when an idea was first used influence your worldbuilding efforts?
            $endgroup$
            – a CVn
            7 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            @a CVn - It tells me who wrote what and when. From there I can read the original author and learn from them.
            $endgroup$
            – chasly from UK
            7 hours ago



















          3












          $begingroup$

          I might consider it on topic in meta, but it's not in its own right worldbuilding. However it is one of the staples of SciFi.SE as it's an element of existing (commercial) worlds, which is very much their field.





          share











          $endgroup$













          • $begingroup$
            I'm not sure that referring back to Aristophanes, as one of the answers did, has much to do with commerce.
            $endgroup$
            – chasly from UK
            8 hours ago






          • 1




            $begingroup$
            Meta isn't for "stuff that's off topic on Main". Nor is it for discussion about the site's topic. Meta is for questions and discussions about the site itself.
            $endgroup$
            – a CVn
            8 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            @chaslyfromUK, just because he's not commercial now, doesn't mean he wasn't commercial then.
            $endgroup$
            – Separatrix
            8 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            @Separatrix - You know you're being illogical. Would you put a ban on anyone using this site who wrote a successful story or designed a successful game? If 'being commercial' is prohibited in the site rules, please direct me to that paragraph.
            $endgroup$
            – chasly from UK
            8 hours ago








          • 2




            $begingroup$
            @chaslyfromUK, the key separation between us and SciFi has always been the "existing world" versus "new world". Talking about existing works is the remit of SciFi, yes we refer back to existing works a lot to answer questions, but directly addressing existing works, as your question is doing, falls fully under SciFi not here.
            $endgroup$
            – Separatrix
            8 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            "we refer back to existing works" Yes we do, and we also refer back to existing questions on the same subject. Thus there is notice taken of the internal history of questions on the site. Surely the external history of a given question is just as relevant. It helps us unwittingly appearing to pirate the work of others.
            $endgroup$
            – chasly from UK
            7 hours ago












          • $begingroup$
            @chaslyfromUK Yes, but that doesn't mean that every question encountered in the process of building a world needs to or should be asked on Worldbuilding SE, just as not every question encountered in the process of writing needs to or should be asked on Writing SE.
            $endgroup$
            – a CVn
            5 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            Just to play devil's advocate, it's been stated here before regarding conlang questions that just because a question is on-topic on another Stack Exchange, that doesn't mean it's automatically off-topic on WorldBuilding. The fact that Chasly's question would be on-topic on SciFi should be irrelevant wrt. whether it's on-topic here or not, especially as she clearly has no intention of reposting it there.
            $endgroup$
            – F1Krazy
            54 mins ago



















          2 Answers
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          oldest

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          2 Answers
          2






          active

          oldest

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          active

          oldest

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          active

          oldest

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          13












          $begingroup$

          The question asks about the first date when a concept was put in a story. That's not worldbuilding, but plain literature history. If I have a question about literature history I ask it on the pertinent SE community.



          That the OP states that it helps them in worldbuilding, doesn't make it a worldbuilding question, same as asking "how do I conjugate to be in space?" remains a grammar question and not a space exploration question.





          share











          $endgroup$













          • $begingroup$
            You seem to deny that history is a resource. By finding out what previous world-builders did helps us to formulate our own ideas and build on them or indeed avoid reinventing the wheel.
            $endgroup$
            – chasly from UK
            10 hours ago






          • 4




            $begingroup$
            @chaslyfromUK Please post an answer making that argument and see if people agree with you. :)
            $endgroup$
            – Tim B
            10 hours ago






          • 1




            $begingroup$
            @chaslyfromUK Your answer should explain why it's specifically relevant to worldbuilding and how it actually helps you to build a world.
            $endgroup$
            – Tim B
            10 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            @chaslyfromUK Even more, if a question is not obviously about worldbuilding, it helps to specify in that question how it is a worldbuilding question.
            $endgroup$
            – a CVn
            10 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            @Tim B - I will at some point. However I know that Meta is inhabited by a cadre of hard-liners who can't get their heads around any new idea whatsoever.
            $endgroup$
            – chasly from UK
            10 hours ago












          • $begingroup$
            @a CVn - That is a fair point. I'll do that.
            $endgroup$
            – chasly from UK
            10 hours ago






          • 5




            $begingroup$
            I think this has parallels to the Stack Overflow "Boat Question" meme: You can't just stick "for Worldbuilding" on the end of an unrelated question, e.g. "What is the best snack to eat while Worldbuilding"
            $endgroup$
            – Chronocidal
            9 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            @Chronocidal I think my answer to the old question Is a “real world” question off topic? applies there...
            $endgroup$
            – a CVn
            9 hours ago












          • $begingroup$
            @Chronocidal - So the history of world building isn't related to world building? That makes no sense. How does that have the least similarity to 'eating a snack'?
            $endgroup$
            – chasly from UK
            8 hours ago












          • $begingroup$
            ""how do I conjugate to be in space?" - How to conjugate "to be" in time travel was an important part of Douglas Adams' universe. Admittedly that might be better dealt with on conlang but in itself conjugating a verb isn't necessarily off-topic. Maybe aliens have a fourth person singular and plural.
            $endgroup$
            – chasly from UK
            7 hours ago








          • 2




            $begingroup$
            @chaslyfromUK My example was taking it to an extreme, to emphasise the point: The "for Worldbuilding" part of your question was entirely superfluous, because deleting it doesn't change the question, and shows it as common form of Science Fiction & Fantasy question. It isn't about building worlds, it's a history question about worlds that other people have already built
            $endgroup$
            – Chronocidal
            7 hours ago












          • $begingroup$
            @Chronocidal - In the old days artists would be apprentices to the great masters. They would study their works and then build on their techniques to develop their own style. The same applied with classical music. It is a long tradition in any area of creativity to be willing to learn from previous masters of the trade. Note, I'm not talking about writing skills - I'm talking about learning world-building skills. I simply can't see an objection to that.
            $endgroup$
            – chasly from UK
            7 hours ago












          • $begingroup$
            @chaslyfromUK Learning world-building skills would be on-topic. But that's not what your question was about.
            $endgroup$
            – Chronocidal
            7 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            @chaslyfromUK "In the old days artists would be apprentices to the great masters" "I'm talking about learning world-building skills" So, again, how does knowing the year when an idea was first used influence your worldbuilding efforts?
            $endgroup$
            – a CVn
            7 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            @a CVn - It tells me who wrote what and when. From there I can read the original author and learn from them.
            $endgroup$
            – chasly from UK
            7 hours ago
















          13












          $begingroup$

          The question asks about the first date when a concept was put in a story. That's not worldbuilding, but plain literature history. If I have a question about literature history I ask it on the pertinent SE community.



          That the OP states that it helps them in worldbuilding, doesn't make it a worldbuilding question, same as asking "how do I conjugate to be in space?" remains a grammar question and not a space exploration question.





          share











          $endgroup$













          • $begingroup$
            You seem to deny that history is a resource. By finding out what previous world-builders did helps us to formulate our own ideas and build on them or indeed avoid reinventing the wheel.
            $endgroup$
            – chasly from UK
            10 hours ago






          • 4




            $begingroup$
            @chaslyfromUK Please post an answer making that argument and see if people agree with you. :)
            $endgroup$
            – Tim B
            10 hours ago






          • 1




            $begingroup$
            @chaslyfromUK Your answer should explain why it's specifically relevant to worldbuilding and how it actually helps you to build a world.
            $endgroup$
            – Tim B
            10 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            @chaslyfromUK Even more, if a question is not obviously about worldbuilding, it helps to specify in that question how it is a worldbuilding question.
            $endgroup$
            – a CVn
            10 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            @Tim B - I will at some point. However I know that Meta is inhabited by a cadre of hard-liners who can't get their heads around any new idea whatsoever.
            $endgroup$
            – chasly from UK
            10 hours ago












          • $begingroup$
            @a CVn - That is a fair point. I'll do that.
            $endgroup$
            – chasly from UK
            10 hours ago






          • 5




            $begingroup$
            I think this has parallels to the Stack Overflow "Boat Question" meme: You can't just stick "for Worldbuilding" on the end of an unrelated question, e.g. "What is the best snack to eat while Worldbuilding"
            $endgroup$
            – Chronocidal
            9 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            @Chronocidal I think my answer to the old question Is a “real world” question off topic? applies there...
            $endgroup$
            – a CVn
            9 hours ago












          • $begingroup$
            @Chronocidal - So the history of world building isn't related to world building? That makes no sense. How does that have the least similarity to 'eating a snack'?
            $endgroup$
            – chasly from UK
            8 hours ago












          • $begingroup$
            ""how do I conjugate to be in space?" - How to conjugate "to be" in time travel was an important part of Douglas Adams' universe. Admittedly that might be better dealt with on conlang but in itself conjugating a verb isn't necessarily off-topic. Maybe aliens have a fourth person singular and plural.
            $endgroup$
            – chasly from UK
            7 hours ago








          • 2




            $begingroup$
            @chaslyfromUK My example was taking it to an extreme, to emphasise the point: The "for Worldbuilding" part of your question was entirely superfluous, because deleting it doesn't change the question, and shows it as common form of Science Fiction & Fantasy question. It isn't about building worlds, it's a history question about worlds that other people have already built
            $endgroup$
            – Chronocidal
            7 hours ago












          • $begingroup$
            @Chronocidal - In the old days artists would be apprentices to the great masters. They would study their works and then build on their techniques to develop their own style. The same applied with classical music. It is a long tradition in any area of creativity to be willing to learn from previous masters of the trade. Note, I'm not talking about writing skills - I'm talking about learning world-building skills. I simply can't see an objection to that.
            $endgroup$
            – chasly from UK
            7 hours ago












          • $begingroup$
            @chaslyfromUK Learning world-building skills would be on-topic. But that's not what your question was about.
            $endgroup$
            – Chronocidal
            7 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            @chaslyfromUK "In the old days artists would be apprentices to the great masters" "I'm talking about learning world-building skills" So, again, how does knowing the year when an idea was first used influence your worldbuilding efforts?
            $endgroup$
            – a CVn
            7 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            @a CVn - It tells me who wrote what and when. From there I can read the original author and learn from them.
            $endgroup$
            – chasly from UK
            7 hours ago














          13












          13








          13





          $begingroup$

          The question asks about the first date when a concept was put in a story. That's not worldbuilding, but plain literature history. If I have a question about literature history I ask it on the pertinent SE community.



          That the OP states that it helps them in worldbuilding, doesn't make it a worldbuilding question, same as asking "how do I conjugate to be in space?" remains a grammar question and not a space exploration question.





          share











          $endgroup$



          The question asks about the first date when a concept was put in a story. That's not worldbuilding, but plain literature history. If I have a question about literature history I ask it on the pertinent SE community.



          That the OP states that it helps them in worldbuilding, doesn't make it a worldbuilding question, same as asking "how do I conjugate to be in space?" remains a grammar question and not a space exploration question.






          share













          share


          share








          edited 10 hours ago

























          answered 10 hours ago









          L.DutchL.Dutch

          85k421




          85k421












          • $begingroup$
            You seem to deny that history is a resource. By finding out what previous world-builders did helps us to formulate our own ideas and build on them or indeed avoid reinventing the wheel.
            $endgroup$
            – chasly from UK
            10 hours ago






          • 4




            $begingroup$
            @chaslyfromUK Please post an answer making that argument and see if people agree with you. :)
            $endgroup$
            – Tim B
            10 hours ago






          • 1




            $begingroup$
            @chaslyfromUK Your answer should explain why it's specifically relevant to worldbuilding and how it actually helps you to build a world.
            $endgroup$
            – Tim B
            10 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            @chaslyfromUK Even more, if a question is not obviously about worldbuilding, it helps to specify in that question how it is a worldbuilding question.
            $endgroup$
            – a CVn
            10 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            @Tim B - I will at some point. However I know that Meta is inhabited by a cadre of hard-liners who can't get their heads around any new idea whatsoever.
            $endgroup$
            – chasly from UK
            10 hours ago












          • $begingroup$
            @a CVn - That is a fair point. I'll do that.
            $endgroup$
            – chasly from UK
            10 hours ago






          • 5




            $begingroup$
            I think this has parallels to the Stack Overflow "Boat Question" meme: You can't just stick "for Worldbuilding" on the end of an unrelated question, e.g. "What is the best snack to eat while Worldbuilding"
            $endgroup$
            – Chronocidal
            9 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            @Chronocidal I think my answer to the old question Is a “real world” question off topic? applies there...
            $endgroup$
            – a CVn
            9 hours ago












          • $begingroup$
            @Chronocidal - So the history of world building isn't related to world building? That makes no sense. How does that have the least similarity to 'eating a snack'?
            $endgroup$
            – chasly from UK
            8 hours ago












          • $begingroup$
            ""how do I conjugate to be in space?" - How to conjugate "to be" in time travel was an important part of Douglas Adams' universe. Admittedly that might be better dealt with on conlang but in itself conjugating a verb isn't necessarily off-topic. Maybe aliens have a fourth person singular and plural.
            $endgroup$
            – chasly from UK
            7 hours ago








          • 2




            $begingroup$
            @chaslyfromUK My example was taking it to an extreme, to emphasise the point: The "for Worldbuilding" part of your question was entirely superfluous, because deleting it doesn't change the question, and shows it as common form of Science Fiction & Fantasy question. It isn't about building worlds, it's a history question about worlds that other people have already built
            $endgroup$
            – Chronocidal
            7 hours ago












          • $begingroup$
            @Chronocidal - In the old days artists would be apprentices to the great masters. They would study their works and then build on their techniques to develop their own style. The same applied with classical music. It is a long tradition in any area of creativity to be willing to learn from previous masters of the trade. Note, I'm not talking about writing skills - I'm talking about learning world-building skills. I simply can't see an objection to that.
            $endgroup$
            – chasly from UK
            7 hours ago












          • $begingroup$
            @chaslyfromUK Learning world-building skills would be on-topic. But that's not what your question was about.
            $endgroup$
            – Chronocidal
            7 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            @chaslyfromUK "In the old days artists would be apprentices to the great masters" "I'm talking about learning world-building skills" So, again, how does knowing the year when an idea was first used influence your worldbuilding efforts?
            $endgroup$
            – a CVn
            7 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            @a CVn - It tells me who wrote what and when. From there I can read the original author and learn from them.
            $endgroup$
            – chasly from UK
            7 hours ago


















          • $begingroup$
            You seem to deny that history is a resource. By finding out what previous world-builders did helps us to formulate our own ideas and build on them or indeed avoid reinventing the wheel.
            $endgroup$
            – chasly from UK
            10 hours ago






          • 4




            $begingroup$
            @chaslyfromUK Please post an answer making that argument and see if people agree with you. :)
            $endgroup$
            – Tim B
            10 hours ago






          • 1




            $begingroup$
            @chaslyfromUK Your answer should explain why it's specifically relevant to worldbuilding and how it actually helps you to build a world.
            $endgroup$
            – Tim B
            10 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            @chaslyfromUK Even more, if a question is not obviously about worldbuilding, it helps to specify in that question how it is a worldbuilding question.
            $endgroup$
            – a CVn
            10 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            @Tim B - I will at some point. However I know that Meta is inhabited by a cadre of hard-liners who can't get their heads around any new idea whatsoever.
            $endgroup$
            – chasly from UK
            10 hours ago












          • $begingroup$
            @a CVn - That is a fair point. I'll do that.
            $endgroup$
            – chasly from UK
            10 hours ago






          • 5




            $begingroup$
            I think this has parallels to the Stack Overflow "Boat Question" meme: You can't just stick "for Worldbuilding" on the end of an unrelated question, e.g. "What is the best snack to eat while Worldbuilding"
            $endgroup$
            – Chronocidal
            9 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            @Chronocidal I think my answer to the old question Is a “real world” question off topic? applies there...
            $endgroup$
            – a CVn
            9 hours ago












          • $begingroup$
            @Chronocidal - So the history of world building isn't related to world building? That makes no sense. How does that have the least similarity to 'eating a snack'?
            $endgroup$
            – chasly from UK
            8 hours ago












          • $begingroup$
            ""how do I conjugate to be in space?" - How to conjugate "to be" in time travel was an important part of Douglas Adams' universe. Admittedly that might be better dealt with on conlang but in itself conjugating a verb isn't necessarily off-topic. Maybe aliens have a fourth person singular and plural.
            $endgroup$
            – chasly from UK
            7 hours ago








          • 2




            $begingroup$
            @chaslyfromUK My example was taking it to an extreme, to emphasise the point: The "for Worldbuilding" part of your question was entirely superfluous, because deleting it doesn't change the question, and shows it as common form of Science Fiction & Fantasy question. It isn't about building worlds, it's a history question about worlds that other people have already built
            $endgroup$
            – Chronocidal
            7 hours ago












          • $begingroup$
            @Chronocidal - In the old days artists would be apprentices to the great masters. They would study their works and then build on their techniques to develop their own style. The same applied with classical music. It is a long tradition in any area of creativity to be willing to learn from previous masters of the trade. Note, I'm not talking about writing skills - I'm talking about learning world-building skills. I simply can't see an objection to that.
            $endgroup$
            – chasly from UK
            7 hours ago












          • $begingroup$
            @chaslyfromUK Learning world-building skills would be on-topic. But that's not what your question was about.
            $endgroup$
            – Chronocidal
            7 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            @chaslyfromUK "In the old days artists would be apprentices to the great masters" "I'm talking about learning world-building skills" So, again, how does knowing the year when an idea was first used influence your worldbuilding efforts?
            $endgroup$
            – a CVn
            7 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            @a CVn - It tells me who wrote what and when. From there I can read the original author and learn from them.
            $endgroup$
            – chasly from UK
            7 hours ago
















          $begingroup$
          You seem to deny that history is a resource. By finding out what previous world-builders did helps us to formulate our own ideas and build on them or indeed avoid reinventing the wheel.
          $endgroup$
          – chasly from UK
          10 hours ago




          $begingroup$
          You seem to deny that history is a resource. By finding out what previous world-builders did helps us to formulate our own ideas and build on them or indeed avoid reinventing the wheel.
          $endgroup$
          – chasly from UK
          10 hours ago




          4




          4




          $begingroup$
          @chaslyfromUK Please post an answer making that argument and see if people agree with you. :)
          $endgroup$
          – Tim B
          10 hours ago




          $begingroup$
          @chaslyfromUK Please post an answer making that argument and see if people agree with you. :)
          $endgroup$
          – Tim B
          10 hours ago




          1




          1




          $begingroup$
          @chaslyfromUK Your answer should explain why it's specifically relevant to worldbuilding and how it actually helps you to build a world.
          $endgroup$
          – Tim B
          10 hours ago




          $begingroup$
          @chaslyfromUK Your answer should explain why it's specifically relevant to worldbuilding and how it actually helps you to build a world.
          $endgroup$
          – Tim B
          10 hours ago












          $begingroup$
          @chaslyfromUK Even more, if a question is not obviously about worldbuilding, it helps to specify in that question how it is a worldbuilding question.
          $endgroup$
          – a CVn
          10 hours ago




          $begingroup$
          @chaslyfromUK Even more, if a question is not obviously about worldbuilding, it helps to specify in that question how it is a worldbuilding question.
          $endgroup$
          – a CVn
          10 hours ago












          $begingroup$
          @Tim B - I will at some point. However I know that Meta is inhabited by a cadre of hard-liners who can't get their heads around any new idea whatsoever.
          $endgroup$
          – chasly from UK
          10 hours ago






          $begingroup$
          @Tim B - I will at some point. However I know that Meta is inhabited by a cadre of hard-liners who can't get their heads around any new idea whatsoever.
          $endgroup$
          – chasly from UK
          10 hours ago














          $begingroup$
          @a CVn - That is a fair point. I'll do that.
          $endgroup$
          – chasly from UK
          10 hours ago




          $begingroup$
          @a CVn - That is a fair point. I'll do that.
          $endgroup$
          – chasly from UK
          10 hours ago




          5




          5




          $begingroup$
          I think this has parallels to the Stack Overflow "Boat Question" meme: You can't just stick "for Worldbuilding" on the end of an unrelated question, e.g. "What is the best snack to eat while Worldbuilding"
          $endgroup$
          – Chronocidal
          9 hours ago




          $begingroup$
          I think this has parallels to the Stack Overflow "Boat Question" meme: You can't just stick "for Worldbuilding" on the end of an unrelated question, e.g. "What is the best snack to eat while Worldbuilding"
          $endgroup$
          – Chronocidal
          9 hours ago












          $begingroup$
          @Chronocidal I think my answer to the old question Is a “real world” question off topic? applies there...
          $endgroup$
          – a CVn
          9 hours ago






          $begingroup$
          @Chronocidal I think my answer to the old question Is a “real world” question off topic? applies there...
          $endgroup$
          – a CVn
          9 hours ago














          $begingroup$
          @Chronocidal - So the history of world building isn't related to world building? That makes no sense. How does that have the least similarity to 'eating a snack'?
          $endgroup$
          – chasly from UK
          8 hours ago






          $begingroup$
          @Chronocidal - So the history of world building isn't related to world building? That makes no sense. How does that have the least similarity to 'eating a snack'?
          $endgroup$
          – chasly from UK
          8 hours ago














          $begingroup$
          ""how do I conjugate to be in space?" - How to conjugate "to be" in time travel was an important part of Douglas Adams' universe. Admittedly that might be better dealt with on conlang but in itself conjugating a verb isn't necessarily off-topic. Maybe aliens have a fourth person singular and plural.
          $endgroup$
          – chasly from UK
          7 hours ago






          $begingroup$
          ""how do I conjugate to be in space?" - How to conjugate "to be" in time travel was an important part of Douglas Adams' universe. Admittedly that might be better dealt with on conlang but in itself conjugating a verb isn't necessarily off-topic. Maybe aliens have a fourth person singular and plural.
          $endgroup$
          – chasly from UK
          7 hours ago






          2




          2




          $begingroup$
          @chaslyfromUK My example was taking it to an extreme, to emphasise the point: The "for Worldbuilding" part of your question was entirely superfluous, because deleting it doesn't change the question, and shows it as common form of Science Fiction & Fantasy question. It isn't about building worlds, it's a history question about worlds that other people have already built
          $endgroup$
          – Chronocidal
          7 hours ago






          $begingroup$
          @chaslyfromUK My example was taking it to an extreme, to emphasise the point: The "for Worldbuilding" part of your question was entirely superfluous, because deleting it doesn't change the question, and shows it as common form of Science Fiction & Fantasy question. It isn't about building worlds, it's a history question about worlds that other people have already built
          $endgroup$
          – Chronocidal
          7 hours ago














          $begingroup$
          @Chronocidal - In the old days artists would be apprentices to the great masters. They would study their works and then build on their techniques to develop their own style. The same applied with classical music. It is a long tradition in any area of creativity to be willing to learn from previous masters of the trade. Note, I'm not talking about writing skills - I'm talking about learning world-building skills. I simply can't see an objection to that.
          $endgroup$
          – chasly from UK
          7 hours ago






          $begingroup$
          @Chronocidal - In the old days artists would be apprentices to the great masters. They would study their works and then build on their techniques to develop their own style. The same applied with classical music. It is a long tradition in any area of creativity to be willing to learn from previous masters of the trade. Note, I'm not talking about writing skills - I'm talking about learning world-building skills. I simply can't see an objection to that.
          $endgroup$
          – chasly from UK
          7 hours ago














          $begingroup$
          @chaslyfromUK Learning world-building skills would be on-topic. But that's not what your question was about.
          $endgroup$
          – Chronocidal
          7 hours ago




          $begingroup$
          @chaslyfromUK Learning world-building skills would be on-topic. But that's not what your question was about.
          $endgroup$
          – Chronocidal
          7 hours ago












          $begingroup$
          @chaslyfromUK "In the old days artists would be apprentices to the great masters" "I'm talking about learning world-building skills" So, again, how does knowing the year when an idea was first used influence your worldbuilding efforts?
          $endgroup$
          – a CVn
          7 hours ago




          $begingroup$
          @chaslyfromUK "In the old days artists would be apprentices to the great masters" "I'm talking about learning world-building skills" So, again, how does knowing the year when an idea was first used influence your worldbuilding efforts?
          $endgroup$
          – a CVn
          7 hours ago












          $begingroup$
          @a CVn - It tells me who wrote what and when. From there I can read the original author and learn from them.
          $endgroup$
          – chasly from UK
          7 hours ago




          $begingroup$
          @a CVn - It tells me who wrote what and when. From there I can read the original author and learn from them.
          $endgroup$
          – chasly from UK
          7 hours ago











          3












          $begingroup$

          I might consider it on topic in meta, but it's not in its own right worldbuilding. However it is one of the staples of SciFi.SE as it's an element of existing (commercial) worlds, which is very much their field.





          share











          $endgroup$













          • $begingroup$
            I'm not sure that referring back to Aristophanes, as one of the answers did, has much to do with commerce.
            $endgroup$
            – chasly from UK
            8 hours ago






          • 1




            $begingroup$
            Meta isn't for "stuff that's off topic on Main". Nor is it for discussion about the site's topic. Meta is for questions and discussions about the site itself.
            $endgroup$
            – a CVn
            8 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            @chaslyfromUK, just because he's not commercial now, doesn't mean he wasn't commercial then.
            $endgroup$
            – Separatrix
            8 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            @Separatrix - You know you're being illogical. Would you put a ban on anyone using this site who wrote a successful story or designed a successful game? If 'being commercial' is prohibited in the site rules, please direct me to that paragraph.
            $endgroup$
            – chasly from UK
            8 hours ago








          • 2




            $begingroup$
            @chaslyfromUK, the key separation between us and SciFi has always been the "existing world" versus "new world". Talking about existing works is the remit of SciFi, yes we refer back to existing works a lot to answer questions, but directly addressing existing works, as your question is doing, falls fully under SciFi not here.
            $endgroup$
            – Separatrix
            8 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            "we refer back to existing works" Yes we do, and we also refer back to existing questions on the same subject. Thus there is notice taken of the internal history of questions on the site. Surely the external history of a given question is just as relevant. It helps us unwittingly appearing to pirate the work of others.
            $endgroup$
            – chasly from UK
            7 hours ago












          • $begingroup$
            @chaslyfromUK Yes, but that doesn't mean that every question encountered in the process of building a world needs to or should be asked on Worldbuilding SE, just as not every question encountered in the process of writing needs to or should be asked on Writing SE.
            $endgroup$
            – a CVn
            5 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            Just to play devil's advocate, it's been stated here before regarding conlang questions that just because a question is on-topic on another Stack Exchange, that doesn't mean it's automatically off-topic on WorldBuilding. The fact that Chasly's question would be on-topic on SciFi should be irrelevant wrt. whether it's on-topic here or not, especially as she clearly has no intention of reposting it there.
            $endgroup$
            – F1Krazy
            54 mins ago
















          3












          $begingroup$

          I might consider it on topic in meta, but it's not in its own right worldbuilding. However it is one of the staples of SciFi.SE as it's an element of existing (commercial) worlds, which is very much their field.





          share











          $endgroup$













          • $begingroup$
            I'm not sure that referring back to Aristophanes, as one of the answers did, has much to do with commerce.
            $endgroup$
            – chasly from UK
            8 hours ago






          • 1




            $begingroup$
            Meta isn't for "stuff that's off topic on Main". Nor is it for discussion about the site's topic. Meta is for questions and discussions about the site itself.
            $endgroup$
            – a CVn
            8 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            @chaslyfromUK, just because he's not commercial now, doesn't mean he wasn't commercial then.
            $endgroup$
            – Separatrix
            8 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            @Separatrix - You know you're being illogical. Would you put a ban on anyone using this site who wrote a successful story or designed a successful game? If 'being commercial' is prohibited in the site rules, please direct me to that paragraph.
            $endgroup$
            – chasly from UK
            8 hours ago








          • 2




            $begingroup$
            @chaslyfromUK, the key separation between us and SciFi has always been the "existing world" versus "new world". Talking about existing works is the remit of SciFi, yes we refer back to existing works a lot to answer questions, but directly addressing existing works, as your question is doing, falls fully under SciFi not here.
            $endgroup$
            – Separatrix
            8 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            "we refer back to existing works" Yes we do, and we also refer back to existing questions on the same subject. Thus there is notice taken of the internal history of questions on the site. Surely the external history of a given question is just as relevant. It helps us unwittingly appearing to pirate the work of others.
            $endgroup$
            – chasly from UK
            7 hours ago












          • $begingroup$
            @chaslyfromUK Yes, but that doesn't mean that every question encountered in the process of building a world needs to or should be asked on Worldbuilding SE, just as not every question encountered in the process of writing needs to or should be asked on Writing SE.
            $endgroup$
            – a CVn
            5 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            Just to play devil's advocate, it's been stated here before regarding conlang questions that just because a question is on-topic on another Stack Exchange, that doesn't mean it's automatically off-topic on WorldBuilding. The fact that Chasly's question would be on-topic on SciFi should be irrelevant wrt. whether it's on-topic here or not, especially as she clearly has no intention of reposting it there.
            $endgroup$
            – F1Krazy
            54 mins ago














          3












          3








          3





          $begingroup$

          I might consider it on topic in meta, but it's not in its own right worldbuilding. However it is one of the staples of SciFi.SE as it's an element of existing (commercial) worlds, which is very much their field.





          share











          $endgroup$



          I might consider it on topic in meta, but it's not in its own right worldbuilding. However it is one of the staples of SciFi.SE as it's an element of existing (commercial) worlds, which is very much their field.






          share













          share


          share








          edited 8 hours ago

























          answered 9 hours ago









          SeparatrixSeparatrix

          83.3k418




          83.3k418












          • $begingroup$
            I'm not sure that referring back to Aristophanes, as one of the answers did, has much to do with commerce.
            $endgroup$
            – chasly from UK
            8 hours ago






          • 1




            $begingroup$
            Meta isn't for "stuff that's off topic on Main". Nor is it for discussion about the site's topic. Meta is for questions and discussions about the site itself.
            $endgroup$
            – a CVn
            8 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            @chaslyfromUK, just because he's not commercial now, doesn't mean he wasn't commercial then.
            $endgroup$
            – Separatrix
            8 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            @Separatrix - You know you're being illogical. Would you put a ban on anyone using this site who wrote a successful story or designed a successful game? If 'being commercial' is prohibited in the site rules, please direct me to that paragraph.
            $endgroup$
            – chasly from UK
            8 hours ago








          • 2




            $begingroup$
            @chaslyfromUK, the key separation between us and SciFi has always been the "existing world" versus "new world". Talking about existing works is the remit of SciFi, yes we refer back to existing works a lot to answer questions, but directly addressing existing works, as your question is doing, falls fully under SciFi not here.
            $endgroup$
            – Separatrix
            8 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            "we refer back to existing works" Yes we do, and we also refer back to existing questions on the same subject. Thus there is notice taken of the internal history of questions on the site. Surely the external history of a given question is just as relevant. It helps us unwittingly appearing to pirate the work of others.
            $endgroup$
            – chasly from UK
            7 hours ago












          • $begingroup$
            @chaslyfromUK Yes, but that doesn't mean that every question encountered in the process of building a world needs to or should be asked on Worldbuilding SE, just as not every question encountered in the process of writing needs to or should be asked on Writing SE.
            $endgroup$
            – a CVn
            5 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            Just to play devil's advocate, it's been stated here before regarding conlang questions that just because a question is on-topic on another Stack Exchange, that doesn't mean it's automatically off-topic on WorldBuilding. The fact that Chasly's question would be on-topic on SciFi should be irrelevant wrt. whether it's on-topic here or not, especially as she clearly has no intention of reposting it there.
            $endgroup$
            – F1Krazy
            54 mins ago


















          • $begingroup$
            I'm not sure that referring back to Aristophanes, as one of the answers did, has much to do with commerce.
            $endgroup$
            – chasly from UK
            8 hours ago






          • 1




            $begingroup$
            Meta isn't for "stuff that's off topic on Main". Nor is it for discussion about the site's topic. Meta is for questions and discussions about the site itself.
            $endgroup$
            – a CVn
            8 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            @chaslyfromUK, just because he's not commercial now, doesn't mean he wasn't commercial then.
            $endgroup$
            – Separatrix
            8 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            @Separatrix - You know you're being illogical. Would you put a ban on anyone using this site who wrote a successful story or designed a successful game? If 'being commercial' is prohibited in the site rules, please direct me to that paragraph.
            $endgroup$
            – chasly from UK
            8 hours ago








          • 2




            $begingroup$
            @chaslyfromUK, the key separation between us and SciFi has always been the "existing world" versus "new world". Talking about existing works is the remit of SciFi, yes we refer back to existing works a lot to answer questions, but directly addressing existing works, as your question is doing, falls fully under SciFi not here.
            $endgroup$
            – Separatrix
            8 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            "we refer back to existing works" Yes we do, and we also refer back to existing questions on the same subject. Thus there is notice taken of the internal history of questions on the site. Surely the external history of a given question is just as relevant. It helps us unwittingly appearing to pirate the work of others.
            $endgroup$
            – chasly from UK
            7 hours ago












          • $begingroup$
            @chaslyfromUK Yes, but that doesn't mean that every question encountered in the process of building a world needs to or should be asked on Worldbuilding SE, just as not every question encountered in the process of writing needs to or should be asked on Writing SE.
            $endgroup$
            – a CVn
            5 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            Just to play devil's advocate, it's been stated here before regarding conlang questions that just because a question is on-topic on another Stack Exchange, that doesn't mean it's automatically off-topic on WorldBuilding. The fact that Chasly's question would be on-topic on SciFi should be irrelevant wrt. whether it's on-topic here or not, especially as she clearly has no intention of reposting it there.
            $endgroup$
            – F1Krazy
            54 mins ago
















          $begingroup$
          I'm not sure that referring back to Aristophanes, as one of the answers did, has much to do with commerce.
          $endgroup$
          – chasly from UK
          8 hours ago




          $begingroup$
          I'm not sure that referring back to Aristophanes, as one of the answers did, has much to do with commerce.
          $endgroup$
          – chasly from UK
          8 hours ago




          1




          1




          $begingroup$
          Meta isn't for "stuff that's off topic on Main". Nor is it for discussion about the site's topic. Meta is for questions and discussions about the site itself.
          $endgroup$
          – a CVn
          8 hours ago




          $begingroup$
          Meta isn't for "stuff that's off topic on Main". Nor is it for discussion about the site's topic. Meta is for questions and discussions about the site itself.
          $endgroup$
          – a CVn
          8 hours ago












          $begingroup$
          @chaslyfromUK, just because he's not commercial now, doesn't mean he wasn't commercial then.
          $endgroup$
          – Separatrix
          8 hours ago




          $begingroup$
          @chaslyfromUK, just because he's not commercial now, doesn't mean he wasn't commercial then.
          $endgroup$
          – Separatrix
          8 hours ago












          $begingroup$
          @Separatrix - You know you're being illogical. Would you put a ban on anyone using this site who wrote a successful story or designed a successful game? If 'being commercial' is prohibited in the site rules, please direct me to that paragraph.
          $endgroup$
          – chasly from UK
          8 hours ago






          $begingroup$
          @Separatrix - You know you're being illogical. Would you put a ban on anyone using this site who wrote a successful story or designed a successful game? If 'being commercial' is prohibited in the site rules, please direct me to that paragraph.
          $endgroup$
          – chasly from UK
          8 hours ago






          2




          2




          $begingroup$
          @chaslyfromUK, the key separation between us and SciFi has always been the "existing world" versus "new world". Talking about existing works is the remit of SciFi, yes we refer back to existing works a lot to answer questions, but directly addressing existing works, as your question is doing, falls fully under SciFi not here.
          $endgroup$
          – Separatrix
          8 hours ago




          $begingroup$
          @chaslyfromUK, the key separation between us and SciFi has always been the "existing world" versus "new world". Talking about existing works is the remit of SciFi, yes we refer back to existing works a lot to answer questions, but directly addressing existing works, as your question is doing, falls fully under SciFi not here.
          $endgroup$
          – Separatrix
          8 hours ago












          $begingroup$
          "we refer back to existing works" Yes we do, and we also refer back to existing questions on the same subject. Thus there is notice taken of the internal history of questions on the site. Surely the external history of a given question is just as relevant. It helps us unwittingly appearing to pirate the work of others.
          $endgroup$
          – chasly from UK
          7 hours ago






          $begingroup$
          "we refer back to existing works" Yes we do, and we also refer back to existing questions on the same subject. Thus there is notice taken of the internal history of questions on the site. Surely the external history of a given question is just as relevant. It helps us unwittingly appearing to pirate the work of others.
          $endgroup$
          – chasly from UK
          7 hours ago














          $begingroup$
          @chaslyfromUK Yes, but that doesn't mean that every question encountered in the process of building a world needs to or should be asked on Worldbuilding SE, just as not every question encountered in the process of writing needs to or should be asked on Writing SE.
          $endgroup$
          – a CVn
          5 hours ago




          $begingroup$
          @chaslyfromUK Yes, but that doesn't mean that every question encountered in the process of building a world needs to or should be asked on Worldbuilding SE, just as not every question encountered in the process of writing needs to or should be asked on Writing SE.
          $endgroup$
          – a CVn
          5 hours ago












          $begingroup$
          Just to play devil's advocate, it's been stated here before regarding conlang questions that just because a question is on-topic on another Stack Exchange, that doesn't mean it's automatically off-topic on WorldBuilding. The fact that Chasly's question would be on-topic on SciFi should be irrelevant wrt. whether it's on-topic here or not, especially as she clearly has no intention of reposting it there.
          $endgroup$
          – F1Krazy
          54 mins ago




          $begingroup$
          Just to play devil's advocate, it's been stated here before regarding conlang questions that just because a question is on-topic on another Stack Exchange, that doesn't mean it's automatically off-topic on WorldBuilding. The fact that Chasly's question would be on-topic on SciFi should be irrelevant wrt. whether it's on-topic here or not, especially as she clearly has no intention of reposting it there.
          $endgroup$
          – F1Krazy
          54 mins ago



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