What is the status of list questions on this site?

Question

In the first brainstorming session, we've discussed the status of "list" questions on Anime and Manga.

What are list questions?

Any question which asks for a list of items as the answer. Some examples:

• https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/2213/is-there-a-definitive-list-of-zombie-anime-out-there-or-in-the-making
• What Bankais exist within Soul Society?

The status of such questions was controversial, we aimed to officially define the position of such questions.

We've come to the following conclusions:

The status of "list" questions

A list question will generally be allowed, if it qualifies all 4 criteria below:

1. It is specific and to the point. Don't ask about list of abstract concepts or anime series featuring some theme.
2. The list items can be determined objectively. Don't ask about a list of our favorite things, or things we think are "good".
3. The list is reasonably scoped. If you can imagine an entire wiki-page listing your answer, the question is not reasonably scoped.
4. The list isn't prone to rapid change. If the list is hard to maintain, it won't be, thus losing its usefulness.

The fourth is a bit tricky. If the list proves to be useful enough to be maintained, a list changing rapidly can be fine. It's tricky and will be defined better once we have more users.

Answer 1

For questions that don't satisfy the 4 criteria, here is how we have decided they will be dealt with:

• If it fails #1, close as "unclear what you're asking" because it's hard to tell what is being asked.
• If it fails #2, close as "primarily opinion-based" because it's subjective.
• If it fails #3, close as "too broad" because it isn't reasonably scoped.
• If it fails #4, this will be handled on a case-by-case basis.

On #4, the important part is whether the list can be sufficiently be maintained and kept up to date so that it is still useful.

If it cannot be maintained, then we may lean towards closing the question. If it can be maintained, then it will be kept.

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This may seem very strict, but it is necessary to filter out list questions that have the potential to degrade into an unconstructive mess.

Examples of lists question that passes all 4 criteria are:

• "What are all the level 5's in the Index/Railgun universe?"
• "What are all the shows that X director has produced?"

_{Note that this is not to say that these are good questions. They are just examples of questions that would be considered appropriate for the site.}

Answer 2

Different opinion: After seeing https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/2825/titles-where-characters-are-in-trapped-in-a-game - which fits all of our current list criteria, I have to say that I think list questions in general are a bad idea.

Look at both of the answers for that question. Which one is better? Why? The best answer to a list question would be a community answer where everyone inputs their own contribution for one full list. But as it is now, aren't list questions just a contest of who can answer first or who has the longer list?

Maybe it's just me, but I think something like that shouldn't be the criteria for a good answer on SE.

Answer 3

Concerning the question: List of anime with correct animation of the characters playing musical instrument, also related to this meta post: Do we still like questions asking for lists of anime/manga/etc.?

This definitely falls into the out of universe list and it would seem to abide by the 4 criteria for a list question. The problem I think is how the "reasonably scoped" part is interpreted. In this meta post it seems that the scoping mainly applies to how many items end up on a list, and it should, since asking for all shows that feature a pet is probably a really long list. In the case of the question about characters playing music, the resulting list is probably not going to be incredibly long. So it appears to satisfy the scoping criteria.

I thought that it may have been brought up during the chat (I can't remember) but should the scoping also include the set of items, shows, manga, etc that the list is derived from? When the question asks for something resulting in a relatively small list (e.g. "List of anime that has a character that is wearing a pinky ring") but the list is derived from every anime ever made, the scope is likely going to exceed what any one person can reasonably participate in. This doesn't mean that someone can't answer such a question by posting a link to an already completed list, but if such a list hasn't been created, and assuming nobody has watched every anime ever made (or a satisfyingly large percentage of them) and remembered enough details to create a list, this is going to be answered by committee, and people are going to list the shows that they've seen that match the criteria.

An example of a smaller scoping of the set that the list is derived from: "How many Lupin III movies/specials didn't have Fujiko?". The resulting list is reasonably scoped, we're not going to get all that many, maybe a dozen?. But the set of anime that the list draws from also isn't every anime ever made (10k?, more?) but the list of Lupin movies, which is maybe 30 or 40.

Answer 4

Anime/Manga recommendation questions (list or not) should, IMO, be expressly considered off topic. Most questions on "anime with a particular theme" can usually be answered by simply clicking on a tag in your favourite anime/manga database. In the case of the question, https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/2825/titles-where-characters-are-in-trapped-in-a-game , the tag is usually something along the lines of "play or die" and some combination of "game" or "video game".

While there should be the proverbial exception to any restrictive rule, it's best, IMO, to keep recommendation questions at a safe distance from this site. If they do have to be exceptionally accommodated, it should be achieved by rewording the question appropriately to fit within the rules of the site.

Answer 5

I made a new self-answer list question here: List of manga chapters animated in Hayate no Gotoku! Cuties

Since I write the question and answer myself, I get the experience when faced with list question from both sides: the asker and the answerer. I am posting this to express my own experience when I post a list question and self-answer it, and also to do a self-evaluation of my question against the closing guideline.

There are 2 close reasons that may apply, which are NC and NARQ:

not constructive

As it currently stands, this question is not a good fit for our Q&A format. We expect answers to be supported by facts, references, or specific expertise, but this question will likely solicit debate, arguments, polling, or extended discussion. If you feel that this question can be improved and possibly reopened, see the FAQ for guidance.

My question can be supported by facts or references. I cannot imagine how it will solicit debate and argument, although it might becomes a polling session if the answers are not complete. I decided to make it a self-answer style of question, so that the answers are not spread across different posts.

not a real question

It's difficult to tell what is being asked here. This question is ambiguous, vague, incomplete, overly broad, or rhetorical and cannot be reasonably answered in its current form. For help clarifying this question so that it can be reopened, see the FAQ.

I am quite sure myself it is not ambiguous, vague or incomplete.

However, it was a bit tedious to write the answer. It took me an hour or two searching through the manga. It is slightly broad, but the information will be quite disorganized if I try to split it up into many questions.