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The following question popped up and I moved quickly to close as being off-topic.

In the Pokemon Card Game what is a group of Pokemon called?

However, as @diego points out, under the current site scope this question could seen as on-topic because there is a Pokémon card game that could benefit from an answer.

If this question were considered on-topic, it seems like it would open up similar questions, like:

  1. What are a group of uruk hai called? (Lord of the Rings card game)
  2. Do wormholes have enough gravity to pull in starships? (Gravwell: Escape from the 9th Dimension)
  3. How many gears does an Indy car have? (Formula D)

Should questions like these be migrated or kept on the site?

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
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The fact that a board game exists about a topic doesn't mean that a question about that topic is the same as a question about the game. When I think of Pokemon; I think of a series of video games that also spawned an anime (which then itself spawned more video games). And then I remember that, yes, there's also a card game about Pokemon.

I think that it's fine to have questions that aren't specifically related to game mechanics, as long as a "board or card game" is where the topic at hand comes from. We see this a lot in questions about Magic lore and theme. Magic: The Gathering, is a card game; the fact that it spawned a video game doesn't change this.

Pokemon, however, was first a pair of video games, then a TV Series, THEN they made a card game about it. A question about pokemon theme or lore that doesn't specifically relate to the card game sounds to me like it is asking about a video game or a TV series.

In other words, I agree with the concerns in the OP. If this type of question is ok based only on "a pokemon card game exists", then almost any question imaginable could be on-topic, because there's likely a board or card game about most TV shows or video games.

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  • The person asking may not know the TV show(s) and/or video game(s) exist.. or they may not know the order in which they came to be. It's possible the board/card game is the only thing they know and play... if they play the Pokemon card game, for example, and are wondering how to properly converse with their friends about the game, shouldn't we answer it? Personally, I voted to migrate the question to the English stack exchange, but upon further thought.. I'm not so sure any more.
    – Othya
    Aug 12, 2016 at 14:18
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    @Othya While that is a fair point; I think the same point can be applied to any of the other examples. What if a person didn't know that LOTR were books and movies before being a card game, or that Firefly was a TV show before being a board game, etc.
    – GendoIkari
    Aug 12, 2016 at 14:20
  • @Gendolkari Good point.
    – Othya
    Aug 12, 2016 at 14:21
  • @Othya If some came here asking about say the LotR story we should be leaving a comment along the lines of "Since the LotR was originally a book questions about its story are off-topic here, you should try asking on SF&F". Not just closing it as off-topic with no explanation.
    – diego
    Aug 13, 2016 at 2:34
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I think questions like this should be off-topic.

Seeing as we are in beta, we can't migrate to an existing SE site. I would comment suggesting the best SE site. For example:

What are a group of uruk hai called?

Thanks for your question! Science Fiction and Fantasy SE may be a better fit for your question, as this site only relates to board and card games.

Do wormholes have enough gravity to pull in starships?

Welcome to the site and thanks for your question. This site is used by board and card game players for asking and answering board and card game questions. I would suggest posting your question on Physics SE.

How many gears does an Indy car have?

Please be advised that this site is designed only for board and card game questions. Please visit Motor Vehicle and Repair SE.

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