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I came across this question:

What was the largest flop in board game history?

This question is answerable, but it doesn't really seem to solve anyone's problems. It's a chatty question that, while answerable, doesn't seem to belong here.

Is this question on-topic?

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    Could you be vaguer? ;) Surely if you care enough to raise this, you must have some idea of why you think this is off-topic? Can you elaborate?
    – ire_and_curses
    Feb 15, 2013 at 2:36
  • @ire_and_curses: I fixed the vagueness.
    – Dan
    Feb 15, 2013 at 16:04
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    Forget on/off topicness. The question is Not Constructive.
    – Origami Robot
    Feb 15, 2013 at 18:27
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    Oh. When I saw the title I thought it was a question about poker. :-) (And wondered whether this was a question about bet sizes or what...)
    – Monica Cellio
    Apr 15, 2013 at 17:50

2 Answers 2

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The question is about games, so I don't see any argument that can be made that it is off-topic.

Is it a real question that deals with an actual problem someone is facing? That might be debatable.

Is it a clear and useful question? In my opinion, no. The term "flop" is never defined, it just gives some vague comparisons from a different genre. It basically seems to translate to "What game didn't live up to it's expectations the most?" That seems exceedingly vague to me, and even if there was a clear canonical example, it doesn't seem like knowing that example is going to provide any use to me as a gamer. If you feel the same, the appropriate response is a downvote, not a close vote.

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  • I have edited the question to better define "flop." I am looking for profit and loss numbers. The point with the video game examples was to show that examples of video game flops exist (although they may not be flops in the financial.sense), but no real flops are well known in the boardgame industries history.
    – user1873
    Feb 23, 2013 at 5:02
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The question doesn't seem "off topic." If I were to close it, the reason would be "too localized." There is a REAL difference. A question closed as "off topic" will cost the asker a downvote (two reputation points), whereas "too localized" doesn't carry such a penalty. Nor does "not constructive." Are there "degrees of badness" in close reasons?

Who (on this site) would benefit from the answers? A game designer (including potentially yours truly). Also, someone who viewed board and card games as potential "collector's items" might have an interest in avoiding a "flop."

Based on this, my own feeling is that the question is NOT "too localized," but I wouldn't quarrel with someone who though the other way. I would disagree with someone who thought that it was "off topic."

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