-24

I once answered a question, and it appeared second in the list of answers. The answer is a good one, because I provided a M.C.V.E. and it's fairly straightforward.

But the asker of the question decided not to bother with his question anymore. The asker isn't accepting an answer, he/she just left the question alone.

I spent my time researching the answer to a difficult question, and I didn't get anything? I've just answered a question for nothing. If you don't get anything in return for a great answer, then I might as well not answer at all.

And you know what I answer for? More reputation.

9
  • 8
    That is how this site works. But I'm not sure if I fully grasp your point as you seem to have gathered 541 reputation. some of which are from votes on posts.... – rene Jun 27 '15 at 17:20
  • 2
    So you've decided it is a problem that someone answers and it doesn't get upvotes. And this is, for some reason, a serious problem What exactly do you want to happen? Do you want automatic upvotes for simply answering a question? How do you know the answer is even good enough to get upvotes? What if an answer is wrong. – psubsee2003 Jun 27 '15 at 17:24
  • I mean, the asker isn't doing anything to the question anymore. – clickbait Jun 27 '15 at 17:36
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    @NarawaGames so your problem is the asker abandoned the question and didn't upvote or accept? – psubsee2003 Jun 27 '15 at 17:37
  • He didn't accept any answer at all, and he hasn't done anything to the question. – clickbait Jun 27 '15 at 17:38
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    "I'd seriously consider not answering at all" - that's fair enough, if you were only answering for the upvotes and accepts. – jonrsharpe Jun 27 '15 at 17:39
  • Stick with down/close voting crap. It's much easier than finding, and answering, good questions. – Martin James Jun 27 '15 at 18:55
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    The asker isn't accepting any more answers - What do you mean, accepting more answers? The Asker can only accept one and if they've already accepted an answer, why should they do anything with subsequent answers? – BSMP Jun 28 '15 at 16:14
  • 2
    Welcome to charity, where you give and should not expect anything in return. – Memor-X Aug 15 '16 at 3:43
13

It happens. More often than you think, too.

There are a number of reasons why your answer doesn't get upvoted:

  • It's incomplete (it touches on the problem, but doesn't really explain things)
  • A better answer exists on the question
  • The potential upvoters lost their internet connection just as they were going to look at your answer
  • The Earth moves towards perihelion
  • Tim loses his keys

Answer acceptance has always existed for the OP. It's up to them to determine what's helped them best. The community then decides which one is correct by voting on it.

If you're upset about this, you can do a few things to improve this:

  • Improve your answer; make it so that it stands well above the rest.
  • Improve the question so that it reads clearer, and has the potential to get more eyes looking at it.
  • Clarify your answer; remove any ambiguities and confusion that may exist while reading it.
  • Explore alternative ways to solve the problem
  • ...or, find another question to answer. You can't get upvotes on every question you answer, and that may be due to any number of reasons above.
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    You forgot about Tim losing his keys again right before someone decided to upvote – psubsee2003 Jun 27 '15 at 17:26
  • Damn it Tim, quit losing your keys every time someone wants an upvote. – Makoto Jun 27 '15 at 17:27
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    Didn't know about the perihelion.... – rene Jun 27 '15 at 17:32
  • @rene: Yeah, it's too hot so I couldn't be bothered to upvote. Something along those lines. – Makoto Jun 27 '15 at 17:33
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    an option worth mentioning is editing the question to improve it; this increases chances for answerer to get upvotes in several ways. There are even badges to incentivise successful edits like that – gnat Jun 27 '15 at 17:34

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