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My question was wrongly put on hold as shopping. It is a finding online resources question and, as far as I can tell, seems to be no different than other questions that weren't closed. It's not asking for what's best or any kind of recommendations and from my perspective its not too broad. I tried to find what constitutes a shopping question and from what I found I can't see how my question qualifies as one. I tried editing it to clarify that it was not for recommendations, but that doesn't seem to have helped.

So how do I get my question reopened when I can't see anything wrong with it in the first place?

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Doppelgreener's answer much more elegantly puts what I was trying to explain in the comments. I have voted to reopen following the edits. I hope the community will agree in time. \$\endgroup\$ – linksassin Mod Apr 3 '19 at 11:24
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When your question was closed it had the following content:

I'm not sure if this is on topic, but as far as I'm aware Lomion, the online Monstrous Index of all 2e monsters, qualifies as an online resource and at present it is down. Are there any alternative online resources to the site that have all the ADnD 2e monsters?

This looks a lot like a tool recommendation question: “list some sites for me.” Those are off topic and a subcategory of shopping question. Insisting it is not a resource recommendation question isn't going to make it suddenly be not one; if it is one then it is one, and the community judged it was one.

It has been significantly revised, and I've given it a bit more revision, mainly to remove the claims about what question it is/isn't and remove that “give me some alternatives” question:

Lomion.de, the online Monstrous Index of all 2e monsters, is currently down. In leiu of it being missing: Where can I find a complete online index of all ADnD 2e monster entries compiled on one site that is still up and functional at this point in time?

This might be functionally enough a request to get a particular problem solved to make it not quite a resource recommendation. I'll let the community judge.

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    \$\begingroup\$ but it hasn't been "significantly revised"... It says the exact same things it's always said but with different words. Why is it ok now but not before? \$\endgroup\$ – Abandon Hope Apr 3 '19 at 12:41
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    \$\begingroup\$ @AbandonHope "Solve this problem for me" vs "give me some options" are small framing changes that result in a major difference in the quality and variety of answers that will arrive. It's not a significant revision from just looking at the question, but it's a significant revision in terms of the nature of the question and might make it reopenable. \$\endgroup\$ – doppelgreener Apr 3 '19 at 13:05
  • \$\begingroup\$ nothing about the nature of the question has been revised. it is still the same question. the nature of the question is still the same. it's a "finding online resources" question, still is a "finding online resources" question, and always will be just that. Nothing about the question seems different but the prettier wording. I still can't understand why this is ok but it wasn't before. \$\endgroup\$ – Abandon Hope Apr 3 '19 at 22:02
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    \$\begingroup\$ @AbandonHope Then I may be seeing a difference that isn't actually there, in which case either the question would've been equally viable to be reopened earlier, or might be equally viable to be closed now. For now it's open. (Whether a question should be open or closed sometimes gets resolved by more or less a tug-of-war until all concerned community members have weighed in.) \$\endgroup\$ – doppelgreener Apr 3 '19 at 22:06
  • \$\begingroup\$ @AbandonHope The difference is subtle, but it is there. The longer you are around the community you will come to see why the distinction is important. From past experience we know that questions worded "give me some options" attract poor quality answers where "help me solve this" will get better answers. None of this is a detraction on you, we are trying to help you get the best answers possible. \$\endgroup\$ – linksassin Mod Apr 4 '19 at 0:12
  • \$\begingroup\$ @linksassin I'm pretty sure dg is right about the whole "seeing a difference that isn't actually there" because any way I look at it it doesn't come across as different. I don't think time or interaction is going to help either. To see "why the distinction is important" I'd need to see a distinction first. I can see that my question was never like those closed ones that were linked, but as far as I can tell it is like the ones that were open and fine so I can't understand why it wasn't fine. it didn't even fit the criteria I found for shopping questions either, so I'm starting to think that \$\endgroup\$ – Abandon Hope Apr 4 '19 at 4:52
  • \$\begingroup\$ you guys just close "finding online resource" questions at random or something like that. None of the editing has even brought better or even correct answers. The only answer is the wayback machine when I need something that isn't lomion, something that is presently a functional site. I already know that archive is incomplete and I've found plenty missing from it, some of which I need. \$\endgroup\$ – Abandon Hope Apr 4 '19 at 4:55
  • \$\begingroup\$ @doppelgreener about editing, why did somebody edit my question just to change it from saying "ADnD" to "AD&D"? The tag spells it "adnd". Is it wrong? \$\endgroup\$ – Abandon Hope Apr 4 '19 at 5:04
  • \$\begingroup\$ @AbandonHope There is a difference. I'm not sure how else to explain it to you. As to why there hasn't been an answer, AD&D isn't as popular as it used to be. It might take time for an expert to get to your question. Or there isn't an answer but I promise everything we did made it a better question. We care about answering problems not finding things. Word your questions as a problem to be solved and it will be better suited here. That is what we have tried to do. \$\endgroup\$ – linksassin Mod Apr 4 '19 at 5:08
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    \$\begingroup\$ @AbandonHope The tag spells it that way because we can't put '&' in a tag. AD&D is the correct name. V2 likes to fix up posts to make them clearer and correct. Don't worry about it. \$\endgroup\$ – linksassin Mod Apr 4 '19 at 5:30
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    \$\begingroup\$ @AbandonHope We don't close them at random, no. But deciding what to close and reopen is a collaborative community process, which means some people would close something other people would leave open — hence the tug-of-war effect I described. As for the difference: questions that sound like “what are some other options?” tend to attract low-quality partial answers, like “well my friend has a wiki in which he compiled like ten monsters” which technically isn't a wrong answer. The current question requests a complete solution which makes it obvious those answers should be avoided. \$\endgroup\$ – doppelgreener Apr 4 '19 at 12:26
  • \$\begingroup\$ @AbandonHope If I may echo linksassin's point on V2's edting services, I am a very high rep user and V2 edits my questions and answers with some frequency to make them shinier and more correct. This helps the site's overall quality. I do not consider V2's efforts intrusive - I accept them in the positive spirit in which they are offered. Once any of us posts a question or an answer, it becomes (to a certain extent) community property. RL analogy: I sometimes do a little trimming on my neighbors lawn (near our sidewalk) as I do my yard work so that our neighborhood looks spiffy. \$\endgroup\$ – KorvinStarmast Apr 4 '19 at 12:55
  • \$\begingroup\$ @doppelgreener the question was always asking the same thing though. It's the same question, just prettier looking, no difference. and now even though it was opened again and the only edit made was the & thing it is on hold again. \$\endgroup\$ – Abandon Hope Apr 6 '19 at 0:02
  • \$\begingroup\$ @KorvinStarmast that analogy might work where you live but where I live you could still get in trouble for that if your neighbor really didn't want you doing it. They could still claim trespassing at least and possibly even vandalism depending on a few factors. \$\endgroup\$ – Abandon Hope Apr 6 '19 at 0:11
  • \$\begingroup\$ @AbandonHope Heck, what's the point of helping people? Nothing but trouble there. \$\endgroup\$ – KorvinStarmast Apr 6 '19 at 1:07

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