Are shopping (aka recommend this) questions on topic?

Question

I saw this question and was surprised that it had up-votes and no close votes.

On every Stack Exchange site I've participated in, questions asking for recommendations are off-topic because they are inherently opinion based.

Are they on topic here?

Answer 1

That is not a shopping question; that was supposed to be a faq question on the meta that we could use as a reference for new users. It was migrated by @RobertCartaino without a meta or chat discussion, and we aren't sure why.

Answer 2

In general

On every Stack Exchange site I've participated in, questions asking for recommendations are off-topic because they are inherently opinion based.

There are some sites where exceptions have been made:

• Physics (as well as this)
• Mathematics (as well as this)
• History of Science and Mathematics
• Biology
• Others . . .

These, though, are a bit different from "recommendation" questions on many other Stack Exchange sites. They're asking for scholarly advice about learning things. Admittedly, that doesn't sound too different, in principle. But they can be narrow enough that only a few references are actually valid.

That said, they're controversial and often off-topic, or at least discouraged in many communities. And there are often warning banners attached to questions to help answerers know about the site's policies. Physics has the following (used here, for example):

Before answering, please see our policy on resource recommendation questions. Please write substantial answers that detail the style, content, and prerequisites of the book, paper or other resource. Explain the nature of the resource so that readers can decide which one is best suited for them rather than relying on the opinions of others. Answers containing only a reference to a book or paper will be removed!

I don't think we should have such questions. There's room for subjectivity in the sites I mentioned above, and I think that that's even more the case on Mythology. So I think that we should not have such questions.

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This specific case

I think that the questions is far, far, far too broad for a question on Mythology Stack Exchange (excluding meta), and off-topic, because we don't necessarily welcome requests (see the top part of this post). However, I think it's fine for Mythology meta because it's discussing sources - in a way, similar to What are good sources when answering questions?. Perhaps it's a bit of a stretch, but there's a connection there nonetheless.

Answer 3

That question belongs on meta

I created that faq question in response to questions like these:

• What was the purpose of the Labyrinth built by Daedalus?
• What items were made by the dwarves for the Norse gods?
• https://mythology.stackexchange.com/questions/611/how-did-overlord-xenu-kill-billions-of-people-75-million-years-ago
• How do we know that Gilgamesh was a demigod?
• How did Gilgamesh die?
• Why is the Serpent the most common motif as the creator in indigenous Australian cultures?

These questions all have one thing in common: they're asking questions about mythology based on something said in a wikipedia article. For example:

On the Wikipage of Mjölnir, it is said to be made by the dwarves Eitri and Brokkr. Wikipedia also states that they created other items for the gods. Those items being: Skidbladnir, the ship of Freyr, Mjölnir, Draupnir and Gungnir.

Wiki Quotes:

"the Sons of Ivaldi are a group of dwarfs who fashion Skidbladnir, the ship of Freyr, and the Gungnir, the spear of Odin, as well as golden hair for Sif to replace what Loki had cut off."

"Eitri succeeded in making the golden boar Gullinbursti, the golden ring Draupnir, and the hammer Mjöllnir."

Aside from the fact that these questions tend to get closed for other reasons, these types of questions are less interesting because they aren't talking about actual myths. If you don't understand why that's a problem, imagine if someone asked the following question on SciFi.SE:

According to the wikipedia page about Harry Potter, Harry's aunt and uncle didn't like him. Why was that?

We're a site about mythology, so we should encourage people to ask questions about actual myths. If you look at, to pick one of many examples, the wonderful and interesting questions HDE 226868 asks, you'll notice that they are mostly about a translated version of a specific myth. I think that's a big part of what makes those questions interesting.

The meta post is designed to encourage new users to ask questions based on things said in actual myths as opposed to questions about things said in wikipedia. It is not supposed to be a "shopping" question, or anything other than a guide for new users. As such, it belongs on meta and not the main site.