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I've occasionally rushed to get the first answer and used the grace period to flesh it out on sites other than SO. It absolutely helps to have the first answer. When I have a pretty good idea that I'm not the only person reading the question, I post the minimal answer quickly. If I can squeeze the updates into the five minute grace period, I will. But if it takes me six minutes, I'm not that worried about it. My motivation to answer quickly stems from the obviousness of the answer. When a question is more difficult to answer, being first doesn't much matter.

I've occasionally rushed to get the first answer and used the grace period to flesh it out on sites other than SO. It absolutely helps to have the first answer. When I have a pretty good idea that I'm not the only person reading the question, I post the minimal answer quickly. If I can squeeze the updates into the five minute grace period, I will. But if it takes me six minutes, I'm not that worried about it. My motivation to answer quickly stems from the obviousness of the answer. When a question is more difficult to answer, being first doesn't much matter.

• This only works on easy questions.
• The problem is entirely with the game aspect of Stack Overflow. At worst, this practice will increase duplication of similar answers; it won't hurt the quality of final answers.
• It's almost impossible to detect with certainty.

For me, if the grace period was removed, I'd be tempted to post first anyway. The only thing that might change in that case is that I might be reluctant to update my answer quickly. I'd probably work on an answer and if someone else submitted something better then my first try, I'd submit my update soon after. My goal (not just in FGIW situations) is to always have the best answer on the page. If I see someone write something better than mine, I try to improve my answer. It's good for gaming purposes and for the quality of answers on the site. (The only reason I might hold back on an edit is because of the auto-CW feature. And that wouldn't slow me down much.)

I think there is a real Fastest Gun in the West problem But I don't think this proposal will fix it. What really needs to be done is to fix the sort order of answers.

• This only works on easy questions.
• The problem is entirely with the game aspect of Stack Overflow. At worst, this practice will increase duplication of similar answers; it won't hurt the quality of final answers.
• It's almost impossible to detect with certainty.

For me, if the grace period was removed, I'd be tempted to post first anyway. The only thing that might change in that case is that I might be reluctant to update my answer quickly. I'd probably work on an answer and if someone else submitted something better then my first try, I'd submit my update soon after. My goal (not just in FGIW situations) is to always have the best answer on the page. If I see someone write something better than mine, I try to improve my answer. It's good for gaming purposes and for the quality of answers on the site. (The only reason I might hold back on an edit is because of the auto-CW feature. And that wouldn't slow me down much.)

I think there is a real Fastest Gun in the West problem But I don't think this proposal will fix it. What really needs to be done is to fix the sort order of answers.

• This only works on easy questions.
• The problem is entirely with the game aspect of Stack Overflow. At worst, this practice will increase duplication of similar answers; it won't hurt the quality of final answers.
• It's almost impossible to detect with certainty.

For me, if the grace period was removed, I'd be tempted to post first anyway. The only thing that might change in that case is that I might be reluctant to update my answer quickly. I'd probably work on an answer and if someone else submitted something better then my first try, I'd submit my update soon after. My goal (not just in FGIW situations) is to always have the best answer on the page. If I see someone write something better than mine, I try to improve my answer. It's good for gaming purposes and for the quality of answers on the site. (The only reason I might hold back on an edit is because of the auto-CW feature. And that wouldn't slow me down much.)

I think there is a real Fastest Gun in the West problem But I don't think this proposal will fix it. What really needs to be done is to fix the sort order of answers.

• This only works on easy questions.
• The problem is entirely with the game aspect of Stack Overflow. At worst, this practice will increase duplication of similar answers; it won't hurt the quality of final answers.
• It's almost impossible to detect with certainty.

For me, if the grace period was removed, I'd be tempted to post first anyway. The only thing that might change in that case is that I might be reluctant to update my answer quickly. I'd probably work on an answer and if someone else submitted something better then my first try, I'd submit my update soon after. My goal (not just in FGIW situations) is to always have the best answer on the page. If I see someone write something better than mine, I try to improve my answer. It's good for gaming purposes and for the quality of answers on the site. (The only reason I might hold back on an edit is because of the auto-CW feature. And that wouldn't slow me down much.)

I think there is a real Fastest Gun in the West problem But I don't think this proposal will fix it. What really needs to be done is to fix the sort order of answers.