## Yes something's wrong, but not quite what I was asking about **Intro** The vote on this question is, as of this writing, 26 up to 8 down. That tally doesn't tell us a great deal, beyond presenting the maximum number of people concerned or interested enough to vote: 34<sup>1</sup>, out of a site population of two orders of magnitude larger. Some folks think *something* is wrong. **Discussion** This question had problems with specificity. The answers addressed more than what was behind all of this, which was rooted in a complaint about moderation on the RPG.SE site. We got answers, and a veritable torrent of comments rife with arguments and finger pointing. I asked that comment wars not be how we respond, but that appeal fell upon deaf ears. People will respond as they will. *Defects in the question contributed to this*. ## Two things are for sure wrong** **Something Wrong #1** Something is wrong with the question. It wasn't specific enough, it wasn't narrow enough, and it lent itself to answers that addressed multiple issues rather than one. What to do about that? I discussed my disappointment briefly with @Smurfton, whose meta was the trigger for this to be #2 of a three part process (his original being #1), and we agreed that #3 won't be productive. I gather from other comments by a variety of users that this sentiment is shared. **Decision**: no meta #3 per the original proposal. **Something Wrong #2** Not using data to inform a decision, or to determine if a decision is needed. The original issue can be addressed by a data driven analysis that leads to problem confirmation or identification (does it need fixing yes or no?), and a solution proposal process. There are a couple of metas already with solution proposals that don't look to be data driven. (Even though there's some good stuff in them). The need to look at actual use was a complaint levied in the initial discussion before the assertions of mod bias got us distracted form the original point. **Recommended solution to what's wrong** 1. The question is beyond hope. Its shelf life has expired and early fixes to it were not applied. (No soup for me). 2. Using data to assess, scope, and define the problem (or whether one actually exists) with RAW tag usage should assure all parties that the way ahead is based on something more than opinion. (What a concept, on an SE site ...) I'll offer time and effort to address the core issue (what to do, if anything, about the rules-as-written tag) via on data collection and analysis. I already posted one month's worth of data and assessment from the last year's use of the tag. Until we complete @doppelgreener's very sound suggestion on analyzing the last year's RAW questions to see what patterns of use have shown, any proposal risks overlooking actual usage and take on the form of *tampering*. (I am using Deming's meaning of that in terms of process change). I will continue to present those in the thread where I already provided a link results of Mar 2015. April 2015 will be posted in a day or two. I will use pastebin per SSD's suggestion. That's my answer to my own question. ------------------------------------------- <sup>1</sup> per @nitsua60's comment: the most votes [ever for a question on meta was 46][1] [1]: http://meta.rpg.stackexchange.com/q/1070/23970