The [FAQ says](https://gaming.stackexchange.com/faq#dontask):

> 
> You should only ask practical, answerable questions based on actual problems that you face.
> 
> 
> 

It could be me, but lately there seem to be more people quoting this phrase to gain close-vote support on this or that class of question, such as [historical ones](https://gaming.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/2694/how-do-we-feel-towards-specific-questions-about-the-history-of-a-certain-game-me), or those [about memes](https://gaming.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/4009/could-someone-explain-this-joke-to-me). Some of these sorts of questions seem fine, others less so. The "research effort" rationale on the upvote/downvote arrows seems to be what makes them good or bad.

In any case, how literally are we taking that "actual problem" quote? Are we demanding that the only things that are "actual problems" are gameplay issues? Why do we need to mince the issue and close these edge-case, but decidedly game-related questions with definitive answers? A bad question (or five) does not mean it is categorically bad, use the downvote button. Trivial trivia questions that could be answered with a 3-second Google search are bad (referring back to the "research effort" bit), but that doesn't mean trivia questions on the whole are.

What is the position of those that quote that line? Go all the way; ban *all* trivia questions, such as these fairly popular ones:

* [Where is the "impossible space" in Portal 2?](https://gaming.stackexchange.com/questions/20601/where-is-the-impossible-space-in-portal-2)
* [Why do video game framerates need to be so much higher than TV and cinema framerates?](https://gaming.stackexchange.com/questions/25465/why-do-video-game-framerates-need-to-be-so-much-higher-than-tv-and-cinema-framer)
* [Is it possible to jump over the flag-pole in Super Mario Bros?](https://gaming.stackexchange.com/questions/422/is-it-possible-to-jump-over-the-flag-pole-in-super-mario-bros)
* [Why do console games require a button press before showing the main menu?](https://gaming.stackexchange.com/questions/18780/why-do-console-games-require-a-button-press-before-showing-the-main-menu)

Or other recent [story](https://gaming.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/story "show questions tagged 'story'") ones:

* [Are Jim Raynor and Sarah Kerrigan romantically involved before Wings of Liberty?](https://gaming.stackexchange.com/questions/61880/are-jim-raynor-and-sarah-kerrigan-romantically-involved-up-until-wings-of-libert)
* [Why can Sona speak in game?](https://gaming.stackexchange.com/questions/51871/why-can-sona-speak-in-game)
* [What exactly happened to get the Mages Guild Disbanded?](https://gaming.stackexchange.com/questions/39263/what-exactly-happened-to-get-the-mages-guild-disbanded)

I'm tempted to move to strike "based on actual problems that you face" from the FAQ, but this seems fraught with peril. Can we be more pragmatic?