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This question regarding the 'best cross-platform 2d graphics engine' (Cross Platform 2D Graphics Engines) shows up as the first Google result when one searches for 'cross-platform 2d graphics framework'; however, the contents are now five years old and while some answers are still applicable a lot of it is out of date and hence misleading. (For instance, Unity now directly supports 2d graphics.)

I think there are two possible courses of action to correct this:

Either: 1. Open the question and allow it to be updated. 2. Delete the question.

It's certainly an important question to answer, but if the StackExchange format is intended not to be used for this kind of question then I think we should delete the question.

There may be other options (somehow mark it more obviously as outdated, etc.) but I think something needs to be done.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Re-opening the question is not an option without a broader policy change, for what it's worth. \$\endgroup\$
    – user1430
    Commented Jul 9, 2015 at 19:58

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I'm not convinced we should do anything with the question.

All questions on the site age, and many will eventually age out of relevance. It isn't our job to constantly explore our history and "update" or otherwise maintain old questions. A user searching for information is expected to do some basic due diligence in his or her search, and that includes trying to determine if the information they've discovered might be old enough to be out of date.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Well, I think it speaks to the goal of the site. Is the goal to have 'correct' information where correct is determined by the discussion and votes of the community? If so these types of question eliciting opinions are clearly troublesome, and have resulted in the locking of the question. However, we now have a question that has obviously incorrect information in it and no recourse to provide answers that are correct. Users need to do due-diligence but leaving information that is wrong is just wasting time. I recognize the answer isn't clear cut and appreciate your engagement. \$\endgroup\$
    – reor
    Commented Jul 9, 2015 at 23:03
  • \$\begingroup\$ A site that maintains correct information over time is a wiki, and we very much strive to not be that. Instead we strive to be a question-and-answer site, hopefully one that where possible accumulates canonical questions that stand the test of time. But ensuring questions stand the test of time isn't high on the priority list, necessarily. \$\endgroup\$
    – user1430
    Commented Jul 10, 2015 at 4:18
  • \$\begingroup\$ Ignoring that the question is marked as a 'community wiki', I understand that you mean to say the questions here are intended to be, in a way, fixed in time. That is, they're the best/correct answers to questions in the limited time-frame in which they were asked. It works well for some types of questions and not so well with others. This is a question it doesn't work so well with and I think something needs to be done with it. If it didn't rank so highly in a Google search on the topic I would be okay with just doing nothing. \$\endgroup\$
    – reor
    Commented Jul 10, 2015 at 20:22
  • \$\begingroup\$ No, more that we'd like Q&A to be such that it doesn't become outdated with time... but in practice that doesn't always happen and we don't want to set the precedent of having to expend the effort to go back and "maintain" all the old stuff. My stance is less about this question specifically and more about what I think our general policy should be for old stuff. \$\endgroup\$
    – user1430
    Commented Jul 10, 2015 at 20:39
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There is one other option: historical lock

This is where a moderator locks the question, so no edits or votes are possible. This is suitable for the example question because:

  • The question has, or had, value as shown by the votes and views
  • The question can't be made on-topic regardless of any additional votes or edits

These "best XYZ" questions are especially bad because it takes a lot of effort to vote up a new, better answer over an outdated but once popular answer. However, they do give insight to what things were like years ago, so shouldn't be deleted outright. A historical lock is a compromise, one that loudly signals that the content is no longer current.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ This is probably the best compromise, imo. \$\endgroup\$
    – user1430
    Commented Jul 10, 2015 at 4:18
  • \$\begingroup\$ I think this is a good way to keep the history intact while notifying people that it might be/is out of date. \$\endgroup\$
    – reor
    Commented Jul 10, 2015 at 5:25
  • \$\begingroup\$ I'm going to do this now. \$\endgroup\$
    – user1430
    Commented Jul 10, 2015 at 20:40
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The main issue I see with re-openning this question is: it has an accepted answer. So even if there are better answers added, chances are that the accepted answer will always be the first one, even if it gets less upvotes than others..

On the other hand, deleting the question means a reputation loss for everyone that has posted it. (Unless there is a way to have them keep their rep.)

A thing to consider: if this question was to be asked today, it would probably be put on hold as off-topic (no technology suggestion).

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  • \$\begingroup\$ It's a community wiki question, its very possible that most of those votes resulted in no reputation. \$\endgroup\$
    – user1430
    Commented Jul 9, 2015 at 19:58
  • \$\begingroup\$ @JoshPetrie Aah, you're right! \$\endgroup\$
    – Vaillancourt Mod
    Commented Jul 9, 2015 at 20:02

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