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So far we have questions such as getting more professional questions and a few others that i could link to here on meta.

Whilst I am in agreement that getting a higher quantity of professional questions is good for the site all i have seen this encourage so far is a seeming movement towards discouraging the enthusiasts from this site.

We have already lost some, and some who were good contributors and helping shape the site, because they were seemingly being pushed away in favour of other the few 'experts'. I don't mind us encouraging bringing in more people, but i hope we arent doing it at the cost of those we already have. especially from a site that actively encouraged enthusiasts to sign up and join in the A51 proposal.

I'm hoping that it wasn't just a ploy to get more commiters and that this is just a case of misunderstanding.

So i want to put this out there, here and now. Are we as a site trying to push away from questions asked by enthusiasts?

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I feel guilty for this sentiment, as I've been trying to increase the quality of questions. But, I will say, this site belongs to enthusiasts as well as engineers, scientists, and operators. So long as the quality of questions remains high, I don't care the source. The topics as well don't matter, so long as they remain in the realm of space exploration. However, sometimes there are questions that are broad, speculation, or otherwise just difficult to answer. These questions I have been working on closing, to make sure the quality remains good of the site. However, I should do a better job of making this known, and not excluding people. Thanks for bringing this subject up!

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    $\begingroup$ Of course, "questions that are broad, speculation, or otherwise just difficult to answer" describes bad questions for any Stack Exchange site. $\endgroup$ – Paul A. Clayton Jul 23 '13 at 23:40
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Are we as a site trying to push away from questions asked by enthusiasts?

No.

We're a site for both enthusiasts and experts. The trick is to keep both. This is not easy and requires a delicate balance. Too many questions about dyson spheres and antigravity might chase away professional satellite builders, but too many detailed questions on mitigating specific kinds of single event offsets for a near-solar orbit might chase away the enthusiasts.

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    $\begingroup$ I second this. We need both groups. $\endgroup$ – s-m-e Jul 22 '13 at 22:33
  • $\begingroup$ I disagree; I think that detailed questions on mitigating specific kinds of single events offsets for a near-solar orbit will increase the knowledge of the enthusiasts and they will be attracted to that. $\endgroup$ – user39 Jul 23 '13 at 10:46
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    $\begingroup$ @kurtnelle: If, as an enthusiast I have a question about a Dyson Sphere, and an expert next to me has a question about near-solar orbit, and I have my own question closed as off-topic, I really don't care about that other question, I've been discouraged. $\endgroup$ – SF. Jul 23 '13 at 14:22
  • $\begingroup$ @SF, just don't rage quite the site. $\endgroup$ – user39 Jul 24 '13 at 2:57

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