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Well I asked a question, someone with 1k+ rep provided decent information/answer though it could have been more detailed.

An hour later another with 37k+ marked it as a possible duplicate. The duplicate with answers were much more informative.

The thing is I was just going for a badge (5 Q's in 5 days) in asking the question and had no idea it was a possible duplicate.

I don't know if the guy that marked it as a possible duplicate will get points if I click the "yes this answered my question" button. Since he has so much more rep I'd rather give the first guy credits by clicking the check on the answer.

If I check answered and then acknowledge a duplicate do they both get the predetermined credits?

What policies are in place for this dilemma? What would you do?

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    However, if the user took a "considerable enough" effort into writing their answer, accepting + closing as duplicate is fair enough in my opinion. I don't know which question you're referring to, but expecially if the duplicate was not even that easy to find, I think that thanking the user who answered it's fair.
    – kos
    Commented Aug 22, 2015 at 9:47

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
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The best way to think about this is to forget all the people currently involved. Thinking about who gets what reputation doesn't actually help the long-term goals of the site; it doesn't make the internet better.

Instead consider: What helps the next person who finds your question?  Would they rather...

  • A single answer with just enough detail, or
  • An entire thread full of great answers (disclaimer: one is mine)

I'd suggest that closing it is the right thing to do.

There is currently no "credit" for pointing out duplicate questions. There should be and it's a feature request that pops up again and again... But currently, it's just known as "doing the right thing".

You can still vote for and accept the answer you have. They still get credit. Your question (and their answer) aren't deleted when closed.

There is also the fact that your question is now in the review queue with one close vote. It will be placed in front of other users to ask them if they also think it should be closed. Inevitably this will end up closed but going through the queue takes up these users' time. If you agree that it's a duplicate, you allow their time to be used on other questions.

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  • Your points are well made you answered my dilemma question as thorough as needed, I'm gonna accept the answer and then click to close.
    – xtrchessreal
    Commented Aug 21, 2015 at 22:10
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    If we answer a question that is later marked as a duplicate, do we get reputation deducted or flagged for not marking the question as a duplicate ourselves? I have often disputed certain claims that questions marked as duplicates are indeed duplicates. I feel that some questions, while being similar to others, add new and useful insight into unexplored avenues of answers.
    – Ulincsys
    Commented Aug 22, 2015 at 4:29
  • No. And I agree with you there.
    – Oli Mod
    Commented Aug 22, 2015 at 5:44
  • It turned out 5 users had marked it as an Actual Duplicate before I was able to go back and resolve the Possible Duplicate question myself. This all happened within 24 hours. If it is what is best for the site so be it but, I think the author of the question should be given some time to clean up their own mess, so to speak. Perhaps a window of 72 hrs from the time it is first marked as Possible Duplicate before it can be reviewed by others and closed. You can see by my question here on meta I was working on the issue. A consideration of authors time and effort is an honorable thing too.
    – xtrchessreal
    Commented Aug 22, 2015 at 18:41
  • I am new here and I realize there can be spam, trolling, and other matters beyond my current understanding. I am not disputing that it takes other users' time. I don't know I feel like my point in my comment above could be taken wrong and it was not my intention to single out or direct attention unnecessarily. I respect the time, rep, and experience of everyone. Its like a peer reviewed publishing process too, if the question is valid leave it in, if it isn't take it out. Anyway, no offense meant.
    – xtrchessreal
    Commented Aug 22, 2015 at 19:20
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    If the question is closed, the asker may edit their question. If the edit "redeems" the question, a reopen can be voted.
    – meskobalazs
    Commented Aug 24, 2015 at 11:12

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