Some comments, when combined, remove the point of answering questions

Question

I see this a lot when I go on the unanswered section, it's not "answered" but there are comments that, when combined, basically make an answer, or are an answer, so there's really no point in answering, because the asker already has the answer, I am wondering what would be a good way to fix this problem, or is it something we'll have to stick with?(This happens with about 50% or more of the "unanswered" questions I see, when I just want to answer someone's question.)

Comments

I say just answer it using what’s already there. I’m no staff, but I think this is the general practice

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Okay, I'll just take the answer from the comments, if that's what you're supposed to do.

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Is that what you're supposed to do, or is it not.

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If the comments can be placed together as a DEFINITE answer, I say that it is perfectly acceptable to do so.  However, if there is any chance that the answer isn't definite, I would not answer using the comments.  Even if the answer is definite, I would still try to find another source verifying that information people comment.

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Okay, so by definite, do you mean like, the answer to the question is specifically stated when the comments are combined, and it is actually the right answer?

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Yes, but I would still check it with another source to be absolutely certain.  Don't take my word for it though, wait for a staff member to confirm this before doing it.

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Okay, thanks, can you make your comments into an answer so I can give you credit and points?

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Nah, I'm not going to do that because I'm not absolutely certain.  Wait for a staff member to answer.

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Okeedokee.

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What questions are you talking about? Most of the questions that are unanswered don't have any answers because the information they require is niche and difficult to find. There are some where users have contributed *some* of the information that would be included in an answer to the question in comments, but I haven't seen any situations where, between multiple users, the comments have brought about a full answer, despite the question still being unanswered. Could you provide an example?

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Okay, I'll try to find one.

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https://pokemondb.net/pokebase/381985/are-there-any-pokemon-that-have-weaknesses-inverse-battles the comment given basically answers the question, as it is said in the description that it must have no resistances or immunites. If this doesn't count I could find another one.

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https://pokemondb.net/pokebase/374182/which-generations-female-pokemon-hidden-ability-breeding Here's another one.

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The first one is just a link as a comment, so I don't count that as answered.  The 2nd one sumwun said why the comment was converted.

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First: But he said that he checked them therefore answering the question.
Second: I didn't realize the first comment used to be an answer.

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My bad, didn't see that On the first one.

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https://pokemondb.net/pokebase/373379/long-does-take-which-games-subscriptions-required-clefable this one is also pretty much answered.

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Just found even more examples:
https://pokemondb.net/pokebase/384315/what-are-all-the-pokemon-wouldnt-able-obtain-with-these-games
https://pokemondb.net/pokebase/384226/is-golduck-better-than-vaporeon-in-bw2, in this case, the asker literally already knew the answer.
And another is: https://pokemondb.net/pokebase/383723/do-moves-that-have-no-effect-always-hit

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I have an idea that could fix it:
Askers, or editors and mods if that's easier, could have the ability to convert comments to answers, that way when a comment answers a question, they can just convert it so it doesn't show up on the Unanswered list. Not sure if this would be hard to do, we can convert answers to comments so it shouldn't be to difficult to make it work vice versa, then again, I don't know how code works, so don't take my word for it. Also, if needed/recommended, we could make it a thing you get with points, so new users don't cause problems with it.
Is this a good idea or is it too difficult to do/not worth it to do?

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https://pokemondb.net/pokebase/373379/ The last comment asks for more information. Not an answer.
https://pokemondb.net/pokebase/384315 This first comment is not an answer. It's asking if that's what the person asking for wants in an answer.
https://pokemondb.net/pokebase/384226 If the asker already knew the answer, then the question should have been asked in the first place. It's likely that they want more information.
https://pokemondb.net/pokebase/384226 Original answer was converted. Most recent comment is just a compilation of info. The person who made the comment clearly didn't think it was enough to warrant being an answer.
I don't think that adding the feature to convert comments into answers would be a good solution for this. If there are multiple comments that, together, FULLY answer the question, and the question is not answered, converting them into separate answers is going to be less effective than someone compiling all of the info into one answer. Why can't we just do that?

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That's true, I just feel wierd getting points and stuff for just compiling other people's work, but I guess if it's okay, as long as you credit it to the comments, I'll do it. Also, how do you do the quote function with the line running down the quote?

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That wasn't really an invitation to take other peoples' comments whenever you notice this, because most of these situations are those in which a complete answer is not found in the comments. You should ask the person/people who made the comment(s) first, also. If its their information, then they should be the ones to answer, as long as the information provided is sufficient enough to answer the question.

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K, sorry, I'll make sure to do that.

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To create a blockquote, put a "more than" sign > and a space before the paragraph you want to quote. There should also be one line of empty space above the quote. More formatting help is on this thread: https://pokemondb.net/pokebase/meta/62257/

Answer 1

If you think a complete and accurate answer to the question is somewhere in the comments, then you can post it yourself. Nobody owns information -- you are more than welcome to include information from other people in your answer. If you feel bad about it then you can just give credit to the person you got it from. The only thing you should avoid is copy-pasting somebody else's writing verbatim (use your own words instead).

Take note that if somebody posted something as a comment, they probably believe it is not a complete or reliable answer to the question. If you think differently, then you can post the answer anyway. If it's truly not enough to answer the question properly, it can be converted to a comment or hidden. In most of the examples you linked, there is not a 100% confident and complete answer to the question in the comments (but the comments do contribute a lot to a possible answer).