Oddworld Questions & Answers

Oddworld Questions & Answers (Oddworld Q&A) is a series of threads stickied in Oddworld Discussion on the Oddworld Forums. These threads are provided as a place to ask simple questions for which a simple answer is expected instead of generating ongoing discussion, thus reducing the number of short-lived, low-content threads in Oddworld Discussion. It is also a media request thread, allowing members to ask for images, audio, videos and links. Only one thread is active at a time, with new editions created as the current incarnation grows to a length prohibitive to browsing.

It is not unusual for discussion to arise in Oddworld Questions & Answers threads, particularly when the absence of an official answer provides room for speculation. Sometimes this grows to the point that a moderator splits this discussion into its own thread. Conversely, threads containing questions that should have been asked in Oddworld Q&A are frequently merged with the current Q&A thread. There is no formal structure to the process, so any question may be answered at any point in time, with the addressing of several questions overlapping in time and sharing posts.

History

The first edition of Oddworld Questions & Answers was created by TheKhanzumer in October 2002 in an attempt to reduce the number of short-lived threads in General Oddworld Discussion; it was stickied by Xavier less than five hours later, and proved so popular that a replacement was required within a year, created by Xavier. The third edition, as with every edition since, was created by Max the Mug.

The fourth edition replaced both the previous thread and the Picture Request threads, a similar series for the requesting of images started by Xavier in February 2002 to share his extensive archive of Oddworld images. Its eighth edition was planned as its final incarnation as The Oddworld Graphics Gallery (TOGG) was planned for release in the near future, but it was expected that some members would still request missing, forgotten or other pictures. ‘Oddworld Questions & Answers Vα’ broadened this feature to requests for other media and links.

‘Oddworld Questions and Answers Vα’ includes an alpha in its title because an original fifth edition was created, but was amongst the data lost during an unsuccessful attempt to update the vBulletin software powering the Oddworld Forums. Subsequent improvements to vBulletin's search feature has allowed Q&A threads to remain active and usable for longer.

‘Oddworld Questions & Answers IX’ was the last thread in the series, with the last post to it made in November 2016.

Editions

Oddworld Questions & Answers

Edition	Title	Creation	Posts	Duration (days)
1	Oddworld Questions and Answers	24 October 2002	301	241
2	Oddworld Questions and Answers 2	22 June 2003	347	319
3	Oddworld Questions and Answers III	6 May 2004	505	626
4	Oddworld Questions and Answers IV	19 January 2006	588	224
5	Oddworld Questions and Answers Vα	31 August 2006	603	139
6	Oddworld Questions & Answers VI	17 January 2007	1441	389
7	Oddworld Questions & Answers VII	10 February 2008	1545	778
8	Oddworld Questions & Answers VIII	19 March 2010	1505	1342
9	Oddworld Questions & Answers IX	20 November 2013	412	1081

Picture Request

Edition	Title	Creation	Posts	Duration (days)
1	Picture request	22 February 2002	44	6
2	Picture request second edition	8 March 2002	152	37
3	Picture request n° III	14 April 2002	184	37
4	Picture request n° 4 !	22 May 2002	144	104
5	Picture Request Fifth Edition	3 September 2002	248	74
6	Picture request number VI!	16 November 2002	325	218
7	Picture Request n° Se7en	22 June 2003	452	319
8	Picture Request Version 8.0	6 May 2004	617	691