If you see a terrible formulated question which is hard to understand(for example bad english grammar or whatever) or a duplicate but you do know the answer to the question, should you still answer the bad question? Or just leave it be?
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@gnat Well the question isn't the same because I'm not talking about an off-topic question although the answer helped me.– LokoJan 28, 2014 at 13:13
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You're welcome to answer any question you'd like, helping users is the primary goal.– Lance RobertsJan 28, 2014 at 16:16
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2@LanceRoberts: No, quality content is the primary goal. Helping users out is a (most welcome) side effect.– Madara's GhostJan 28, 2014 at 17:57
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@MadaraUchiha, You have no site if you don't help users. If you lose sight of that goal and try to just create a pure site, you will just have a nice looking site that is of no use to anyone. It's like any application you create; It's always about the users and their needs.– Lance RobertsJan 28, 2014 at 18:00
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2@LanceRoberts: Quality content attracts happy users, not the other way around.– Madara's GhostJan 28, 2014 at 18:17
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@MadaraUchiha, quality is great, and we should strive for that, but not before helping users.– Lance RobertsJan 28, 2014 at 18:18
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1 Answer
If it's salvageable, i.e. You can edit it and it won't be close worthy, it's best if you salvage it, then answer it.
If it is a sure duplicate or cannot be salvaged, it's best if you didn't answer it, and instead educate the OP on why his question is about to be closed/deleted.
Remember, our goal is quality, helping out other users is nice but it is a secondary goal. Flooding the site with answered duplicates doesn't help anyone, half-assed questions getting low quality answers (because you can't really answer a question the truly deserves being closed) doesn't help either.
answered Jan 28, 2014 at 10:37
