Not really, a very common pattern on SO is to jump on a question to which you know you have a good answer, put something very short (but correct) and then edit in a better, longer response. This avoids "losing" initial votes from people looking at responses while you're fleshing out the description, adding benchmarks, etc...
It's definitely gaming the system, but it's not really suspicious (in the sense of "guy asks a question and immediately puts a response he had pre-written in a text editor" suspicious)
The "suspicious" case you mention is explicitly supported by the system; you can actually write the question and answer at the same time if you want. The normal content rules still apply, of course; if the question isn't about an actual problem, you're more likely to win a bundle of downvotes.
I think without this ability to "game" the system SO wouldn't be half as good as it is now. You end up with brilliant and above all complete answers that can be kept up to date, and the moderation policy reduces duplication and clutter, keeping the SNR high.
Sure, some people might be motivated only by receiving high scores, but it seems that the benefits outweigh the potential for abuse
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Not really, a very common pattern on SO is to jump on a question to which you know you have a good answer, put something very short (but correct) and then edit in a better, longer response. This avoids "losing" initial votes from people looking at responses while you're fleshing out the description, adding benchmarks, etc...
It's definitely gaming the system, but it's not really suspicious (in the sense of "guy asks a question and immediately puts a response he had pre-written in a text editor" suspicious)
The "suspicious" case you mention is explicitly supported by the system; you can actually write the question and answer at the same time if you want. The normal content rules still apply, of course; if the question isn't about an actual problem, you're more likely to win a bundle of downvotes.
I think without this ability to "game" the system SO wouldn't be half as good as it is now. You end up with brilliant and above all complete answers that can be kept up to date, and the moderation policy reduces duplication and clutter, keeping the SNR high.
Sure, some people might be motivated only by receiving high scores, but it seems that the benefits outweigh the potential for abuse