I've only been really active on ServerFault so I can only tell you about how we see *"community"* here. This is my standard answer when people complain about their question getting closed by the community: > "*On ServerFault we're strict on topicality rules because any Q&A platform with only questions and no answers, is useless.* > > *Unfortunately there are many more people asking questions, many new > ones every day even, but far fewer people actively answering them. > Therefore the site rules, the badges and (fake internet) points, the community > moderation tools, the actual moderators, they all exist for the main > purpose: to retain and keep engaged the **most valuable resource on any Q&A platform; > the people actively answering questions*** > > ## We do not want to lose the people who (regularly) answer questions > > > Also see: https://meta.serverfault.com/a/8896/ > ---- ## This is not paid vendor support with a contractual service level agreement. Community members answer questions for fun, out of interest and maybe a ["noblesse oblige"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noblesse_oblige) in the spirit of masters-apprentices, Open Source community spirit and/or other personal reasons. ## You're not entitled to getting answers And to be more harsh: Most people that ask questions feel they're entitled to an answer but they NEVER contribute back to the community they ask support from. I know that every person that asks a question feels that their problem is relevant. But not every question you might have, should be asked on ServerFault and when you asked you *are NOT entitled to a good answer* or any answer at all. When people do have on-topic question people seem to overlook that ***good answers require a clear and useful questions*** which are [well written](http://meta.serverfault.com/a/3609/37681) , [on-topic](http://serverfault.com/help/on-topic) and contain sufficient details to provide you with a good solution. You can do everything correct and even then you *are still NOT entitled to a good answer* or any answer at all. ----- Maybe it appears a bit petulant, it's our (the active users) playground, collectively "we" make the rules and when you want to play here you (your questions) will have to fit in and gain our interest. And that takes some effort and time. Please start contributing in different ways than only asking questions, because without engaged returning visitors you won't be part of the solution.