So I put up a post on the forum asking a rather simple question that only a few people will know the answer to. So why is it that people who have no idea post answers anyway?!

Why is it that on three separate occasions I got either useless facts such as "Fun fact: apparently Fallout: Equestria is over 620,000 words long, which is longer than Leo Tolstoi's War and Peace. Now that's impressive." or people saying things like "...I dunno. I haven't read it." (the post which i took this quote from was kind of helpful but still...)

It is not mandatory to answer the questions put up on the forums y'know? And while I am all for people speaking their mind it annoys me a little that people who have nothing helpful to say post answers on posts which are clearly looking for answers.

I am not trying to make enemies but I needed to get this off my chest... So thank you for sticking this out.

This forum needs a like button.

MaCaulay:
"Fun fact: apparently Fallout: Equestria is over 620,000 words long, which is longer than Leo Tolstoi's War and Peace. Now that's impressive."

I read that thread and *meh* there're all kinds of reasons... inane but mod-immune posts that slowly boost a user's post-count... the need to rile bronies... the need to rile anti-bronies... the need to shake one's internet intellect cock and so on and so forth... welcome to the world of internet forums, where people will post irrelevant shit purely because they can and will receive no censure for doing so beyond your rage behind a screen.

To be fair, Aidinthel (the guy who posted the above) posted probably the most informative input to the thread two posts earlier and presumably added that little tid-bit for funsies. And out of twelve replies, only two were of any real use to you, I guess. And yeah, you're generally better off asking stuff like that in the usergroup, where some users basically live (some are there a lot more than in OTD).

Still, I'm surprised that you were bugged more by that than the failed attempt at (a vaguely related) thread-hijack by the first response... *shrug*

I think you're really expecting too much. With a community this large, there is no real way to enforce minor cases of thread derailment without being totalitarian.
And if you think the pony Fallout thing is bad, try using a Mac.
People will jump at any opportunity to talk about things that they think they're right about.

MaCaulay:
So why is it that people who have no idea post answers anyway?!

Because people want to feel better/smarter/more intelligent. It's also modern equivalent of screaming "look, i'm alive, confirm my existence !". There's also this special kind of people (like yours truly), who recognize the Internet as nothing more than a playgrouns and don't think much before making commentary. :)

I hope it helps. ;)

No idea, but try to think of it as an acknowledgement that your question has been read and, although that particular person didn't have anything to add, maybe somebody else will. A respectful bump, as it were.