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My question about Game of Thrones was down-voted and closed for being “opinion-based”, but I was invited to seek feedback and discussion here.

The tag has a number of highly-voted questions, most of which appear to be at least somewhat opinion-based, so I’m not sure exactly what the problem with my question is in particular.

I didn’t intend to ask a question that solicits opinion-based answers. But if that’s how it comes across, I’d like to either try to fix it, or at least learn exactly what not to do next time.

The last season of Game of Thrones was received quite differently to the previous ones. Rotten Tomatoes rates each of the first seven seasons in the 90's (percent-wise), while Season 8 only got 55%. This suggests something significant changed.

I was hoping for fact-based answers concerning an abrupt change in something such as: the story, the writers/writting, that favourite characters were killed off, or perhaps something like the animated dragons being particularly unconvincing, etc. (I’m only guessing because I haven’t yet watched past Season 2).

Before my question was closed, an answer was posted that was more or less what I’m looking for. It goes to a constraint; the TV series caught up with and overtook the releases of the source material that it was based on (George RR Martin’s book series A Song of Ice and Fire). This corresponds to a marked change in the quality of the writing. As far as I can tell, it’s not at all an opinion-based answer.

What part of my question makes it seem “opinion-based”? Can this be fixed, and if so, how?

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    I don't see any reasonable way to fix this since you are essentially soliciting people's opinions. I guess you could ask about which shows had the worst ratings since that is a definable metric
    – Valorum
    Commented Mar 17 at 16:26
  • Well, here's an opinion that might further clarify the situation: While I agree the quality of the writing changed when the series overtook the novels, it is my personal opinion that the quality change was a dramatic improvement. IMHO, the TV show was written much better than the books. GRRM is a clumsy, inelegant writer to me.
    – Todd Wilcox
    Commented Mar 28 at 2:08
  • @ToddWilcox That’s very interesting. But your comment is probably better placed under the main question (which has now been reopened), or perhaps the chat room related to the question.
    – Elements In Space
    Commented Mar 28 at 6:47

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[…] I’d like to skip the problematic episodes.

Which episodes should I omit for a reasonably satisfying ending to Game of Thrones?

(emphasis mine)

The question you're asking on the main site is, in my opinion, essentially opinion-based. Everyone has their own opinion on what constitutes a "problematic" episode or a "reasonably satisfying" ending.

Instead of asking for specific episodes to skip (which can be subjective), consider rephrasing your question (or asking a new one) to focus on the shifts in the show’s production that might have influenced its reception or ratings. (Review ratings are aggregated and given an objective rating by sites like Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic, and IMDb and would not depend on the opinion of a specific user.)

Maybe something like "Why did the later seasons of Game of Thrones receive lower ratings compared to the earlier ones?" or "What were the factors that led to the decline in ratings for the later seasons of Game of Thrones?"

These are more likely to attract answers based on objective facts, rather than someone's opinion on specific episodes or seasons.

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