I have noticed this problem occur repeatedly within Writers. Whether it extends to other SE sites, I don't know (I would guess it does, but I haven't watched them closely).
This problem concerns chiefly certain members in Writers, whose names I will not mention. It should be noted that I have seen certain people doing this repeatedly. It should also be noted that these are highly respected members of the community.
I have asked, viewed, and answered several questions concerning the three-act-structure. On nearly every one of those questions, at least one of the mentioned users will have an answer, explaining why you should not use the three-act structure. This answer does not help the question. Not only does it not answer it, but it invites discussion and arguments in the form of comments. These answers have been posted repeatedly (I am not providing links to protect the identity of the users, but can do so if necessary).
This problem does not extend to the three-act structure. Just today I asked a question, and the first answer was one explaining why the writing tool I had a question about was a bad idea and should not be used. It did nothing to answer the question. This is the second of my questions alone that has received answers like this.
I believe these answers detract from the user experience (they have from mine, anyway), and are in general harmful to the question. What can/should we do to prevent them?
Examples:
This question is an extreme example. There were multiple answers that did not address the question. Only after comments on quite a few of them, asking the question again, was I able to get an answer.
This question is the one I mentioned, which I asked only recently.
I feel there was another question asked by someone else which I saw recently, but I now cannot find it.
EDIT: After reading what's answer, I realize now what the problem is. I know everyone who replies is just trying to help. They mean well, and I value their opinions. My problem is when those opinions surface as answers.
I believe the purpose of an answer is to answer the question. Explaining why the format the question is using is wrong does not answer the question. However, these opinions are of course valuable, so I feel they should be posted as comments, not answers.