What if...

As things stand, I doubt we'll ever have a dedicated area for what-ifs. My own take - that's probably because most are unimaginative and/or instigated for their own sake.

However, because people were interested in a topic and continued to participate, or because the discussion had some point, what-if type queries have been left to run their course within existing threads here. That's mainly because it's one of many potential ways of asking why things were done the way they were done.

Your first example could so easily be phrased as:
Why didn't D-Day airborne ops ... rather than ...?



or, 2f have a sub-forum ... http://www.ww2f.com/forum/8-alternate-history/

 

I ready have & have left it for others to reply.

Rather than a 'what if' I wish we had a 'things we want to know about ww2 but are too scared to ask.''
I'm sure some people dont ask questions as they are worried about being laughed at.

 

The real reason we'll not have an 'alternative history' section is, I'm afraid; rocket-powered Iceland-sized aircraft carriers, ...

Dbf's quite right in that there can be validity in discussing historical alternatives, both in planning & outcomes (and in that there are better ways to frame such queries), and with a complete blanket ban on such considerations 'history' can be a stale field indeed.
Nothing wrong at all with 'what if' as a question when it builds on detailed or thoughtful assessment of a given subject using genuine real-world possibilities, that's where education and even entertainment can lie, even when the alternative possibility being considered is shot down in flames straight away by some contemporary fact.

The problem lies, and experience has shown this, in when people just will not let their pet theory lie, even in the face of a mountain of evidence to the contrary.
The aircraft carriers mentioned above are a genuine example from the dim & distant... I could add assorted 'Nazi UFO' conspiracies to the list, along with magic time-traveling landing craft and a dreary plethora of why such and such general was obviously an idiot along with a hundred attempts to explain how Germany could have won. If you have an area for solely what-if stuff, then people think they have a right to conjure up any old fiction they like and give it 'Hey! this is the what-if section, I can dream, and you're all being mean to me with your facts and information and stuff'.


So, I'm not completely against consideration of alternatives. I think that to see history, with all it's missing documents, personal viewpoints, etc. as a completely objective subject is a bit weird. There's subjectivity and uncertainty everywhere, but there has to be some caution regarding letting the thinner end of an alternative wedge force it's way into the central stump of what is actually possible given what we know.


It's all in how you frame a question, or suggest & defend the alternative. I can't easily define what is and isn't an interesting or acceptable way to bring up such stuff, but have a natural caution about when it goes too far.
And... anyone playing the game has to accept that they should be ready to concede their point when it hits a reasonable wall of contrary evidence. Some things are subjective, but it's also possible to be, basically, wrong, and to accept that occasionally.

 

I'm sure too, and off-the-wall questions have generated some of the most interesting chats over the years.
There were a couple of members a fair while back, weren't there (no names etc.,). Used to ask questions that initially made people go 'WTF?!', followed by 'Hmmmm?' and then often triggered the sort of quality nuggets of info that make for genuinely interesting stuff.

 

The point Owen's really making, Suz, is that there shouldn't be such a thing as a silly or naive question.
Just ask away - if we expected everyone to have some sort of core knowledge to start off with I'm not sure there'd be a whole lot of point in the existence of many of the forum headings here.

Also, what appear to be basic questions can lead to deeper stuff, and even polishing up half-forgotten core things for the more knowledgeable.