Is this down-vote in my answer justified?

Question

I gave an answer to this question but user ptityeti down-voted it mentioning:

-1 Manaslu is a clear example where it is required. I've heard of plenty of people that they where stopped at the Jagat checkpoint for not having a guide. I've never heard of anyone being able to enter there without a guide. Because that particular law doesn't say anything about it does not imply that there is no other regulation making it mandatory for some national parks.

And the problem with that comment is that Manaslu is not even a national park and is a conservation area, and the answer I gave is only for national park and wildlife reserve.

I am asking this question because that comment has two upvote, so am I missing anything? And I know we are here for Q&A not for reputation but for new user shouldn't down-vote be justified.

Answer 1

As this is about a downvote and comment made by me, I'll provide my point of view.

I like Nepal. Last spring I spent a few months trekking from KBC in the east to Hilsa in the west. On two previous occasions I trekked across half the country. If I see a question about Nepal, it usually has my attention.

When I read your answer, I was convinced that I had a counterexample, making your answer wrong. An incorrect answer should be downvoted, so that is what I did. I also provide a factual reason of my vote. Case closed for me.

Afterwards I didn't log in to the site for a while, but today I received an email from SE saying that I had a new item in my inbox with your comment in which you point out clearly why my counterexample was wrong. I should have read the question with as much attention as you did. So, I retracted my downvote because if it is not wrong there is no reason to downvote your answer. I also upvoted it, because if someone catches me on an error they deserve one.

Lessons from this:

• If you downvote, leave a comment explaining why.
• Even if you don't agree with each other, stay polite and leave emotions out of it. Stick to facts.
• Read the question carefully (that is one for me)
• It is possible to convince someone on the internet that he is wrong

Answer 2

Unfortunately we, as moderators and regular users, have no control over users and their votes. People are free to vote however they wish, with a few notable exceptions such as revenge down voting and sockpuppetry which are considered to be vote fraud. Moreover, votes on comments are somewhat meaningless since comments are second class citizens on SE and have a high chance of being deleted at any point during their existence.

Now, the best thing you can do is ensure that your answer is as precise and complete as possible. Trying to get everyone on the site to agree with you is an impossible endeavour and should definitely not be your main goal. What you can, and probably should do, is answer comments asking you to explain the content of your answer. It is also sometimes worth including parts of these exchanges in the answer itself, again aiming at an accurate and complete answer.

Long story short: do not take down votes personally.