what's to stop a user from making circular references - e.g., two tags that are both parents of each other?
Nothing for now. I could add code to stop this, but if it isn't recursive, it might allow three-way or larger loops.
If you search for games with a tag, does it return games tagged with child tags of the requested tags?
There is presently no searching of tags other than having the tagged pages listed on an individual tag page. This list includes only directly tagged pages.
if you apply a tag to a game, does it also apply the parent tags?
No, tags are not inherited by virtue of parent/child relation.
if the answer to both of these questions is no, what does any of this accomplish?
Links to parent and children tags are provided for further browsing and context. They are not used in any recursive fashion that would result in an infinite loop if two tags were tagged as each other's parent. If two tags do end up that way, editors may decide to delete one relation and better clarify the descriptions or choose to merge the two tags into one if they are too similar in meaning.
Nothing for now. I could add code to stop this, but if it isn't recursive, it might allow three-way or larger loops.
There is presently no searching of tags other than having the tagged pages listed on an individual tag page. This list includes only directly tagged pages.
No, tags are not inherited by virtue of parent/child relation.
Links to parent and children tags are provided for further browsing and context. They are not used in any recursive fashion that would result in an infinite loop if two tags were tagged as each other's parent. If two tags do end up that way, editors may decide to delete one relation and better clarify the descriptions or choose to merge the two tags into one if they are too similar in meaning.