Spoilers

[Heliocentrical]

I'm aware of this common courtesy to preface any story they've encountered and others might not have as spoilers. I find this practice to fascinating so I've decided to examine it. While I do preface spoilers for other people out of politeness I myself am not bothered if I encounter them. Unless I know that a story is going to be really good and just haven't experienced it yet I usually don't go out of my way to avoid them.

 

To be honest I don't understand where this sensitivity stems from since any information related to the story is a spoiler and this courtesy pertains to even the most minor of plot points.

 

Not to mention spoilers become irrelevant over time if their well known enough. For instance I can say that Darth Vader is Luke's father without upsetting most people since even if most people haven't seen the original Star Wars Trilogy the concept itself is so ingrained that in pop culture that people know it intuitively. But if I said that in the 1970s people would be pretty upset since at time it wasn't well known.

[Jeb_CC]

Yeah, I've never been too bothered over spoilers before. I know people who absolutely lose their head if something gets spoiled for them. XD But it's like... what happened to the; "It's not about the end, it's about the journey?" motto? I really don't care what the ending is like, it's not the ending that makes me enjoy the story overall, it's about everything in between!

[Psychotic Ninja]

SEEING AS BEING VAGUE TO AVOID SPOILERS IS JUST AS BAD AS SPOILING I DECIDED TO GO FUCK IT. I REMOVED THE VAGUENESS AND REPLACED IT WITH THE SPOILER. HOWEVER WE STILL CAN'T HAVE SPOILERS OUT IN THE OPEN SO SPOILER TAG IS PLACED WHERE IT'S NEEDED

 

The thing is, at least for me, there's less of an impact if you already know the twist, or whatever, going in. I don't care how well known Aeris's

death

in FF7 is, I still avoid spoiling it, unless I know for a fact the person I'm talking to about the subject matter, like to my non gamer friends, has zero interest in playing the game, or whatever the case may be.

Edited October 8, 2016 by Guest (see edit history)

[rairii]

Yeah, I've never been too bothered over spoilers before. I know people who absolutely lose their head if something gets spoiled for them. XD But it's like... what happened to the; "It's not about the end, it's about the journey?" motto? I really don't care what the ending is like, it's not the ending that makes me enjoy the story overall, it's about everything in between!

There's no point in taking the journey if you already know the outcome

The climax is always the best part of the story, even if the story has a strong buildup it doesn't make up for a ruined climax

 

The thing is, at least for me, there's less of an impact if you already know the twist, or whatever, going in.

I don't care how well known Aeris's fate in FF7 is, I still avoid spoiling it, unless I know for a fact the person I'm talking to about the subject matter, like to my non gamer friends, has zero interest in playing the game, or whatever the case may be.

then you should put it in a spoiler tag my dude

even if you were being vague it still carries heavy implications

[Psychotic Ninja]

Fine I'll just add spoil tags to everything because it could have heavy implications on something and to avoid being a fucking hypocrite down the line.

[Blightmare]

^I don't understand how hard it is to make the distinction of "this is a part of the story that's important, maybe I should put it in a spoiler" It's honestly not that hard.

 

The whole darth vader thing is basically culturally significant at this point so it's kind of exempt from the idea of a spoiler but that does not mean other spoilers such as FF7, or anything else really should be treated the same way.

 

I really don't get why spoilers are so hard to avoid for some people. Just, don't say anything that's clearly important. If only to be at least considerate to other people.

[Psychotic Ninja]

If spoiling isn't so bad then implying shouldn't be either.

[Blightmare]

Okay, easier terms to understand: If what you're gonna say is in any way gonna reveal something important about the story, whether or not it's directly stated or implied, please DON'T SAY IT. Or use a spoiler tag. It's literally 2 steps: select text, click button.

 

It's not hard.

 

I already had something ruined for me regarding the WoW story all because someone decided to respond to something I said with a "Sssss, oooooooh." That basically gave away exactly what was gonna happen. So as far as I'm concerned, implications are just as bad.

 

For those that want to know what it is:

 

The dragon Ysera made a comeback in legion and I said in the discord chat that I was happy with her getting screen time again. Someone else responded with that "oooh" thing, basically giving away the characters early death. The resulting scene which was supposed to be really touching was ruined for me and I was furious.

 

[Selfsurprise]

I have to say, seeing as I don't watch a lot of modern telly or even many films for that matter (and prefer obscure European literature anyway) spoilers really have little or no affect on me. And even then if I'm entirely honest, I've read so many history and literary-criticism books that I've probably been clued into "plot developments" long before I've picked up any given book. Still though it is nice to experience a narrative twist when one least expects it, not to be contentious but I suspect the reason why some people react so hysterically to uncourteous spoilers is that they are attempting to engineer a serendipitous moment when one is genuinely surprised by a story - experience ought to tell us that trying to forcibly shoehorn some sincere emotion into your day results in either disappointment or dishonesty for all concerned. I'll occasionally avoid playthroughs of games I plan on getting at some point, but then how many computer games have genuinely great story-writing?

 

[warning : an actual film spoiler I'm sure you all know about already contained below]

 

Most recently I had one of those "oh my GOOOUUURRDDWH" moments after watching Star Trek: Into Darkness with my brother last year, when it's revealed that Mr. Benedict Cumberbatch was Khan. I barely keep up with film gossip and it's been years since I've gone to a cinema, so unlike 99% of the internet I actually wasn't aware of this until I saw the aforementioned film. I don't why everybody hates the new Star Trek films so much.

 

[Psychotic Ninja]

If you want to censor implications, then do it on your own terms. Don't try and force them down my throat. Let me choose what to add spoiler tags to, and what to leave alone.

[rairii]

If you want to censor implications, then do it on your own terms. Don't try and force them down my throat. Let me choose what to add spoiler tags to, and what to leave alone.

It's hardly CENSORING it's just the simple act of not being a DICK

It doesn't take two seconds of your time to put tags on something that could be a hell of a lot more inconvenient for someone else

[Psychotic Ninja]

And I draw the line with implications. Otherwise you might as well censor the fact that you're censoring implications because you're implying something happens in something. But by doing that you might as well censor that too. Where you draw the line is up to you. If you're really that upset, then get after me for implying something really sad happens in Digimon Adventure Tri in my posts under the "Post what you're doing" thread. Oh and you might as well get after me here for implying that I was implying something happens in Digimon Adventure Tri.

[Blightmare]

Don't try and force them down my throat. Let me choose what to add spoiler tags to, and what to leave alone.

"4. Use the spoiler tags

If talking about something that would spoil an experience for someone else, please use spoiler tags. This pertains to when discussing games, movies or books."

 

If you want to keep dancing along the line then I guess I can't stop you but keep in mind the use of spoiler tags for spoilers is a rule. If an "implication" gives away too much it will be considered a direct spoiler and be dealt with accordingly.

[rairii]

And I draw the line with implications. Otherwise you might as well censor the fact that you're censoring implications because you're implying something happens in something. But by doing that you might as well censor that too. Where you draw the line is up to you. If you're really that upset, then get after me for implying something really sad happens in Digimon Adventure Tri in my posts under the "Post what you're doing" thread. Oh and you might as well get after me here for implying that I was implying something happens in Digimon Adventure Tri.

Most of the time I report your spoilers to Rarity so he can deem whether or not they should be put in spoiler tags

Another thing worth noting is this isn't YOUR FORUM and the folks in charge are the ones who decide whether or not you use spoiler tags, not you

 

Edit: thanks for beating me to it