Spoiler Tags!

Look!:

So, there was a hubub in journals about spoiler tags.

Keep Looking!:

And it got me thinking, jeez...

Almost there...:

I wonder what everyone else thinks of this nifty feature!

Last one!:

Oh gawd, why, I wonder when people think they should be used!

Okay, really.:

Taking a page from something someone said sometime, I'm bringing a topic out of the journals into the forums. These spoiler tags are pretty nifty, but when should they be used? What's the time limit on a newly released book or movie (or anything) when it comes to posting important information that may spoil it for people who haven't seen/read it yet? Two weeks? Six months? Forever? Tell me GFF, what do you think?

Oh, I forgot:

Personally? Ideally, spoiler tags should be used for all plot points all the time, but that's expecting far too much. So let's say, six months for high publicity releases, and 'forever' for items that don't attract as much attention. It's a vague classification, yes, but that's because there's room for error.

That's something that'll happen, errors. The key issue is that people shouldn't be assholes about it. Spoilers aren't hard to do, they take all of five seconds, and it's a considerate way to talk about plot points without ruining them for newcomers.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Wow dude that was so... deep

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by Musharraf

Wow dude that was so... deep

Chaa... dude. I mean, ya.

But really, I think as far as movies are concerned, there's a reasonable amount of time. If it's been out on video for awhile and mostly everyone has already seen it, there's no reason to use spoiler tags, I suppose. I mean, if a person hasn't seen the movie within 1-2 years, they must not care enough and probably won't mind too terribly much if it's spoiled anyways.

Then again, I suppose it would depend on the type of movie as well. I'm referring to wide releases only. Independent and foreign films should always be tagged, imo.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

I think for movies, so long as it's still running in theatres, it's sort of a dick move to spoil a plot for someone. Not everyone gets out to flicks on opening day, or even the opening two weeks, you know?

Video games... that's a little more sketchy. There are certain plot twists I would still put in spoilers, because I love them so much I'd hate to accidentally ruin them for someone else. There are other twists I view as so horrid, however, that I want to shout them from the mountain tops (FF VIII leaps to mind).

On books... man, that's rough. I read books at a pretty high volume, so, you know, I'd say three months after release, but hell, given the fact some people read what, a novel a year, maybe six months? Maybe a year?

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

I actually have a lot of trouble deciding this when I write the book reviews for my journal. I do my best to avoid any details that should be kept hidden, but at times, that makes describing the plot extremely difficult. Obviously, if everyone and their mother has read the book, I wont use spoiler tags. In fact, I dont think I've used spoiler tags for ANY of my book reviews yet. I know I've thought about it, and have then decided that it wont ruin the book for someone if they read it here.

I'm not a big mystery fan or anything like that, but I know that if I ever read and review a mystery, like a 'Who Dun It?', I'd always put it under a spoiler. Saves the suspense that way. Something really popular (such as the last freakin' Harry Potter book) would go under a spoiler too, but probably only for a little while after its released.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Since everyone has a different idea of how long it takes before something becomes fair game for spoiling, shouldn't all major plot points be placed under tags no matter how long ago it was released? It doesn't take a whole lot of effort to use spoiler tags, after all.

Let's take me, for example. I haven't watched Season 4 of The Wire yet. I like The Wire enough that I want to buy the DVD box set - but I haven't been watching it on HBO because I cannot justify the cost of premium cable when I'm not going to watch anything else.

If I wanted to discuss Season 3 of The Wire in a thread for the show, and people were tossing about spoilers for Season 4 in that thread like confetti because they watched it when it aired months ago, that means I won't be able to take part in the thread for fear of spoiling myself. Spoiler tags would take care of that problem.

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Doing things Somethingawful style (i.e. avoiding all spoilers on everything ever) would be good... Up to a point.

I mean hell they're on something like their tenth Portal thread and pretty much every post is "The part where

Spoiler (highlight to read):

Chell

uses the

Spoiler (highlight to read):

portal gun

to

Spoiler (highlight to read):

Glados

is a really fun part of the

Spoiler (highlight to read):

game

."

FELIPE NO

At least SomethingAwful uses inline spoilers.

Spoilers here are good at doing what they're supposed to, but trying to use them like that would just be incredibly obnoxious.

How ya doing, buddy?

By the way Merv, We do actually have inline spoilers

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I usually throw anything that I think could be spoilers in tags. I tend to only watch movies once they've hit TV and video games once they're in the $10 rack, so I'm pretty late to the party on most of them. I've had a few good games spoiled by me in #gfchat, so I try to be as conscious of it as possible on the boards.

Spoiler:

Also, don't forget our friend the [!spoil] tag!

There's nowhere I can't reach.

L gets all the ladies.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Generally, message boards have a spoilers policy which I obey but if they don't then I use spoiler tags for:

Plot points to do with something before it's been released.
A week for movies and TV shows.
A month/two months for books.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

For comic books, the generally held standard is that spoilers are used for a week after the comic comes out. Not everyone goes to their shop every week. Those that don't go to a shop at all or get them rarely know to be wary of topics discussing current stories. But a week gives everyone time to go to their shop and buy their comics.

How ya doing, buddy?

Comics are unique in the sense that they're, essentially, soap operas for nerds. While spoiling an issue isn't nice by any means, it's also incredibly easy and, in my opinion, not that big of a deal. Next month there will be another issue, and if you haven't read the previous one you're in for some spoilers.

Spoiling an entire arc is different, but then again, I rarely see that done. Add to that the uncanny habit of writers completely undoing previous actions, simply ignoring them, or writing in a whole different world in which the hero resides...

Meh. The biggest events aren't even secrets so much as the way they happen are.

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My opinion is that you should try your best to not spoil anything, regardless of when it was released. Then again, I'm a person who reads/watches very few recent stuff, and I browse the internet enough for the biggest ones to be randomly spoiled anyway, so. ~_~

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by niki

My opinion is that you should try your best to not spoil anything, regardless of when it was released. Then again, I'm a person who reads/watches very few recent stuff, and I browse the internet enough for the biggest ones to be randomly spoiled anyway, so. ~_~

Spoiler:

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by Denicalis

Spoiler:

Aeris loses her green glass eye ?! NO WAY

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Hey guys, I hear that this Dumbledore cat dies. "You bitch" and whatnot.

Also, Deckard may or may not be a replicant. Like it even matters.

Actually, stuff that isn't already 20 years old, or became an instant internet "thing" I tend to try not to spoil. Hell, Colonel Skills and I have a running joke where basically any time we are playing through the same game, I give him this huge buildup about some important plot twist and then I "spoil" it for him by saying that Shion dies. Obviously this goes back to well before Xenosaga 3 was released.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by niki

Aeris loses her green glass eye ?! NO WAY

DON'T SPOIL IT FOR EVERYONE ELSE THAT Aeris loses her green glass eye.

How ya doing, buddy?

I try not to spoil anything, but I won't put something like "Mufasa dies" in spoiler tags. I tend to be pretty careful with anything not taken as common knowledge.

The only time I find intentional spoiling funny is when I see those people ruining harry potter for people in line. I know, it's terrible and I feel bad for the kids in line, but it's just too hilarious not to laugh at how angry they get. Wouldn't spoil it myself though.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by Bigblah

By the way Merv, We do actually have inline spoilers

I thought so. I used the 'oldspoiler' tag because I thought it gave that effect, but I was wrong and misguided. Hooray!

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Originally Posted by Denicalis

DON'T SPOIL IT FOR EVERYONE ELSE THAT Aeris loses her green glass eye.

Spoiler:

AERIS LOSES HER GLASS GREEN EYE!

Spoiler (highlight to read):

There! I've said it!

How ya doing, buddy?