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Is there a statute of limitations on spoilers?
- Thread starter brian577
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Online, I think you have to mark your spoilers regardless how long it's been out, unless you're in a clearly marked "spoilers inside" thread.
IRL you would ask someone if they've seen something or played something before you start discussing the ending or twist. You can't do that online, so don't be an ass and just assume that some people haven't seen/played it, and don't want to be spoiled.
IRL you would ask someone if they've seen something or played something before you start discussing the ending or twist. You can't do that online, so don't be an ass and just assume that some people haven't seen/played it, and don't want to be spoiled.
More_Badass
Member
The reaction to "spoiler culture" is equally shit. You don't have a right to decide how, why, and when people enjoy things
Cipher Peon
Banned
Hard no for me.
Spoilers are evergreen and nothing is too old to be spoiled. Not everyone has the ability to have seen everything and new people are born every day and should be able to replicate the shock and awe of a first viewing.
Glad spoiler culture exists and I will support it existing until I'm long gone.
Spoilers are evergreen and nothing is too old to be spoiled. Not everyone has the ability to have seen everything and new people are born every day and should be able to replicate the shock and awe of a first viewing.
Glad spoiler culture exists and I will support it existing until I'm long gone.
Roberto Larcos
Member
What about things like Fallout 4 / The Witcher 3? Or movies with different released dates?
NCR Redslayer
NeoGAF's Vegeta
I gave you a year to watch Dragon Ball Super and you wasted it bugging Sean on twitter for a dub that it made him quit (twitter). Im going forward and enjoying the ride while you guys can bite the dust.
Jesus Christ dude. Not everyone can afford, or has a shitload of free time, to see see/play the lastest movies/games on release day or week.
Endings and twists can only be truly be experienced once, don't tell people their experience doesn't mean shit, "I already had my experience, so fuck you loser."
WickedLaharl
Member
How can I watch Dragon Ball super without illegally obtaining it?
heliosRAzi
Banned
It's the individual's job to know exactly what piece of media entertainment comes out every day to avoid spoiling people?
I don't like spoiler culture, but it's gotten worse when people claim news as spoilers.
SomedayTheFire
Member
No. Who cares. Get over it.
Stumpokapow
listen to the mad man
Your example is only a spoiler for someone who has heard of Star Wars, hasn't seen Star Wars, doesn't know the plot beats of Star Wars, has heard of Darth Vader, knows Vader is a character in Star Wars, is actively paying attention enough for the character from a film they've never seen to have the framing of the question stick in their head just based on a throwaway sentence, and even though they haven't seen it yet, they plan to see it, so when they sit down and watch it, the entire time the throwaway reddit post they saw sticks with them, haunting their experience for the next 3 hours or whatever, and detracts from their enjoyment.
So I guess my question is, does it really matter if someone says "Did Vader know Luke and Leia were his kids?"
DontMindMe
Member
At least don't be like Jolyne from Jojo's Bizarre Adventure
"The Sixth Sense" and minor Jojo Part 6 spoilers
"The Sixth Sense" and minor Jojo Part 6 spoilers
I did say we were pretending that Star Wars was spoilable. I'd do something like this if we had a case like the OP's, where there's broad interest and discussion about whatever-it-is and a good chance that lots of people who aren't aware of whatever details there are are going to be playing the game or watching the movie for the first time in the near future. The case described struck me as a little inconsiderate, though absent the rerelease Bioshock is certainly old enough that it wouldn't have struck me as notably inappropriate. With Star Wars in particular I think that even if they did a rerelease of the original trilogy it still wouldn't be worth worrying much about because even most people who haven't seen the movies have an okay idea of what happens. I probably would still consider phrasing like that if I were inclined to make threads here about the plot of old games or movies, but then outside of mod chat I'm much nicer than you and, I mean, it's not like I just write unfiltered anyway - considering phrasing is half of the time I spend on posts.
More_Badass
Member
Isn't it a tad hypocritical that people get annoyed that trailers show too much of a movie and often say how they'd like to go into a movie knowing less, but once that movie is out, the attitude switches to 'who cares, it's just spoilers, doesn't bother me'?
CarpeDeezNutz
Member
Same. Sometimes I want spoilers.
Grizzlyjin
Supersonic, idiotic, disconnecting, not respecting, who would really ever wanna go and top that
My biggest pet peeve with that is that you don't know something is really a spoiler until you see the movie. If you get all weird about it, saying the premise of a film is a spoiler. Something that someone might perceive as major could just be a small portion of the movie, or as is often the case with trailers, completely out of context.
The whole spoiler culture thing is egocentric. Once they know what's up, they want everyone to be in on the discussion.
I remember a few weeks ago the first 15 or whatever minutes of Final Fantasy XV was being shown and people were complaining about that being too spoiler filled. I mean...it's the first few minutes. People are at the point of complaining about commonly used plot devices in literally the first few minutes of a game being a spoiler. It's strange seeing a shift because I doubt anyone would have complained about something like that a few years ago.
Yeah like in the promotional material.
I think it's an odd marketing campaign to give away the major plot points in films, but I don't really mind it, but otherwise, yes it is a tad hypocritical for people to be genuinely upset by trailers yet say they don't care for spoilers once released.
Correctomundo
Member
I don't care. But I've got a spoiler for you. You're going to wake up with a broken broom handle sticking out of your chest one day.
But back on topic, how did you arrive at your conclusion? What factors were considered in determining your hard line expiration date on spoilers? Was any of it arbitrary? If so, could it be wrong? If not, why not?
biggersmaller
Banned
He wrote that song a long time ago, it was the dopest song he ever wrote.
TheOfficeMut
Unconfirmed Member
It was a joke.
But here's a serious answer to the question:
I don't put a hard line on when spoilers should be appropriate. I normally feel comfortable openly discussing spoilers after four or five months. However, I will avoid spoilers for rereleased media such as that Bioshock Collection.
As for myself. over the years I've cared less and less about spoilers. Nowadays I try to actively spoil myself. It's been my experience that knowing spoilers before hand improves my experience of a video game or movie because it allows me to observe subtleties that I would otherwise miss if I was more concerned about a twist or end-of-movie/game plot device.
Correctomundo
Member
Makes sense. My sarcasometer is flat busted.
Stumpokapow
listen to the mad man
Post contains spoilers for BioShock, which is the motivating example of the thread, and Game of Thrones Season 1. It's embarrassing I need to set up my anti-spoiler jihadist scaffolding around my post so we can have this conversation.
I guess we can put aside you calling me mean...
I think relatively little in my example depends on Star Wars generally. Like, if someone says "Ned Stark Dies". This is almost a prototypical spoiler. It's a surprise, climactic reveal. It really is one of those hooky moments that shows use to get people talking. And it's probably the single major plot event of that season.
But it's only a spoiler for people who know about Game of Thrones enough to know that Ned Stark is a main character, haven't watched any Game of Thrones, haven't previously heard a spoiler, haven't seen any promotional material which spoils many character deaths, haven't picked up on any of the broader discussion about Game of Thrones, and are attuned enough so that if they are just glancing over a thread list or a discussion that the information will stick in their head... and it only impacts those people insofar as they care so the premise here is that someone is very invested in Game of Thrones emotionally, very enthusiastic to start watching, knows enough to know when they're being spoiled, but somehow hasn't been spoiled and hasn't watched it at all. I think it's a vanishingly small group, and even for that small group we haven't adjudicated the reasonability of their anger.
I guess I agree if someone says "Hey Gotchaye, I just started Game of Thrones" and you reply with "Here is a list of all the characters who die", you're being a jerk, but that's not what we were talking about. Likewise, if someone says "I am looking forward to BioShock" and someone else replies with "The Twist Is" then again that's jerky. We're more talking about whether it's ok to post on GAF or Reddit or Facebook "What are the implications of Ned Stark's death?" or "In light of all the pre-release hype about BioShock's moral choices, the twist that you are under mind control seems stupid to me years later" or something like that. And I think you are OK to do that.
Almost all the spoiler interventions we do here are people who have seen the movie or played the game being offended because, knowing the twist, they are mad that they feel the twist has been revealed to people who haven't seen the movie or played the game. This is not helpful because it draws more attention to otherwise innocuous text or GIFs and actually raises the chance someone will be spoiled. I really think most spoilers will "miss" because people who don't care enough to watch or play probably won't read closely enough to internalize stuff they see a lot of the time.
Note that, again, this is setting aside whether or not the spoiler actually ruins anything, and just interrogating whether casual conversation is likely to cause people to feel as though they have been spoiled, even if their are being wholly unreasonable..
PeskyToaster
Member
I've never found it difficult to avoid spoilers. I still don't know what happens at the end of the Sopranos or who lives and dies in the last season so I'm pumped to be getting to it. I just know it's a controversial ending. Most people aren't walking around spoiling things so you just have to not insert yourself into conversations where it might come out. Like I wouldn't go into a thread about the most polarizing tv show endings or something similar. Of course the example I am talking about is a real spoiler and not the legendary Thanos example or the equally stupid Soulsborne location and boss spoilers. That actually hinders discussion.
Professor Beef
Banned
I guess we can put aside you calling me mean...
Don't listen to him, you're a good boy.
Extra Sauce
Member
How about using common sense instead of an arbitrary statute of limitation. Not posting unmarked spoilers about a game that was just remastered is a good example. Another one would be not posting unmarked spoilers about something unrelated to the thread you are posting in.
Depends on the content. A television show? 1 week. Movie? I'd give a few weeks. Truth is, if someone wants to see a movie bad enough in theaters, they wouldn't wait a month or so. They aren't that interested, so why can't you talk about it? Is everyone suppose to wait for the VHS collector before speaking?
George Oscar Bluth II
Banned
Spoilerphobia is some dumb shit.
This is my contribution to the thread.
This is my contribution to the thread.
Freshmaker
I am Korean.
Half the time I'll see someone say something that only makes sense if you've already seen the movie/read the book etc.
So it's not a spoiler until you actually know the context. Then someone pops up. "Dude! Spoilers!" Which in turn makes a comment that people unfamiliar with the work that they weren't thinking about at all into an actual spoiler. Spoiler whining can generate spoilers.
It's just a waste of time and not nearly as altruistic as people seem to think it is.
I noted once that a new Mistborn saga book was coming out and it seemed to have a western setting. Someone told me I should've spoiler tagged that. Thing is, THAT'S THE COVER OF THE BOOK. How you avoid that "twist" without getting spoiled... Hell if I know.
Basically, don't talk about new interesting stuff. Just note the product exists (or not since that may ruin someone's surprise somewhere) and never discuss it.
Movies and TV shows aren't released or broadcast in every market in the world at the same time. Not so much an issue with something like Star Wars, but even with some fairly significant releases (like most of Disneys animation projects), some fairly significant English-speaking markets are months behind in availability. Saying that someone interested in something should have seen it within a few weeks is fine if you are only talking about people in the continental US seeing 'murkin movies, not so great if that level of interest would have to extend enough to be throwing several hundred bucks at international airfares just to see something still in theatres.
Don't get me started on console games outside the AAA space, either.
The problem with saying that something is only a spoiler if you've already seen it is that a lot of the time having read that thing can, without revealing it out right, make something way obvious ahead of time once you actually start watching/reading/playing something given the extra context that provides. Probably not an issue for most people, as that's often the kind of thing that's easily forgotten anyway, but some of this stuff does have a habit of sticking in ones head.
That "it only makes sense if you've seen/played/read it" thing isn't exactly true tho.
It can start to make sense some ways into the movie/game/book and suddenly you already know who the murderer is or that X is really Y and so on. Sometimes (most often) this doesn't really matter to most people. But some need to not know this to enjoy the experience and some spoilers are bigger than others and will ruin what could have been a fantastic moment.
My SO is not on internet at all, basically. He knows nothing about movies or games I buy. He knows what I tell him and what it says on the back and nothing more. No trailers or pre-release info unless I show him. He enjoys everything so much more. I sometimes wish I could do the same but I can't live without internet discussions, and one of us has to do the research about entertainment stuff so that we can make the right purchases ;P
I also rarely get spoiled about stuff and I'm yeeears behind on pretty much everything. But the thread start is not about going into a thread about the spoilers in Bioshock, it's about OP writing the spoiler in the thread title on the Bioshock subreddit. It's like someone writing the Sopranos ending in the title of a thread in GAF OT, and then telling you it's an old show and it's your own fault when you get bummed about it, probably sprinkled with some bullshit about the world not revolving around you or that they don't want to "tip-toe" around stuff.
Lots and lots of people are doing this all over the internet and claim it's your fault for not having already experienced it and other silly things.
Because having a job, a family, broad tastes, multiple hobbies and so on can't be a thing. Nope! Everyone can experience every single thing they are interested in immediately. And if you can't you're "clearly not interested enough". Riiight.
It can start to make sense some ways into the movie/game/book and suddenly you already know who the murderer is or that X is really Y and so on. Sometimes (most often) this doesn't really matter to most people. But some need to not know this to enjoy the experience and some spoilers are bigger than others and will ruin what could have been a fantastic moment.
My SO is not on internet at all, basically. He knows nothing about movies or games I buy. He knows what I tell him and what it says on the back and nothing more. No trailers or pre-release info unless I show him. He enjoys everything so much more. I sometimes wish I could do the same but I can't live without internet discussions, and one of us has to do the research about entertainment stuff so that we can make the right purchases ;P
I also rarely get spoiled about stuff and I'm yeeears behind on pretty much everything. But the thread start is not about going into a thread about the spoilers in Bioshock, it's about OP writing the spoiler in the thread title on the Bioshock subreddit. It's like someone writing the Sopranos ending in the title of a thread in GAF OT, and then telling you it's an old show and it's your own fault when you get bummed about it, probably sprinkled with some bullshit about the world not revolving around you or that they don't want to "tip-toe" around stuff.
Lots and lots of people are doing this all over the internet and claim it's your fault for not having already experienced it and other silly things.
Because having a job, a family, broad tastes, multiple hobbies and so on can't be a thing. Nope! Everyone can experience every single thing they are interested in immediately. And if you can't you're "clearly not interested enough". Riiight.
Freshmaker
I am Korean.
Because it usually pops up in a manner that squashes discussion. If there are multiple talking about something and one person says "Why are you talking about this!?! I haven't seen it yet! Stop!"
Who is being obnoxious?
Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew
Banned
One month to six months is good enough. You snooze, you caboose.
Spoilers for things that haven't released? Fuck you.
Spoilers for things that haven't released? Fuck you.
Oh? Where? I've never been in such a situation. People I know ask around first before blurting out spoilery stuff. Like "did eveyone here see movie X?"
If someone says no and cares about not being spoiled, something else gets discussed instead at that time. Discussing it right then and there isn't as important as people claim. Sometimes people make it sound like it's a matter of life and death to be able to blurt out spoilers in public.
But let's say I have people around me that are not as considerate. Say I'm sitting in the break room at work and others start loudly discussing the latest episode of a show that aired yesterday that I missed because it just wasn't possible to see it at that time, I might ask them to wait until I can leave or put on headphones. Yeah, I "squash" their mega hugely important public discussion that I don't want to be a part of for a minute while I remove myself from it.
If I can't move I would tell them to please stop talking about it completely, yes. Maybe they can move instead or just talk at another time. Why is it so much more their right to fuck stuff up for me than it is for me to hinder them to do it?
It's a matter of respect going both ways.
No! In your scenario those people aren't even talking to you, they are talking to each other and you just happen to be close enough to overhear their conversation. Asking several people to stop talking or to go somewhere else because precious you hasn't seen the episode yet is incredibly selfish, it's not their problem if you haven't seen it. You don't want to get spoiled? Then it's your job to remove yourself.
More_Badass
Member
That's a flawed notion IMO. Knowledge can influence how you perceive and contextualize how you watch something. Like knowing someone dies can influence what you pay attention to while watching, how you understand that character's action, and so on, rather than watching the movie progress and introduce information to you as intended.
However, my threshold is that anything that it isn't revealed through trailers, interviews, press previews and whatnot, basically any pre-release media is fair game. Stuff you'd only know from watching the movie/show/playing a game is a spoiler. The onus rests more on those that have already experienced the work than those who haven't, but the latter shouldn't put themselves into a position where they can be easily spoiled. Like I wouldn't enter the OT for a new Telltale game after a new episode releases until I've played it
Because any longer, the more people finish it, more spoilers are out there.
I don't feel the need to spoil it but the spoilerphobic needs to take some responsibility here. You're consuming 20+ year old material, tread carefully and stop browsing sites related to your product.
I don't wanna get spoiled on Persona 5, so I avoid every thread that can possibly relate to it. Anything to do with SMT, Persona, RPGs in general I avoid. Having said that, I was spoiled on Persona 4, the major twist, didn't reduce my enjoyment of the game in the slightest.
Then they should know not to go on websites where they can be spoiled by it!
You're not gonna get every single person using spoiler tags, least the spoilerphobe can do is reduce the likelihood.
Did you even read my post? I said my first choice would be to halt them for a moment to get time to get out or put on headphones. "Remove myself" just as you said.
They are talking in a closed environment. It's not like it's a public park. If I ask them kindly to keep it down/take it somewhere else/wait a moment and they respond as you just did, I'm gonna go away and forever think of them as inconsiderate assholes
They have all the right in the world to talk about whatever, but then I also have all the right in the world to be an ass to them too! (like putting music on my phone without headphones, drives people mad!)
Edit: Interesting that the people that think it's okay to spoil stuff wherever and whenever are also the people who write stuff like "precious you" and other patronizing stuff.
I err on the side of caution and just spoiler tag everything that's less than about five years old. I figure by then it's seeped into the public discourse so much it's fair game. I have a few exceptions:
- Really sudden turns in the plot of a movie or TV show, as those kinds of things actually can and do remain spoiler territory for many
- I never spoil books, because I realize that even though I may have read that ten year old book, there's a very good chance someone reading my forum post or Tweet haven't even heard of it yet and might discover it on a lark next week and fall in love with it.
- Really sudden turns in the plot of a movie or TV show, as those kinds of things actually can and do remain spoiler territory for many
- I never spoil books, because I realize that even though I may have read that ten year old book, there's a very good chance someone reading my forum post or Tweet haven't even heard of it yet and might discover it on a lark next week and fall in love with it.
Extra Sauce
Member
Yes, that is what I said. Thanks for engaging in the discussion in good faith.
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