GRdiscusses - Spoilers, how should they be handled on GR?

In the age of the internet spoilers are pretty common, even when you don't go actively looking for them you can sometimes come across them. Some don't care, others hate it. But, what constitutes a spolier? We had discussion a while back in the Metroid Dread thread where Nintendo dropped a trailer for the game and part of this video showed something that some may consider a spoiler. How should spoilers such as these be handled?

Story in games
Fair play we spoiler events in brand new games but where is the cut off? How long after a game launches should spoilers tags be used? A year after is fair game to some, should it be longer though?

Leaks
Some events tend to have announcements leaked prior showtime either buy 'insiders' or rating/retailer leaks. some times if its a big enough leak it gets a dedicated thread, how do you all feel about this happening? Would it be better having a single 'Gaming leaks' thread and all bits get posted into one place so no one see's it on the main page?

Trailers
Going back to the Metroid Dread mention, if a studio drops a new trailer and people discuss it, how much should be spoiler tagged? Some people new to a series may not even realise something is a spoiler and post about it any way, should those that do not want to know and go dark on the lead up on a game be expected not to frequent the thread? Should all trailer discussion be spoiler tagged?

Just wanted to see what everyone thought, do you care if you come across spoilers untagged? Or is it something that really grinds your gears? How best would you approach these issues?

All that's required is a common sense approach.

To reuse the Metroid Dread example, place anything remotely spoilerish in a spoiler box. This allows everyone to view the discussion without fear of unwelcome spoilers.

It can be annoying but we should try to be as inclusive and courteous as possible.

I don't think announcements of events require spoiler boxes because there is already a choice there, either watch the event or don't.

In terms of storylines and events in games... Consider television shows for a moment. Let's say that recently you've got stuck into something reasonably acclaimed and someone mentions that you're only a couple of episodes away from character X dying. You'd rightly be quite annoyed at having this spoiled.

Why should games be treated any differently?

Drumstick has nailed it. Nothing more to add really.

I do like the idea of a Big Leaks thread I can avoid though.

Fucksake, I really liked character X as well.

Thanks Drumstick

Jenuall wrote:Fucksake, I really liked character X as well.

Thanks Drumstick

Just wait until you see character Y!!!

If an announcement gets leaked and you want to make a thread call it something like "Nintendo direct lineup leaked", not "New Zelda confirmed by Nintendo direct leak" - then people can choose whether to go into that thread or not.

I think if you're "going dark" on a game and not wanting to watch any trailers, then you should probably just avoid discussion threads in the run up to the game. You could always make a separate thread that is explicitly for hype/speculation only, but it's reasonable to expect a general thread for an upcoming game will have people talking about trailers and the like.

OrangeMKN wrote:If an announcement gets leaked and you want to make a thread call it something like "Nintendo direct lineup leaked", not "New Zelda confirmed by Nintendo direct leak" - then people can choose whether to go into that thread or not.

I think if you're "going dark" on a game and not wanting to watch any trailers, then you should probably just avoid discussion threads in the run up to the game. You could always make a separate thread that is explicitly for hype/speculation only, but it's reasonable to expect a general thread for an upcoming game will have people talking about trailers and the like.

It ain't hard to use the inline spoiler or spoiler tags though.

I strawberry floating hate people dropping spoilers. If it's something that is a relatively major plot point in any game, film, or TV show, just spoiler it. It's not hard, and as long as these things are correctly labelled it is easy to see if it's safe to click them. Doesn't matter how old the content is. Don't be a dick.

Trailers etc are fair game. If you're really not wanting to see stuff like that you shouldn't even be in the thread.

I should be free to talk about any plot point in any media in any thread as I wish, but if anyone spoils literally anything for me, no matter how minor, they should get banned.

Knoyleo gets it

surely problems arise when we consider that what people think of as spoilers is different

Risk is part of the job.

I've never understood people going into a dedicated thread before they have seen/read/played.

If there's a thread on the latest movie, why would you go into the thread if you haven't yet seen it, or if discussion of the latest trailer would annoy you?

It's different in more general threads (chat room thread for instance), spoilers are not on in places where people wouldn't expect to see them.

I click on every spoiler box or inline spoiler because I forget what thread I'm in and I'm nosey.

Edd wrote:I click on every spoiler box or inline spoiler because I forget what thread I'm in and I'm nosey.

Made you look

I use Chrome plugins which mess with the style of the page so inline spoilers don't even work for me, every thread is like a strawberry floating minefield!

Tomous wrote:
Edd wrote:I click on every spoiler box or inline spoiler because I forget what thread I'm in and I'm nosey.

Made you look

My vision is augmented

Last edited by Cumberdanes on Tue Sep 21, 2021 5:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Where do you draw the line though? I’ve seen people kick off online over spoilers for games that are decades old now. At what point does it become okay to discuss old media freely?

Pedz wrote:It ain't hard to use the inline spoiler or spoiler tags though.

Of course not, but equally it'd be silly to spoiler every known fact about an upcoming game in a thread for discussing that upcoming game.

If spoilers get overused like that then it almost makes them pointless (because you'd get used to clicking them and then accidentally read an actual major spoiler or something)

All potential spoilers will be sent to me for approval before posting in the thread.

GRdiscusses - Spoilers, how should they be handled on GR?

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