How long until spoilers no longer apply to videogames?

sXeth

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I mean by the time the sequels out I'd certainly say the first spoilers can be ignored because they're probably already being blasted in trailers for the sequels. Also if there's like 8 billion lists/articles talking about the twist it might as well be common knowledge.


The princess isn't at the end of the 1-4 castle.
 
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Drathnoxis

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but Gormenghast is not open season, even though it was written earlier, because its less widely known.
I saw that book sitting on my uncles shelf when I was last there, this is the first time I've ever heard someone mention it. Is it any good?
 
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Gordon_4

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I figure eighteen months is good enough for most games. For classics like say, Final Fantasy VII, the statute of limitations has long passed. Its nice if you can avoid them but its unreasonable to be pissed off at people for spoiling something that old.
 
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Thaluikhain

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I mean by the time the sequels out I'd certainly say the first spoilers can be ignored because they're probably already being blasted in trailers for the sequels.
And the sequels probably retcon everything anyway.

I saw that book sitting on my uncles shelf when I was last there, this is the first time I've ever heard someone mention it. Is it any good?
The British made a teleseries based on that, which was long and rambling and weird, but don't know how true to the book it was.
 

Silvanus

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I saw that book sitting on my uncles shelf when I was last there, this is the first time I've ever heard someone mention it. Is it any good?
Well, Gormenghast is the second in the series, so you'd want to start with Titus Groan.

Titus Groan is my favourite novel, I think it's incredible. It's a sort of absurdist gothic fantasy type thing, quite difficult to describe.
 

laggyteabag

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Ideally, never. As many people have said before, not everyone has time to play everything. I look at my 240 game backlog, and many of those games are more than a few years old, but I would be annoyed if I stumbled across a spoiler for one of them.

So just be considerate with what you are posting, and use spoiler tags where possible.

With that said, some spoilers have just become widely known. Like how Darth Vader is Luke Skywalker's dad. I would be surprised if I came across someone who didn't know that, even if they had never watched Star Wars. I would argue in the gaming space, there are a couple of those too, and BioShock is definitely included in that list.
 

Piscian

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I would say the same thing about spoilers as I say about cursing and mean spirited comedy. It's takes vastly more effort and finesse to succeed without doing it. People should aspire to stretch their skillset and vocabulary whenever possible and enjoy the gratification when you solve those puzzles. Saying Fuck is easy, replacing it with something that communicates the same feeling without is harder. Same thing with comedy. Making fun of trans people for being different is easy, making fun of yourself is much harder and why fewer comedians do it.

So with spoilers, if I can convey my feelings towards a twist without spoiling exactly what happens I feel successful. Like I got something out of all that book learning they afflicted my person with in the wooden chair rooms. When is it ok? Well never unless you want to ruin a potential new game for somebody.
 
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CriticalGaming

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I think people should take responsibility for spoilers on themselves, and not take things to seriously. Just because you know a thing about a story, doesn't mean that story can no longer be interesting or exciting for you.

Look at the GoW:Rag thread, we spoiled the shit out of that game in that thread. But if you got spoiled, then why did you click a thread that would clearly be discussing the game? That's your fault.

Now sometimes spoilers pop up in your feed and you can't much help it, but instead of being a crybaby about it remember that a spoiler means nothing without context. Luke being Lela's brother means nothing if you don't know who the characters are or why being siblings matters. There is a reason why trailers exist, because people know and understand that small clips and spoilers don't actually mean shit if you don't understand. Aerith getting gibbed means nothing if you don't know who the fuck Aerith is.

There is no such thing as a ruining-spoiler stop being such nerds.
 
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Xprimentyl

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I don't think there's a specific timeframe to be wary of spoilers; just a simple consideration of the audience. If in a forum actively discussing the game, no holds barred; say what you want, but in a more generic forum of general games discussion, be polite and hold off on details unless specifically solicited for them, and even then, the ispoilers option [here] is pretty convenient. I'm of the mindset that if I enter a forum about "Game X," I shouldn't have any expectation that something I don't know might me discussed. But if I enter the "What Are You Currently Playing" thread, and someone posts they were shocked to find "X" was the killer all along, well, that's a bit of a dick move.
 

Drathnoxis

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Well, Gormenghast is the second in the series, so you'd want to start with Titus Groan.

Titus Groan is my favourite novel, I think it's incredible. It's a sort of absurdist gothic fantasy type thing, quite difficult to describe.
Ok, sold, I'll add it to my reading list.
 
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Worgen

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Whatever, just wash your hands.
Depends on the game. Some games are so good you really want to go through them blind, Like Obra Dinn or Undertale. I would say spoilers for those should be eternal, doesn't mean you can't talk about them, it just means you use the tags.
 

Dalisclock

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I saw that book sitting on my uncles shelf when I was last there, this is the first time I've ever heard someone mention it. Is it any good?
It's a very interesting novel and it's one of those books where the setting is a character, this huge castle complex and the fucking weirdos who reside within it. I think it's either mentioned or implied all the weird rituals the people of the castle go through is a way to keep the residents from trying to off each other all the time.
 

Silvanus

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Now sometimes spoilers pop up in your feed and you can't much help it, but instead of being a crybaby about it remember that a spoiler means nothing without context. Luke being Lela's brother means nothing if you don't know who the characters are or why being siblings matters. There is a reason why trailers exist, because people know and understand that small clips and spoilers don't actually mean shit if you don't understand. Aerith getting gibbed means nothing if you don't know who the fuck Aerith is.
Well sure, those plot points mean nothing out of context-- but presumably the reader will start that film/game/book at some point and gain the context. In which case the moment which is intended to come as a twist has been robbed of its impact.

Can you honestly say you'd have had the same emotional response to Aerith's death if you knew she was doomed (and how) from the moment you met her on your first playthrough?
 
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CriticalGaming

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Well sure, those plot points mean nothing out of context-- but presumably the reader will start that film/game/book at some point and gain the context. In which case the moment which is intended to come as a twist has been robbed of its impact.
Not always. Because you have no context during a trailer, a lot of times you don't remember it because the details are meaningless. It just looks cool so you go see the movie. So even if someone get's shot or whatever, there is a high likelihood you would forget when actually watching the movie.

Can you honestly say you'd have had the same emotional response to Aerith's death if you knew she was doomed (and how) from the moment you met her on your first playthrough?
Hard to say. Because Aerith's death was spoiled in the trailer for FF7 in 1997. But again, it was just random shit jumbled in a trailer, so I never made the connection and certainly didn't remember seeing the trailer weeks into the game when I finally got to that scene.


Now the argument does hold a little water in the age of the internet, being that you can stumble into spoilers of a game or film that you are about to play/watch. For example I learned about other companions in GoW well before I ever got there.

However I am a weird person. In middle school I had a friend who somehow got all the Dragonball Z episodes in Japanese whereas I only could watch Toonami in the U.S. So he knew everything that was going to happen way before me, and he would tell me about Gohan going SS2, or how Freeza get's fucked up. For me, it only made me more excited to see it for myself. I never ever considered spoilers a thing, and to this day I don't understand how spoilers mean shit to grown ass adults.

Getting mad at a spoiler is like saying you can never play or watch the same game or movie, or read the same comic ever again because you know everything that's going to happen. And that's just a really dumb take imo. A spoiler that "ruins" a big moment is frankly hard to have happen because it's the context that makes the big moment have impact. The acting, the sound, the music, the build up to that moment is what causes the moment to be impactful, not some weird lack of knowledge.

Another example is horror movies. You know these fucking kids is gonna get got, but then tension of when and how is what makes those movies hit people.
 

Kyrian007

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The answer is the same for video games as it is for spoiling TV, Books, Movies... basically everything else. There isn't such thing as an "expiration date." It doesn't matter how long it has been out, someone is still yet to experience it and can get spoiled. The question isn't "when is the expiration date?" The question is "when do you personally stop feeling like a dick for spoiling something for someone else?" Or "how long after something comes out is it ok to shift to victim blaming for spoiling something?" I generally set my meter to "I try not to spoil things for others, no matter how long it's been." Doesn't mean I don't, or haven't... but I try not to. Generally it isn't time, but quality that makes me care less. I don't mind spoiling a terrible game or awful movie, even just a day after release. But if something is good, even if it is public domain, I will try to avoid spoiling it.