How long before something isnt a spoiler?

[The Wykydtron]

It's kinda always a spoiler, y'know people haven't seen it yet so it's a spoiler? Like I could ruin the whole of Persona 4 for you right now. I won't because even though it's a PS2 era game, people will still randomly pick it up. That's what I did 2 years ago anyway.

Plus the re-release on the Vita means people need to be more spoiler careful.

I could ruin all the classic anime as well. I mean that one part of Clannad Afterstory is heartbreaking, you know the one. The big reveal that solves the mystery in Higurashi? Could ruin that too. Could even ruin the ending to Code Geass R2. All those amazing experiences ruined in the space of one paragraph. How could I potentially do that to someone?

Oh and SPOILER ALERT, Jesus Dies. Bible ruined GG.

Hmm, thinking about it what about tournements? I know who won the LoL Season 2 Finals without watching it, is that a spoiler? I know ChrisG wins EVERYTHING in competitive UMVC3, that's not really a spoiler because it's Chris fucking G and nobody can deal with his Morri/Doom team but still.

 

[Yopaz]

A spoiler is always a spoiler. That's why spoiler tags on forums is a great idea and I always ask people if they have seen a movie before I mention anything that can be considered a spoiler.

 

[StBishop]

It is never ok to ruin an entertainment product.

There is no statute of limitations on spoilers. If someone doesn't know the story/ending, don't discuss it within their earshot.

I understand why this becomes an issue for podcasts etc, (and spoiler warnings are a must for me, any podcast which doesn't give spoiler warnings is a podcast I won't listen to) but realistically, for the average Joe, everything is always a spoiler.

It doesn't and anyone who tries to justify spoiling something for someone by saying "Oh but it came out aaaaaageeeeeees ago, if you wanted to you would've seen it by now" is a prick, plain and simple.

Well except in cases where the spoiler is the main draw of the film. I mean, how many people have seen Citizen Kane, yet pretty much everyone knows "the big reveal" at the end.

(Also, the entire movie makes no sense altogether, because how could anyone have known what Kane said in the first place?)

I have Citizen Kain on my computer, in fact I have two copies (one ripped from the blue ray my girlfriend got).

I've never seen it, I intend to watch it, I don't know the big reveal. I didn't even know there was one.

i actually think it's not related to time but rather exposure, you can't spoil star wars because it's next to impossible to not know the vader is lukes father thing, but not because of the age of the film. you also can't really spoil the ME3 ending because it has been talked about to death and in great detail, and that game is not even a year old.

You certainly can spoil ME3's ending.

I have no idea what it is. I intend to keep it that way until the end of next year (when I graduate from uni and plan to finish ME1, and work through the other two games).

While I know that certain characters can die based on your actions in the various games and I know there's a suicide mission at some stage, I know nothing more.

Crybabies, you get three months and if you haven't seen it in that sort of time in this day and age you probably never really had any intention of doing so and are just being an idiot about it.

How on earth can knowing about something spoil it? And if you didn't know about it why would you care that much?

Now objecting to people badly attempting to describe something is fine.

Are you joking? Do you know how long it takes to play a game? Do you know how much time it takes to get good grades at university? Do you realise that some people have responsibilities which take up their time?

There are so many awesome games that came out this year alone and I have many of them sat on my shelf having never been played. I can't always sit down for a couple hours and play a game (although I did get to today).

Knowing about something can certainly spoil it to the point where I actually get so annoyed by spoilers that I simply cannot enjoy the entertainment product any more.

While you may not understand it or share the point of view surely you can respect that others might? Why would you want to be a dick and ruin something for someone?

 

[shrekfan246]

I would say 10 years from release date, but only when it pertains to plot elements in the item in question. If it's something so asinine that it falls into the realm of trivia, like "Val Kilmer is considered to be the 2nd worse Batman by many people," then it's not a spoiler. Also if it reveals future plans, like "Scott Snyder wants to write a Riddler storyline," it is not a spoiler either because it tells you nothing of the specific plot line.

2nd? Really? George Clooney wasn't any worse than Adam West (for much the same reasons), and at least he could emote. Michael Keaton did a pretty fine job, and while Christian Bale had the gravelly voice that a lot of people seemed to hate, he still played the part well. And then Kevin Conroy is basically the voice of animated Batman.

OT: Generally speaking, if I'm discussing something with somebody my age or older and the topic of discussion reaches something that was released a decade ago, I'm not going to give much heed to spoilers. Even five years is a bit iffy, because really, if you haven't played/watched/read something by now that was released in 2006, did you really care enough about it in the first place to care about having it spoiled for you?

But then, I seem to have a weird stance on spoilers compared to the rest of this website anyway, in that I don't care about them and find that actually experiencing whatever the spoiled event is trumps reading about it. I've yet to find someone who can spoil something with the same impact that the thing itself would be able to get me with.

EDIT: I won't actively spoil things for people, though, and I'll avoid the topic if they specifically ask me not to spoil whatever it is.

It's just that by this point, if you haven't seen or read The Lord of the Rings, I'm not really going to care about spoiling the fact that [HEADING=1]spoiler alert[/HEADING] [small]the One Ring is destroyed and Sauron is defeated.[/small]

 

[Littaly]

Spoilers are always spoilers. I think it's better to assume someone doesn't know than to assume they do. Even with 'famous' plot twists, there are bound to be people that don't know them, and it seems a bit of a dick move to spoil it for them because they 'should have seen it by now.'

I think it's especially unfair to spoil stuff on forums, when it's so very easy to just put spoiler tags around what you're writing. Regardless of how well-known you consider a spoiler to be, that's no guarantee that other posters actually know it. Spoiler tags are your friend.

I agree to a 100%

Spoilers are not timed. You can't assume that after a certain amount of time, everyone who is ever going to be interested in a story has already experienced it. People get new interests all the time, people find out about things they didn't know existed, develop their tastes and go back to check out old stories all the time. To be honest I find "it came out years ago, it's your fault you're getting spoiled, you should have checked it out sooner" to be kind of arrogant.

To clarify, I'm not saying it's not okay to talk about spoilers ever. Just have the courtesy to give a heads up before you do. It barely takes any effort at all, and you avoid potentially ruining something for a lot of people.

 

[Crazycat690]

Today was the first time I saw Fight Club, old movie, yes I know, but a dickhole told me a vital spoiler and as I watched the twists popping up I felt really disappointed that it didn't have a bigger impact on me. I like good twists, and that movie had a good twist, stuff like that really needs to be protected. A movie where that stuff is so important for the overall plot shouldn't be spoiled, ever, but then we got more mindless movies like... Transformers, just an example, no matter if you like that movie, you won't get a moment where the big baddie comes up and tells Optimus Prime that he is really his father, or that he was a ghost all along, or him from the future!

Same goes for games, RDR, MGS games, Bioshock, games that shouldn't be spoiled... Then we have games like CoD, Gears or Kane and Lynch 2 where no one gives a shit about the story. Although I picked up Bioshock some years after release and I'm happy and surprised that masterpiece didn't get spoiled for me.

I suppose my point is that it's a very poor thing to do is spoil a big twist in any movie or game where this twist plays a big part. Although sometimes it's so well done that it don't matter, by now everyone knows the deal in Psycho, still a good movie to see simply because it's still interesting to watch it play out.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

Never. There will always be people who've never see/read/heard/played it and might potentially want to get into it and wouldn't want to have important details spoiled for them.

 

[Jezzascmezza]

A spoiler will always spoil- it doesn't matter how old the work is.
I watch a fair amount of old movies- just because they're 50 years old doesn't mean it's okay to go ahead and ruin them. I wasn't alive back when they were new, so why should I be punished for being physically unable to see them back when their secrecy was more respected?

 

[Proverbial Jon]

[HEADING=1]spoiler alert[/HEADING] [small]the One Ring is destroyed and Sauron is defeated.[/small]

Oh god damn it, man! What did you have to go and do that for?

OT: I try to avoid websites or forum threads which talk about any games I haven't played. MOST of the time the spoiler is my fault because I go looking for information and dig too deep. I'm lucky not to have had too many things spoiled for me... so far.

What does annoy me is when a game review explains just a little too much of the storyline for my liking, usually just enough that I can have a pretty good guess at what happens. One example would be Spec Ops: The Line in which everyone seemed to be talking about "that things that happens" and it's pretty obvious from then on out.

 

[triggrhappy94]

It depends on the magnitude of the spoiler--and whether or not it's a frequently referenced thing.
For example:
It's never OK to ruin Psycho or Fight Club for someone.
It's OK to talk about how Vader is Luke's father (Star Wars) though, because it's been referenced in everything--don't explicitly ruin it for a little kid though.
If it's something minor, then wait about a year. Give people a chance to see it.

 

[Beryl77]

Never really but that can make it sometimes a bit difficult and annoying. Just keep in mind that not everyone is born in the same year and interests can change. So even if someone wasn't interested to watch a certain movie when it was released, that might change at some point in his life.
Like I said, it can become difficult. Spoiling something for someone sucks but not being able to talk freely about something from years ago is also annoying.
Still, I never got the chance to play FF7 and now that I can, I don't want to because throughout the years, I got nearly every big part of game spoiled by others. Now I don't feel like playing it anymore.
The only thing that was spoiled for me more than FF7, was the ending of The Sixth Sense. Seriously, what's up with that? I've heard spoilers on tv shows, movies, music, games, comics, books. It's fucking everywhere!

Spoiler

Jesus comes back to life!

 

[Scarim Coral]

Depend on a few things like-
How big the spoiler is.
When it was made.
What media it is from.

I suppose a bigger example is that pretty much any any Game of Throne books/u] cannot be spoiled at all since most people have not read it while the spoiler in the Empire Strike Back is pretty much now common knowledge given it was out years ago and there are plenty of ways to watch it (get the dvd, watch it when it's on tv and etc).

 

[gazumped]

I don't think there should be a time limit. I for one am really bad at getting round to seeing films and playing games because I'm poor and often busy, so I really don't like this 'If you haven't seen it by now you deserve to have it spoiled' attitude. I do usually get round to seeing these things and it's not up to other people to decide if I should know the ending beforehand or not. It's not the end of the world if things are spoiled, of course, but it's just a bit presumptuous that just because someone might be the kind of person who gets round to things quickly, they expect that everyone should be.

So I do try to spoiler alert things even if they're very old references. But of course there are some things that everyone seems to know anyway so unless I know someone is completely in the dark about something, I'll tend to be more lax about that kind of thing. Basically:

It depends on the magnitude of the spoiler--and whether or not it's a frequently referenced thing.
For example:
It's never OK to ruin Psycho or Fight Club for someone.
It's OK to talk about how Vader is Luke's father (Star Wars) though, because it's been referenced in everything--don't explicitly ruin it for a little kid though.
If it's something minor, then wait about a year. Give people a chance to see it.

I think this is a good guideline.

 

[TimeLord]

Snape kills Dumbledore.

Also I'd say about a few months. If you haven't seen a film (DVD release, not everyone cares about paying to see a film in an overpriced cinema) or played a game for a few months after it's release to the public, you probably don't really care that much about a spoiler. At least that's my logic.

Edit: I should probably clarify, that doesn't mean I go around spoiling everything older than a few months. But I also don't have any sympathy for anyone complaining about a spoiler for a game a year old.

 

[GiantRaven]

Also I'd say about a few months. If you haven't seen a film (DVD release, not everyone cares about paying to see a film in an overpriced cinema) or played a game for a few months after it's release to the public, you probably don't really care that much about a spoiler. At least that's my logic.

That's terrible logic. What if you haven't heard of the film until a long while after it's out?

 

[The Heik]

Spoilers are always spoilers. I think it's better to assume someone doesn't know than to assume they do. Even with 'famous' plot twists, there are bound to be people that don't know them, and it seems a bit of a dick move to spoil it for them because they 'should have seen it by now.'

I think it's especially unfair to spoil stuff on forums, when it's so very easy to just put spoiler tags around what you're writing. Regardless of how well-known you consider a spoiler to be, that's no guarantee that other posters actually know it. Spoiler tags are your friend.

eeehhh using spoiler tags can be a good thing for if you have just a spoiler or two, but I've been in conversations where a lot of concepts and events from multiple different works are fired off in rapid pace. If I'd used spoilers there'd either be a spoiler tag every other sentence which would absolutely ruin the discussion's cohesion, or I'd have to blanket the entire post and risk someone seeing the spoil'd information because they had no clue what I was spoiling. In either case, it wouldn't be conducive to discussion on a forum.

Also I don't see the point of spoilering specific threads that deal with one topic (ie discussing Batman's various relations with the villains in the franchise on a Batman thread). Yeah if you discuss one or two other recent works in relation to the thread's main topic a spoiler tag is usually a good idea, but thread titles exist for a reason. When you read something like "The ending of Mass Effect 3" in the title, you'd probably expect, and if you're not all that familiar with ME, then it's a safe bet that you shouldn't read the topic if you don't want to get spoil'd

OT: my general rule for spoilers is 1 year. If you haven't gotten the product by then you're either a)not interested in it b) not aware of it's existence (so there's really no way to defend against any spoilers without censoring everything all the time) or c)you're one heckuva cheapskate (seriously, the price of most media works usually drops a good measure after a few months, 6 at the most. If you're waiting a full year before you are willing to pay for it you might as well pirate it because you're clearly not intending to properly support the creators)

 

[b3nn3tt]

Spoilers are always spoilers. I think it's better to assume someone doesn't know than to assume they do. Even with 'famous' plot twists, there are bound to be people that don't know them, and it seems a bit of a dick move to spoil it for them because they 'should have seen it by now.'

I think it's especially unfair to spoil stuff on forums, when it's so very easy to just put spoiler tags around what you're writing. Regardless of how well-known you consider a spoiler to be, that's no guarantee that other posters actually know it. Spoiler tags are your friend.

eeehhh using spoiler tags can be a good thing for if you have just a spoiler or two, but I've been in conversations where a lot of concepts and events from multiple different works are fired off in rapid pace. If I'd used spoilers there'd either be a spoiler tag every other sentence which would absolutely ruin the discussion's cohesion, or I'd have to blanket the entire post and risk someone seeing the spoil'd information because they had no clue what I was spoiling. In either case, it wouldn't be conducive to discussion on a forum.

Also I don't see the point of spoilering specific threads that deal with one topic (ie discussing Batman's various relations with the villains in the franchise on a Batman thread). Yeah if you discuss one or two other recent works in relation to the thread's main topic a spoiler tag is usually a good idea, but thread titles exist for a reason. When you read something like "The ending of Mass Effect 3" in the title, you'd probably expect, and if you're not all that familiar with ME, then it's a safe bet that you shouldn't read the topic if you don't want to get spoil'd

But with threads that have titles that directly reference the ending of something, I would say that the title itself is acting as a spoiler warning. And when writing a large chunk of text, I agree that sticking a spoiler tag in the middle of every other sentence would interfere with your flow. But when I said spoiler tags, what I should have said was spoiler warnings. So if you're writing a paragraph that contains spoilers, just stick 'spoiler warning' at the start of it, so that people have the option to scroll past your post if they want to avoid spoilers. My main point was that I think people deserve a warning if there's a chance something is going to be spoiled for them.

 

[TimeLord]

Also I'd say about a few months. If you haven't seen a film (DVD release, not everyone cares about paying to see a film in an overpriced cinema) or played a game for a few months after it's release to the public, you probably don't really care that much about a spoiler. At least that's my logic.

That's terrible logic. What if you haven't heard of the film until a long while after it's out?

Well if I haven't heard of a film and hear a spoiler about it. I won't care because I'll probably forget about the spoiler when I watch the film eventually.

 

[Darknacht]

People complain about spoilers with The Hobbit and it came out in 1937, so its always a spoiler.

 

[Frotality]

it never stops being a spoiler. i will never forgive cultural osmosis for ruining citizen kane for me.