Is it your own responsibility to avoid spoilers?

[FPLOON]

Man, "fuck" spoilers! No matter what they do, they can't ruin my enjoyment of anything! I say, spoil me dry for all I care! You can't make me love/hate/make me indecisive about the given outcomes, anyway!

With that said, the internet LOVES spoilers to no end... So, if you still don't like getting spoiled and/or spoilers can ruin your enjoyment of something, then avoid the internet! You can't tell the internet to stop because that would only make the internet try to spoil you harder... I think...

So, yeah... It's not your fault you got spoiled by the internet taking you out for lunch and/or dinner... but, simultaneously, it's not the internet's fault that you came into it's house unannounced while it was naked and exposed... (Oh glob... That went south so fast...)

 

[lacktheknack]

No. If people want to go to the effort of discussing key plot points, they can go the extra four seconds needed to add spoiler tags, or at LEAST a giant SPOILER WARNING at the top of the thread if it's a thread full of spoilers.

End of discussion.

 

[Elfgore]

If I go into a thread like this one and see the biggest spoiler for Breaking Bad sitting right in the open, it is no way my fault. I'm not angry, as I have no interest in the show and I was already aware,but the point still stands. I only consider one spoiler that is allowed to be unspoilered at all times. "Luke, I am your father."

So pretty much a varied situation each time. If you walk into a thread called "Your favorite endings" or something like that, you should expect spoilers. They should still be spoilered though for the sake of it. But for example if it is "Anime #20187 ending discussion" you should know to stay away. If you venture, you have only yourself to blame. I knew how Code Geass ended thanks to a facebook page I liked. But I didn't really care, I still loved the journey.

 

[chikusho]

It goes both ways. People who spoil things for others are the worst. But you can never expect people to maintain that courtesy for your own sake. Also, people are sloppy and make mistakes, even if spoiling was never the intention.

I ALWAYS make the mistake of going in to threads about Game of Thrones, because I really love the show. But EVERY TIME there's someone who has read the books and slips a factoid in one of his or her posts that lets me know what's going to happen somewhere down the line.
And EVERY TIME I think to myself "wtf, not again. I really need to stop going in to these threads". But the pull for discussing the show wins out the next time yet again.

So yeah, this particular case is a combination of my own curiosity, other peoples dickishness and other peoples sloppiness.

 

[Kyrian007]

Yes, I don't really have much sympathy for folks who whine about spoilers. I can't think of anything major that has been spoiled for me. Then again, when I don't want something spoiled I find it really easy to avoid spoilers. Appearantly, since it's never happened to me that I remember.

But regardless, I'm always courteous enough to avoid spoiling something for others. If I have to (in conversation) I'll warn and use tags, it's not that hard. IRL conversation I'll spoil minor (or intentionally misleading) plot points. I've had people complain about that, until they watch whatever I spoiled... then in retrospect it doesn't seem so bad.

I've had a lot of practice since Game of Thrones came out. A tv adaptation of a series of books I've read for over a decade now. I don't watch the show (too boring until it strays further from the books or passes them) but I can talk the series with a co-worker, and have since before the season 1 finale (and first big shock.) I just ask, "where did the show leave off this week" when we start talking about it. Or before talking about a character's story ask "what's the last thing you saw happen to *****?"

Game of Thrones folks HATE getting spoiled. But I've carried on at least weekly conversations about the show with one of its fans for over 2 years and never gave her a reason to be bothered by anything I've said. So yes I don't have much sympathy for folks who GET spoiled... BUT spoiling something for someone else is just as easy to avoid. Anyone who spoiles something for others is just stupid or is just being a dick.

 

[MrBaskerville]

I don´t really care about spoilers, most often it just makes me more interested in something. I watched Lost because i knew of some of the things that were going to happen, i wanted to know how they got there. I also remember watching American History X a second time where i was just as invested the second time as i was the first, even though i knew that someone was going to die an untimely death. If spoilers mattered to me i wouldn´t be able to rewatch as many movies as i normmally rewatch, it might be a tiny bit more fun if there are surprises along the way, but it´s far from the most important part.

I actually wished people weren´t so afraid of spoilers as it makes it really hard to discuss movies in a proper fashion. Sometimes it´s neccesary to spoil something to discuss a movie properly, something we are usually missing out of because reviewers are afraid to write what they need to write. The worst part is people who call things happening in the first 10 minutes of something a spoiler, if you are that afraid of knowing something about the game or movie, then it´s your own problem if things are spoiled. But people should also have the courtesy to hide major spoilers with tags, that´s the decent thing to do.

 

[Zhukov]

Yup. All on you.

Avoiding giving spoilers is a courtesy, not some kind of fucking civic duty.

I'll avoid shouting, "THE KILLER WAS X ALL ALONG" from the rooftops out of courtesy, but I am allowed to discuss any story I like and if you want to avoid hearing anything about a given story then it's on you to avoid it, not on me to protect your precious ears.

Oh, I also have zero sympathy for people who get their knickers in a twist over any information at all. Major twists or reveals, sure, but keep a bloody sense of perspective.

 

[MrBaskerville]

]I never really got why people choose to spoil things, particularly for something they love. Sure, it's good for a laugh, but I don't see the logic of purposefully ruining someone else's experience and not letting them enjoy the thing you love the same way you did.

It´s usually a lot easier to discuss things, if you are allowed to talk about it and that tends to require spoilers^^.

 

[Thyunda]

Two of my friends have hilariously different approaches to spoilers. One of them, whom I'm going to refer to as Judas Priest, never reveals a spoiler. Like, on pain of death. Even if I ask for the spoiler, he won't do it. My other friend, who can be Joy Division, gives you one chance.

A conversation earlier was about Game of Thrones, and the next episode that's due. Both Judas and Joy have read the books, whereas I'm just cruising along with the TV show and enjoying it as a show. I tried to ask Judas about the duel we're all looking forward to, and he just would not say a word. I threatened violence, I offered money, he just would not give it up. Ten minutes later, we meet with Joy and are headed to dinner. I ask in passing about the duel, and Joy says these exact words.
"I'm not gonna spoil it for you. Actually do you want me to spoil it? -no pause- Okay well this happens..." and he then goes on to reference a character who he then implies is related to the Cleganes in some way. Course, this piques my interest, and I asked who this character was.
"I'm not gonna tell ya mate, I don't wanna spoil it. Actually it's this..."

I mean really, it's my own fault for asking...but sometimes my curiosity hurts.

 

[CpT_x_Killsteal]

It's certainly annoying, and some sort of warning is always appreciated, but I don't really blame anyone, especially with the way I watch series.
Fortunately I've become semi-numb to them, so they don't usually fuck everything up for me.

It falls to you and only you to protect yourself on the internet, whether it be from scam, viruses, predators, and even the greatest evil of all, spoilers.

 

[Keoul]

Yeah I see it as your own responsibility, even more so with tv shows and such that weren't adapted from a book. If a new episode came out then avoid any part of the internet with people talking like the plague until you've seen the episode

Wanna go on youtube? that's fine, just never scroll down to the comments, Wanna check out the escapist forums? that's fine, just avoid all threads with any mention of the show.

People shouldn't have an obligation to make sure you're caught up to whatever it is before talking about it since that is both unreasonable and would be impossible. Imagine being in a bar and wanting to talk about the latest Game of Thrones episode with a buddy, you'd have to ask everyone in the bar to check if they've watched it as well or else you'd risk spoiling it for someone and get told off.

I want to see these studies because I have never experienced this.

Here you go
http://static.squarespace.com/static/5033029a84ae7fae2e6a0a98/t/50d4c905e4b0e383f5b0aae6/1356122373363/Story%20Spoilers%20Don%E2%80%99t%20Spoil%20Stories.pdf

 

[Chaos Isaac]

No, it's not entirely your responsibility to avoid spoilers. Because the only way to do that reliably would be to stop visiting forums or news sites entirely, even then that won't stop some jerk in real life from dropping spoilers.

 

[Steve Waltz]

Something I was pondering. Now we all hate being spoiled?

Typically, I don't, and I'm sure there are others like me out there. I mean, if it's something I REALLY care about (e.g. The Walking Dead video game) then I might get a bit bummed that I heard about it what happened before I got to experience it. But normally it doesn't matter to me.

As far as I'm concerned it's all about the experience. For example, a few days ago I finally bought Bioshock Infinite and just started playing. However, I already know the big spoiler ending

Spoiler

The bad guy is the Booker from the future and Elizabeth is his daughter or something

but that doesn't mean I won't be able to enjoy the game or figure out how it happened. I mean, if someone spoiled the next Walking Dead by telling me that Luke dies I'd be pretty bummed, but I still really look forward to seeing how it happened because there's still 1,000 ways it could happen.



NOW, as for the topic. It is a person's responsibility to avoid spoilers, but sometimes it's unavoidable because some people are jerks that enjoy spoiling things for other people. I don't mind being spoiled so I don't care if I run into spoilers like the aforementioned Bioshock Infinite spoiler. However, if it's something I really care about then I'm DANG careful about where I go. Then again, if I really care about it, I'm usually one of the first to see it/play it.

But again, if someone doesn't want something spoiled that person should be VERY careful where they go and who they talk to before they see or play the content. Granted that doesn't always work because they're always jerks out there, but if they REALLY care they should be very careful until they experience it for themselves.



Wow, I'm pretty surprised Zontar got a warning for that! I thought that was common knowledge by now. Yea that's the point I was making too. I never watched Breaking Bad and didn't care about it, so I learned about the spoiler because EVERYONE was talking about it. I would imagine that, by now, everyone that cares about Breaking Bad would already know about the spoiler he posted and it would be no more of a spoiler than:

Spoiler

Snape kills Dumbledore

 

[Keoul]

That's quite an exclusionary position to take that could even result in people being excluded from their own threads.

It's only until you've caught up, makes sense really.
And trying to discuss a show with people you know are up to date and you know are excited about the latest episode is just asking for trouble, if not from accidental spoilers then from assholes who would just bombard your thread with spoilers.

Unless the volume of your voice is such that everyone in the bar can hear you when you're chatting to your mate, you don't need to do that.

You are correct but there is still a risk that someone might hear it and they're bound to complain that you spoiled it for them, either you gag 10 people for the sake of 1 person not getting spoiled or you ask that 1 person to quickly catch up before hanging around with people who already know and want to talk about it.

This would be like meeting your friend in the bar and saying "So, how about when the giant whale sang a duet with the giant Beetle!" (this isn't a spoiler) before asking if they've seen the latest episode.

I see the situation more like
-Hey man have you seen the latest episode of blah?
-Yeah man the part where whatshisname killed bob was amazing!

And then a third party happens to overhear and at worst calls them terrible people who spoil everything and at best mumbles to themselves how people these days are so inconsiderate, spoiling everything.

Spoilers really do, well, spoil things for me. I like the excitement of not knowing how something is going to pan out.

That's perfectly fine and all, I just think you should take a few precautions of your own to avoid spoilers and not always rely on good faith.

 

[Steve Waltz]

Wow, I'm pretty surprised Zontar got a warning for that! I thought that was common knowledge by now. Yea that's the point I was making too. I never watched Breaking Bad and didn't care about it, so I learned about the spoiler because EVERYONE was talking about it. I would imagine that, by now, everyone that cares about Breaking Bad would already know about the spoiler he posted

And today I learned that spoiler tags are revealed when quoting Thankfully I'm not going to be playing Bioshock Infinite for a while, so I may have time to forget

I've only just started watching Breaking Bad (halfway through the first series now), so I'm glad that it got tagged. I guess the problem is deciding what counts as common knowledge. I tend to play it safe and tag all spoilers, no matter how unnecessary they may seem, it's the most reliable way to make sure I don't spoil it for somebody else, and it takes minimal effort.

Oh no! I'm so sorry!

I didn't care about Breaking Bad during the finale so I heard from a dozen people about how it ended. You must be lucky if you haven't heard about that. Either that or you didn't go on the Escapist that week.

Yes, I also do my best to use spoiler tags on everything unless the thread title has a spoiler tag on it. Even though I don't care about spoilers, I know most people do so I do my best to try to avoid spoiling them for anyone else. And now I feel really bad that I spoiled Bioshock Infinite for you.

 

[Andysweden]

Yes, I don't really have much sympathy for folks who whine about spoilers.

This.
I think generally there is a time limit on everything, If you haven't watched a season finale or a sporting event within 24 hours of it airing then you really have no right to ***** about someone spilling the beans.

On the other hand there is always some asshole who gets a kick out of deliberately seeking people out and spoiling things for them, so my advice would be just avoid people online to be 100% sure nobody spoils things for you.

Personally I really don't care that much about spoilers, If a show is worth watching and someone tells me the end I'll still watch it.
What pisses me off most is those who complain about Game of Thrones spoilers, The friggin books have been out for over a decade, get a grip!

 

[MrSchmeiser]

I'm a type of dude that doesn't give a shit about spoilers but wants to rather know how will they make that scene in that movie/book/series. I pretty much know everything that will happen in GoT(even though i never read the books) but i still wanna see how it will be executed by the directors

 

[Frankster]

I'm a bit like Zontar in that spoilers never really affected my enjoyment of any media I can think of, others have casually spoiled things for me frequently enough due to my tendency to jump on bandwagons only after the hype is gone (to give a gaming example..Bioshock infinite which I bought like last month I think, with what people told me I was able to figure out the plot in the first hour and the likely end twist

Spoiler

I'm guessing the comstock lady is gonna be elizabeth from the future or an alternate timeline. Also Booker is totally gonna die at the end.

. Though maybe that's a bad example as I ended up disliking the game as found the gameplay to be very subpar and since I sort of knew where the story was going I wasn't exactly enraptured by it.

Still, whilst it's nice to be surprised by a series, I just shrug if someone spoils something for me.

Conversely I try not to spoil stories for others, but due to my laissez faire attitude there's been a few times I was casually chatting about a piece of media in what I thought would be a thread mainly for those with some knowledge of what is being discussed... Only to have random dudes raging at me for OMG SPOILERS. At which point I'll usually go back and edit in spoilers, unless the person raging was particularly obnoxious and/or snarky.

Catchpra: This is SPARTA! So next time someone snaps at me for spoilers I should kick them down a well? A bit extreme catchpra but you always know best!

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

I don't have a problem with them, and if I happen to accidentally spoil a story it really doesn't affect me. Reading the media in question doesn't give me the same experience as actually experiencing the thing as a whole.
Even books, because reading a summary does not execute the story as well as the writer did (unless you're talking about a poorly written piece of trash).

 

[Insideout Ink Demon]

i would say up until the DVD release, not spoiler tagging is a cheap move.

that said, if you intentionally go to say a story about Game of Thrones S4E7, youre gonna be in for a spoiler filled time