Poll: Do spoilers ruin a story?

[Angie7F]

No.
I have developed a habit of reading Wikipedia while watching anything.
I think knowing the ending does not take away from the story because, most of the times you know how the story will end.
The hero will survive, they will end up together and live happily ever after.

SO, since the ending is pretty obvious I prefer to know hte trivia and info.

 

[Starik20X6]

I suppose it depends on the magnitude of the spoiler. If it's just a little spoiler, it's sometimes fun to see the sequence of events that led up to it. The Trash episode of Firefly is a good example, where you spend the whole episode finding out how Mal ended up stranded naked in the middle of the desert.

On the other hand, if it's a major spoiler it can be immensely frustrating, particularly if it's supposed to be a surprise twist. Sometimes having a twist spoiled will make me hyper-critical of it, because I'll now notice all the little inconsistencies and "hang on, what" moments that undermine a twist that makes no sense. For example, The Sixth Sense actually makes zero sense once you know the twist and get past the "oh wow" of it.

 

[MiskWisk]

I know it does for most people, but not me.

Sometimes, I immediately forget what the spoiler was until I reach that point. Other times, it makes me more interested to see how it is pulled off, the build up and whether or not it makes sense with all of the context there.

 

[knight steel]

Nope.

It just makes me want to watch or read it more. Because there's nothing quite like seeing for yourself.

I am in this same camp too. I sometimes enjoy knowing what is going to happen so when I read it or watch it I can apply a higher consideration to the situation rather than just trying to comprehend what has happened. I get to think about WHY it happens and notice the developments towards it.

Dammit ninja saying exactly what I was about to say-what am I supposed to say now hmm?

OP:Spoiler are fine with me they.....
A-Are what get's me interested in reading/watching the story in the first place.
B-Prevent me from getting confused or distracted while watching and therefore better able to enjoy/soak the event's in.
C-Allows me to pick up on stuff I would have otherwise overlooked and would have required a second reading to notice.

 

[CrazyGirl17]

Eh, I depends on whether or not you let it get to you.

For instance, I got back into watching Red VS Blue after learning of a particular spoiler (fan should know which one it is), and I've enjoyed the rest of the series ever since.

Another example: Puella Magi Madoka Magica is one of my all-time favorite animes, despite reading the spoilers beforehand. Don't ask me why, it's just a bad habit I suppose.

 

[PeterMerkin69]

Not really. I spoil plenty of things for myself and it doesn't seem to matter; for example, I spoiled the end of A Game of Thrones for myself, and I was still grinning ear to ear when the intrigue came to a head.

Most times I can predict or sense twists coming anyway so there's not much of a difference between reading a recap and watching a show live. You'd pretty much have to be an incredibly young, naive child or otherwise unexposed to western culture in order to be surprised by anything popular or commercial, and even the things that intentionally go against the grain are somewhat focused into the same ideas by the repulsive force of what they're trying to contrast.

In other words, if you're enjoying anything made in the last five hundred years and you don't already know the rich white guy's going to get the girl, save the world and survive his villainous foil, you're an asshole.

 

[JagermanXcell]

Some jerk weed (my cousin...) spoiled the REAL final boss of Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker after I beat what I thought was the final boss. It was a weird twist, but the shock value would have been there if he didn't spoil it for me.
I mean how many people saw the ending to Bioshock Infinite or Midnight Meat Train coming without spoilers? It more or less ruins the fun if you do spoil it, but that depends on the person.

SPOILERS BELOW LOOK AWAY!

Babies come from sexual intercourse.

SPOILERS OVER.

 

[Joccaren]

Depends on the story.
Honestly I don't think I would have liked the original Bioshock's twist as much if I hadn't known a bit about it beforehand. Semi-spoilers if you will. It didn't hit as hard, but I could fully appreciate it when I got to it, and instantly realised what was going on. If I hadn't of known much about it, I wouldn't have thought about it, and summed it up as just another "Your friend was actually your enemy" twist.

Likewise spoilers for the first part of The Great Gatsby are what got me interested in seeing it. Yeah, parties and Leo are cool, but what's the story about?
Spoil who Gatsby is, his motivations, and what's going on, and suddenly I'm interested in reading the book and seeing the movie.

Other times, spoilers ruin things. I would have hated to have the Bioshock Infinite ending spoiled for me. I would have hated to have the events of "Dark as Day" by Charles Sheffield spoiled for me. Interesting events in many stories being spoiled would have ruined them for me.

It depends on the type of spoiler, what the twist is, and the story itself. Sometimes it helps to have things spoiled, other times it hurts.

 

[DelphiSantano]

Not for me they don't because I like spoilers. I hate surprises and like knowing what is going to happen before it happens. I will usually either go to Wikipedia and spoil a movie or book for myself so I know what happens.

I understand they can ruin it for other people though so I won't spoil stuff for other people.

Very similar situation here. I wouldn't say I hate surprises, I'm just not overly fond of them and like to know what's going to happen well before it does.

If I know spoilers, it won't ruin the film for me (for example I watched Escape to the Movies before going to see the new Star Trek), although I can understand why people want to go in knowing as little as possible.

 

[Harlemura]

Kinda. I played through a One Piece game recently that summarised a few important events throughout the series, mostly just so I was prepped for the (non-canon) sequel coming out in August. I'm not all that far into the actual anime though, so there are a fair few things that I probably should have waited to find out for myself. Even though YouTube comments can ruin certain things [http://i4.ytimg.com/i/ON9xJtczndiPvwwIETsaNg/1.jpg] no matter how hard you try and avoid spoilers.
However it turns out to be quite interesting to find out how and why the characters end up going from place to place, because the events covered in the game were so vague, apart from major fights (in which most of them were just "hero wins bad guy loses" so yeah, big surprise there).

But then I'm coming up to the Water Seven arc and I wish I didn't know about

Spoiler

the Luffy and Usopp fight. Everyone says it's all emotional and really good, but I get the feeling the drama's been ruined for me by knowing it's coming. Usopp's constant defence of the Going Merry just helps to make sure I don't forget the fight's coming, too.

 

[Alfador_VII]

It generally affects my interpretation of the story, but it depends on what the nature of the spoiler is whether it ruins it.

So it's a definite maybe.

 

[uhddh]

Depends on the spoiler and the game. I'm generally fine if something gets spoiled.

 

[teqrevisited]

Yes.

Even if I can see something a mile off I want to know if I was right or wrong and be able to experience the proper moment of realization after however long a build-up.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

That depends. Does the story hinge on a big plot twist alone, or is it enjoyable for different reasons?

 

[Rebel_Raven]

For me it depends on how good the story is.

People who watch television shows, or movies with super heroes generally know how it'll end. Heroes win, villains lose.
Same could be said for videogames.
It's not limited to superheroes, but it's an easy point.

If the story is good, then the journey to the ending we know will happen is good. If the story is crap, then it settles more into other areas of enjoyment.

 

[Sir Christopher McFarlane]

Only stories that are significantly dependent on plot twists are harmed considerably by spoilers.