Spoiler Policy?

[HurricaneDragon]

Does the forum have a policy regarding unmarked spoilers at all? I realize that in the rumor threads, it's implied that spoilers are going to be everywhere - that's the point of them - but I'm finding it a bit frustrating that multiple spoilers for future episodes/events have been dropped in the threads for current Gaim episodes and in other threads regarding other shows. There was also last week where a user pointed out something about ToQGer's recently aired episode (23 - 24 only aired a few days ago) in a thread, also without any note or warning beforehand.

Obviously you can't tell people not to talk about shows that aren't airing anymore, but with these instances with current shows, I feel like I shouldn't enter any threads for these current shows until they're over lest I learn unwanted information - information I'm specifically avoiding the rumor thread and news articles so I can take it in as I watch the show, and I'm sure there are other people out there who might feel the same.

However, if there's no policy regarding spoilers here, as it's starting to feel like, then maybe I should just leave until the show ends. I think that's a bit silly, but I'd rather enjoy the show and miss the conversation than be in on it and hurt my enjoyment of these shows.

So I guess what I'm asking is this: Is there a policy regarding spoilers? If not, could one be implemented/suggested somehow? Just a "don't talk about knowledge of future events outside of episode previews in episode threads, don't talk about big events like deaths outside of episode threads without marking them as spoilers, etc.", that sort of thing.

 

[kuroihikari]

AFAIK, for currently airing shows, the individual episode threads are there for a reason, and each thread will have to assume that you've only seen up to that episode.

But yeah, I've seen people spoil rumours in currently airing threads, and that absolutely should not happen. Try asking nicely? I don't think there are specific forum rules, just one of mutual respect.

Spoiling in general discussions is a bit hard to avoid, though.

 

[JFC]

@ HurricaneDragon - Just so you know, a few years before you joined here, we actually had tried having separate threads for RAW and subbed versions of shows. The theory behind doing was that those of us that didn't want spoilers would/should/could only go to the "subbed version" threads and be safe/not have to worry about spoilers, which would/should be kept to the "RAW version" threads.

We had this system for at least a year or two (IIRC), but in the end it just didn't work out. Some "non-spoiler" people couldn't help but peek into the RAW version threads, and there were times when people would go reveal spoilers (sometimes accidentally, sometimes intentionally) that they had found out elsewhere online in the subbed version threads. Also, the subbed version threads usually ended up being less than half as active overall compared to the RAW version threads.

So yeah, in then end we just scrapped that format and have now adopted the "current episode" thread format that we now have. The problem here is when there are instances foreshadowing in an episode for things that may happen in future episodes. There are some people who consider foreshadowing to be spoilers, and that therefore they should not be discussed. Other people will disagree, and believe that whatever we see/hear/get hints for in an episode is fair game for discussion. In their opinion, they're not discussing potential spoilers, or they may just not realize that others may consider it to be spoilers.

In any case, it's next to impossible to come up with a single definition/set of criteria for defining what "is" and what "is not" spoilers. People will disagree on what is and what isn't. You can (politely, of course) remind/inform people that what they're discussing may be considered to be spoilers and that not everyone here would be happy getting that. Again, politely, you can also remind/encourage people to mark potential spoilers as such and to use the HIDE and/or SPOILER tags here (or better yet, remind/encourage them to use the "News/Rumors" threads that we have in the ORB subforum) when they're discussing/posting potentially spoiler-ish stuff.

If you're REALLY hung up on wanting to avoid spoilers, then your best choice is to just avoid the episode threads, period. If you don't want to give them up entirely, then perhaps wait a bit longer before you go into them. You could avoid going into a thread for "episode __" until the series has already proceeded, say...4 or 5 episodes it (e.g. avoid a thread for "episode 10" until the show has gotten to at least "episode 15") since most spoilers only go 1 or 2 episode ahead.

Similar to what kuroihikari said:
a) the assumption is being made that when you go into an episode thread, you have already seen that episode, and
b) it's hard to avoid encountering spoilers entirely when you're participating in a discussion about the series. There is also the expectation that once you've gone into an episode thread, anything and everything that happened in that episode (as well as prior ones) can and likely will be discussed.

 

[Dark Kabuto]

It's really not that difficult to avoid spoilers so long as you stay out of the rumors threads for on going shows and avoid the topics for that week's current episode.

 

[HurricaneDragon]

Well, my main concern is with the rumor in a current episode thread (meaning it would be a spoiler for something that hadn't aired yet). I guess the short question is, am I to understood it's sort of an unwritten rule to not post rumors outside of the rumor thread, at least, then?

The current episode stuff I can deal with fine, I suppose. :laugh:

 

[JFC]

I guess the short question is, am I to understood it's sort of an unwritten rule to not post rumors outside of the rumor thread, at least, then?

It would be better to say that the unwritten rule and expectation here is that "any/all rumors should be kept to the rumor threads instead of the current episode threads."

Again, if you find some people are not realizing that they are posting rumors where they shouldn't be, then politely remind them and request that they keep rumors to the rumor threads (after all, that's why we have them), and that they keep the discussions in the episode threads to events that just happened in the episode.

 

[Dark Kabuto]

Just to add what JFC said: if you know anyone that's actively dropping spoilers without consideration, just put him/her on ignore and don't read their post.