This is not an official thread, just my own enquiry, though if any consensus comes out of it we can at least point the site staff towards this thread if we want to suggest any official changes etc. I guess.
I'm undecided how I feel about general game spoilers, but I've stayed away from the Breath of the Wild thread because it seems some people want to know and share everything about the game before it's even released. For me that diminishes a large part of the discovery aspect of a game. It looks like I should probably keep clear of the Mario Odyssey thread for the same reason.
But it would still be nice to have a thread to go to where we can speculate about games without fear of being spoiled.
So what does everyone reckon:
(a) Just carry on as we are and let people post what they like anywhere, and if you want to avoid spoilers then you'll just have to be careful about where you go and learn to shut your eyes quick if you see/read something that's probably spoilerific?
(b) Instigate a 'Community Rule' whereby any in-game content posted or discussed before the game has even been released is hidden behind spoiler tags?
(c) Allow 'duplicate' threads for each game, one for free discussion, and one specifically spoiler-free?
(d) Any other suggestions?
Personally, I think it's always courteous and considerate for people to put any plot point, hint, solution etc. behind spoiler tags, regardless as to how old the game is.
And FYI, if you don't know how to write spoiler tags, you use these things [ ] at either end of the words you want to hide, and fill the space in the first set with the word 'spoiler' (don't use the quote marks) and fill the space in the second set with '/spoiler'.
Peace and love.
PS. All comments will be read and taken onboard, whether they're replied to or not. Thanks.
@gcunit I've thought about option C before, but I feel that splitting the threads and the discussion isn't the right way to handle spoilers. Option B works in theory best for everyone, provided everyone is willing to agree to put spoilers in the spoiler tags. The only question is, at what point do you apply these rules? In the BOTW thread, we've gone for more than a year without using spoiler tags, it's just the last month that we've started to implement them. For example, should the very first trailer or early screenshots also be hidden in spoiler tags? Do we apply an arbitrary time-frame after which the spoiler tags need to be applied? Let's say for example; Any new information that gets out during the two months before release needs to be put in spoiler tags.
The only question is, at what point do you apply these rules? In the BOTW thread, we've gone for more than a year without using spoiler tags, it's just the last month that we've started to implement them. For example, should the very first trailer or early screenshots also be hidden in spoiler tags?
@Octane - I'm not 100% clear what you're suggesting, but I wouldn't suggest we try and go back through threads and start applying tags to old posts. I'd suggest more along the lines of making an announcement that sets a date as to when we'd start applying the policy, and expect everyone to apply tags from that date forward.
The finer details as to what we'd class as spoilers can probably wait until we ever actually started trying to implement such an idea, but personally I would say that posting official trailers is fine, as each user can control whether they play the video or not, but as it's harder to draw a line for screenshots it would probably be easier to just have a blanket approach of any screenshots or artwork going behind tags. I'd prefer the idea of putting anything pre-release, no matter how far in advance of the expected release date, behind tags. It's not like we'd be banning the content, just asking for it to be tagged.
You guys had me at blood and semen.
What better way to celebrate than firing something out of the pipe?
@gcunit Yeah, that was what I was trying to suggest. My question was; When do we make the announcement? Should that be a standard, like two months before release, or is it a case-by-case thing and up to the mods to decide when the spoiler tag rules apply?
For images it's also a good idea to just post the link instead. I find that often works better than looking at a huge black square. And as long as it's a jpg image, it opens a pop-up instead of a new tab.
Maybe we could even denote the threads in which the spoiler tag rules apply by adding ''[Spoiler Free]'' in the title or something like that. Works as a reminder for anyone posting spoilers, but it also let's other people know that the thread should be ''safe'' to visit.
Another question is whether this should apply to all games. I understand people don't want to see spoilers for story-focussed games like Zelda or Xenoblade, or even Mario Odyssey. What about Splatoon 2 or ARMS?
Just post spoilers in the main thread and stop people spoiling stuff in the other threads, shouldn't be too hard since all they do is talk about specs, Microsoft/Sony and third parties. People should have enough common sense to know to know if they go looking for information or to have a specific discussion then it’s their own fault.
I was meaning the announcement would be a one-off, and then that applies to all future games as a standard, from the moment they're announced.
And I'd blanket it for all games - saves the issue of people trying to figure out whether the policy applies to a particular game or not.
I see. And the rule disappears as soon as the game is released in all regions? Assuming that the people who really care about the spoiler tags are probably getting the game day one anyway.
the_shpydar wrote:
As @ogo79 said, the SNS-RZ-USA is a prime giveaway that it's not a legit retail cart.
And yes, he is (usually) always right, and he is (almost) the sexiest gamer out there (not counting me) ;)
I've been avoiding the Zelda BoTW thread because I assume there's lots of spoilers there. As long as spoilers are only in their game specific threads, I'm not too bothered about it.
Options B or C would be nice, but I doubt they would work in reality. There'll still be people posting spoilers in the main Zelda BoTW thread even if there was a a new spoiler thread, and not everyone will use spoiler tags even if that was a rule.
@Tasuki
youve spoiled me rotten
i feel like im 8 again or last week again
the_shpydar wrote:
As @ogo79 said, the SNS-RZ-USA is a prime giveaway that it's not a legit retail cart.
And yes, he is (usually) always right, and he is (almost) the sexiest gamer out there (not counting me) ;)
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Topic: How should we handle pre-release spoilers in the forums?
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