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[berzeli]

Similarly, if you're talking too loud and someone calls you out on it take the L and don't complain. You even said that yelling "X DIED LAST NIGHT," is not fine, well that's exactly what I'm talking about. If you're talking loud enough that someone ten feet away who isn't listening in can hear you then you're talking too loud and, again, should take the L if someone complains.

It's just like free speech, no-one can stop you doing something, but that doesn't make you exempt from any and all criticism. In your efforts to stop the "policing" of volume levels you've started policing what people can and can't complain about.

Oh, and thanks for calling me insane.

If you don't want people implying that you're insane, don't say insane things.

Ten feet is not far. At a normal voice level you're still well within the clearly audible range at ten feet.
If you're complaining about hearing someone ten feet away, you're complaining about reality.

And that's not getting into your utterly bizarre free speech argument. Which honestly is just too inane for me to respond to and will only lead to circular arguments. (i.e. your criticism isn't exempt from criticism, etc, etc)

 

[Ambient80]

Similarly, if you're talking too loud and someone calls you out on it take the L and don't complain. You even said that yelling "X DIED LAST NIGHT," is not fine, well that's exactly what I'm talking about. If you're talking loud enough that someone ten feet away who isn't listening in can hear you then you're talking too loud and, again, should take the L if someone complains.

It's just like free speech, no-one can stop you doing something, but that doesn't make you exempt from any and all criticism. In your efforts to stop the "policing" of volume levels you've started policing what people can and can't complain about.

Oh, and thanks for calling me insane.

Lol, “take the L”. How about the person who overheard grow up a bit? It’s not at all reasonable to walk up to two strangers having a conversation and telling them they spoiled it and demand an apology. I would seriously laugh at someone if they did that.

 

[Lkr]

Referring back to my earlier post, the thing that was talked about occurred in season 4, while the person was talking about the spoiler while season 2 was on.

I mean ASoS was published in 2000. Is 12 years too soon?
Also did it really detract from your enjoyment of the show? There were still 5+ separate storylines at that part and you knew one character was gonna die out of 10-15 relevant ones at the time

 

[amar212]

Bruce Willis is a ghost.

 

[Vincent Alexander]

Lmao. This list is pretty good. Brings back memories. I had this exact shit happen to me 3 episodes into Game of Thrones:

Me: "Yeah. I'm liking it. Ned is a pretty great character."

My friend's in-law with a dumb fucking smirk on his face: "Oooh. Ahahaha. You know what happens to Sean Bean in everything he's in?"

Fuck. You. Dick.

 

[Double Donut]

I don't understand people who get all dramatic/edgy and post shit like "spoiler culture is so fucking stupid, people are so over dramatic, this is so exhausting".

Is it that hard to simply not spoil stuff for others? What a challenge.

 

[One Eyed Willy]

Rules for spoilers of any kind are stupid

This

 

[Vincent Alexander]

I don't understand people who get all dramatic/edgy and post shit like "spoiler culture is so fucking stupid, people are so over dramatic, this is so exhausting".

Is it that hard to simply not spoil stuff for others? What a challenge.

People are lazy. Or inconsiderate. Or both. I don't want people ruining their lives going into a secret bunker with soundproof walls or anything, but I think simple things like asking someone if they watched "x" before you blurt out what happened to them is so easy. Surely there is a middleground.

 

[tonysidaway]

I don't understand people who get all dramatic/edgy and post shit like "spoiler culture is so fucking stupid, people are so over dramatic, this is so exhausting".

Is it that hard to simply not spoil stuff for others? What a challenge.

It's actually quite hard. A close friend of mine will ask me about a film, but if I respond by saying something as innocuous as "it's about a jewel thief" I'll get a pained look in response. Some people prize their ignorance and hold others responsible for maintaining it. I call that very unreasonable.

 

[Couleurs]

EDIT: I'd also like someone who says they don't care about spoilers to actually mean it for once. As I said, the end result is the same so you either care about said end result or you don't.

I mentioned in my previous post about having major events in Breaking Bad spoiled for me and how it didn't ruin my enjoyment of it. I'm more about the journey than the destination, so if I hear that Character X dies, it doesn't ruin things for me since I will still want to see how the scenario develops, what the fallout of the death is, etc.

Obviously people will view it differently, so I don't expect everyone to feel the same as I do, but there are people who don't care when things get spoiled but still care about the end result.

 

[ClosingADoor]

Similarly, if you're talking too loud and someone calls you out on it take the L and don't complain. You even said that yelling "X DIED LAST NIGHT," is not fine, well that's exactly what I'm talking about. If you're talking loud enough that someone ten feet away who isn't listening in can hear you then you're talking too loud and, again, should take the L if someone complains.

It's just like free speech, no-one can stop you doing something, but that doesn't make you exempt from any and all criticism. In your efforts to stop the "policing" of volume levels you've started policing what people can and can't complain about.

Oh, and thanks for calling me insane.

No, it's not what you are talking about. What I mean is if someone goes out of their way to spoil. For example, drive by a movie theater and yell spoilers, or enter a student cafeteria and yell spoilers. Not talking with friends and happening to mention a spoiler a bit too loud so other overhear.

If someone would come up to me in public and complain I spoiled a tv show for them when they are not even part of the conversation, I'd probably couldn't control my laughter.

 

[Vincent Alexander]

It's actually quite hard. A close friend of mine will ask me about a film, but if I respond by saying something as innocuous as "it's about a jewel thief" I'll get a pained look in response. Some people prize their ignorance and hold others responsible for maintaining it. I call that very unreasonable.

That is why I like this list because it's stance is that what you told your friend isn't a spoiler. Maybe that is the issue though....first agreeing on what is or isn't a spoiler, then deciding how to handle spoilery info.

 

[RangerX]

People are lazy. Or inconsiderate. Or both. I don't want people ruining their lives going into a secret bunker with soundproof walls or anything, but I think simple things like asking someone if they watched "x" before you blurt out what happened to them is so easy. Surely there is a middleground.

That's the problem though. Many spoilerphobes aren't in this middle ground and expect to be protected from even the most trivial and unimportant pieces of information. It's insanity and destroys discussion.

 

[Stumpokapow]

EDIT: I'd also like someone who says they don't care about spoilers to actually mean it for once. As I said, the end result is the same so you either care about said end result or you don't.

I don't care about spoilers. Feel free to PM me spoilers for any movie, tv show, game, comic, whatever released or unreleased at any point in time.

 

[Ambient80]

People are lazy. Or inconsiderate. Or both. I don't want people ruining their lives going into a secret bunker with soundproof walls or anything, but I think simple things like asking someone if they watched "x" before you blurt out what happened to them is so easy. Surely there is a middleground.

I’m not sure anyone here is arguing against that. It’s the lists of rules and demands from some folks that has gotten crazytown. Do I need to bring a decibel meter with me to restaurants? What level of volume should I exactly be using? What if it’s loud, or the person a few booths away has really good hearing? Should I silence myself every time someone walks past the table?

 

[cwmartin]

Lmao. This list is pretty good. Brings back memories. I had this exact shit happen to me 3 episodes into Game of Thrones:

Me: "Yeah. I'm liking it. Ned is a pretty great character."

My friend's in-law with a dumb fucking smirk on his face: "Oooh. Ahahaha. You know what happens to Sean Bean in everything he's in?"

Fuck. You. Dick.

The fiction of Ned Stark dying began in 1996. This is madness hahaha. Your brother in law is a dick for spoiling it, YES. But expecting to be insulated from it is somehow worse.

 

[The Greek Freak]

Had a girl scream at me during S2 of GOT when I was listening to the red wedding via audiobook in such a bad traffic jam we were literally parked for 25 min. I lied and told her Dany died the chapter before when she threw a fit.

 

[Double Donut]

It's actually quite hard. A close friend of mine will ask me about a film, but if I respond by saying something as innocuous as "it's about a jewel thief" I'll get a pained look in response. Some people prize their ignorance and hold others responsible for maintaining it. I call that very unreasonable.

There will always be people who take things to the extreme. In general though, it's very easy to be "courteous" in regards to spoiler culture.

 

[killroy87]

Spoiler culture is the epitome of how obnoxious we've become as people. It's the worst.

 

[Fuchsdh]

The fiction of Ned Stark dying began in 1996. This is madness hahaha. Your brother in law is a dick for spoiling it, YES. But expecting to be insulated from it is somehow worse.

Telling someone Sean Bean lives to the end of a film is at this point a bigger spoiler than revealing he dies.

 

[Vincent Alexander]

That's the problem though. Many spoilerphobes aren't in this middle ground and expect to be protected from even the most trivial and unimportant pieces of information. It's insanity and destroys discussion.

Yeah...I get how that can be annoying. I'll be honest that I am more on the side of being a spoilerphobe, BUT! The reason why I am overly sensitive is specifically because I'm surrounded by friends who don't know how to talk around spoilers. Like...I know them well enough that their word choice, and what they DON'T say at times, can fill in enough gaps for me to spoil thiblngs at times. But then there are times they just lay red flags all around a big twist or character death without any subtlety. So they've made my spoilerphobia worse. I try to control it...

I’m not sure anyone here is arguing against that. It’s the lists of rules and demands from some folks that has gotten crazytown. Do I need to bring a decibel meter with me to restaurants? What level of volume should I exactly be using? What if it’s loud, or the person a few booths away has really good hearing? Should I silence myself every time someone walks past the table?

I think the best thing one can do is simply ask those you're speaking with if theyve seen "X." Personally, I take it as my responsibility to walk away from places where I hear spoiler talk going on or about to start. But I am lucky and have an office at work, so I can retreat off the floor easy enough.

The fiction of Ned Stark dying began in 1996. This is madness hahaha. Your brother in law is a dick for spoiling it, YES. But expecting to be insulated from it is somehow worse.

Definitely more the former. GoT was 3 seasons in and I'd been spoiled on nothing, and I was around this guy a lot for years. He never once spoiled anything UNTIL my friend at lunch told him "So, (my name) started Game of Thrones." I made a Ned comment, then BLAM. He spoiled me. I was pissed. I wasn't trying to be insulated. That was just flatout spoiling for the sake of it.

 

[Dreamwriter]

And going back to the article being a joke, they list Seinfeld as an example of shows that are okay to spoil. The fuck is anyone gonna spoil about Seinfeld? The show is literally about nothing. The only "plot point" is Susan's death I guess.

Wait, Susan dies? But they are getting married!! What the hell, man?!

 

[Cipher Peon]

My rule of thumb when it comes to spoilers that if it's something that a work of media tries to blouse as a surprise, then it's a spoiler. Regardless of its cultural ubiquity and age.

Spoilers are evergreen, there is no expiration date when it comes to discussing spoilers. Discussing spoilers openly is only appropriate when all parties agree that it's no big deal.

People can experience a piece of media for the first time only once. I don't want to ruin that for anybody, nor do I want it ruined for myself.

 

[chalkitdown1]

This. There's people on gaf who think that Pablo Escobar's death on Narco's is a spolier.

It's not a spoiler dum dums.

I think this one depends on the show and how long ago it's set and/or how well known that story is. Take for example Boardwalk Empire or Deadwood which mix real-life and fictional characters. I'd prefer not to know who dies and when just because it actually happened 100 years ago.

 

[minor effort]

Spoilers are evergreen, there is no expiration date when it comes to discussing spoilers. Discussing spoilers openly is only appropriate when all parties agree that it's no big deal.

People can experience a piece of media for the first time only once. I don't want to ruin that for anybody, nor do I want it ruined for myself.

Spoilers are evergreen? What about for spoilers so old and so famous they're a part of the cultural lexicon?

Expecting people not be casual about spoiling something like The Empire Strikes Back and asking in advance if everyone in the room has seen it seems ridiculously excessive.

It's nice to experience something for the first time unspoiled. That's all, it's just nice. It's not outright obligated to anybody, and that obligation decreases rapidly with time.

 

[Plum]

Sorry you saying this doesn't make it true. I've been accidentally spoiled and not given a shit and been intentionally spoiled and been annoyed at that person.

So if people saying they don't care about spoilers care about spoilers why would they say it in the first place? It's always code for not caring about a certain way people get spoiled or not caring if someone else gets spoiled, it's never not caring about spoilers in general.

If you don't want people implying that you're insane, don't say insane things.

Ten feet is not far. At a normal voice level you're still well within the clearly audible range at ten feet.
If you're complaining about hearing someone ten feet away, you're complaining about reality.

And that's not getting into your utterly bizarre free speech argument. Which honestly is just too inane for me to respond to and will only lead to circular arguments. (i.e. your criticism isn't exempt from criticism, etc, etc)

If you're talking loud enough that people can hear you ten feet away in a crowded canteen then you're talking too loudly. Even then, what arbitrary distance is OK? Fifteen feet? 30 feet? It's not possible to make everyone not hear you, but in most situations you can lower your voice without ruining the conversation you're in.

As for the free speech thing, it isn't asinine seeing as both you and others don't want to be policed whilst also want to police others. People have the right to complain, saying they shouldn't unless they get spoiled under somr arbitrary parametres is policing what they can and can't say.

Again, thanks for calling me insane.

Lol, “take the L”. How about the person who overheard grow up a bit? It’s not at all reasonable to walk up to two strangers having a conversation and telling them they spoiled it and demand an apology. I would seriously laugh at someone if they did that.

Complaining about someone talking loudly on a message board isn't the same as what you suggested, nor is asking a co-worker to quieten down a bit when talking about GoT spoilers. Again, this entire conversation started because people saw someone complaining about a random stranger talking loudly as something worthy of argument, that's what I mean by "taking the L." You don't have to listen to the guy, you don't have to care, I'm just asking you to be a little empathetic and not actively decry them for feeling the way they do. If you think what they're getting annoyed about is too extreme then explain to them why it's not a spoiler instead of going "OMG SPOILER CULTURE STRIKES AGAIN."

 

[Won]

For once a list should have been spoiler tagged.

 

[Dalek]

I am so tired of spoiler culture.

.

 

[Steve Youngblood]

I don't care about spoilers. Feel free to PM me spoilers for any movie, tv show, game, comic, whatever released or unreleased at any point in time.

Yeah. I think generally speaking -- particularly if I'm just about to watch something -- I'd err on the side of not wanting to be spoiled. But I haven't yet watched this season of Game of Thrones yet and was probably about to start it up soon-ish. Possibly tonight even. But if you tell me what happens any disappointment would probably be at the actual outcome of the plot and not in the feeling of being robbed of suspense. I'd still want to watch and see how it happens for my own benefit.

 

[Vincent Alexander]

I don't care about spoilers. Feel free to PM me spoilers for any movie, tv show, game, comic, whatever released or unreleased at any point in time.

Teach me, Senpai.

 

[Triggerhappytel]

I don't want to give them a click. Most of this is dumb and the few that are reasonable are pure common sense.

 

[Plum]

I don't care about spoilers. Feel free to PM me spoilers for any movie, tv show, game, comic, whatever released or unreleased at any point in time.

See I'm perfectly fine with this.

When "I don't care about spoilers" means "Oh, I care I just want to tell other people what to think about things." is when I have an issue. I mean, I have an issue with people telling others what to feel in the first place (that includes your previous post to an extent despite mr agreeing with it) but I have even more of an issue with those who talk the talk but can't walk the walk.

 

[Chococat]

I think there is a difference between being spoiled (happens, not a big deal) and someone spoiling something for you intentionally (stupid, dick move).

If you don't care enough about Game of Thrones to plan around watching it as it airs, you can't then expect the entire fan base who does care enough to watch it as it airs, to cater to the small population of fans who didn't care enough to watch, but care enough to demand to be surprised what happens when they don't prioritize watching it.

Yes, its all just entertainment and media in the end. But caring about being spoiled, means you obviously care enough that the shows uncertainty is valuable to you, but watching it when it airs to ensure this experience is not. This is the MINORITY of game of thrones fans.

GOT had a healthy fan base before the TV show that got shit on constantly for even the mere whiff of book fans spoiling things for show only fans. Now the tables are turned and show fan won't shut up about show. Bunch of inconsiderate assholes. I've had to block so many people and outlets.

Guess what, there is a large base of book fan who do not follow the show and don't want to be spoiled. I'm one of them. There are podcast and various chat media that split coverage between book only, show only, and spoiler all materials. The TV is not end all to be all of the series- no one should talking spoilers without asking do follow GOT and do you want to be spoiled by the show, book, or both.

 

[Mr-Joker]

Snip

Yeah no I am not doing that, it is not my responsibility to tiptoe around people who wanting to remain spoiler free, it's theirs.

I will give them a 1 week grace after I have finish watching/playing/reading and then I am not hiding it anymore.

 

[tonysidaway]

That is why I like this list because it's stance is that what you told your friend isn't a spoiler. Maybe that is the issue though....first agreeing on what is or isn't a spoiler, then deciding how to handle spoilery info.

I prefer my own stance. I won't be drawn out by my close friend because I know how sensitive they are about this topic, but in general I actively enjoy discussing fiction and I assume somebody similarly interested will be adequately prepared for the discussion. I don't go into a discussion of Game of Thrones expecting to remain ignorant of events which I haven't yet viewed or that are in the books but haven't yet been recorded. Discussion improves my enjoyment, and often a knowledge of major plot points positively influences my decision to read or view a work. So the dragons are real? Cool, I wanted to see that.

 

[Lkr]

Wait, Susan dies? But they are getting married!! What the hell, man?!

And that's nothing compared to the reaction people have when they first see the death of independent george!


Another issue I have with spoiler culture is people that are wishy washy. When I was reading ADwD before class started, a girl in class asked me if I could simply not discuss it around her if I wanted to talk to other people in the class about it, because she only watched the shows. Easy enough request and if it's that important to you to go out of your way to do that, I have no issue obliging. The problem is when the same person comes up to you a day or two later saying they love so and so did they survive that far or did so and so finally get the gruesome death they deserved? It's almost like a Seinfeld situation where you clearly asked me not to spoil shit but are now asking me to spoil things, what do I do? Is it a test?

 

[Double Donut]

The fiction of Ned Stark dying began in 1996. This is madness hahaha. Your brother in law is a dick for spoiling it, YES. But expecting to be insulated from it is somehow worse.

What does the age of the fiction have to do with anything? If someone's enjoying something for the first time, no matter how old it is, why spoil it for them? Awful excuse. That wasn't even an accident either, dude straight up purposefully spoiled it for him. I don't see any excuse or reason for doing something like that.

 

[Steve Youngblood]

I don't know. To me the more and more people try to delineate universal rules for this kind of thing, the more people miss the forest for the trees. To me, the only thing I really care about is the question of "are the parties acting in good faith?" I think there are some things that most reasonable people would agree absolutely are spoilers, and if you think it's fun to ruin surprises for people you're probably an asshole. Conversely, if you're someone who thinks "here is the canon list of facts about this work that people can be expected to know before experiencing it and if you tell me one factoid that isn't on this list then fuck you, you inconsiderate fuckface! Don't you know spoiler etiquette!?!?" then you too are probably also an asshole.

We can quibble all day about where the lines in the sand should be drawn in terms of what is and isn't acceptable in terms of conversations between people that have experienced a work and those who haven't, but by and large I think it can be reasonably be summarized as "if you've seen it try to be sensitive to ruining surprises for those who haven't, and if you haven't seen it consider that some revelations might not be intentionally malicious."

 

[cwmartin]

What does the age of the fiction have to do with anything? If someone's enjoying something for the first time, no matter how old it is, why spoil it for them? Awful excuse. That wasn't even an accident either, dude straight up purposefully spoiled it for him. I don't see any excuse or reason for doing something like that.

I was born in 1988, should I be expected to watch Star Wars with a completely uninformed brain?

There is absolutely a time limitation on when things can be "spoiled".

 

[berzeli]

If you're talking loud enough that people can hear you ten feet away in a crowded canteen then you're talking too loudly. Even then, what arbitrary distance is OK? Fifteen feet? 30 feet? It's not possible to make everyone not hear you, but in most situations you can lower your voice without ruining the conversation you're in.

As for the free speech thing, it isn't asinine seeing as both you and others don't want to be policed whilst also want to police others. People have the right to complain, saying they shouldn't unless they get spoiled under somr arbitrary parametres is policing what they can and can't say.

Again, thanks for calling me insane.

The literal point is that "talking too loudly" is such an arbitrary threshold that it is unfit to complain about. What if they talked so "loudly" because one of them had a hearing problem, what if they were talking at an "appropriate" volume but the ambient noise went down all of a sudden, etc., etc.

And the people have right to complain about the people complaining who have a right to..., like I said, circular argument.

btw, I'm currently reading Good-bye to all That, and um like the introduction (written by someone else) is literally accounting for what happens in the novel, explaining certain things in their context, and adding some other context for events in the book. Does the introduction count as a spoiler according to you?

 

[Vincent Alexander]

I was born in 1988, should I be expected to watch Star Wars with a completely uninformed brain?

There is absolutely a time limitation on when things can be "spoiled".

Welp, this thread shows that some would disagree. There seems to be an issue with people on both sides speaking in absolutes in here. There is a middleground.

 

[Baleoce]

Just don't be a dick.

This is pretty much all you need to know lol

 

[tonysidaway]

So if people saying they don't care about spoilers care about spoilers why would they say it in the first place? It's always code for not caring about a certain way people get spoiled or not caring if someone else gets spoiled, it's never not caring about spoilers in general.

That simply isn't true. Not caring about spoilers is not only perfectly possible, historically it's the norm. We talk of Jekyll and Hyde personalities even though this is a major spoiler for Robert Louis Stephenson's novel, we'll call a trap disguised as a gift a Trojan horse, a problem that is so costly to deal with you'll wish you had just ignored it is a tar baby, and in case you think this is restricted to old material I'll remind you of Luke's parentage and a dozen other plot features that have entered common folklore.

Spoiler sensitivity as a powerful force is a new and, as far as I'm concerned, unwelcome feature of popular culture. We had this discussion on Wikipedia a while back and, believe me, it took a serious effort to get all those spoiler tags removed. People were even slapping spoiler tags on the likes of the Three Little Pigs.

 

[Bobby Roberts]

EDIT: I'd also like someone who says they don't care about spoilers to actually mean it for once

Who have you been talking to that people are consistently, openly lying to your face about something as low-stakes as "I don't care about spoilers?"

Like, what?

 

[zeemumu]

Can we narrow this down to 2?

If it just aired, wait a while before talking about it in general, and don't talk about it to people who haven't seen it yet.

If it's a leak, don't talk about it unless the person you're talking to wants to know/doesn't care

 

[Subpar Spatula]

See I'm perfectly fine with this.

When "I don't care about spoilers" means "Oh, I care I just want to tell other people what to think about things." is when I have an issue. I mean, I have an issue with people telling others what to feel in the first place (that includes your previous post to an extent despite mr agreeing with it) but I have even more of an issue with those who talk the talk but can't walk the walk.

You can tell whiny spoilerphobes they're being whiny when they barge into other's conversations to police them.

 

[iammeiam]

Like wtf are these?

4 & 5- The time frames seem completely arbitrary.

Not to particularly take up the anti-spoiler banner, but the three hour moratorium on spoilers makes a ton of sense if you consider time zones. West coast being three hours behind means if you drop a casual spoiler somewhere after the east coast airing, you're potentially spoiling somebody on something they have no way to see yet. Generally if you're doing that you're probably also committing a party foul elsewhere, but the actual block of time they picked does make sense.

 

[The Chef]

There is a subreddit called Freefolk. I have ZERO idea what that sub is about. But it seems like some kind of comical Game of Thrones sub or something. But somehow it ends up on the front page a lot.

I had to block it because that stupid crap would post GoT meme worthy stuff with spoilers from the most recent episode. I could literally see it in the thumbnail. God it annoyed me.

 

[ExVicis]

I'm so glad I don't care about spoilers so I don't need to follow all this ridiculous unwritten etiquette bullshit.

 

[tonysidaway]

Not to particularly take up the anti-spoiler banner, but the three hour moratorium on spoilers makes a ton of sense if you consider time zones. West coast being three hours behind means if you drop a casual spoiler somewhere after the east coast airing, you're potentially spoiling somebody on something they have no way to see yet. Generally if you're doing that you're probably also committing a party foul elsewhere, but the actual block of time they picked does make sense.

Where I live, the Sherlock special The Abominable Bride was shown about five hours before it was shown on PBS. There was no legitimate way for somebody living in America to watch the show on BBC One. So do you imagine people in Britain were going to sit twiddling their thumbs for fear of "spoiling" viewers in North America? This was one of the most eagerly awaited television shows of the year. It was all over Twitter from the start.