Thoughts about the Spoiler policy on this forum.

[Paulbot]

For example, if I'm posting something that's from 1989, then does it need to be treated as a spoiler just in case someone hasn't seen it yet?

This question does actually originate from a question raised about one of my signature's "Random TF Facts," which is discussed here.

Think about context. Someone has a thread explaining how they are watching Victory for the first time. You reply with your signature explaining how a character dies in that series. That is a big spoiler. It's not even really a random fact.

I think telling people how characters die in the fiction in your signature (which appears in every single post you've made) is not on.

If you were comparing character deaths or something in a post or discussion thread someone would have context and could ignore or skip paragraphs.

And yes Victory has not been available for the English speaking majority of members on this board for all that long.

[STL]

I think in those cases its not the fault of a poster if they post spoilers of a series someone hasn't read yet if its not public knowledge or they cant' tell from the context. No one's going to (or should) be picked up on if they didn't know that someone was in the middle of reading/watching a comic/show. For me, a lot of the facts just go right on over my head and I forget them. I'm just not a "know it all" person. It's more the moment that I start following a series then I pay attention.

And in that case, I think its only fair if everyone is aware of that fact then they can help that person by giving a spoiler alert. It's not necessary in all threads but definitely if that person is mentioning in "NewVictorythread01" I'm just starting out and these are my thoughts.

Imposing a time limit doesn't work b/c even if the DVDs are available for a long time, not everyone gets around to watching them or affording the DVDs till some later point. I think by and large, there is no malicious attempt to spoil people here. It's mostly accidental and from my time everyone such as Kup, Paulbot and yourself have been immensely helpful in giving warning notices if you feel ur step into territory that that person might only be discovering.

[GoktimusPrime]

(from the Random TF facts page)

How a character dies isn't a random fact, it is an outright spoiler.

Yes, but it's from 1989. Would it also be considered a spoiler if I say mentioned how Optimus Prime died in Transformers The Movie (1986)? Essentially anything can be considered a spoiler to someone - yes, I agree that some spoilers are bigger than others, but they're all spoilers nonetheless. My current signature could easily be a spoiler for someone who's never read the G1 UK comics and Doctor Who magazines.

Think about context. Someone has a thread explaining how they are watching Victory for the first time. You reply with your signature explaining how a character dies in that series. That is a big spoiler. It's not even really a random fact.

I think telling people how characters die in the fiction in your signature (which appears in every single post you've made) is not on.

If you were comparing character deaths or something in a post or discussion thread someone would have context and could ignore or skip paragraphs.

When I changed my signature I wasn't thinking about SilverDragon's Victory thread tbh. I will try to be more thoughtful in future though if people are flagging that they're going through an old series for the first time.

I honestly did not intend for the spoiler to appear on SD's thread, but you're right - my signature does appear on all of my posts. I changed it ASAP after I realised what had happened and yeah, all I can do is try and prevent that from happening in future. But unless someone publicly flags that they're going through an old series for the first time - and if I happen to read that thread, then it's going to be difficult to prevent people from being exposed to spoilers via random TF facts. The other option is just to abandon the entire thing from my signature. Perhaps I should just make a Random TF Fact thread with a disclaimer that my posts may contain spoilers and that people are reading it at their own risk. *shrug*

And yes Victory has not been available for the English speaking majority of members on this board for all that long.

Okay, and that is why I've stated on the random TF fact thread that I'm giving the G1 Japanese series a one year statute of limitations. As I said on the other thread I think 12 months is a reasonable amount of time for people who really want to watch these series to sit down and watch them.

Imposing a time limit doesn't work b/c even if the DVDs are available for a long time, not everyone gets around to watching them or affording the DVDs till some later point. I think by and large, there is no malicious attempt to spoil people here. It's mostly accidental and from my time everyone such as Kup, Paulbot and yourself have been immensely helpful in giving warning notices if you feel ur step into territory that that person might only be discovering.

TBH I wouldn't think about attaching a spoiler warning or spoiler tagging say Transformers Victory stuff unless it was in a specific thread where a person has stated that they're watching it for the first time. Like with yours and Soundwarp's Journey Through Beast Wars threads - on those threads I was careful to tag spoilers but otherwise on other threads I just don't consider them to be spoiler territory at all considering that the Beast Wars franchise is 9 to 13 years old now.

Signatures may require a different protocol I suppose...

[snazzbot 101]

(from the Random TF facts page)

Yes, but it's from 1989. Would it also be considered a spoiler if I say mentioned how Optimus Prime died in Transformers The Movie (1986)? Essentially anything can be considered a spoiler to someone - yes, I agree that some spoilers are bigger than others, but they're all spoilers nonetheless. My current signature could easily be a spoiler for someone who's never read the G1 UK comics and Doctor Who magazines.


When I changed my signature I wasn't thinking about SilverDragon's Victory thread tbh. I will try to be more thoughtful in future though if people are flagging that they're going through an old series for the first time.

I honestly did not intend for the spoiler to appear on SD's thread, but you're right - my signature does appear on all of my posts. I changed it ASAP after I realised what had happened and yeah, all I can do is try and prevent that from happening in future. But unless someone publicly flags that they're going through an old series for the first time - and if I happen to read that thread, then it's going to be difficult to prevent people from being exposed to spoilers via random TF facts. The other option is just to abandon the entire thing from my signature. Perhaps I should just make a Random TF Fact thread with a disclaimer that my posts may contain spoilers and that people are reading it at their own risk. *shrug*


Okay, and that is why I've stated on the random TF fact thread that I'm giving the G1 Japanese series a one year statute of limitations. As I said on the other thread I think 12 months is a reasonable amount of time for people who really want to watch these series to sit down and watch them.

Gee that's awfully generous of you. What about someone who joins in thirteen months time?

I'm new here and I do enjoy that you have knowledge feel you must share - no matter how it's shoehorned - but you need to be mindful that this is not your own private sandbox.

Others are here and you need to be mindful.

[GoktimusPrime]

Hence the suggestion of abandoning my Random TF Triv thing in my Signature and starting a thread for it where every day I post a random TF fact in that thread. There would be a disclaimer in that thread that information there could be spoilers and that people would read it at their own risk. Hrmmm... *rubs chin*

[Paulbot]

I think Random facts are okay but when you explain in some detail, how a character dies that's not a random fact it is plainly a plot spoiler.

I think there are ways to gives some random trivia without giving away the particular plot details.

For instance the following are facts that don't give away plot details of how character "X" died:
"X was the first Decepticon in fiction to be killed by a 'Heroic' Autobot"
"Five Decepticons, (X,X,X,X,X) have died as a result of being betrayed by a fellow Decepticon"
"Character X was killed because Hasbro had lost the rights to sell the toy and didn't want it promoted in the show anymore"

However I think there's a lot more TF facts out that people don't know that don't give away character deaths or how the story ends.

[roller]

is it even essential to have a thread about 'random facts' ? Isn't that wat Tf wiki is for, finding info? and rest of the net of course

[Burn]

As far as a time limit goes, i'd say 6 months to a year.

We live in a day and age where most people tend to see or read things soon after they're released to the general public.

Not to be rude, but we can't NOT tip toe around things just for the sake of a couple of people

I haven't seen the Japanese G1 series, but over the years i've learnt things because of something someone's posted. Do I get upset over it? No. Because I accept that i'm probably in the minority of TF fans who haven't seen these stories.

I haven't seen all of R.I.D. either, but I don't expect people to cater to me and not discuss it. If they do, I simply avoid the discussion.

Same with the 2007 and upcoming 2009 movie. I didn't and don't want to know too much about it, but curiousity tends to get the better of me and I take a sneak peak. THIS IS MY OWN DECISION. Meaning I can't blame anyone else but me.

It all comes to down to a invidivual's responsibility, if they don't want to be spoiled, don't look.

In the case of Gok's sig, like I said, 6-12 month time frame, he should be able to post any fact older than that. If it's a "spoiler" to someone then chances are, they're in a small group of people yet to experience that particular story and he, nor anyone else, should have to cater to that small group.