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I'm curious about this topic. How long ago should something be published before it's acceptable to spoil something major without warning? Is it acceptable to give the main clue to something like Hound of the Baskervilles? How about who Emma marries in that Jane Austen novel? What about the answer to Who Killed Laura Palmer? How many years have to elapse until you can casually say what happened to the head of Hogwarts?
And is your spoiler etiquette different in person than it is on the net?
I don't think that it's ever okay in a public forum. It takes two seconds to make a spoiler tag. People should use it. Talking in person is only a little different, my philosophy is to just ask. The effort that needs to be given is pretty minimal, compared to the consequences of giving things away.
The amount of time that a product has been around, shouldn't be a factor. For example, I just bought the Temple of Elemental Evil module and I probably won't run it for my PCs for another year or so. That thing is like 24yrs old. I wouldn't want someone blurting out the ending to it.
Those are my thoughts on it, anyway.
I try not to spoil things, but sometimes my brain falls out of my head and I accidentally spoil stuff.
I was in the bookstore with a friend, and he was talking about getting Vector Prime, which had been out for a year at that point.
To which I replied:
He wasn't really happy with me.
I try not to spoil things, but sometimes my brain falls out of my head and I accidentally spoil stuff.
I was in the bookstore with a friend, and he was talking about getting Vector Prime, which had been out for a year at that point.
To which I replied: ** spoiler omitted **
He wasn't really happy with me.
Damn! I havnt read starwars since Spectre of the Past/Shadow of the Future books. The Wookie got footrugged? Damn!
I'm curious about this topic. How long ago should something be published before it's acceptable to spoil something major without warning? Is it acceptable to give the main clue to something like Hound of the Baskervilles? How about who Emma marries in that Jane Austen novel? What about the answer to Who Killed Laura Palmer? How many years have to elapse until you can casually say what happened to the head of Hogwarts?
And is your spoiler etiquette different in person than it is on the net?
I tend to casually mention pre-emptively to passersby that if they spoil anything Harry Potter for me before the last movie comes out, I will gladly disembowl them with an ear of freshly steamed corn on the cob. (Movie first, then book for me. I get too angry at the big screen if I do it the other way around.)
That said, I have had a friend slip not once but twice with that very alleged fact which I suspect you are alluding to, and which I deeply hope you will neither confirm nor deny in any future posts.
Sigh. I miss her.
I don't think spoiler-worthiness has to do with time passed, but with exposure. If everyone sees something, you can safely spoil it assuming the person you're talking to has either seen it or has heard about it. Most of the examples in this thread are basically that. Star Wars, King Kong, Citizen Kane, War of the Worlds, Soylent Green, Sixth Sense(1), everyone knows these endings, so I have no qualms about repeating them.
As for new movies like The Prestige, Fight Club, and Memento(2), it is not cool to just say it without a spoiler tag, so people should avoid using those spoilers without appropriate warnings.
(1) WARNING
(2) WARNING
