[DragoZERO]

Originally Posted by relentlessflame

Keep in mind that, actually, spoiler tags are never required to discuss the episode once it has been released in any form, including raw. But it is considered "considerate" to use them if you're discussing raws. Here's the original wording of the point:

(Note that it's possible some specific threads may have additional restrictions outlined in the first post.)

How is that a rule if its not required? That sounds like a law a dictator would use for his own benefit.

Now, this was written before Crunchyroll existed in its present form, and I think arguments could be made either way about whether Crunchyroll subbed streams should be treated as "raws" (because access is limited to people who pay subscriptions and are in the target areas), or as "fansubs" (because they are in English and targeted at many of the same people who would otherwise view fansubs).

Personally speaking -- and this is just me alone for now -- I side a little bit more towards the latter. Even before when we were just talking about fansubs, there were always cases where people were waiting for another group to release, or where they had to wait a while to be able to view the episode for whatever reason. If someone were to discuss the episode in the open without spoiler tags, since it was subbed, I probably wouldn't consider that inconsiderate since it is the official, licensed subtitled version. I am reminded of the fact that the current spoiler policy was designed to prevent the superfluous use of spoiler tags as well, so just blanketing everything in spoiler tags "to be safe" is not in accordance with the goals of the policy either.

Okay, that is true. I always waited for the good group to release. However, there is an awfully long wait for some simulcast shows for some people. So that means they have to avoid a topic all together? The people who watch the delayed episode would be talking about an episode that aired earlier. This is a discussion forum, how can you discuss something if you only have a small window to do so?

If people use spoiler tags until the "pubic" release of simulcast episodes then everyone can talk about the particular episode they just watched. While you may not want to make this into a rule, it should be added as a suggestion for people to use to be considerate.

But again, this whole area is one of the few deliberate "grey areas" of the policy. Technically speaking, anything in the specific episode once it airs is never a spoiler according to the policy. And even though the wording currently says "fansub viewers", it should probably be revised to be a bit more broad in light of the more wide arrange of options available now. It was written in "simpler times".


To clarify, to "strictly enforce proper use of spoiler tags" is what we used to have before the current policy. We tried that, and it wasn't working because people really didn't "get" how to label, even though we tried and tried to explain it and enforce it. So Irenicus was to a large degree correct when he said that a root cause of the problem was poor labeling. But in discussing how to solve the spoiler tag problem, some of the mods/admins also felt that they wanted to reduce the amount of spoiler tags in threads because anime threads are about the anime and manga/novel comments should go elsewhere. By reducing the amount of spoilers allowed in threads, you would reduce the likelihood of a severe spoiler being buried in a sea of benign spoiler tags, thus again reducing the risk of people being accidentally spoiled.

I guess you could sum up the goal/philosophy of the current spoiler policy as follows:

"Managing the acceptable use of spoiler tags by directing spoiler-rich conversations in advance to more appropriate venues."

The net effect of the policy was a reduction in the amount of spoiler tags being used in threads across the board, and a reduction in the amount of "big deal" spoilers being posted in anime threads. In that sense, "mission accomplished". That isn't to say the current policy is perfect by any means -- there are some quirks that I don't really like myself -- but I think I can at least speak for most of the staff when I say that this is a heck of a lot better than the old way.

So again, this is in the spirit of progress; understanding how we got here helps us know where to go next.

To be fair, some source material discussion is to be expected. Or comparing to other series, especially in manga threads where you start to talk about the author's previous works. Its when it gets to be pages long that its goes overboard. But those few cases where they do discuss it, it should be in spoiler tags.

Originally Posted by Triple_R

I'd much rather the old way, to be frank.

It seems very arbitrary to me to say that this thread you can use spoiler tags in, but that thread you can't. You should be allowed to use spoiler tags on every thread on every board; that is how it works on every signal other message board that I've been a part of, and it allows for much smoother, freer-flowing discussion.

Exactly, isn't that the point of spoiler tags?

If people don't want to be spoiled, then they shouldn't click on spoiler tags. It's such a very easy concept. I follow it myself in instances where I don't want to be spoiled.

I'm going to be blunt here - it shouldn't be the job of Anime Suki to protect posters from themselves. If posters are going to click on spoiler tags then they've already chosen to spoil themselves, and to risk spoiling themselves on something big.

Now... yes people need to be careful in how they word their posts when they're not using spoiler tags to begin with. But that's separate from the issue with spoiler tags in particular.

Very true. Sometimes people use only the [spoiler] tag without specifying what the spoiler is and I have foolishly clicked it and got spoiled, so I don't open spoilers that don't specify what they are regarding.

But the whole point of spoiler tags is to give the person reading the choice of whether or not they want to be spoiled.

Or to hide extremely long posts or images that are big or NSFW.