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Old 2008-05-05, 11:45   Link #25
relentlessflame
 
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Join Date: Dec 2003
Age: 41
Quote:
Originally Posted by Solace View Post
To use a somewhat crude analogy, this discussion reminds me of safe sex vs abstinence. It doesn't matter how good the protection is, there's still a risk. The only way to ensure a risk free experience is to never participate in the first place. Avoid the temptation and you'll never have a problem, but if you decide to play around, it's inevitable that you'll get burned.
Well, this is for sure, but the argument is the same: people are going to do it anyway, so better to try to reduce the risk, even if you can't eliminate it. The purpose of the new policy is to try to increase the level of understanding of what is and isn't considered acceptable. The unstated but obvious by-product of having such a policy is that those who can't abide by these rules will receive warnings, infractions, and possibly bans. Nobody wants to be spoiled, but this is the Internet, and there is a certain sense of inevitability about it. All we can do is try to reduce the risk and, when it does happen, try to make sure it doesn't happen again.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Solace View Post
Sorry, I don't agree. That's inconsiderate to think that anime threads should hold some special protected status that manga or game threads should be exempt from. What about stories where the anime is different from the manga? Is it fair that discussion about comparisons could potentially spoiler one group of people but not another?
If I'm understanding your point correctly, I believe this is addressed in the policy as written.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ledgem View Post
I also became confused as to when spoiler tags are appropriate. For example, the "Gundam Seed Trilogy?" thread is a thread based around wondering if there will be a third part to the Gundam SEED franchise. A good amount of the thread was dedicated to rehashing the events of Gundam SEED and Gundam SEED Destiny, analyzing, speculating - in short, doing everything that fans like to do. Everyone actively participating had clearly seen both SEED and SEED Destiny, and the entire conversation was based on what would be spoilers to someone who hadn't seen both series fully through. Would it be expected that you use spoiler tags in those cases? If the answer is yes, then do you realize that any discussion of events after (or perhaps even including) the first episode of a series would need to be put into spoiler tags? I don't really have an opinion as to whether that would be a good thing or a bad thing, personally.
The key here is future events. Because both Gundam Seed and Gundam Seed Destiny are on topic in the thread, and both shows have been fully released on DVD, those participating in the thread at this point can be expected to have seen the whole show. Perhaps we can put something in the first post to that effect. No spoiler tags would be required in that thread, except if you were comparing to some off-topic example (like some other Gundam series, for example).
Quote:
Originally Posted by Spoiler Policy
A spoiler is anything that discloses an event, character, plot or other information before it is revealed within the specific work being discussed. (emphasis mine ~rf)
This is the same principle that applies basically everywhere else on the forum. When the English version of an episode is released, discussing it is no longer considered a spoiler in threads where that show is on-topic. Yes, it's certainly quite possible that some innocent bystandard who's never seen the show in question will waltz into the thread, read the latest posts, and be spoiled, but I think it should only take one or two experiences like that to realize that "hey, maybe I shouldn't do that..." No matter how good a spoiler policy we create, we can't save people from themselves.

Quote:
Originally Posted by KholdStare View Post
Here's the problem. On one side, if you don't use spoiler tags correctly, then mods hunt you down and give you infractions. On the other side, we have people like The Small One who condemns using spoiler tags excessively. I don't want to spend 15 minutes posting thinking about whether or not to use a spoiler tag or how I should mark them. Regarding to what Ledgem said, it's logical for the entire thread to be spoiler-tag free, but what if people want to be courteous? There's nothing wrong with too many spoiler tags in that case. It's just a simple extra click to reveal a spoiler, not the screen blacking out and Vista asking you for the administrator's password to view a spoiler.
I agree with your argument in general. For my own personal posts, I always take the cautious approach and, if in doubt, I'd rather use clearly-marked spoiler tags than not use them. I don't think I would ever, as a mod, issue an infraction for using a clearly-marked spoiler tag that was unneeded. If anything, I would just edit out the spoiler tags, and maybe issue a warning if it became a habit that was never fixed (i.e. people shouldn't just start enclosing every single post inside spoiler tags to play it safe!). The big problems (IMO) are poorly marked tags, not using tags in the first place, and revealing future events from the source material that should be kept secret.
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