Honestly, the staff are committed to stricter enforcement of the current policy, but
people need to report every inappropriate spoiler they see. I have no idea why people encounter spoilers and don't report them -- it only takes a few seconds and it is appreciated by all who don't like to be spoiled.
I have considered ways of trying to take one last-ditch effort at making the spoiler policy more visible (for example, making a note about this visible under every post box), and then accompanying this by even stricter punishment (including automatic bans even on the first offence, as we did with Fate/Zero).
The other thing that's a problem is people who use "unlabeled" spoiler tags. IIRC, our new tags (currently in beta) do require a label. My view is that not properly-labelling a spoiler tag can be just as bad, as it encourages people to randomly click on things without knowing what they'll get. This is why we changed to our current policy that tries to get inappropriate spoilers out of threads entirely. Our new tags also have separate tags for images, nsfw, and other things so that people don't use the spoiler tag for random things that aren't really spoilers.
Some people really think that anime-only viewers will benefit from knowing whatever source material information they want to share with them ("it'll help them appreciate the show!" and "you can't avoid spoilers anyway..."), but our view is that it is not up to the person with the information to make that call. Our view is that the person who wants to be spoiled needs to seek that out in the source material thread (or other appropriate thread). I don't see this policy changing any time soon because the staff generally think it is the most fair and balanced. (We always do have a thread for the source material easily accessible, and if by chance there isn't one, one can be created. We don't want to block spoiler-related conversation, only put it in the right thread.)
I think the big problem is that you have people arriving to this forum all the time from other places that don't have the same policy that we do. They don't take the time to read our rules, and just assume that whatever they think is okay is okay. But we on the staff don't consider ignorance an excuse, because you have to read the Forum Rules before you join, and spoiler policy notices are readily available (and in the top page of every episode thread in sub-forums, and many other threads all over the place).
So I'm not sure what else will be discussed, but I can basically already tell you that, if anything, I can only see us being more strict at enforcing the current policy, and trying to make it more visible so even first-time visitors know exactly how things work here. I don't think arguments like "oh, you shouldn't be so strict about spoilers" or "you should allow any spoilers as long as they're tagged" or anything else will be really considered by the staff. But if anyone has any ideas about how we can make the policy more clear, easier to understand, and harder to claim ignorance about, I am all ears.
By the way, to all:
Click here to access the Spoiler Policy
Please read this first before commenting so you know what our rules are now.
Edit:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Triple_R
Now, in those rare occasions where I myself would like to make episode-pertinent comparisons/points that involve spoilers, I find that I can't do that either, of course (not on the episode thread itself). On the whole (and this is me speaking as a guy who's usually an anime-only viewer), I think that Anime Suki's current Spoiler Policy has detracted from my experience here more than it's added to it.
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For clarity, are you saying "the times when I do know the source material, I can't post relevant spoilers in anime threads" (which would be true), or are you talking about cases when you're an anime-only viewer? If you're an anime-only viewer, I think most comparisons you could make are okay (in spoiler tags), so long as you're not revealing any future events (which you hopefully wouldn't know as an anime-only viewer). So it isn't too clear to me what you mean here.
I can say that there have been times when I've known the source material before watching the anime, and I know that it requires a bit of discipline. You have to resist the temptation to give people hints that will address their concerns/criticisms, even though you might want that person to be able to enjoy the show as much as you do and you figure the info might help. So I know the feeling... but we have to be considerate. There are a lots of other ways to communicate with people too, and I've had cases where people have PMed me to ask for info that I wouldn't post in an anime thread, and I don't mind helping out that way.
In the end, it's hard to balance everyone's needs, and that means those in the know have to work a bit harder than those who don't know. It's sort of "with great knowledge comes great responsibility".
It doesn't help I know that some people are personally sort of "spoiler-immune" and don't mind being spoiled left and right. I can guarantee you that all of us on the staff have basically lost our ability to watch any show unspoiled... but it comes with the job we volunteered to do. Personally, I don't think it hurts my experience that much, but it is a different experience. I don't want to rob people of the experience they would like to have, if we can help it.