[4Tran]

Originally Posted by Ledgem

The rules aren't as ambiguous to me now, but I'd request that the moderators be a bit merciful about these things.

I think that if you go over your infractions, you'll find that they're probably warnings rather than full-blown infractions. Warnings are exactly as they sound - to let you know when you've stepped over the bounds without any actual punishment attached to them. They serve as a way to let us be merciful and to curb errant behavior at the same time. If you have any issue with either warnings or infractions, you should check out the Infraction FAQ.

Originally Posted by Ledgem

In the example I pointed out (which 4Tran responded to), I disagree on two points: First, technically speaking nearly all of the discussion in that thread is off-topic and should be spoiler'd. The thread topic suggests discussion about news of a third installment, not series analysis of the previous two series. You and I are both in agreement in thinking that that everyone in that thread is advancing to it after having seen the previous two series, but is that a fair assumption to make? Would a moderator unfamiliar with the series or Gundam universe be able to make that same judgement?

What you pointed out is precisely why we generally divide moderation tasks so that the person making the judgement is familiar with the particular work.

Originally Posted by Ledgem

That leads to the second point: why would it be OK to discuss the previous two series, but not their side stories? (I presume this refers to Astray and the Stargazer OVA, but I haven't viewed those for myself.) It just feels like there's too much ambiguity there. It doesn't help that a lot of people make horribly vague topics.

On the subject of vague topics, I'm in hearty agreement.

I think that a good rule-of-thumb for judging what should and shouldn't be spoiler-tagged is best determined by who is supposed to participate in the thread in question. If it's an anime thread, then we can make the assumption that all the posters are caught up to the latest fansubbed episode. If it's a speculation thread, then the assumption is that all the posters have already watched/read enough of the work in question to make some meaningful contribution.

In the case of the Gundam Trilogy thread, while its original purpose may have been a little different, it effectively fulfills the role of a speculation thread on what a third show may entail. As such, it's pretty much automatic that any discussion therein will entail talking about the endings of the other two shows. Any one who hasn't already watched those two shows should know what they're getting themselves into. However, knowledge of the side-stories shouldn't be necessary to participate in this discussion, so any mention of them should be spoiler-tagged.