Forum Rules on Spoilers

[complich8]

It's possible to implement in vbulletin (in fact, there's already mods written to do just that). It wasn't possible to implement in a sane way in Fusetalk, which was why they went away.

I'm not philosophically opposed to spoiler tags. I see a lot of other potentially good uses for them -- like hiding giant layout-breaking images in the desktop thread, for example.

However, I am opposed to the idea of spoiler tag abuse -- if we were to install such a mod, I'd expect that discussion rules would mostly stay the same: manga spoilers still wouldn't belong in anime discussion threads, and vice-versa. I'd also expect that there wouldn't be large stretches of threads wrapped in spoiler tags. However, I'd personally be a more active poster in a couple of threads (series discussions for series that I'm not quite current on) if I knew that clicking on the discussion thread didn't necessarily assume that I'd already seen the latest speedsubber-release of the series.

Take, for example: utawarerumono. I'm watching yesy's version, and don't really approve of your-mom's approach to subbing in general (they're sort of ... spitesubbers), so I don't intend to watch theirs. Since I'm waiting for a relatively reputable group to release, and there's discussion of your-mom's episodes in that thread, I can't really participate meaningfully in the thread anymore. By the time yesy twitches again and releases another couple eps (or, I guess if Static does underground releases), most discussion will have already happened about your-mom's version, meaning it'll still be pointless to even try to participate in the thread anymore.

Spoiler tags make enforcement of spoiler rules a bit muddier, and make discussion moderation in general a bit tougher. But with some sane rules, they can help prevent that from happening by letting people watching the speedsubber versions of things stay in the discussion while not spoiling and giving a generally bad time to the non-speedsub-watchers, and I'm all for that.

So, really, I'm on the fence. I'm interested in seeing how much interest there is in this ... it's really not particularly hard to make happen, just a question of whether we want it or not.

[Munsu]

The only reason I was opposed to spoiler tags is because I don't want any sort of spoilers permitted in the Anime forums. Even if we make the policy as you explained above, I bet you that 100% of new members will not know of them and will see the spoiler tags as a means for them to discuss spoilers without knowing any better. The end result will be giving incentive for spoiler discussions and anime only watchers being spoiled.

The other problem about speed subbers, who here will decide which subs are ok to discuss and which aren't? There's really no logical way to go about it. I find myself in the same situation as you. I'd be more active if people would just stop watching and discussing speed subbers, but that isn't going to happen. So I just watch till the end of the series at my pace, and just post my comments on the series when I finish watching it.

[Assassin]

So I just watch till the end of the series at my pace, and just post my comments on the series when I finish watching it.

Ya, thats what i do as well. I dont really think there are alot of people in the same situation as comp, so theres no need for spoiler tags to be implemented.

All in all comp, stop trying to be different and just conform

Edit: lol bud, can of worms?

[samsonlonghair]

I can certainly understand the "can of worms" notion, and I'll be the first to admit that I have no idea how much work it would be to implement spoiler tags.

That being said, I'd like to suggest a compromise. It may possibly be controversial, but I think it could work. To avoid said "can of worms" effect we introduce a two-tiered system. "Senior" posters have access to spoiler tags, different fonts and colors, deleting their own posts, etcetera. "Junior" posters have no such abilities. This is based on the notion that any "senior" members have contributed enough posts to this forum that they probably won't abuse the system (much). The line between "junior" and "senior" members can be post count, join date, reputation, or anything else the admins deem appropriate. Alternatively, "senior" status may be given or taken away on a case-by-case basis by mods.

I understand that this may raise many concerns. Any two-tiered system is inherently prejudicial. There is no doubt that some "junior" members will complain about their status. I believe that the benefits still outway the costs. The gains (real or egotistical) of becoming a "senior" member may entice more people to become regular posters. This may also give a feeling that responsible members are rewarded on GotWoot.

Again, I admit that I have no idea how much work this would require.

[complich8]

To avoid said "can of worms" effect we open a can of angry hornets instead

... I don't like it.

[masamuneehs]

implementing spoiler tags does seem to have some support, and if regulated properly would only stimulate manga and open discussions.

also, spoiler tags could be a great asset in the General Anime section, like comp pointed out. People could discuss different subs of the same show, especially if people were smart enough to pick up on the fact that some of the speed subbers might not be preferred and watched by the majority of those following the anime. Show like Eureka7 and Uta show that lulls in releases by highly favored groups creates a problem that I only see spoiler tags as holding the solution to.

And I've also often wondered about how much the lack of spoiler tags holds back the Fanart section... All those beautiful images going unused...

And so far it seems that the majority of the openly voiced people here favor this idea, especially if its implemented correctly on the anime only/open/manga levels. So perhaps we can get more specific on the rules IF we do use spoiler tags?

and sorry samson, i really don't care for that idea. fuel for animosity

[Kraco]

I don't like spoiler tags at all, but I can certainly see the point Complich was making. Wanton use of spoiler tags would make reading threads really annoying; I have witnessed this often enough over at some subbers' forums, where everything that concerns the plot and certain details of the episodes have to be in spoiler tags.

So, if there weren't really strict rules, it would mean new people especially might place all episode discussion in spoiler tags, because if you haven't grasped the traditions of this forum, that could seem logical. And then people only trying to avoid speed sub discussion would also skip those posts even if they didn't contain any speed sub spoilers but just normal current ep details.

Moderating this kind of thing would be really hard. But of course, in the end, such use of spoiler tags wouldn't actually hurt the threads, only cause people to skip posts automatically.