What is wrong with gamers and spoilers FFS?

[o.pwuaioc]

I think you guys are wusses.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-14521627

I hate "research studies". Like I'm supposed to care what some random group of dumb fucks thinks? It just a small sampling of some random people that you know nothing about. These so called "research studies" mean absolutely nothing.

Says a random guy on the internet.

[AppleQueso]

My favorite thing is when someone tells me I need to check out some awesome movie they just watched, and then proceed to tell me the entire ending

Then they wonder why I have no interest in seeing the movie

Human beings are annoying

You know, I was kinda with you until this bit. It sucks to be spoiled, but would I avoid something just because someone spoiled the ending for me? Nah. We don't just watch/read/play things to simply find out what happens in them after all, right?

Again, spoilers really do suck, but they don't 'ruin' things. If things were totally ruined by already knowing major plot developments in advance, then nobody would ever re-watch/read/play anything.

[ZeroAX]

My favorite thing is when someone tells me I need to check out some awesome movie they just watched, and then proceed to tell me the entire ending

Then they wonder why I have no interest in seeing the movie

Human beings are annoying

You know, I was kinda with you until this bit. It sucks to be spoiled, but would I avoid something just because someone spoiled the ending for me? Nah. We don't just watch/read/play things to simply find out what happens in them after all, right?

Again, spoilers really do suck, but they don't 'ruin' things. If things were totally ruined by already knowing major plot developments in advance, then nobody would ever re-watch/read/play anything.

But I think that having a major plot moment spoiled to you ruins the emotional impact of that part of the story. And when that twist is its biggest moment, it might ruin the entire experience.

I mean, I still remember the first time I heard "I am your father". No matter how many times I rewatch it, nothing can reach that first time I saw it, and how it was engraved in my mind.

The spoiler from FF7 I mentioned above though? It ruined the entire first 3rd of the game for me. Why? Because

it made all the emotional scenes with Aeris count for nothing. Dead girl walking here. No point getting emotionally invested in her.

Now imagine what my experience playing that game would be like if I didn't know about that. Totally different.

[CFFJR]

I understand why people get bugged about spoilers, I really do. I also think a lot of folks seriously overreact about the severity of such things.

I don't mind spoilers at all, and its very common for me that hearing a spoiler, especially if its one that I like, will make me more interested in seeing the build up that leads to that event.

Its not uncommon at all for me to be reading a book that maybe is starting to feel a bit slow, and I'll save my spot, then skip ahead and look for interesting things that may be coming up, or even the ending. I'll find something and think, oh wow, this guy is gonna die. Now I want to read faster and find out the context of that event, and I still get to enjoy everything that happens in between.

Regarding the FF7 example:

I too knew she was going to die. I found out long before I reached that point in the game. For me though it didn't change my interactions with her. I still liked the character, I still appreciated the sacrifice she made, and her influence on Cloud affected the entire story. Her death, shocking as it is, is still only a part in a much grander tale.

Some people feel that a single spoiled event in a story ruins everything the story has to offer, but if that were true our favorite books, movies, and games would have nothing to offer but plot twists and no meat in between, and that simply isn't the case.

To be fair though, that's just where I come from and I am honestly sorry when someone hears something they didn't want to hear.

Granted its a matter of perspective, and some people are certainly jerks about it, but I've known plenty of others who care and keep spoilers close to their chest, and you have to drag it out of them if you want to know.

Also, I'm extremely curious about whatever it is Zeroax had spoiled. I haven't played AC Revelation yet (though I know two of the major things people talk about from it) so of course I still have to play 3 as well. I don't suppose you'd tell me the spoiler? Inquiring minds want to know.

[AppleQueso]

I've been seriously majorly spoiled in several games in the past. It pissed me off a bit, and it sucked feeling like I was robbed of part of the experience of playing it for the first time blind, but in none of the cases did it suddenly make the game no longer worth playing.

[ZeroAX]

I've been seriously majorly spoiled in several games in the past. It pissed me off a bit, and it sucked feeling like I was robbed of part of the experience of playing it for the first time blind, but in none of the cases did it suddenly make the game no longer worth playing.

Well yeah I agree. But the thing is that it's an interactive medium, and spoilers some times get in the way of us developing our personal relationship with the game.

For example in FF7

I just took Aeris with me on the date cause I felt sorry for her about to die. I was treating her like a cancer patient

. Would I have done the same if I didn't know? Who knows.

My problem is mainly with the attitude people have towards spoilers. No there is no set time after which you can spoil a game. And in general, unless the main twist of the story starts getting used for major things outside the medium

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oedipus_complex

, you shouldn't spoil the stories for others. It's not about ethics or something, it's about manners.

Also I think gaming journalism is so poor, that they don't know the first thing about analyzing gameplay and level design, so they must analize the least video gamy part of the game, the story, cause it's the easiest thing to do (mostly cause game stories are still pretty weak, with some exceptions ofc). And that's just another sad thing about gaming journalism.


Also what got spoiled to me about AC3 is that:

Desmond dies

Also, I use also a lot. I should either A) Finish my post first and then review it vefore posting it, so I don't keep adding "final paragraphs" to the post. Or B) Learn new words.

[MrPopo]

Even in casual conversation, I try very hard to never spoil any thing for any show, movie, book, or any form of entertainment in existence no matter how old or new without a friendly warning beforehand. Unfortunately, that's a personal standard I have that most people don't.

There's a reason very few people are like you. Trying to do that makes conversation incredibly awkward. You have to be extremely mindful of everything you say for fear of spoiling things for people.

I've always subscribed to the notion of an expiration limit on spoilers. New stuff that's come out, or someone is in the middle of enjoying something I know the ending to, I'll hold off. But if I'm in a conversation and a reference to something that's been out for a while comes up I'm not going to waste time worrying if something might be a spoiler for someone.

No there is no set time after which you can spoil a game.

Yes there is, deal with it. Now, if you're aware that someone is experiencing something for the first time it's incredibly rude to spoil things for them. But after a while you don't have to put "spoiler alert" in front of every spoiler you reference.

[ZeroAX]

Yes there is, deal with it. Now, if you're aware that someone is experiencing something for the first time it's incredibly rude to spoil things for them. But after a while you don't have to put "spoiler alert" in front of every spoiler you reference.

And what's that time limit my dear fellow? Cause I just got a game which is barely 6 months old spoilled to me.

Is it that hard to say "What amazed me about X's ending was..." so people have time to stop you if they don't want to be spoilled?

Or how about some forum posts we had in the past where the spoiler was in the topic's title? I can't even avoid those, cause they come up on the front page.



And I repeat, spoilling is rude. I don't care if it gets awkward for the other person.

[MulishaSoldier929]

Maybe the rule on not revealing spoliers can be in effect a year after the orignal release? I think that would be a fair amount of time overall be it games or movies.

I have never played FF7(want to just never have) but if someone accidently told me the ending in conversation I wouldn't get butt-hurt about it because the damn thing has been out for over 15 years now

[pierrot]

I think you guys are wusses.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-14521627

To me, this study only seems to consider general, 'empirical' levels of enjoyment, and disregards the impact of the entire work on the individual. Not that I blame them; the latter would probably be a much more messy study. Though the reporting of the specifics of methods employed in the study leaves a bit to be desired, to begin with, I think.

I'm conflicted about spoilers. Personally, I would rather not have things spoiled for me, so (particularly with youtube videos) I often avoid certain reviews and such of games I haven't played through before, as some people are much more ready to walk you through the entire game or story than others. I find this generally unacceptable in a review, but I digress. At the same time, I find "twists" to be fairly lazy storytelling, in many cases. Honestly, I played FF7 and FF6 before knowing anything about their stories, and the reveals did almost nothing for me. There's so little subtlety and nuance left in story telling, and I feel it has a lot to do with the way reveals and twists start a lot more conversation, as they're far simpler things for the average person to understand, and associate a story with. It's tragic to me to imagine that, "The really sad ending' implies the main character is going to die."

That said, I think the individual bares some personally responsibility for his own sensitivity toward spoilers. If one is the type to write a 100-page manifesto damning a person for posting a picture of Sonic somewhere (thus spoiling for him the fact that Sonic is indeed blue, and a hedgehog) then he should probably take more time to consider either the importance of keeping that information a surprise, or whether or not he should even be using the internet or walking around in public, rather than demand others kowtow to his desires. (Note that this isn't in reference to anyone, specifically; just hyperbole.)