Statute of Limitations on Spoilers?

So I was wondering what people thought about revealing spoilers in games. I was on another site that had an article for Metro:Last Light and in the comments section a person revealed a pretty big spoiler about Metro 2033 without any warning. I simply commented back that a spoiler warning would have been nice and his response was 2 year old games do not need spoiler warnings. Now as a CAG I buy too many game and therefore I have a large backlog like most. I own Metro 2033 and I will eventually play it so I think anytime you reveal a big plot point about ANY game regardless of how much time has passed you should be courteous to others. Anyway, any thoughts? How long before the comments section is allowed to be a free for all spoilers section even if the article is not talking about that game in particular?

I suppose if it's an article about a sequel, you should expect the comments to hold random discussion over plot elements. I wouldn't find that surprising or offensive.

And yeah, there's the risk that in that article's comments about Metro, some guy might just put in caps: AERITH DIES IN FFVII. It's rare, but it happens. Luckily the books, movies, and games that most interest us are the ones we make sure to pick up and experience fist. So I can't really recall a time where my heart was broken by a spoiler, because at worst it's for something I only have a passing interest in. And even then, revealing the twist of a good story hardly damages the experience of seeing it for yourself.

[quote name='panzerfaust']And yeah, there's the risk that in that article's comments about Metro, some guy might just put in caps: AERITH DIES IN FFVII.[/QUOTE]


You just spoiled FFVII for me.


...It's ok, I was never going to play it.


If you go look at the comments of a sequel to a game you haven't played yet, you're playing with fire. At that point, it's kind of on you. Also, after two years, you can't really expect people to hold their tongues on the off chance that someone hasn't finished the game yet. There's always going to be someone who hasn't finished the game yet. I say after a year, it's fair game. If you don't want it to be spoiled, avoid the comments section of the game. Of course, if you read articles, things can be spoiled. The Mass Effect 3 ending controversy saw plenty of people bring up that at the end of Fallout 3. So you're going to be dodging bullets regardless.

All that said, what are the chances you remember the spoiler by the time you get around to playing the game?

Yeah, you generally wanna avoid anything about sequels to games you haven't played yet. I still haven't got around to playing MGS4, so I'm avoiding anything about Rising until I get around to beating it.

Thanks to the dude who just spoiled ME3. Game is like 3 months old, it is certainly not outside of any spoiler window.

[quote name='Broken Cage']You just spoiled FFVII for me.


...It's ok, I was never going to play it.


If you go look at the comments of a sequel to a game you haven't played yet, you're playing with fire. At that point, it's kind of on you. Also, after two years, you can't really expect people to hold their tongues on the off chance that someone hasn't finished the game yet. There's always going to be someone who hasn't finished the game yet. I say after a year, it's fair game. If you don't want it to be spoiled, avoid the comments section of the game. Of course, if you read articles, things can be spoiled. The Mass Effect 3 ending controversy saw plenty of people bring up that you die (or did die, briefly) at the end of Fallout 3. So you're going to be dodging bullets regardless.

All that said, what are the chances you remember the spoiler by the time you get around to playing the game?[/QUOTE]

...And you just spoiled Fallout 3 for me.

As the OP mentioned, most of us have backlogs of games which we intend to play in the future (Fallout 3 happens to be one of those games for me). Regardless of how old the game is, spoilers should be preceded with warnings.

I suppose there are a few exceptions of games and movies whose twists have become ingrained into popular culture to the point where such a warning may not be necessary-- Star Wars and Final Fantasy VII* being two prime examples-- but the argument of "oh, that game is two years old, so everybody who wants to play it has already played it" is fallacious. Inconsiderately spouting major spoilers without warning is just a dick move.

* And I'm still a little bitter about someone spoiling FFVII for me via e-mail back around 2000, even before every gaming community everywhere was referencing it. :|

In a thread about spoilers, I would expect spoilers to be discussed. Luckily I don't care, so it doesn't bother me.

Personally, I try to be courteous and use spoiler tags/warnings for anything that isn't common knowledge such as Aeris dying in FF7.

Unfortunately, that doesn't mean everyone else will feel the same way. I generally try to avoid reading about sequels if I haven't played the previous games in the series because I know those discussions can be full of spoilers.

[quote name='Halo05']Thanks to the dude who just spoiled ME3. Game is like 3 months old, it is certainly not outside of any spoiler window.[/QUOTE]

I made mention of at the end of Fallout 3. I said nothing specific about the ending of Mass Effect 3. Fallout 3 was mentioned because and then they changed the ending so you didn't later. The relevance is that they changed the ending of Fallout 3, not any specific story beats. Also, the Mass Effect games have always had multiple endings. It would be difficult for anyone to spoil them in one sentence.

[quote name='Josh1billion']...And you just spoiled Fallout 3 for me.

As the OP mentioned, most of us have backlogs of games which we intend to play in the future (Fallout 3 happens to be one of those games for me). Regardless of how old the game is, spoilers should be preceded with warnings.[/QUOTE]


At some point, you're expecting the rest of the gaming world to adjust to you, the minority. If you're seriously concerned with spoilers, doing things like reading the comments and articles about sequels to a game you haven't played and expecting everyone else to censor themselves for your sake is fighting a losing battle.

As for Fallout 3, the ending I unfortunately spoiled for you isn't actually the "true" ending anymore. It was changed. Which is why it was relevant to the ME3 ending controversy, when people were calling for a change. Fallout 3's ending set a precedent for a studio changing the ending of a game after release, either due to controversy or DLC issues.


Edit: And I went back and put in spoiler tags so as to not be a "dick". That doesn't change my opinion that after two to four years, you can't begrudge people for no longer censoring themselves. As I said, the Fallout 3 ending was brought up countless times after the ME3 controversy, so to my knowledge, it's a well known spoiler. Unfortunately, it wasn't in your case.

[quote name='panzerfaust']: AERITH DIES IN FFVII.[/QUOTE]

Who?


[spioler]War Never Changes[/spoiler]

[quote name='Bezerker']Who?


[/QUOTE]


Your typo ruined war for me!

The hairdresser girlfriend of the murdered soldier has a penis. And is a Go'uld.


Too soon?

One year, two at most for longer games. I understand completely people have backlogs but after two years you still haven't gotten around to it? Your problem no one should have to tip toe around plot points by then.

Yeah, it sometimes bothers me when games I'm really interested in get spoiled. Then again, I watched the ending to Fable 3 and God of War III on youtube instead of playing the games.

My stance is if the game is at least 5 years, especially for RPG styled games that can take awhile to finish, no spoilers should be openly discussed.

[quote name='coolsteel']One year, two at most for longer games. I understand completely people have backlogs but after two years you still haven't gotten around to it? Your problem no one should have to tip toe around plot points by then.[/QUOTE]

I get what you are saying and I am not disagreeing except how much harder is it to type SPOILER before you reveal something? I get that it is a mine field to go to an article about the sequel to a game you have not played but a little courtesy would be nice.

[quote name='cancerman1120']I get what you are saying and I am not disagreeing except how much harder is it to type SPOILER before you reveal something? I get that it is a mine field to go to an article about the sequel to a game you have not played but a little courtesy would be nice.[/QUOTE]

This. Have some courtesy, not everybody has an unlimited amount of time to play every game ever.

[quote name='JasonTerminator']This. Have some courtesy, not everybody has an unlimited amount of time to play every game ever.[/QUOTE]


But you have enough time to play the ones you care about most. If you have had two years to play a game, long enough for them to develop the sequel, and haven't done so. That game is not a priority to you, thus the rest of the gaming community should not have to watch every word they say for a game that you weren't excited to experience in the first place.

At some point you're crossing the line from simple courtesy to suddenly having to adjust for a minority of players. You know if you're reading a thread about a game you haven't played, you run the risk of having things spoiled. If you read the comments about a game you haven't played, you run the risk of having things spoiled. If you read a thread about spoilers, you run the risk of having things spoiled.

Nobody in this thread clicked on a LOLCats link to see (Harry Potter Spoiler) . The TS went to the comments of a sequal to a game he had never played. Then got upset because they talked about the original game without censoring every possible spoiler because he, who they do not know even exists, might have stumbled into comments he should have avoided if he didn't want spoilers. Sure, it's nice if people put the spoiler tags on things, and most do for a while, but we still have to be responsible for avoiding places where things might be spoiled for us.


If there's no statute of limitations on spoilers then you'd have to tag things like