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Statute of Limitations on Spoilers

BlankCanvasDJBlankCanvasDJ
edited November 2012 in General Chat
I've seen this come up a few times on this board - and pretty much everywhere else on the internet - so I'm curious. How long do you think something needs to exist before spoiler alerts are no longer required? I mean, I think we can all agree that we can talk about the ending of, say, Planet of the Apes at this point without having the put spoiler tags around it, but where is the line drawn? A year? Five? Ten?

What's the statute of limitations for spoilers?
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Comments

  • LuigiHannLuigiHann
    edited November 2012
    related
    1uWQP
  • VainamoinenVainamoinen Moderator
    edited November 2012
    Judgement call. And in most cases, I'd assume, an easy one. ;)

    Naturally, the things you want someone else to enjoy in the same way as you, you wouldn't spoil for others anyway. Regardless of whether it's "Kong" or an even older franchise.

    You CAN spoil the bible however. The authors would not want it to receive the same treatment fiction does.
  • GaryCXJkGaryCXJk
    edited November 2012
    Goddammit, now The Passion is spoiled for me.
  • der_ketzerder_ketzer
    edited November 2012
    Vainamoinen wrote: »
    You CAN spoil the bible however. The authors would not want it to receive the same treatment fiction does.

    But it is fiction. Don't spoil the bible!
  • coolsomecoolsome
    edited November 2012
    The Walking Dead ending has
    credits rolling across the screen
    .
  • RetroVortexRetroVortex
    edited November 2012
    coolsome wrote: »
    The Walking Dead ending has
    credits rolling across the screen
    .

    YOU BASTARD!! :mad:
  • GaryCXJkGaryCXJk
    edited November 2012
    In The Amazing Spider-Man,
    you can see Spider-Man
    .
  • GuruGuru214GuruGuru214
    edited November 2012
    coolsome wrote: »
    The Walking Dead ending has
    credits rolling across the screen
    .

    And at the end of that part,
    I'm in them
    .
  • ShauntronShauntron Telltale Alumni
    edited November 2012
    It's really tricky, there's some vague math that involves the time which has passed and the enormity of the spoiler. The Usual Suspects, for instance, is a 17 year old movie but one's enjoyment is so thoroughly hitched to the twist that it would be pretty bad to spoil it for someone. Someone spoiled it for me :(
  • Darth MarsdenDarth Marsden
    edited November 2012
    It depends on what you're talking about. If it's, say, the Walking Dead game, I'd say about a month.
  • AlcoremortisAlcoremortis
    edited November 2012
    Kinda like Fight Club. I'm so happy that my friend made me go watch it and wouldn't tell me a thing about the movie.
  • der_ketzerder_ketzer
    edited November 2012
    Alcoremortis wrote: »
    Kinda like Fight Club. I'm so happy that my friend made me go watch it and wouldn't tell me a thing about the movie.

    Your friend followed the rules then.
  • AlcoremortisAlcoremortis
    edited November 2012
    der_ketzer wrote: »
    Your friend followed the rules then.

    She did. She did.
  • BlankCanvasDJBlankCanvasDJ
    edited November 2012
    To be clear, if you know somebody hasn't seen a movie and you intentionally tell them the ending, regardless of how old it is, that's a crappy thing to do. But there has to be some length of time where you're allowed to stop being careful about it in casual conversation. Or rather, some point in time where the other party is no longer allowed to be upset that you spoiled something.
  • WarpSpeedWarpSpeed
    edited November 2012
    Y'know, back in Shakespeare's time, everyone knew what was going to happen, but they went to see the plays anyway. :)

    If it's not a major surprise, or (in the case of adventure games) you don't have to work very hard to solve it, then you don't have to worry so much. Otherwise, posts everywhere would be filled with
    spoiler tags
    . For things that cause a huge upheaval or have a magnificent solution that the player can be proud of figuring out on his/her own, do your best to keep it quiet.
  • AlcoremortisAlcoremortis
    edited November 2012
    I think if it's the type of movie or whatever that you could figure out the ending from the trailer, you shouldn't worry about spoiling it too much.
  • Shadowknight1Shadowknight1
    edited November 2012
    Is it safe to say that
    Darth Vader is Luke's dad
    yet? :p
  • coolsomecoolsome
    edited November 2012
    Snape does something to effect Dumbledore's mortality.
  • Gman5852Gman5852
    edited November 2012
    BOWSER KIDNAPS THE PRINCESS!!!

    So sorry, had to spoil it :p
  • GaryCXJkGaryCXJk
    edited November 2012
    coolsome wrote: »
    snape does something to effect dumbledore's mortality.

    NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! You female canine! You female canine!
  • dustpuffsdustpuffs
    edited November 2012
    Gollum finds a ring; it's preciousssss.
  • BlankCanvasDJBlankCanvasDJ
    edited November 2012
    Soylent Green is people!
  • coolsomecoolsome
    edited November 2012
    All life will end one day!
  • DAISHIDAISHI
    edited November 2012
    If it's more than a year old the statute is up.
  • Shadowknight1Shadowknight1
    edited November 2012
    Ishmael is the only survivor.
  • GuruGuru214GuruGuru214
    edited November 2012
    spoiler_alert.png

    And then it turns out they're both Tyler Durden.
  • MusicallyInspiredMusicallyInspired
    edited November 2012
    6th Sense comes to mind.
  • AlcoremortisAlcoremortis
    edited November 2012
    Now I want to write a story where the surprise twist ending reveals that the Hokey Pokey actually IS what it's all about.
  • RibsRibs
    edited November 2012
    All joking aside, I do know for a fact there is someone around here who doesn't know how Citizen Kane ends (which I find nigh-unbelievable), so a bit of discretion might go a long way.
  • GibbeynatorGibbeynator
    edited November 2012
    It was Earth all along.
  • VainamoinenVainamoinen Moderator
    edited November 2012
    Question answered on page one, eight pages of post slutting to follow?
  • MusicallyInspiredMusicallyInspired
    edited November 2012
    I've never seen Citizen Kane or even know what it's about.
  • der_ketzerder_ketzer
    edited November 2012
    Vainamoinen wrote: »
    Question answered on page one, eight pages of post slutting to follow?

    Yes and spoiler:
    you will like it!
  • BlankCanvasDJBlankCanvasDJ
    edited November 2012
    MusicallyInspired wrote: »
    I've never seen Citizen Kane or even know what it's about.

    Well what are you waiting for?
  • DAISHIDAISHI
    edited November 2012
    MusicallyInspired wrote: »
    I've never seen Citizen Kane or even know what it's about.

    An old dude is obsessed with his girlfriends vagina.

    That was the real rosebud, people. Just saying.
  • FriarFriar
    edited November 2012
    MusicallyInspired wrote: »
    I've never seen Citizen Kane or even know what it's about.

    Me neither. My only knowledge of the film is that T's in black an white, and supposedly fairly decent.
  • coolsomecoolsome
    edited November 2012
    Vainamoinen wrote: »
    Question answered on page one, eight pages of post slutting to follow?

    Dude spoiler warning!
  • BlankCanvasDJBlankCanvasDJ
    edited November 2012
    Friar wrote: »
    Me neither. My only knowledge of the film is that T's in black an white, and supposedly fairly decent.

    Sure, some would say the greatest American movie ever made, but "fairly decent" works too. :p
  • JuntMonkeyJuntMonkey
    edited November 2012
    DAISHI wrote: »
    If it's more than a year old the statute is up.

    Let me know what shows over a year old you haven't seen yet but want to. List games and movies too if applicable. I'll send you a nice PM.
  • Rather DashingRather Dashing
    edited November 2012
    BlankCanvasDJ wrote: »
    Sure, some would say the greatest American movie ever made, but "fairly decent" works too. :p
    Which is probably the biggest barrier to it being enjoyed, honestly. People who don't understand cinematography, who don't know the context of the film, who don't understand what it pioneered may go straight to it, watch it, and completely miss what's entirely special about it.

    This is a movie that is EXTREMELY layered and well-crafted. Roger Ebert actually has an excellent commentary track on the DVD and Blu-Ray releases of the film(from before he lost his voice, obviously) where he helps outline what this film did and why it's considered so great without requiring a semester of Film History 101.
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