Poll: Spoilers: Good or Bad?

[rasputin0009]

An article on IGN was recently posted that explores this conundrum:

http://m.ign.com/articles/2013/05/13/im-in-your-house-spoiling-all-your-video-games

The author gives a decent argument as to why our fervent protection of spoilers has gotten so out of control to a point of silliness. He quotes a study that says knowing critical plot points before reading a story actually increases enjoyment than decreases enjoyment. But he knows that nobody listens to science so he quotes Alfred Hitchcock, who anecdotally denounces protecting spoilers. Woops, I guess I shouldn't have spoiled the article for you. Anyways, give it a read.

Personally, as you might have guessed, I don't care if someone "spoils" a game (or book, or movie, or whatever). I actually welcome them sometimes. Take the leaks on the upcoming Pokemon X and Y for example. The tasty news reveal things about the game that make me want to return to the franchise since Gen 2 because I thought the series was stale. They're not plot spoilers, but I welcome those too since I expect Pokemon to have a terrible story.

I'm usually respectful of others' wishes to not know anything before they've experienced something. And that's frustrating to me sometimes. Especially when I want to share something with friends that I think is so awesome, but then I can't explain why incase I "spoil" it for them. My classic example for this is the movie Fight Club. The story revolves around one big twist at the end, but the awesome part comes from knowing that twist. Fight Club is a better movie the second time you watch it. And I think that applies to games as well. My second playthrough is a lot more fun than the first because I already know what's the most fun parts of the game and I know how what parts of the story are the best.

Anyways, I want to know what others think of spoilers. I want to know what you think, smart reader. What is your opinion?

Edit: Second poll answer should read : "No, learning spoilers doesn't affect my enjoyment."
Somehow it got cut off and I can't fix it on my phone.

 

[Zhukov]

I generally prefer to avoid spoilers, but I'm not crazy about it.

The only time it really annoys me is when people go plastering them about solely to decrease other people's enjoyment. Y'know, rocking up in a thread and typing, "THE KILLER WAS X ALL ALONG!". It takes a special kind of petty, malicious little turd to pull that shit.

It's true that some people take it way too far though. Getting all pent up when you mention something that happens two minutes into a game or in a game that is 2+ years old is just silly.

Not sure I agree with Mr Hitchcock. Not all stories are Greek tragedies. I can think of times where a spoiler has certainly decreased my enjoyment rather than provided a feeling of suspense. For example, reading a description of that one sequence in Bastion.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Not a big fan of spoilers, especially if the game/whatever hinges on a big twist that I'm supposed to not be aware of.

OP: Apostrophes in poll options will blot out the text following them, for some reason.

 

[DoPo]

An article on IGN was recently posted that explores this conundrum:

No, that wasn't an "exploration", as there was no...you know exploration. It was one sided and read as more of a rant than anything else.

The author gives a decent argument as to why our fervent protection of spoilers has gotten so out of control to a point of silliness.

No, he rants about some nebulous group of people somewhere. His argument was "Meh, I don't care. Some people do. They are poo-poo heads." (though the language was not as strong as this).

He quotes a study that says knowing critical plot points before reading a story actually increases enjoyment than decreases enjoyment.

A study that averages Likert scales and draws conclusions from that? Oh, well, that must be Da Definite Truth Yo?®. Truly the cutting edge of science.

The only time it really annoys me is when people go plastering them about solely to decrease other people's enjoyment people. Y'know, rocking up in a thread and typing, "THE KILLER WAS X ALL ALONG!". It takes a special kind of petty, malicious little turd to do pull that shit.

It's true that some people take it way too far though. Getting all pent up when you mention something that happens two minutes into a game or in a game that is 2+ years old is just silly.

Yes, thank you - you actually explored the issue more than the author of the article did and were more sensible, too.

CAPTCHA: mum's the word
OK...yo? Fo' shizzle dizzle. OK, I'm running out.

 

[Comocat]

I felt like the author is conflating very different demographics. Sure there are people that get pissed off no matter what you do, but there are a lot of people who just want to experience plot elements on their terms. The amazing part of the internet is you can have multiple discussions going on simultaneously with almost zero effort.

 

[Shpongled]

I don't like stories being spoiled for me but i don't mind if people want to discuss spoilers, or writers want to put spoilers in their articles or whatnot, just as long as they put a big SPOILER tag somewhere letting me know there will be spoilers ahead, so i can avoid it if i choose. I don't think that's a big ask.

This seems like a non-issue to me.

 

[rasputin0009]

An article on IGN was recently posted that explores this conundrum:

No, that wasn't an "exploration", as there was no...you know exploration. It was one sided and read as more of a rant than anything else.

The author gives a decent argument as to why our fervent protection of spoilers has gotten so out of control to a point of silliness.

No, he rants about some nebulous group of people somewhere. His argument was "Meh, I don't care. Some people do. They are poo-poo heads." (though the language was not as strong as this).

He quotes a study that says knowing critical plot points before reading a story actually increases enjoyment than decreases enjoyment.

A study that averages Likert scales and draws conclusions from that? Oh, well, that must be Da Definite Truth Yo?®. Truly the cutting edge of science.

The only time it really annoys me is when people go plastering them about solely to decrease other people's enjoyment people. Y'know, rocking up in a thread and typing, "THE KILLER WAS X ALL ALONG!". It takes a special kind of petty, malicious little turd to do pull that shit.

It's true that some people take it way too far though. Getting all pent up when you mention something that happens two minutes into a game or in a game that is 2+ years old is just silly.

Yes, thank you - you actually explored the issue more than the author of the article did and were more sensible, too.

CAPTCHA: mum's the word
OK...yo? Fo' shizzle dizzle. OK, I'm running out.

Yes, you are correct. I should never have read that article expecting an unbiased opinion with the title "I'm in your house, spoiling all your video games". Especially since it's so controversial. Obviously, no one should question habits of society and just simply accept them as is. Your whole contribution is awe inspiring. Now, I know how to live my life. Thank you.

 

[DoPo]

Yes, you are correct. I should never have read that article expecting an unbiased opinion with the title "I'm in your house, spoiling all your video games". Especially since it's so controversial. Obviously, no one should question habits of society and just simply accept them as is. Your whole contribution is awe inspiring. Now, I know how to live my life. Thank you.

So-o-o-o...your view is "this is a good and informative article that is actually neither". I'm sorry, I sometimes get a little confused when people speak nonsense. What was the purpose of linking to that article to begin with?

 

[Tom_green_day]

It annoys me when the game isn't out yet. Like The Last of Us, someone commented it on an article on IGN and I accidentally read it. I don't think I'll play the game now that I know what happens, it being a story-based game and all.

 

[Edward Wenban]

When plot matters especially if there is some sort of big twist then i do prefer to avoid spoilers.
However one thing i do like to know before playing a game is how plot and game interact such as if there are multiple endings or not and how what i do matters effects that such as the loyalty missions saving people in Mass Effect.

 

[Therarchos]

I prefer the spoiler alerts. It allows me to watch a movie, play a game, read a book or watch a play the way it's creator intended it. I am one of the lucky ones that didn't know anything about Star Wars or the matrix before I saw them (I really mean I knew nothing about them). I don't think I would have enjoyed either as much without that initial surprise. At the same time The Usual Suspects got heavily nerfed for me. Not because someone told me the plot point but because of one sentence from a friend that didn't really spoil anything but it still told me enough to figure out the rest.You are allowed to discuss spoilers but please let people know before you post any plot. Because some people can figure stuff out even though you think you are not revealing anything.

 

[Not Lord Atkin]

Sigh. Once again, it's a matter of individual preference. Some people don't give a shit about spoilers, some prefer to experience the shock of an unexpected plot twist themselves.

I find it quite silly to argue that people should stop giving a shit about spoilers because it's 'scientifically proven' that they enjoy them (even if they know they don't). The general avoidance of spoilers and spoiler protection is just good manners. Some people don't like it when you spoil a story for them. And I don't think it hurts or inconveniences others in any way to simply be mindful of them. So the article essentially boils down to "people who avoid spoilers are silly because they have a different opinion than I do."

 

[Tactical Pause]

As an individual generally accepted to be an absolutely insane and neurotic perfectionist, even if science told me that spoilers were good for me I would still be far from okay with learning them prior to playing/watching/reading something.

Besides, if something isn't spoiled beforehand, you can have one go experiencing it as it was intended, and then one (or more) understanding the full implications of everything that's happening. Personally, I believe this is the best route to take, since that way, regardless of which is better, you get to experience both!

 

[Fractral]

I don't like them usually, but sometimes, especially near the end of a long game or when playing a game I'm not sure I'll finish I'll look the plot up somewhere, which I did with Persona 3 (though fortunately the ending wasn't spoiled).
It's a pain though cause I tend to get around to AAA titles late, if ever, and rarely plan to play them before I do so I'll probably have seen spoilers around the place and just didn't care at the time. My fault really.

 

[Yopaz]

Spoilers can really ruin things for me.

You mentioned how Fight Club is better the second time you're watching it, but that isn't just because you know what the big twist is. It's because you have seen it all before, but the second time you see it as a whole. If you only know the twist then that's enough to kill the suspension, but not enough to help you explore all the aspects of the movie.

Really, the article is basically saying "If you don't want to get games spoiled, don't use the internet". He's clearly just frustrated because he can't keep his mouth shut about what happens in games and he's too much of an ass to warn about spoilers and thus people have complained about it.

It annoys me when the game isn't out yet. Like The Last of Us, someone commented it on an article on IGN and I accidentally read it. I don't think I'll play the game now that I know what happens, it being a story-based game and all.

Happened to me and Arkham City. I was patiently waiting for the PC release and with 2 weeks left for release someone mentioned what happens in the end without even considering that it could spoil the game for someone.

 

[Best of the 3]

Not for me. I have just finished Kotor 1 about 3 hours ago for the first time. I learned a few days ago that the main character

Spoiler

was Darth Revan

But I still had a hoot playing the game and the reveal didn't have any less effect even though I knew what it was going to be.

 

[Ilikemilkshake]

Fight club might be better the second time you watch it but in spoiling it for someone, you're depriving them OF their second time watching it.

You watch it the first time and then have your mind blown by the twist, then you rewatch it and see how the hell the pulled it off and get to enjoy it all over again.

If you've had the twist spoiled you sit through the whole thing thinking, well this is stupid... he's sitting there:

Spoiler

talking to himself... oh look now he's punching himself, this makes no sense. Why would anyone think this was a good twist?

I think that can be applied to just about anything, yes you still get to enjoy the ride but your perception of the ride is entirely different and I don't think it's fair to take that away from someone, especially when the audience is intended not to know about the twist beforehand.

 

[Bobic]

I'm just gonna rock in here and say one thing. A quote from a single study proves nothing. First the results need to be replicated elsewhere, and second, we need to know the study isn't a load of stupid nonsense, which requires reading of the method (which apparently requires payment, so I'm not doing it), and not a single sentence from the abstract. So don't just wave that one study around shouting "Science says you enjoy spoiled plots more, your opinion is defunct, so Keyser Soze was Rosebud all along" without doing a bit of research into it yourself.

Actually, I'll say two things. I watched the Usual Suspects for the first time knowing the big ending twist. I was super bored all the way through. It's classic status was lost on me due to spoilers, probably, so whatever. But my point about the study was the important part, so pay attention to that.