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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Attention All Literature Forum Patrons: Spoiler Guidelines

Discussion in 'Literature' started by Wedge 88, Aug 2, 2002.

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  1. Wedge 88

    Wedge 88 Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 16, 1999
    Edit: I'm pirating your post Wedge to unstick this thread.


    Recently there have been concerns over the increasing use of spoiler material in the forum with no warning as to it, and it's time for this to be addressed.


    [hr]

    [b][i]What is a spoiler?[/i][/b]

    [color=red]A spoiler is any fact or bit of information that gives away plot and character information.[/color] Here on the boards, a lot of the time this refers to information about Episode III. Here in the Literature forum, it also applies to books. Anything that gives away plot points and character information about an upcoming book. Information from web sites, catalogues, press-releases can all be considered spoilers if they reveal plot points and character information.


    [hr]

    [b][i]Proper use of spoilers.[/i][/b]

    So you've found a juicy piece of info on how the war is going, or who dies in the next book, or what we learn about the old Jedi order from a new prequel era book. You want to shout it from the roof-tops because you're all excited. Good, that's what the forum is here for. But you have to remember that there are people here who love the surprise of finding this out as they read it.

    Here are the rules. Any title to a thread must not contain any spoiler information whatsoever, and if the thread does contain spoilers, the tag (_____ Spoilers) MUST be in the title. You can use known facts about what will happen in a book like major characters, known planets that will be involved, hanging plot threads from previous books as long as they do not reveal major unknown plot points. You don't introduce spoilers to a thread that does not contain a spoiler warning.

    Anyway, you have this juicy spoiler, so you've clicked on the "Post New Topic" link. You've typed out the info, given the link to where you got it from (yes, this is considered good etiquette), and now you're thinking of a title to get everyone reading. Naturally something like "Chewie dies!!! NOOOO!!!!" would generally get everyone reading. Well, think of something else. No spoilers should appear in the title of a thread, even something like "Guess who dies in Vector Prime" is not acceptable. Make the title something non-commital, and add a tag telling that there are spoilers in the thread after it, eg. "New info about the NJO (Vector Prime spoilers)".

    But please be careful, don't put in character names unless they are one of the major characters. As with the above example, "Chewie info from Vector Prime (Spoilers)" would be fine, but "Vergere's major role in SBS (spoilers)" isn't, as you've given away that she returns and has a big impact on the storyline.


    [hr]

    [b][i]So where can I use spoilers?[/i][/b]

    Well, the simple answer is [color=green]only in threads that have the 'spoiler' tag in their title[/color].

    Previously there has been the allowance of "spoiler space", or the use of text the same colour as the background. Neither of these two things are allowed anymore. Unless there is a warning about spoilers for a specific book, or just a general tag, no spoilers should be posted in any discussion thread. If you wish to bring something up in a discussion that is a spoiler, you'll have to start a new thread for it (and for sheer ease, link to the original thread so that hopefully the discussion will continue in that direction).

    For some of the longer-running threads that have continuing discussion about a character or situation, if discussion of spoilers is wanted, the tag (possible spoilers) can be added to the thread. For those threads, you will have to read at your own risk, but inside any thread that already has the spoiler tag, you can, if you wish to do so, leave 'spoiler space' of about 20-30 clear lines after giving a warning that there will be spoilers to be considerate to those that wish to remain as spoiler free as possible.

    What it boils down to is that unless there is warning given in the title of the thread, there should be no spoilers posted in any thread in the Literature forum. This also applies to signatures, so there can be
     
  2. Darth_Duck

    Darth_Duck Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Oct 13, 2000
    My Hero...

    ;)
     
  3. Wedge 88

    Wedge 88 Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 16, 1999
    Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Image denotation. It feels like the UBB again for some reason.
     
  4. DarthSikle

    DarthSikle Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Oct 29, 2000
    Whoa...A sticky topic
     
  5. Gandalf the Grey

    Gandalf the Grey Jedi Knight star 6

    Registered:
    May 14, 2000
    Just making a few small edits. :)
     
  6. Wedge 88

    Wedge 88 Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 16, 1999
    Also, ED hasn't logged in since the 6th of July. I doubt he'd be much help. ;)

    Why does it still say that this only has four posts?
     
  7. dp4m

    dp4m Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Nov 8, 2001
    Also -- please remember -- NO QUOTES IN THE SIG for the month. That counts as a spoiler.

    :)
     
  8. DVader316

    DVader316 Jedi Knight star 7

    Registered:
    Feb 18, 2000
    Yup, there should definitely not be any spoilers in the sigs at all. Thats one of the biggest problems as far as spoilers are concerned, and that's also one of the biggest reasons why Ive avoided Lit like the plague for the past two months or so.



    But, Ive finished Traitor now, and its good to be back. :)
     
  9. Gandalf the Grey

    Gandalf the Grey Jedi Knight star 6

    Registered:
    May 14, 2000
    Please PM a mod if you see spoilers in a signature. We'd be happy to eliminate them. :D
     
  10. DVader316

    DVader316 Jedi Knight star 7

    Registered:
    Feb 18, 2000
    I certainly will. Thank you, my friend. :)
     
  11. Wedge 88

    Wedge 88 Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 16, 1999
    I usually PM the person who has the sig, but okay. :p You're the mod, we'll let you have all the fun.
     
  12. sith1137

    sith1137 Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Dec 13, 2001
    its good that you guys made this. ive seen manya spoilers lately with out the spoiler warning.
     
  13. Ozzel

    Ozzel TF.N Foreign Book Covers Staff star 5 VIP

    Registered:
    May 14, 2001
    A sticky thread! Cool! :cool:
     
  14. Wedge 88

    Wedge 88 Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 16, 1999
    Uhh, sith1137. You did it yourself in Quest's humorous thread.

    The wolf shouldn't howl.
     
  15. Thejedikiller

    Thejedikiller Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Aug 26, 1999
    This is what I like to see. I can finally return to the forum after a self imposed banishment for fear of being spoiled for Traitor.
     
  16. The Gatherer

    The Gatherer Jedi Youngling star 6

    Registered:
    Aug 2, 1999
    Thanks go the man, Kadue, for originally writing the spoiler guidelines. We cannot make an existing thread into a sticky thread, that is why I had to create this new thread here.
     
  17. Knight1192

    Knight1192 Jedi Knight star 6

    Registered:
    Feb 5, 2000
    Is this a permanent first page thread?

    Also, I must admit to posting what could well amount to a Traitor spoiler recently in a non-spoiler thread, though when I posted it I believed I was being rather cryptic about what I was saying. Something that could, if actually cryptic, through folks off as to how it was a spoiler.
     
  18. sith1137

    sith1137 Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Dec 13, 2001
    i did what now!?!!?!

    oh crap i didnt mean to do that. ive been sick lately, and it sometimes goes to my head. i am better now so thats good.

    i appologize
     
  19. DaJames

    DaJames Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Oct 1, 2000
    I'm upset. (OK, this might get boring, but i really need to rant here ;) )

    Without really meaning to, I'd been spoiled for all the major spoilers in NJO up to RS. Most of them were giving into sweet temptation, a couple were by accident.

    Then a revelation came.

    As it happens, i'm a big Buffy/Angel fan. I'd been spoiled for most of the season enders on those shows for years, out of my own free will. This year, i'd been spoiled for every Series 6 episode up to and including the third last episode. But i found that Buffy episodes weren't as exciting as they once were. So i made a pact with myself ; i would remain completely unspoiled for the entire two-part season finale, in the hopes of fully enjoying the highly anticipated action. And i wasn't disappointed. The final twist was one of the most pleasurable experiences in my telly viewing career.

    Anyway, i was inspired to make a new pact ; to keep spoiler free of everything SW (NJO, Prequels, anything and everything). And it was going well. The tantalising hints of the boards merely made me thirst for the next few books even more.

    Then disaster struck.

    One of those tantalising hints (in a thread title) involved a major plot point concerning a character. And this excited me the most, because of the code names in use here, i had no idea who the character involved would be. Then, about a week or two ago, i was reading the EU Questions thread, trying to help out a bit, then i saw a blasphemy. Someone had wondered what the code-names meant. I thought ppl who knew the answer would PM them, and thus no difficulty. But suddenly, there it was. No spoiler warning. Merely a code name and its corresponding character.

    I had been spoiled. [face_shocked]

    Thank you for paying attention to my tale of woe. Also, those of you asleep : wake up ! :)
     
  20. Master Chbel

    Master Chbel Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    May 6, 2000
    How does one handle subjects from older books that are spoilers for new books?

    Vergere is a good example. Questions about Vergere could be a spoiler for any number of NJO books (including the most recent)--especially for those who have not read Rogue Planet.
     
  21. Wedge 88

    Wedge 88 Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 16, 1999
    There is no need for spoiler warnings for books that have been out for more than two months.
     
  22. Major_Derek_Klivian

    Major_Derek_Klivian Jedi Youngling star 2

    Registered:
    Jul 22, 2001
    Anything from a book like Rogue Planet that has been out so long isn't a spoiler by any stretch of the definition.
     
  23. The Gatherer

    The Gatherer Jedi Youngling star 6

    Registered:
    Aug 2, 1999
    Yes, this is a permanent first page thread.
     
  24. PrinceXizor

    PrinceXizor Former TF.N Foreign Book Cover Staff star 5 VIP

    Registered:
    Jul 4, 2001
    You mean a permanent any page first thread. ;)
     
  25. BigSllim

    BigSllim Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Jul 15, 2002
    Say Mods, while we are putting an end to bad spoilers, do you think it is possible we could stop insults from being hurled over the boards.

    People are called ignorant for liking things, or stupid because of their opinions.

    No one should be able to insult people over the boards. The only reason people do it, is because they know they can get away with it. If some of these people were to be face to face with the insultee, their demeanor would be completely different. Everyone has super powers on the web.
     
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