Complaint ( Moebius Spoiler)

[thor39]

I would like to complain about a news article published on gateworld today. The title read "RA returns to SG1 season finale". I consider that to be a major spoiler and I thought you would have chose to hide that from people who didn't want to know. I haven't read a spoiler for years, until your I saw thatr damn title. I'm sorry to say I won't be visiting here, much anymore, I'm sure there are more considerate sites out there

[aschen]

Oh you big baby.

Btw, speak of considerate- you just spoiled it for all of us because you didn't bother to include spoiler space.

Hypocrite.

[Skydiver]

yep, i been spoiled now, thanks

anyway, while i do appreciate your frustration with being spoiled, perpetrating the spoilage isn't quite the best way to deal with it.

I'm sorry you were spoiled, in fact i know exactly how you feel

[Wass]

Spoiler:

If Ra is back that would mean that they might have bought Apophis (sorry about the spelling) back as well. Interesting news and I like the first pic of season final.

[David85]

Yeah I didn't read Gateworld page yet, thanks for wrecking it.

[GateTraveler]

While I believe thor39 responded entirely too harshly to the headline, he does have a point. I would think that

Spoiler:

the appearance of Ra

would have much more impact if I didn't know about it ahead of time. It is indeed a major spoiler. However, there are much nicer ways of pointing it out and trying to see if there is a solution than just huffing and puffing and storming out of the forum hurling insults as you go.

I too have noticed that many times there will be a headline saying that someone familiar will be making an appearance in an upcoming episode. These are usually relatively harmless but sometimes they can spoil portions of the episode. Can someone explain what the policy is here concerning potential spoilers in "news" headlines? It seems that it is pretty strict in the forum area but not on the main page which seems strange to me since that is the usual entrance page people go before heading to the forums (at least it is for me).

[GateWorld]

This was a judgment call made by our news editor (read: yours truly). I don't think it's a major spoiler simply to report that a certain character will appear in an episode (

Spoiler:

especially when what we know about the season finale makes it fairly obvious that Ra isn't returning from the dead in the present day or anything

) any more than it would be a spoiler to say "Daniel walks into Jack's office in the second scene of this episode," or "General Hammond is in charge of the S.G.C. in an alternate universe."

There's nothing to the news other than "Ra is coming back." We can't really disguise the headline without watering it down to something so vague that it's silly: "Previous villain to return in later episode!" is not a headline.

[DownFallAngel]

We can't really disguise the headline without watering it down to something so vague that it's silly: "Previous villain to return in later episode!" is not a headline.

Thats freaking hilarious!

[Texanmutt]

It's not the end of the world. Geez

[Natron]

I'm with Gateworld on this one. I really don't think it's THAT big of a deal.

[Natron]

Nice little compromise could be the following for news stories containing spoilers:

Title: Information on season 8 finale!
Info: SPOILERS

This SHOULD exist in a separate spoilers section of the site. I don't mind spoilers, a fact which bothers many people around me, but it appears many people do.

If we want to see spoilers, let us choose.

My guess is that it was posted in haste, out of some kind of geeky excitement.

And for those of you being nasty about it, especially to the people running this site: it only helps to strengthen a resolve AGAINST what you want.

[Dr. Weir's Hair Gel]

Yes. As the Great Arnold Schwartezennegeneggerager would say... "STOP IT! STOP WHINING!"

[prion]

I can understand why some fans don't want spoilers. Unfortunately, you can't visit this site without having spoilers on the front page of some kind.

If the article had said "so and so will play Ra in episode something or other," that's casting news. But all it says is that Ra returns in "mobius."

If anything, the article should have headlined something like "a character thought dead returns to SG1 in Mobius," instead of pushing the spoiler right in the face of some fans.

[Col.Mike]

I don't mind to much about reading spoliers but I do know some people don't like it but don't forget, it's only a tv show, not the end of the world. I do think Gateworld should be a little careful about that stuff but it's nothing to get huffy about and never return.

[GateWorld]

Wasn't being nasty, just explaining my reasoning for writing the headline the way I did. In my judgment, it can't be diluted and still appeal to visitors as a news headline.

There is no either/or distinction on the Internet between "spoilers" and "no spoilers." It's all a matter of degrees. Some people don't want to know the basic logline of the plot. Some people don't want to know which recurring characters will appear. Some people don't want to know so much as the title of the episode. So fan sites like GW must always seek to find a balance somewhere mid-way along the spectrum.

You'll find more harsh spoilers than "Ra is in it" in TV Guide, the network's ad spots the week before, and a slew of magazine articles between now and March. It's a matter of degrees, and giving your audience enough to interest them.

(And I am a geek, but I actually sat on this story and thought about how and when to do it for a number of weeks.)

Darren