Putting "SPOILER" in the title of a thread is not enough

[Night Spring]

No, actualy... I recently got referred to as a "whiner" by quite a number of people in a discussion thread when I made that comment. For the original poster's defence, he fixed the tags and PMed me so I could explain to him why spoiler tags are necessary even with "spoilers" in the title.

If you're refering to the thread regarding Quest pt.2, then I think that, although the original poster was unnecessarily cheeky and provocative in his original post, and perhaps the thread title could have been worded to indicate a stronger warning, that thread did say "spoiler for Quest pt. 2" from the beginning.

According to the rules:

All new threads on a topic likely to include spoilers should be clearly marked in the first post, or the first post and the thread title, with the word "spoilers." Replies to properly-marked threads don't need spoiler space; but if you are replying with spoilers to a thread that has not been flagged at the start as containing spoilers, please do include a warning and spoiler space.

It seems to me that thread did fulfill the conditions of this rule, and therefore, the spoiler did not need to be in tags.

[Madeleine]

And if any of those fake spoilers come true, I'm so screwed...

You do have a bit of a history in that respect...

[sgeureka]

That's a nice thought, but it's hopelessly optimistic. Even if people read all the rules, that doesn't mean they'd think that the rules apply to them. In the case of spoilers, most people don't consider what they're posting to be spoilery- either because it's from an ep they've seen or because they don't think the details are important enough to be considered spoilers. Siler gets killed in an offworld mission? So what? It isn't like he's a major character and it was just something that kinda happened in the background. Alternately, they might think that something is SO huge that EVERYONE knows it. Cheyenne Mountain blowing up in the finale and killing everyone on the base? How could anyone possibly NOT know that? The info is posted everywhere... Or maybe it'll be something that was heard at a convention. And if Joe Flanigan tells everyone that Shep and Weir are getting married in the finale, well, that must be considered common knowledge because it was said at a con, right?

The rules can't help people who... see things differently. By THEIR definition they ARE following the rules and they can probably quote the relevant sections in the rules to "prove" that they're right and it isn't THEIR fault that you're so sensitive about it. Or how were they to know that Gateworld itself was going to be so extremist about stuff?

To be fair, there's also the case that people are part of several forums with different spoiler policies.

I'm in three different forums (for different shows): a forum which basically has no spoiler policies, gateworld, and a forum which has gateworld-ten-times-stricter spoiler policies and a three-strikes-and-you're-banned system. I've read every FAQ carefully, but sometimes (especially in the heat of the moment) I get the spoiler policies mixed up and the deed is done. (Fortunately, I usually notice my mistake immediately or at least before a mod comes.)

Note: This is just a reason, not an excuse.

[Zeldria]

simple solution - 3 strikes and your out rule - one is a warning, two is supsension, 3 is permament banning (IP banning if poss)

my 2 cents

What you will be warned/banned for.

Spam: Posting anything that adds nothing to the topic, or posting something that is totally irrelevant to the topic. (Like saying… “Yeah, so what…look at your avatar, they suck”) Spam also includes posting just smilies, or “LOL,” “I agree” etc.

Flaming: A personal attack on a poster.

Flame-baiting: Making a post that baits a poster into an irrelevant argument, to the topic at hand. (For instance, in a “Is this diva hot?” thread…and a female poster says that the diva is a horse-face…asking the poster to post pictures of herself to compare could be considering baiting and/or spam)

Altering: Having more than one account. Also, if you are banned for four days (spoilers/2nd warning) and you create another account whilst banned, both accounts will be banned permanently.



Racism: No racist terms. Wigger, and all variations on this are included and will earn you a permanent ban, as will homophobic comments.

Posting porn links will be an instant ban. Plagiarizing (Stealing without giving credit) is also bannable.

The warning system

Your first warning is merely a slap on the wrist.

Your second warning will get you banned for 4 days.

If you get a third warning, you will be banned permanently.

If you decide to return after your third warning, you will be banned without notice if you break a rule.

[Morbo]

you're all blowing this way out of proportion guys.

spoilers aren't that big of a deal.

jeezy creezy.

[JayShadow]

Spoilers don't bug me at all, but I see way too many threads that say SPOILER in it and then in the same subject line heavily imply what the spoiler is, which kinda defeats the purpose of the spoiler warning in the first place. Like I said, it doesn't bother me, but anyone who wants to discuss the first half of Atlantis's season without spoilers on the second half wouldn't be able to do it. Not without several spoilers just from connecting a few simple dots in the subject lines. Often much less then that.