Request: Campaign to crackdown on/encourage use of spoiler tags

[Argel he/him]

Ove the past several months we have seen an influx on new posters who are not aware of or just not following the spoiler policies of the site. This is particularly obvious in the Stormlight Archives forum. Could the moderators e.g. make soem posts about the spoiler policy in each of the forums, reminding users to make use of spoiler tags? It feels like it needs more awareness.

I also wonder how hard it would be to allow readers to have a sub-header for threads for spolier tags, and allow other readers to tag the thread.

For example:

Title: Why does Nigfhtblood leak investiture?  (posted in Warbreaker)
Spoilers: Mistborn, Stormlight Archive, Elantris.

This would allow the readers to self-police threads. 

Anyway, just a thought!

[Argent he/him]

I confess to not paying much attention to the forum's spoiler policy outside of the days surrounding new releases, so correct me if I am wrong, but I thought that:

• unless there is a dedicated spoiler board (e.g. "Oathbringer"), nothing from the given world requires tagging. So, in the absence of a dedicated spoiler board, 100% of the Stormlight content is fair game in the Stormlight forum
• if there is a dedicated spoiler subforum, all threads about the book in question go there, and do not need to be tagged (though titles should note that the thread will contain spoilers, and avoid being spoilery themselves)
• Content from one world/series/book should be hidden inside spoiler tags when referenced in another forum (e.g. Stormlight content should be hidden inside the Mistborn board)
• everything is fair game in the Cosmere forum

[Argel he/him]

59 minutes ago, Argent said:

Content from one world/series/book should be hidden inside spoiler tags when referenced in another forum (e.g. Stormlight content should be hidden inside the Mistborn board)

This is the one that I see being violated a lot. I'm pretty sure I have even violated on occasion and I try to be careful about it.

The problem to is that once you are heavily Cosmere aware, you start taking for granted what could be a spoiler.

Very mild Mistborn Era 1 spoiler

Spoiler

Like just about any mention of Hemalurgy is a spoiler for Mistborn Era 1  -- it's the form of magic that is shrouded in the most secrecy and has significant ties to the antagonists.

If your reply above was posted in each forum, that alone might go a long way to helping the situation. There are also the occasional posters that get ticked off when being reminded about spoiler tags that they are clearly violating. It just seems a bit too Wild West lately.

That's also why I mentioned a technical solution -- it's really easy to have someone mention e.g. Mistborn or Warbreaker in the SA forum on the second page of a thread. If not in spoiler tags, that could be a good time to allow readers to tag the post with e.g. "Spoilers: Mistborn, Warbreaker". Once implemented, the community can self-police itself.

Anyway, not saying that level of effort is needed, but imo a reminder from the moderators is warranted at this point.

Edit: Add to your list that unplublished works (including teasers for upcoming books) must always be in Spoiler tags (even in Cosmere Theories).

 

Edited October 5, 2016 by Argel

[JUQ he/him]

I am one of the offenders with the Mistborn Era 1 spoiler you mentioned. In future, I will make sure not to refer to anything that can be a spoiler without using tags or hidden content. I believe that people should refer to what is being spoiled in the hidden content.

Examples:

(Mistborn Era 1 spoiler)

Spoiler

TLR is Rashek

(Bands of Mourning spoiler)

Spoiler

Telsin is in the Set

 

[Elenion he/him]

6 hours ago, The True Survivor said:

I believe that people should refer to what is being spoiled in the hidden content.

I always tag mine before, because I've read some Cosmere books and not others and so have run into that problem before.

 

Also, what are the policies surrounding posting things in non-book forums such as General Brandon Discussion, Role-Playing, or Clans/Guilds?

[Argel he/him]

No spoilers at all for General Brandon Discussion. Not sure about the other two.

[Pagerunner he/him]

9 hours ago, Elenion said:

I always tag mine before, because I've read some Cosmere books and not others and so have run into that problem before.

 

Also, what are the policies surrounding posting things in non-book forums such as General Brandon Discussion, Role-Playing, or Clans/Guilds?

From Da Rules:

Quote

Spoiler Policy

Our policy on spoilers depends on what forum you are posting in.

The Brandon News and Discussion and General Brandon Discussion forums are non-spoiler forums. You must denote spoiler in the topic title (usually by writing *spoiler* in it), or use spoiler tags.

In General Theories, there are no spoiler notices required, and spoiler tags are extremely discouraged. Read at your own risk.

For an individual book or series forum, spoiler tags must always be used if one is referencing another series (like, if someone is posting in Mistborn, but referencing Stormlight Archive). However, if a book in that series has been out more than six months, spoilers are now permitted in that forum without needing to be tagged. So, for example, there would be a window where Alloy of Law spoilers require a spoiler notification, but a few months later, that would no longer be a problem.

No mention of any social areas, either for or against. It also raises the question of what the heck is even legal in General Discussion, if spoilers from every book aren't allowed.

For the larger topic, I agree that there hasn't been adequate enforcement outside of new-release periods, but I think it actually works out well. It is a hassle to remember to use spoiler tags for 'mundane' info, and we're getting so much material that the cosmere realmatics are becoming more and more relevant across series. Major plot points (I think XYZ main character will have a surprising death, just like ABC main character from his other series), yeah, that would be common courtesy to throw in spoilers, but I'd do that for any series by another author, even.

I guess it gets down to the philosophy of the thing; why do we have spoilers in the first place? For most other places I've seen, it's so info doesn't leak out accidentally to people who are still trying to acquire a new book. The only other place I've seen it done like it's done here, for old stuff that someone might get around to reading someday, is TVTropes, and I run that with spoilers-shown since I think going overboard like that makes it harder to actually use the site. Even our own Coppermind, you can't use it for just a specific series; there will be untagged spoilers all over the place if you dive in before reading everything.

The stated purpose of the individual series forums is to allow discussion independent of other cosmere series; but from anecdotal experience I wonder whether or not that's where the demand is. When the rubber meets the road, I think a lot of us use them to break out Stormlight-focused cosmere discussion from Mistborn-focused cosmere discussion, etc, leaving Cosmere Theories for topics which truly are overarching. (Thus the spoiler abusers.) @Elenion, if you don't mind my asking, which books haven't you read, and why haven't you gotten around to reading them? I haven't read any of the non-cosmere stuff, and I have no intention of it, so it doesn't bother me if I see Alcatraz or Reckoner comparisons being brought up in a cosmere topic, 'cause I don't care about spoilers for those books.

So, I personally think people are ignoring the spoiler policy because it doesn't fit well with the site. As more books get published, maybe there will be more demand for a Stormlight-exclusive forum again, and more fans come in who have only read Stormlight and don't plan on reading 13+3+2+3 other books, and short stories and graphic novels. I don't think that's what most people want right now.

Edited October 6, 2016 by Pagerunner

[Elenion he/him]

10 hours ago, Pagerunner said:

@Elenion, if you don't mind my asking, which books haven't you read, and why haven't you gotten around to reading them? I haven't read any of the non-cosmere stuff, and I have no intention of it, so it doesn't bother me if I see Alcatraz or Reckoner comparisons being brought up in a cosmere topic, 'cause I don't care about spoilers for those books.

I've read SA to current, Mistborn Era 1, Elantris, and White Sand. I'm hoping to get around to reading Warbreaker very soon, but my schedule has a bad habit of constricting like an angry boa. And as for non-Cosmere, I'm with you.

[Argel he/him]

On 10/6/2016 at 11:23 AM, Pagerunner said:

So, I personally think people are ignoring the spoiler policy because it doesn't fit well with the site. As more books get published, maybe there will be more demand for a Stormlight-exclusive forum again, and more fans come in who have only read Stormlight and don't plan on reading 13+3+2+3 other books, and short stories and graphic novels. I don't think that's what most people want right now.

Overall, I agree with that, but this is an official Brandon website and we know he wants most of these series to be able to stand on there own, especially Stormlight Archives. What we probably need is a Stormlight Archives + Cosmere spoiler forum, or move posts with Cosmere spoilers in SA to CT. Either way though, the current spoiler policy has not been enforced well as of late.

Edit: I see Voidus has moved some threads to CT!! Mega thanks and that's a great reminder!! Two birds with one stone!!

Edited October 10, 2016 by Argel

[Chaos he/him]

We'll make a spoiler notice for Stormlight Archive to make this clear. It is a bit tough because sometimes you want to talk about Stormlight but using info from other books, so I can understand why there would be overlap. But we'll get it sorted, and post a spoiler notice, and for other things it probably will just be easier to post in Cosmere Theories.