Spoilers: Good Thing or Bad?
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Lucy McGough
millerqueen
Zoltar
Patrick
Sid Seadevil
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Spoilers - Boon or Bane
Spoilers: Good Thing or Bad?
Or to phrase it in a more detailed manner:
Do spoilers potentially do more harm than good in the long run to the overall enjoyment of a series?
Discuss.
Do spoilers potentially do more harm than good in the long run to the overall enjoyment of a series?
Discuss.
Sid Seadevil- Older than Sid
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Re: Spoilers: Good Thing or Bad?
Too much of anything, even spoilers, isn't necessarily a good thing. I don't want to have a story spelled out for me before I've already watched it. Think about how the cliffhanger at the end of The Stolen Earth would have been if we'd all already known the Doctor didn't end up regenerating.
Having said that, I do like the odd tantalizing hint. Someone saying, 'look out for the folks in the gas masks who keep asking are you my mommy'. That sort of thing.
Having said that, I do like the odd tantalizing hint. Someone saying, 'look out for the folks in the gas masks who keep asking are you my mommy'. That sort of thing.
Patrick- Fast-Living Admin
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Re: Spoilers: Good Thing or Bad?
I don't mind spoilers at all. I knew 10 wasn't going to regenerate into 11 at the end of S4 and it didn't ruin my enjoyment of the episodes at all. Spoilers should be entertaining...fun. Clearly some folks do take them too seriously and that ruins the enjoyment of them for everyone. Basically, the way we run our spoiler thread here...that's how I like my spoilers.
Zoltar- Caring Mod
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Re: Spoilers: Good Thing or Bad?
teasers, yes, exact details no. teasers allow for the fun of speculation but nothing concrete.
millerqueen- Properly wrinkly
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Re: Spoilers: Good Thing or Bad?
I find myself in broad agreement with many of the excellent points made thus far. Speaking for myself, I can live just as happily without them as I can with them.
I suppose I often get most exasperated when what seem staggeringly implausible spoilers are taken as gospel on the slenderest of actually evidence.
That and spoilers carelessly tossed around outside spoiler threads/sections without a care in the world for those who wish not to know them.
I suppose I often get most exasperated when what seem staggeringly implausible spoilers are taken as gospel on the slenderest of actually evidence.
That and spoilers carelessly tossed around outside spoiler threads/sections without a care in the world for those who wish not to know them.
Sid Seadevil- Older than Sid
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Re: Spoilers: Good Thing or Bad?
I'm used to the kids I help with trying to spoil me but by applying fingers in each ear and going" lal ala lalalallalala I'm not listening", you'll be surprised what you don't hear
millerqueen- Properly wrinkly
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Re: Spoilers: Good Thing or Bad?
Well, if it's something the person in question wants to see happen, evidence is oft hardly needed. It is troubling how entrenched some folks get with that, latched onto the spoiler like it must happen.Sid Seadevil wrote:I find myself in broad agreement with many of the excellent points made thus far. Speaking for myself, I can live just as happily without them as I can with them.
I suppose I often get most exasperated when what seem staggeringly implausible spoilers are taken as gospel on the slenderest of actually evidence.
It is annoying when spoilers are thrown about with little or no concern for other folks who might not wish to know them. Some people don't like spoilers one bit and even the slightest info bugs them.Sid Seadevil wrote:That and spoilers carelessly tossed around outside spoiler threads/sections without a care in the world for those who wish not to know them.
Zoltar- Caring Mod
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Re: Spoilers: Good Thing or Bad?
Oh yes, that can be a wonderfully effectively avoidance tactic. I've used it myself to good effect more than once.millerqueen wrote:I'm used to the kids I help with trying to spoil me but by applying fingers in each ear and going" lal ala lalalallalala I'm not listening", you'll be surprised what you don't hear
Sid Seadevil- Older than Sid
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Re: Spoilers: Good Thing or Bad?
Absolutely. Then, when people dare to question the spoiler they go instantly on the attack - thereby backing themselves into a corner that they'll be forced to defend even after the spoiler is proven to be false/mistaken.Zoltar wrote:Well, if it's something the person in question wants to see happen, evidence is oft hardly needed. It is troubling how entrenched some folks get with that, latched onto the spoiler like it must happen.
I've had programmes ruined exactly like that. It comes down to this - if I feel I can be slightly spoilered without it wrecking my enjoyment of the show: I selectively seek them out. If on the otherhand I don't wish to know - then I stay well clear of those sections. Which makes innocently opening what should be a safe thread only to be met with a big spoilery bombshell all the more infuriating.Zoltar wrote:It is annoying when spoilers are thrown about with little or no concern for other folks who might not wish to know them. Some people don't like spoilers one bit and even the slightest info bugs them.
Sid Seadevil- Older than Sid
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Re: Spoilers: Good Thing or Bad?
I don't like spoilers but I seek them out anyway, because I can't bear the fact that there's information out there which I don't know
Re: Spoilers: Good Thing or Bad?
And once you do know the spoilers you sought out - does it spoil your enjoyment of what's coming up?Lucy McGough wrote:I don't like spoilers but I seek them out anyway, because I can't bear the fact that there's information out there which I don't know
Sid Seadevil- Older than Sid
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Re: Spoilers: Good Thing or Bad?
What really annoys me is when spoilers theories are presented as fact. For example, Harriet Jones is the Supreme Dalek/Master/Hand that picked up the master's ring. Utter codswallop presented 'Insider Knowledge', when in fact it is just
So I avoid spoilers cos I get a bit het up over the blind following the blind - with the exception of the few who do get it right (who are often howled down in derision).
Knowing real spoilers is a bit like being John the Baptist, screwed if you do, screwed if you don't and there are always pretenders out there.
- Spoiler:
- fanwank
So I avoid spoilers cos I get a bit het up over the blind following the blind - with the exception of the few who do get it right (who are often howled down in derision).
Knowing real spoilers is a bit like being John the Baptist, screwed if you do, screwed if you don't and there are always pretenders out there.
Kate- Antipodean Eye of Sauron
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Re: Spoilers: Good Thing or Bad?
Sid Seadevil wrote:And once you do know the spoilers you sought out - does it spoil your enjoyment of what's coming up?Lucy McGough wrote:I don't like spoilers but I seek them out anyway, because I can't bear the fact that there's information out there which I don't know
Hmm. Interesting question, Sid.
Let me answer by offering anecdotes related to series 4. I paid absolutely no attention at all to the spoilers pertaining to The Doctor's Daughter. Didn't read one of them, as I figured the title was spoilery enough.
I did, however, follow the speculation of what 'TUATW' meant with regard to episode 7. I knew it was going to be called The Unicorn & The Wasp, I knew it would feature Agatha Christie, and I knew there were going to be two nemeses for the Doctor and Agatha to face (namely, the two specified in the episode title)
And the result was an equal appeal for both stories for me. I was completely involved in Doctor's Daughter, and didn't feel any of the disappointment segments of fandom felt that it didn't feature Susan, or give some backstory to the Doctor's personal family history. And Unicorn/Wasp was equally delightful the way it was structured to go as much for comedy as it was a 1920's murder mystery.
So in conclusion, I guess I'd have to say I can take or leave spoilers. Wow (blimey?), that's a long winded way of coming to the point.
Patrick- Fast-Living Admin
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Re: Spoilers: Good Thing or Bad?
I know exactly what you mean, Patrick. My experience with both stories was roughly the same as yours - with an almost identical outcome. But are we the exception to the rule, I wonder?Patrick wrote:So in conclusion, I guess I'd have to say I can take or leave spoilers. Wow (blimey?), that's a long winded way of coming to the point.
What we really need to help answer this I suppose is to hear from somebody who was accidentally spoiler and did have their enjoyment of the episode itself subsequently tarnished/outright ruined.
Anybody out there who experienced such a thing?*
*And remember - this isn't just a Who related question. It applies to any series.
Sid Seadevil- Older than Sid
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Re: Spoilers: Good Thing or Bad?
To be honest, yes.Sid Seadevil wrote:And once you do know the spoilers you sought out - does it spoil your enjoyment of what's coming up?
Re: Spoilers: Good Thing or Bad?
Sid Seadevil wrote:I know exactly what you mean, Patrick. My experience with both stories was roughly the same as yours - with an almost identical outcome. But are we the exception to the rule, I wonder?Patrick wrote:So in conclusion, I guess I'd have to say I can take or leave spoilers. Wow (blimey?), that's a long winded way of coming to the point.
What we really need to help answer this I suppose is to hear from somebody who was accidentally spoiler and did have their enjoyment of the episode itself subsequently tarnished/outright ruined.
Anybody out there who experienced such a thing?*
*And remember - this isn't just a Who related question. It applies to any series.
Yes. I recorded Torchwood until all the family were home, and was posting on DWF during that time. And I read on one of the threads in PT somebody posted "OMG Owen's dead!", and that didn't go down very well. It lost a lot of its shock value, as I had no idea that was coming. My spoiler levels tend to be quite low - I like to know what the alien is called, and whether the episode will be in the future or the past or on another planet, but that's pretty much it. For that Torchwood episode, I knew that Martha was appearing in it and the team liked her, and there were insect type creatures in it from the preview the previous week. I'll read the DWM's episode preview, and the Radio Times as well usually, and avoid everything else. I've never ever looked in a spoiler thread just in case I do find out too much!
Starfighter Pilot- Justified and ancient
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Re: Spoilers: Good Thing or Bad?
Yep, I had the same experience with the episodes you mentioned. Of course, there are certainly times when I don't want to know a spoiler. Such as Rose appearing at the end of PiC. I purposely avoided threads that pertained to that episode and yet a poster in PT was kind enough to blab about it. As a result, I basically avoided the DWF altogether till I'd seen the episode after that. Easiest way to dodge them, since the mods can't see everything and be everywhere.Patrick wrote:Hmm. Interesting question, Sid.
Let me answer by offering anecdotes related to series 4. I paid absolutely no attention at all to the spoilers pertaining to The Doctor's Daughter. Didn't read one of them, as I figured the title was spoilery enough.
I did, however, follow the speculation of what 'TUATW' meant with regard to episode 7. I knew it was going to be called The Unicorn & The Wasp, I knew it would feature Agatha Christie, and I knew there were going to be two nemeses for the Doctor and Agatha to face (namely, the two specified in the episode title)
And the result was an equal appeal for both stories for me. I was completely involved in Doctor's Daughter, and didn't feel any of the disappointment segments of fandom felt that it didn't feature Susan, or give some backstory to the Doctor's personal family history. And Unicorn/Wasp was equally delightful the way it was structured to go as much for comedy as it was a 1920's murder mystery.
So in conclusion, I guess I'd have to say I can take or leave spoilers. Wow (blimey?), that's a long winded way of coming to the point.
Zoltar- Caring Mod
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Re: Spoilers: Good Thing or Bad?
Sid Seadevil wrote:I know exactly what you mean, Patrick. My experience with both stories was roughly the same as yours - with an almost identical outcome. But are we the exception to the rule, I wonder?Patrick wrote:So in conclusion, I guess I'd have to say I can take or leave spoilers. Wow (blimey?), that's a long winded way of coming to the point.
What we really need to help answer this I suppose is to hear from somebody who was accidentally spoiler and did have their enjoyment of the episode itself subsequently tarnished/outright ruined.
Anybody out there who experienced such a thing?*
*And remember - this isn't just a Who related question. It applies to any series.
Most definitely. I remember some years ago planning to go to the pictures to see 'Catch Me If You Can'. My mother-in-law was baby-sitting. She asked me what we were going to see and I told her. She said "Oh, he's working for the government now", completely spoiling the end of the film for me. 'Million Dollar Baby' was another (and warning...if you haven't seen it MAJOR SPOILER coming up here).........................
mentioned I was going to see it at work and some twit turned round and said "yeah, she dies in the end." Talk about major spoiler!
I agree that teasers are good things, although personally, if I'm going to see a movie I try and avoid watching too many trailers. Spoilers to me are what they say they are...they spoil the thrill of the surprise. I like the thril of the surprise. It looms large in my list of things I like.
Barcelona- Youngster
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Re: Spoilers: Good Thing or Bad?
All I know is that I've avoided spoilers and it certainly hasn't impacted negatively on my enjoyment of Doctor Who. I do, however, read soap spoilers - probably to get the fix of the story without the pain of watching them. Quite why, I've got no idea.
stanmore- Justified and ancient
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Re: Spoilers: Good Thing or Bad?
Oh, my mother was always doing that to us - especially me - when it came to films/tv shows. It used to drive me absolutely barmy. It was all the worst given that during one period she worked in a cinema. (I'd work there alos a while later), and as sure as night follows day, as i walked up those steps going into see a film she's say "oh, you'll enjoy this - especially when - - - happens at the end". Grreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrr!!!! it would drive me insane. (Which explains much, I suspect).Barcelona wrote:Most definitely. I remember some years ago planning to go to the pictures to see 'Catch Me If You Can'. My mother-in-law was baby-sitting. She asked me what we were going to see and I told her. She said "Oh, he's working for the government now", completely spoiling the end of the film for me. 'Million Dollar Baby' was another (and warning...if you haven't seen it MAJOR SPOILER coming up here).........................
mentioned I was going to see it at work and some twit turned round and said "yeah, she dies in the end." Talk about major spoiler!
Ditto!Barcelona wrote:I agree that teasers are good things, although personally, if I'm going to see a movie I try and avoid watching too many trailers. Spoilers to me are what they say they are...they spoil the thrill of the surprise. I like the thril of the surprise. It looms large in my list of things I like.
Sid Seadevil- Older than Sid
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