Anti-spoiler system idea [G]
Nathaniel Rudiak-Gould (natrg@uclink4.berkeley.edu)
Thu, 06 Mar 1997 19:09:16 -0800
Although I quite enjoy reading the LoGH mailing list, I have been annoyed
several times by running into unmarked spoilers written by people who have
seen / read far more LoGH than I have. Because the situations, characters,
and plot-lines of LoGH change and develop so quickly, it is difficult to
talk at all about episodes after the beginning without major spoilers. I
propose a very simple system, which, if adhered to, will end this. Since
this list does not have many postings, I don't think this will make it more
complicated or difficult to read through.
The following rules must be obeyed:
1. No spoilers in titles. These do have the advantage of ensuring unfamiliar
people will avoid the article itself, but the damage is already done. When I
see titles like "Reinhard Married?" or "Reunthal's Death", I have already
seen too much. Just mark them "Reinhard" and "Reunthal" + use the system
below and people won't skip them.
2. In the title of each article with ANY potential spoilers, indicate in
brackets the episode one must have seen up to to read the article without
spoilers. For instance, if you were to write about the alliance's political
structure up to early in series 2, "Politics in the Alliance [34]" would be
an appropriate title. If the discussion is general w/out spoilers, use a [G]
to indicate you are using the system (as I did in the title for this post).
If a post is mostly general, but with a spoiler in it, (i.e. politics in
the alliance up to eps. 34) mark it [G, n] ([G, 34] here), and sequester the
spoiler in the text itself. You can use [S1] to indicate everything up
through Series one, or [B1] for book 1.
It is not necessary to be precise. Use whatever works and makes sense. The
main
point is to differentiate between what are probably the three main groups on
this list: Those who are just beginning with the series, those who have seen
all the subs, and those who have seen beyond the subs, and to make sure the
former two don't have the anticipation ruined. Thanks to anyone who adopts
the system (or comes up with a better one).