When someone starts a thread and they are clearly talking about the TV series and not the book, doesn’t it go with out saying the people shouldn’t be throwing in spoilers from the book?
Unless they’re in spoiler boxes and marked as book spoilers.
It depends on the context, but I wouldn’t assume it. I don’t think we want to treat every thread in Cafe Society like the Game of Thrones threads.
If you’re reading a thread about a tv show that’s based on a book, it seems highly unlikely that the book won’t be talked about.
Yeah but, if I’m half way through the TV series, it’s kind of uncool if somebody who has read the book, spouts off about something that’s going to happen later.
It’s happened to me before so I just stay out of the thread till I’ve read the book, seen the show or movie or decide I don’t mind if it’s spoiled for me.
Rulz about spoilers?
Rulz or no rulz, civilized Dopers might at least agree that it’s rather rude and inconsiderate to include spoilers of any sort (book or TV), without using a spoiler box.
It might be reasonable for mods to give at least a mod note for that (at least if anybody complains), offering a gently-worded board etiquette lesson.
Nothing goes without saying.
Bookmark this post.
OH, FUDGE! We aren’t doing THAT again, are we? :mad::rolleyes:
If a book or book series has been popular for several or many years, like, oh, Game of Thrones or A Tale of Two Cities, it’s ludicrous and childish for people late to the party to insist on spoilers so their fun isn’t ruined. It’s a hard lesson for those climbing on the bandwagon, but they should’ve read the books when they came out or were assigned in high school. Or stay out of the threads until they catch up. There’s no SDMB rule that requires everyone to sit on their thumbs until everybody is at the same point. That’s Communism.
For our guidelines about Spoilers, see: http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=7697117#post7697117
We don’t have “Rules” because it would be impossible to devise rules that cover every situation. We have “guidelines” which really mean: please be considerate of others and think about whether spoilers are needed.
People who are REALLY, REALLY sensitive about spoilers shouldn’t read a thread about that topic.
Everyone else should be respectful and polite of the wishes of those who don’t want spoilers revealed, and should do their best.
At the two extremes of books into TV series:
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A classic book has been around for a really long time, taught in schools, well-known. No worries about spoilers. There’s no need to treat the end of A Tale of Two Cities as a spoiler, as per dropzone’s example. People who are worried about spoilers should not read the thread, and it’s pretty much their responsibility. Anyone complaining about such a revealed spoiler should file their complaint in triplicate with the Committee for Public Safety, prior to 31 Dec 2012.
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A little-known book that’s made into a TV series – I’m thinking of something like GORMENGHAST, for instance, a BBC production from a few years ago – I think that common courtesy would say, please don’t reveal spoilers. As a moderator, if I found open spoilers in such a thread, I would certainly edit (espesh if someone complained.)
Those are the two extremes, and everything else is in the middle.
GAME OF THRONES is an exception, since the books are still being written and the TV show is behind. So, the decision was that there are TWO different discussions: one about the books only, one about the TV series only, and one about the comparison. Three, three different discussions. What’s a spoiler in one thread might not be a spoiler in another thread.
We had a similar situation with Harry Potter, the movies coming along while the books were being written. Movies are easier than TV series, since it’s just one.
Anyhow, them’s my thoughts. I don’t think we could ever say not to bring thoughts about a book into a thread about the movie, or vice versa. I don’t think we could ever make “rules” about spoilers, about when something is so commonly known that spoilers are unnecessary. (OMG, I didn’t know Jesus was going to die on the cross!) Impossible. Impassible. I think we have to rely on posters being considerate and respectful of others.
And, of course, if you see a specific situation where you think something is revealed that should be hidden by spoiler-tags, please REPORT to a moderator (little red triangle with ! in upper right of post) and we’ll fix it.
This is one of those things I honestly don’t even understand. If I don’t want to be spoiled on a topic, I stay away from that topic. Simple. Not hard at all. I just don’t click a thread related to that topic. I would be naive and silly to think, “Oh, they are discussing the show with open spoilers. No way discussion of the books would slip in!”
If I simply must discuss a topic with fellow dopers, I would start a thread, stressing no spoilers for book or movie. I wouldn’t play around with threads that already have spoilers of any kind.