Beware of posting spoilers on the official forums
by Elizabeth Harper 
Jul 12th 2007 at 6:34PM
Over on the European forums, Aeus is getting serious about banning people from the forums for posting spoilers. (Likely due to the immenent release of the final Harry Potter book, though he's clear that bans will come down for people posting any type of spoiler.) Says Aeus: Posting spoilers is one of the worst ways to troll; not to mention the amount of players whose enjoyment and anticipation can potentially be utterly ruined.
If you were around the day the previous Harry Potter book was released, you would understand where Aeus was coming from. Every forum was packed with posts giving away the book's ending, in the titles of the posts and hidden behind misleading titles. And, I don't know about you, but I visit the official forums to talk about World of Warcraft. Aeus is off to an enthusiastic start, telling a spoiler-posting player:
Suspended for 9 days, that's when the book comes out. If... [the spoiler occurs] this becomes a permanent.
But while I admire his enthusiasm, with the number of posts on the topic that appeared with the release of the last book, I wonder if it will be practical to keep the forums spoiler-free. However, if you're a fan of the Potter series, I've got to recommend staying away from the forums -- and the general chat channels -- until after you've finished the book.
Filed under: Odds and ends, Blizzard
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
James Jul 12th 2007 7:01PM
Excellent to see that Blizzard is taking that hard of a stance on these idiots. I still won't be on WoW until I'm done with the book, just in case. People who pull this crap are even more stupid than the average forum or trade channel troll.
Halicante Jul 12th 2007 7:04PM
I'm with James. I'm staying far away from the forum trolls and the chat channels until I get a chance to read the book for myself. If someone ruins it for me, I swear to god I will throttle them lol
olhado Jul 12th 2007 7:29PM
I don't play WoW anymore (although I still read this blog.. strange, right?) but even so I'm not using the internet until I finish the book. Thankfully I finished book 6 before I heard any spoilers, but it was awfully close (even though I finished it in a day).
Frodawg Jul 12th 2007 7:48PM
Hah, i won't be doing anything until i finish the book, like i have done for the last two releases : D
Elizabeth Wachowski Jul 12th 2007 8:41PM
Same here. My parents asked why I was going out to get the book at midnight, and I told them "Because if I don't, some idiot is going to post the ending in my blog comments."
amasen Jul 12th 2007 8:19PM
I'm glad there will be perma-bans for releasing any spoilers. Hopefully blizzard will take this hard stance more and more on their forums... Because it is just tiresome when you go for information about the game, and you leave with the urge to kill people.
I too will not be anywhere near the internet until after I finish the book.
Mel Jul 12th 2007 9:20PM
It's just a book, people. I am a Potter-fan, too, but I don't get batshit paranoid because of someone might POSSIBLY spoil me. If it happens, so what? Not the end of the world, I won't die of it.
That said, people who go out of their way to spoil it for the fantard woobies? Not cool. Kinda assholes. But guess what? There are worse people out there.
smack Jul 12th 2007 9:43PM
Hermione dies.
RogueJedi86 Jul 12th 2007 9:57PM
#7/Mel
"It's just a book, people. I am a Potter-fan, too, but I don't get batshit paranoid because of someone might POSSIBLY spoil me. If it happens, so what? Not the end of the world, I won't die of it."
It ruins the suspense. Like the t-shirt hell shirt that said which character died in HP6, and on which page. If you saw that shirt, you'd be ruined. You'd know exactly what happens on that page, and know what direction the story is going, as you get closer and closer.
It's like watching a movie, when someone's beside you, telling you everything 5 minutes before they happen. Or watching Star Wars, already knowing that Vader is Luke's dad. It ruins the impact of the scene where Vader reveals his being Luke's dad.
epsilon343 Jul 13th 2007 1:00AM
I guess I've never been too worried about spoilers, sometimes I even hunt them down. I guess I'm not that big on surprises (good or bad.) Unfortunately I'm going to be at a car race when the book comes out and I'll only be able to begin reading it once I get back so I suppose I'll know about the ending by then. No worries though, it's not like I'll not find out when I read it.
Shugyosha Jul 13th 2007 11:03AM
@RogueJedi86 - well thanks for ruining Star Wars for me!1 Perma-ban please!
I appreciate the sentiment of this and I agree that the people who post the spoilers are idiots, but I think it's a riculously impossible policy to implement. Where is the 'statute of limitations'? Can I post about Citizen Kane and mention Rosebud without risking a ban? How about The Sixth Sense? How about any book released this year *other* than Harry Potter? Or is this solely a policy to prevent Harry Potter spoilers - in which case I think that while annoying, permanently banning someone from the forums of WoW for something that has nothing to do with WoW and isn't *inherrently* offensive, just because it offends the sensibilities of one moderator, is over the top.
Theserene Jul 13th 2007 1:09PM
This is frankly insane.
As one poster pointed out - is this only for Harry Potter? Or any spoilers?
Are we going to start seeing people suspended from the game for posting spoilers in Barrens Chat?
FFs, it's a book. want to make sure no-one spoils it for you? Don't talk to anyone or go anywhere near the internet until you've finished reading it.
Banning people for simply posting about a book ending? Lame. Really lame.
Lawl Jul 15th 2007 7:56AM
Over dramatized lameness. Give a warning to people going to the forums, don't censor people.
A Jul 16th 2007 3:04AM
All was well.
I'm sure the fanaticism will drop off after the insane release.