Breakfast Topic: La la la I'm not listening
by Anne Stickney 
Feb 22nd 2010 at 8:00AM
Spoilers. The word strikes fear into the hearts of many a fan, whether it involves books, television, or video games. Some people are fanatical about not learning information before it's officially released. Others love nothing more than to run around and spoil things for the general public who would rather have the experience of being surprised.
My first real experience with spoilers was way back when I was playing a little game called Final Fantasy VII. I had played (and still own!) all of the prior Final Fantasy games, so this was something I'd been dying to play since the moment it came out. I was making pretty good progress through the first disc and working my way to the end of it when it happened. A coworker and I, who had hit it off quite well talking about video games, were discussing what we were currently playing one day in the break room. I mentioned I had finally gotten FFVII and was slowly making my way through the first disc, when he turned to me and blurted, "Man I hated the part where Aeris dies!"
He survived the subsequent pummeling.
Since then I've taken a far more casual approach to spoilers -- yes, there are things I'd rather remain a secret, but there's a part of me that loves learning about things ahead of time. It's probably the same part that enjoyed trying to find where my parents hid the Christmas presents every November*. Still, I do respect people that wish to remain unspoiled, and make it a point to always post a spoiler warning on information I think people might not want to see. I do it because I remember that moment of sheer devastation when I realized the character I really liked was going to bite the dust, and nothing that I did in the game would prevent it.
With the release of the Icecrown Citadel patch, and now that 3.3.3 is on the PTR, what do you think about spoilers? Do you shy away from spoiler tags, or are you the type that gleefully ruins the surprise for other people?
*They were always in the closet in their bedroom. Mom and Dad were so predictable.
Filed under: Breakfast Topics
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
cmichaelcooper Feb 22nd 2010 8:08AM
I don't mind spoilers so much. Spoilers usually involve the big details, but I'm more interested in the fine points that lead up to the final result.
Tim Feb 22nd 2010 9:53AM
@sdafkkk4
Spoiler warning.
Voguetouch Shopping's Guide to Layering coming in FEBRUARY!!!!
Gamer am I Feb 22nd 2010 8:08AM
Considering that I can't raid, I gleefully run to any post marked *spoilers*, since if I didn't read them, I'd never know how the stories in the Warcraft universe end.
As for spoiling things for others, I never do it, since I know that I don't enjoy having things spoiled for me at all if I plan on seeing them. My one exception is if the movie is based on actual history; then I consider spoilers open territory, since if they knew their history, they'd know the ending already.
Also, Spoiler Alert!
Snape kills Trinity with Rosebud!
And it turns out they're both Tyler Durden.
Erzfiend Feb 22nd 2010 8:12AM
Snape and Trent Reznor are also the same person.
Also John Cusack.
Julian Feb 22nd 2010 9:31AM
And as it turns out, he is himself - a ghost!
Hendrata Feb 22nd 2010 11:07AM
Ghost of Keyser Soze!!
Bendetta Feb 22nd 2010 6:03PM
http://xkcd.com/109/
Kynreilia Feb 22nd 2010 3:43PM
Epic win at xkcd ref.
Nathanyel Feb 22nd 2010 8:09AM
I always read spoilers, even watched the Fall of the Lich King clip although I initially planned not to (though over the course of the few hours between decision and watching, I had heard/read "yes it's Bolvar" several times already)
But I try to respect others' opinions about spoilers.
Atdt1991 Feb 22nd 2010 10:03AM
You try to respect others opinion about spoilers, yet you leave a spoiler in your comment?
Neirin Feb 22nd 2010 3:36PM
If it's readily available to anyone in-game (I doubt there are many servers where no one has killed the Lich King), it's fair game for comments on WoW.com. It is still a spoiler, but if people told you that there's an Old God in AQ40 and you didn't pay attention to vanilla WoW lore, that'd be a spoiler too. There's a point where you have to accept spoilers if you want to engage with the conversation.
Erzfiend Feb 22nd 2010 8:11AM
The picture made me lol.
Also the only spoiler that every really upset me was SPIKE DIES!
I don't generally WANT to be spoiled, but I just can't help but seek out the knowledge that is so readily available on our wonderful internet.
Squelchy Feb 22nd 2010 8:11AM
Interestingly enough, I had to deal with this on YOUR EPISODE of the wow insider podcast, Anne, as you, Sacco, and Matt gleefully spoiled the Arthas cinematic! Or at least I assume you did. I had to skip ten minutes of it to avoid the possibility.
I hope it won't be much longer. The ten-man group I'm part of cleared the Plagueworks and Blood Wing last night. We shall see...
Grak Feb 22nd 2010 9:17AM
Well you should know that Blizz has already put the Arthas ending spoiler in the middle of Dalaran. If a guild has completed ICC on your server, a big shiny statue of the heroes appears in the middle of Dalaran with a plaque on the front. Clicking the plaque automaticaly drops you into the end cut scene, ala Wrathgate event, which I assume is the cutscene that raiders who complete ICC get to see too.
It was kind of annoying that there was no warning about what I was going to be getting by clicking on the plaque, but I suspect that its part of Blizz not wanting their endgame content only being seen by 2% of the server. Especially as they made such a big deal of shoe-horning Arthas into just about every questline in Northrend, I guess they want everyone to know how it ends;
"Go kill 20 scourgepigs and bring me their snouts.. even though only 1 in every 5 have snouts... and watch out for Arthas, he'll probably jump out and tell you the scourgepig lord is actually his minion and its all part of his plan. And when you get back I'll give you a few coins and this shiny leather hat!"
Reuben Feb 22nd 2010 9:46AM
@Grak
I was wondering what the hell that giant thing was.
AudreyR Feb 22nd 2010 10:30AM
@Grak I think there was more to the decision to put the fountain in than just their view on people seeing content. First of all, the people who won't be able to do the raid still won't see the content by clicking it as it just shows a cinematic.
Secondly, the Lich King/Arthas has been a huge part of Warcraft lore since before Wow; Warcraft III to be specific. Many players who joined the universe then feel that the Lich King/Arthas has been the major pivotal role of the entire experience. It's hard to argue against that fact. Yes, the Burning Legion set it in motion, but it was Arthas's relationship with Sylvanas that shaped her personality and the direction of an entire faction. In fact, around the same time, he helped to inspire a complete about face for another faction; the High/Blood elves. It was Arthas, under the direction of the Lich King who helped to shape several zones. And of course, his actions after Northrend which created the whole who-should-have-Lordaeron arguements that abound on the official forums.
Of course, the Lich King was the grand puppet master, but Arthas was center stage for it all. It's hard to find another character that had as much impact, so far. It makes complete sense for Blizzard to want everyone to know what happens with the Lich King/Arthas storyline, regardless of whether they raid or not.
However, I agree that a pop-up box warning you that they're going to spoil the storyline and asking whether or not you want to watch would be a fantastic addition.
Anne Stickney Feb 22nd 2010 8:06PM
Yes, but we were careful to mention that we were going to be talking about spoilers before we said anything!
jealouspirate Feb 22nd 2010 8:16AM
I actually find that reading "spoilers" online is the best way for me to experience the story the way I want to, without interference.
For example, Wrath launches and I roll a DK to experience all that juicy starting area goodness. Fast forward to the battle at Light's Hope, and there's the amazing conversation between Tirion and the Lich King. There are tons of other players just running all over the place, jumping up and down on top of Tirion, /dancing with the Lich King, /yelling "This is boring let's go gank in Hellfire!" "Wanna duel?", etc. It essentially ruined that moment for me.
Then during the scene where Tirion destroys Arthas' heart, a boomkin tries to gank me.
Unfortunately, the only way I can enjoy a "pure" lore moment is when it's no longer popular or while watching it out of game.
Abyssis Feb 22nd 2010 8:58AM
I completely agree with you on this.
First and only time I ran Black Temple was when I was level 80 and decked out in teir. The Guild I was in at the time used to hold pug raids for the old ones that people may of haven't seen before, two of them was Black Temple and Mount Hyjal. Both I didn't get the chance to raid before the Laugh of Wraith of the Lich King.
When I finally got he chance to run it, the final cut scene both raids, and no body would be quiet in vent even when I asked them to keep it to chat for a minute so I could listen to it. To say the least they pretty much got louder
Reading / Watching spoilers online at least allows me the chance to listen or watch it without interruption
Damien Feb 22nd 2010 4:42PM
Personally, I think we live in an age where pretty much everything is "spoiled". For a recent example - Mass Effect 2. I know so much about Mass Effect 2 that I can actually hold conversations with people about details of the game - and I don't even own an XBox 360. However, there were so many press events, trailers, weapon and vehicle diagrams, character bios, "behind-the-scenes" first looks, developer interviews, and, oh yeah, advertisements, that by the time the game comes out it almost feels like youre REplaying the game, not playing it for the first time.
The best game I have ever experienced playing was actually System Shock 2. I happened to see it on the shelf at an EB Games, liked the box art and the description on the back of the box, and snagged it. Having absolutely no prior knowledge of the game - I'd honestly never even heard of System Shock 1 before I stumbled across the sequel - made the game so much more engrossing. I was paying attention, I was drawn in, I was hooked, by the simple fact that it felt like I couldn't afford to miss anything.
WOW suffers from this spoilerism as well. Why do we need to know that Deathwing is the final boss in Cataclysm almost a year before we can actually play it? Why do we need to know that the allies are getting the Worgen and the Goblins are signing up with the Horde? Rather that looking forward to the "magic of discovery", most players are already theorycrafting which race has the better racials and trying to predict how much HP Deathwing will have based on the level 85 math. Much like someone telling you the end of a movie beforehand, or spilling the beans on a major characters death before you get to it, this kind of foreknowledge robs you of the experience you would have had discovering it on your own. If someone had told ME Aeris died midway through the game, I probably wouldn't have spent so much time working with her as a character, blowing gil on new gear for her, working her Materia to get her set up just right. I would have traded her out for Yuffie or someone I knew was going to make it to the end game, stuffed Aeris in the "not in my party" waiting room, and left her there until her cutscene and "exit-stage-left" moment came.
TL;DR version - foreknowledge sucks. keep it to yourself.