[WikiEN-l] Reflections on the end of the spoiler wars

[Ken Arromdee]

On Mon, 19 Nov 2007, Steve Summit wrote:
> But we've never heard (that I know of) a complaint
> from an end reader saying that the warnings were objectionable,
> nor indeed a complaint from an end reader saying that an un-warned
> spoiler was objectionable.  So we'll probably never know.

Oh, sheesh.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:Spoiler/archive3#Are_spoilers_actually_an_issue.3F


    Spoilers are an issue for me, yes. Here's an example. In episode 11
    of Jericho, the town holds its election for mayor. The outcome of that
    election is an important plot point for the entire series. I have not
    yet seen that episode, but I've already had that plot point spoiled for
    me, because someone decided that Template:Jerichonav should display the
    identity of the mayor. This template appears in every Wikipedia article
    related to the show, so the only way to avoid seeing the spoiler is to
    not use Wikipedia to read about Jericho. Pat Berry 03:30, 29 December 2006
    (UTC)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:Spoiler/archive4#Zero_Documented_Complaints.3F

Following the link:

    I personaly made the mistake of reading the ending on this article when
    I did not want to, and while one could argue that I was simply careless
    or stupid, I ask, if saying that a section of the article is about the
    story is enough of a warning, why is there a spoiler warning template
    at all? Why do most other game article use it in an almost identical
    context? Why change the previous policy: is something on Wikipedia
    hurt by a spoiler warning? Is simple, minor (alleged) redundancy such a
    crime if it prevents (what I will call for lack of a better term) injury
    to a reader? I think this needs to be reexamened, and if you do think
    that a spoiler is truly unnessisary, they you should probably remove the
    spoiler warning in all instances of its occurance and perhaps disable the
    template itself. For now I am not personnaly planning to add a spoiler
    warning as I do not want an edit war more than anyone else, but I really
    think it should have one and the subject definately needs evaluation.