[WikiEN-l] {{spoiler}} vs. writing a goddamn encyclopedia

[MacGyverMagic/Mgm]

On 5/15/07, Todd Allen <toddmallen at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Steve Bennett wrote:
> > On 5/15/07, doc <doc.wikipedia at ntlworld.com> wrote:
> >
> >> Much easier to delete {{spoiler}} and write an encyclopedia. What next?
> >>
> >
> > If, of course, it's easier to piss off your readers and alienate your
> > editors. I mean, it's always "easier" if everyone just does what you
> > want, isn't it?
> >
> > Steve
> >
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> >
> >
> Why would anyone go to an encyclopedia, which covers literary works
> in-depth and as a whole, and not expect to have it "spoiled"? If I went
> to an encyclopedia and found that only part of a work had been covered
> in the interest of avoiding "spoilers", I'd be pissed off! If I'm
> looking up encyclopedia coverage of a work, I expect to see a discussion
> of every important aspect of that work, and generally the climax and
> ending are critically important to a work. If I want to see a work of
> fiction "unspoiled", here's a thought-I read/watch it before I go
> digging for information on it!


But if you have no idea where the spoiler is located in the article, you
can't look up anything about the work until after you finished because you
could have it spoiled otherwise.

Mgm