How far into a series does something have to be for it to be a spoiler? The original Full Metal Alchemist made a big deal about the revelation of his automail, but it's at the end of the first episode and nobody can seriously call it a spoiler worth tagging at that point. The tag for Madoka Magica seems to be mostly a shorthand for it being set in the Rebellion timeline, but can you really mark that on the series itself? At some point it's on the reader to understand they're going to be spoiled, possibly on big plot points, on works that came out after the parts you haven't seen/read.

Polycell posted:

How far into a series does something have to be for it to be a spoiler? The original Full Metal Alchemist made a big deal about the revelation of his automail, but it's at the end of the first episode and nobody can seriously call it a spoiler worth tagging at that point. The tag for Madoka Magica seems to be mostly a shorthand for it being set in the Rebellion timeline, but can you really mark that on the series itself? At some point it's on the reader to understand they're going to be spoiled, possibly on big plot points, on works that came out after the parts you haven't seen/read.

If it's a major reveal then it should be spoilered. Something like the Mami death thing is intended to be a big deal in the story so it should be spoilered. Ed's automail isn't a huge deal for the most part, especially since it's revealed so early on. The big issue with things like Madoka is that something like the Mami deal would be tagged the same way as a Rebellion spoiler which can cause confusion to someone trying to avoid one kind of spoiler but not the other.

Okay, but ... how many doujins would not be spoiler? I appreciate the arguments being made in favour of the tag, but it seems like they would cover most doujins. I mean, the big reveal when you get to the end of EoSD is that the person responsible for the scarlet mist incident is a vampire named Remillia Scarlet, and spoiler-proofing that felt a little bit ridiculous.

Cyfer posted:

Okay, but ... how many doujins would not be spoiler? I appreciate the arguments being made in favour of the tag, but it seems like they would cover most doujins. I mean, the big reveal when you get to the end of EoSD is that the person responsible for the scarlet mist incident is a vampire named Remillia Scarlet, and spoiler-proofing that felt a little bit ridiculous.

The existence of a character doesn't really seem like a spoiler for a series where there's like hundreds of different characters, at least in my opinion. When it comes to a character's existence I'd consider it a spoiler only if it's their actual identity that's a spoiler. For example (Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood spoilers) King Bradley being the homunculus Wrath or Selim Bradley being the homunculus Pride would both be spoilers. But the existence of either character is not in itself a spoiler.

Yeah Polycell and Cyfer, those are some of the big issues with it. Things that were a big surprise/secret to the fandom at first are no longer, and if you're going into these works, you should probably have some basic knowledge of the source.

It's a curious thing, tagging a Mami x Nagisa doujin as spoilers. If you don't know who Nagisa is, why read it? If you know who she is, it's not a spoiler.

Yeah Polycell and Cyfer, those are some of the big issues with it. Things that were a big surprise/secret to the fandom at first are no longer, and if you're going into these works, you should probably have some basic knowledge of the source.

It's a curious thing, tagging a Mami x Nagisa doujin as spoilers. If you don't know who Nagisa is, why read it? If you know who she is, it's not a spoiler.

Personally I read a lot of doujins about series I end up watching or reading later (Saki, Bodacious Space Pirates, Love Live!, Strike Witches, etc.) and some I have no plans to ever watch (Madoka, Love Live Sunshine!!, etc.), and I'm fully aware there are spoilers. It's the risk you take. Although curious thing, aside from a couple of elements (Mami's death in Madoka, or the "little bird crisis" in Love Live!), most doujins don't really talk all that much about events in the series they're from. Usually they just take the characters and have them do stuff that's irrelevant to the main plot, like going on dates or doing original plots. So to be fair, aside from that stuff (which for older series is already spoiled a million times on message boards anyway) there's actually not that much danger to doujin readers.

As far as I'm concerned, spoilers should be left to major events in currently airing/publishing work and things that aren't available in English yet (given we're an anglo site), and maybe a few months to a year after. Following that, putting spoiler tags on doujins already on the site would be kind of pointless.

i dont see why spoiler tags should be removed or have a time limit. a spoiler is a spoiler, no matter how much time has passed. you cant just assume that everyone has already seen something. there are only negatives that come with removing the spoiler tag. it wont affect the people that have already seen or dont care about the series, but there will always be that group of people that havent watched the show yet.

Usually they just take the characters and have them do stuff that's irrelevant to the main plot, like going on dates or doing original plots. So to be fair, aside from that stuff (which for older series is already spoiled a million times on message boards anyway) there's actually not that much danger to doujin readers.

this is why i read doujins for series i havent watched. it gives me a taste of the series without having to spend money or sit down for 30+ minutes to see if i like something. i really appreciate those spoiler tags if some doujin makes me want to watch the anime.

and thank god for all those Madoka and Yuki Yuna doujins that are marked for spoilers.

last edited at Feb 10, 2017 4:06AM

Okay, but am I the only one feeling that the spoilers tag is actually what spoils it sometimes? I am talking about images here, not doujins.

Like, I've never heard of a show, so it just seems like a cute picture. But then I see the tag, so I come to think, oh this is from something that happened in the show...?
Bam! Spoiled.

I don't even know how many times this has happened to me when I browse through the images. Usually I don't mind, since it's from shows/games I'm not familiar or interested in. But there definitely have been instances where, for example, I had watched the anime but hadn't read the manga, so I hadn't reached that part yet.
(Talking about that Nobara x Maki image here...)

I do think it can be a useful tag, but I don't understand its purpose on images. It's not like I can see the tags before I look at the picture to avoid getting spoiled anyway... So I'd rather not know that I was spoiled hahaha

RadiosAreObsolete posted:

Okay, but am I the only one feeling that the spoilers tag is actually what spoils it sometimes? I am talking about images here, not doujins.

Yeah, I feel that. Even though I'd include doujins at times. You can hover over an image to see the tags before clicking on it, but in any case I'll mention this to the relevant parties, thanks.

You can hover over an image to see the tags before clicking on it

Ah right, I forget that you can do that. I mostly use android devices on this site, so it's kind of a pain to try and do that on every image.