[worry]

Names were not exactly all you mentioned, for one, and for two, a mention of a character's appearance in a future book, especially books 8 and 9, is an implicit confirmation that they have survived up to that point...that in itself is bad enough that it demands at least the courtesy of spoiler tags.

[Use Of Weapons]

Well, I take your point. I happen to disagree, but I take your point.

[worry]

Well, the point being, using spoiler tags is more like etiquette than self-censorship, so I hope you don't think of it that negatively. You still get to say what you want to say, but there's a safety mechanism because the board serves the spoiler under- and over-sensitive alike, and everyone in between. Know what I mean? You can't necessarily use your own personal sensitivity level and expect it to fit everyone.

[Use Of Weapons]

 jitsukerr, on 18 August 2010 - 11:34 AM, said:

Well, I take your point.

This is probably a wider discussion, but the thread started me wondering if there's been any research on the psychology of concealment and the desire for revelation. I know I've been guilty of opening spoilers and finding out stuff I would most definitely have wished not to know, purely because the spoiler was part of the conversation and I didn't like not knowing what people were talking about. On balance, I come down on the side of immediate gratification rather than delayed surprise. Because, actually, if you don't open a spoiler tag, you'll never know if the impact of the information you receive as you read it warranted it. I guess that's the jeopardy of spoilers.

[worry]

Haha, that's pretty interesting. I'm mostly the opposite, but once in a while I'll run across something where I should have known better, so I gotta smack my forehead.

[champ]

i cannot resist, it's like the moment my brain see's spoilers my finger moves the mouse to click it, even before i can recognise whats happening and shout NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

[HedgeWalker]

 worrywort, on 18 August 2010 - 11:14 AM, said:

Names were not exactly all you mentioned, for one, and for two, a mention of a character's appearance in a future book, especially books 8 and 9, is an implicit confirmation that they have survived up to that point...that in itself is bad enough that it demands at least the courtesy of spoiler tags.

In addition: I'm reading TtH (first time), but that doesn't stop me reading forums for prior books as there are tidbits that have passed me by, and I enjoy the discussions...Therefore, when I read this thread a couple of weeks ago I was in the midst of endgame for RG, the mentioning of characters populating future books was inherently a spoiler...Not massive, but I lost some suspense in the reading all the same...

It is appreciated that reading these forums carries a risk of spoilerage - I'm in agreement with WorryWort that putting spoiler tags around comments that reference any future books minimises the risk for folks who are sensitive.

Good discussion.