From: "Steve Bennett"
<stevagewp(a)gmail.com>
This is so simple. Read the back of a DVD cover. Read a movie review
in the paper. Read the blurb of a book. All contain a rough outline of
the plot. They don't mention:
a) What the outcome of the major plot climax is.
b) Any secrets that change your understanding of the story, but that
are only revealed at the end.
c) The deaths of any major characters that take place late in the
story.
What's hard to get about that?
Now, I'm not even suggesting that Wikipedia avoid mentioning these.
But it's so incredibly easy to use spoiler tags judiciously. This
wilful ignorance to understand is quite annoying.
Example:
==Plot summary==
In the story, John marries Susan, but they are separated as he is sent
to war.<more plot describing his antics in the war, the adventures he
gets up to etc >
{{spoiler}}
Ultimately, John's leg is blown off and he returns an amputee, only to
find that Susan has married his brother.
{{end-spoiler}}
==Some other section==
It's not complicated. It's not a slippery slope. Can we drop the
childish attitude please?
Very well said. Hear, hear!
I have two things to add. First, spoiler warnings are only
appropriate in the case of storylines that are reasonably _current,_
so that there is a reasonable probability that the plot twist is not
already well known. It would be absurd to have
Della sells her hair to buy a watch chain for Jim.
{{spoiler}}
But, meanwhile, unknown to Della, Jim has already sold his watch to
buy jewelled combs for Della's hair!!!!!!
{{end-spoiler}}
Second, if something is so surprising, so current, and would be such
a spoiler that a warning is actually needed, some mechanism for
hiding the text is needed as well. It's just absurd to suppose that
readers who does _not_ want to have the story spoiled will be able to
avoid glancing at perfectly visible text.
IMPORTANT: *Please* do not read any further in this posting. Really.
I mean it. I'm absolutely serious. Look, I'm even putting some
"spoiler space" here, like they do in alt.puzzle. Just stop here.
Please.
Snape kills Dumbledore.