Forum:Protection against spoilers

Forums: Index → Proposals → Protection against spoilers

This is a closed discussion about a failed proposed change on SmashWiki. It remains for archival purposes. The closing administrator adds: "in direct conflict with another policy."

Smash references a lot of things. Because this wiki was made to document those things, mentioning specific plot details in articles is inevitable. A random person who may not know what something is could accidently be spoiled, which is never fun. I think a way to initially block those spoilers would be greatly beneficial. I've seen many other wikis have potential spoilers hidden behind a button that that can be pressed to reveal what was hidden. Below you can support, oppose, and give any other ideas that can be implemented.The Other Jared (talk) 18:41, January 3, 2021 (EST)

Oppose

1. Too many of Smash's spoilers are unavoidable - that Sheik is Zelda, that Lucina is not Marth, that Mecha-Fiora exists, etc. are all inherently spoiled even just in normal gameplay, let alone things like trophy descriptions. Trying to filter out spoilers is next to impossible in the context of Smash. See SW:SPOIL. Miles (talk) 18:59, January 3, 2021 (EST)
2. Those many other wikis you reference are generally dedicated to a single franchise or series. Smash obviously is not. And many of the so-called 'spoilers' are common parlance these days. For those that aren't, it would be highly impractical to mask such spoilers in articles. The best we could probably do is a warning flag at the header of certain character pages, and that's still a long way off from what you are proposing. Black Vulpine of the 🦊Furry Nation🐺. Furries make the internets go! :3 19:06, January 3, 2021 (EST)
   • Another point. The Smash games themselves generally do not take steps to protect players from spoilers from the characters in the series referenced therein. To put it crudely, why should we take steps to prevent spoilers when the very games we cover do not? Black Vulpine of the 🦊Furry Nation🐺. Furries make the internets go! :3 19:11, January 3, 2021 (EST)
3. Smash threw any care it had for spoilers out the door when Melee released, shown front and center with the character of Zelda. Why should we be any different? Aidan, the Celebratory Rurouni 21:43, January 3, 2021 (EST)
4. Most wikis as a whole are not spoiler safe. Gaming wikis are supposed to detail everything such as plot details and stuff. You'll find spoilers everywhere, including across the NIWA, there's basically no way we can completely blocked out like you want. One suggestion is most wikis I visit do have a spoiler tag at the top of the sections, which I wouldn't be opposed to implementing that, but completely doing away with spoilers is a no go from me. Omegα Toαd, the Toαd Wαrrior. (BUP) 00:30, January 4, 2021 (EST)
   • Another thing I forgot to mention is that Smash games have been spoiling stuff since Melee's opening, likwShiek being Zelda. So what's the point of us trying to hide spoilers when Smash itself doesn't care? Omegα Toαd, the Toαd Wαrrior. (BUP) 00:35, January 4, 2021 (EST)
5. SW:SPOILER already covers why we don't do that. Additionally, what would be the definition of spoiler? Does Mario defeating Bowser would count as a spoiler, and thus should be censored? What about older games? It seems silly to put e.g. FE3H and FFVII events as equal, and I think more people are more aware of the plot of the latter one. Superbound (talk) 03:43, January 4, 2021 (EST)
6. Uh, no? Take a look at SW:SPOILER. Awesomelink234, the Super Cool Gamer (talk) 13:37, January 4, 2021 (EST)

Other Ideas

"I've seen many other wikis have potential spoilers hidden behind a button that that can be pressed to reveal what was hidden." Can you say which wikis exactly are you talking about? Superbound (talk) 03:43, January 4, 2021 (EST)

I think we can probably close this now, it’s been a month since anything happened here. Black Vulpine of the 🦊Furry Nation🐺. Furries make the internets go! :3 18:28, February 3, 2021 (EST)