Forum:Mass Spoilers

Hello everyone,

I realize I'm a new member, but I've been using MA as a reference for a long time and it wasn't until I started watching DS9 and reading MA articles about each episode as I went along that I felt I had a reason to make an account here.

Am I the only one who doesn't appreciate that there are spoilers in many of the pages for each episode? Often this comes in the form of a quote from the Companion to the series of your choice. For example, I was watching season 7 of DS9 and read an article on an episode and there was something in said article that gave away a huge plot development about Odo. I would have simply found that article's talk page, but this isn't just about one article, it's a trend. Perhaps I am ignorant of how things work around here, but I really felt like I have appreciated episodes more when I read an article about it after watching. There's so much more information that perhaps I missed while I was watching it, and then I get all this background information on the episode that is very insightful. Unfortunately, there were some really massive spoilers that ruined plot developments I wouldn't have known about if I hadn't been reading the article which corresponded to the episode I was watching.

Care to illuminate the subject?


 * Information from episodes and films which have already been released to the public are not considered spoilers on Memory Alpha. We certainly do not consider episodes which aired over ten years ago to contain any spoilers. I feel for you, but Memory Alpha is an encyclopedia, and as such, it contains articles which can and will reference related subjects. The episode articles are not intended to be reviews designed to keep certain information hidden to avoid spoiler; they are there to provide any information relevant to that episode, its plot, its characters, etc. -- just like any other encyclopedia article. As an encyclopedia, it really wouldn't be right to remove or exclude information in an article just because it may be a spoiler for some viewers. Also, everything on this site could be considered spoilers; we cannot have spoiler warnings on every single page. Sorry. :( For more information, though, please see our . --From Andoria with Love 21:22, April 17, 2010 (UTC)


 * Well, to be fair, on a couple of DS9 pages, we've decided to remove spoiler notes, not so much as they spoiled but because they unnecessarily did so - some noted later events that really had nothing to do with the episode at hand.


 * But in this case, assuming Veritas De Facto is referring to the second note on (if not, don't read that page lol!), the episode was specifically designed with the later plot development in mind, so it is perfectly appropriate to have it on the page. It's an unfortunate reality De Facto; I was also spoiled about something in the seventh season of DS9 (concerning a recurring character) in an earlier DS9 page.– Cleanse ( talk 01:28, April 18, 2010 (UTC)


 * I agree that if the notes are unnecessary, they should be removed. I'm saying we can't remove relevant information just because they are spoilers. De Facto, if you feel there is unnecessary spoilers within a page – meaning that they don't relate at all to the episode in question – please feel free to bring them up on that article's talk page. :) --From Andoria with Love 02:53, April 18, 2010 (UTC)

A good general idea is to watch the episode then read up on it here afterwards. Like stated above, some of DS9's episodes are 10 years old and a post here about them can hardly be a spoiler. Personally I'll never read up on an episode I've yet to see on MA due to that fact. Spoiler warnings should be reserved for very new content like the upcoming sequel to 2009's which some folks might not have seen prior to someone posting about it on Memory Alpha. Mikeofborg 11:47, February 13, 2011 (UTC)