Study claims "spoilers don't spoil anything" do you agree?

[falcon the fearless]

Here is the link:
http://www.wired.com/2011/08/spoilers-dont-spoil-anything/

Tell me is it wrong I feel that people who are sensitive about spoilers really are not invested in the story of a game or book in the first place?

[Cake for Mumm-Ra]

"In fact, a new study suggests that spoilers can actually increase our enjoyment of literature."

Though I avoid spoilers, I've often wondered if this is true.

I've finished book 5 of A Song of Ice and Fire, and I've seriously considered not watching the show anymore. A Game of Thrones is very quickly outpacing the book series, and will likely be done before the 7th book is even half finished. Since I much prefer the story as it's told in the books, I don't want to spoil my reading of the series by watching GoT.

That said, there are some considerable differences between the two tellings, and it's kind of fun identifying those descrepancies and discussing them with others. It's as if I get to experience the story twice (because I am) and that really just leads to a fuller sense of immersion into the bigger picture of the story overall. When the TV series reaches it's finale, I'll still have a ton of stuff to look forward to in the books that HBO didn't have time for. When I finally get to read the end of the book series I'll have saved the best for last.

[Ishan451]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย falcon the fearless:

Tell me is it wrong I feel that people who are sensitive about spoilers really are not invested in the story of a game or book in the first place?

Don't think i understand what you are trying to say.

[Cake for Mumm-Ra]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย Ishan451:

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย falcon the fearless:

Tell me is it wrong I feel that people who are sensitive about spoilers really are not invested in the story of a game or book in the first place?

Don't think i understand what you are trying to say.

He's saying that when people are overly cautious about spoilers they likely aren't very invested in the book/game.

I personally don't fully agree with the sentiment because some people really just want to be surprised by the story as it was intended to be read. I can also appreciate that others really don't care what order the story comes in as long as they get to enjoy it the way they want.

[♠ZerØ♠]

No spoiler has ever ruined something I have wanted to watch.

If I go out of my way to watch something, I am invested past the "Spoiler" point, because I want to see the full tale, not some BS jump exposition.

Who the ♥♥♥♥ lets a piece of information ruin a great book, film, game, or TV show?

Prissy ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥, are who.

[Tanya Degurechaff]

new study shows, living kills you

[♠ZerØ♠]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย Touka:

new study shows, living kills you

♥♥♥♥! HOW DO I STOP LIVING....

Oh.. Wait...

Ah hahahaha..

Nearly killed me there...

I see what you did...

[Dat Gumby]

Personally I don't mind too much. I waited to get into Game of Thrones and the internet is all about dropping spoilers, and I still enjoyed every episode.

[Ishan451]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย Cake for Žižek:

He's saying that when people are overly cautious about spoilers they likely aren't very invested in the book/game.

That makes absolutely no sense. Why would someone that isn't interested in a story care about spoilers?

I personally only care about spoilers about something i had an interest in. I quite readily read spoilers and listen to spoilers to anything i am not really interested in. Like movies for example. If i don't really care about the movie i am watching spoiler reviews and such. If i am interested in the movie i even avoid the trailer for possible spoilers.

Why would anyone care about spoilers in something they don't care about?


As for the dubious study conducted with "several dozen undergrad students", that does not only sound very dubious and sketchy, but also makes no sense to me. Some people like to be spoiled, yeah, i get that, and some stuff is good enough that the 'experience' actually is worth the road even if you know the ending. But that doesn't mean that spoilers can't ruin a part of the story.


And that test does not cover something these people were interested in, in the first place. If that study had been conducted among the weirdos that stand outside in the cold for 2-3 days just to get book xy at the first possible opportunities... then maybe there would have been some merit. But showing a bunch of short stories to undergrads that do it because they get 15 bucks for reading 9 short stories for a study, hardly qualify as someone that cares about the source material. So why would they care if they got a spoiler or not?


If i am reading a murder mystery, i do so because i want to see the mystery unfold. Not because i want to know who the killer was. If i get a reading assignment that tells me i should read that murder mystery, then it makes no difference to me if i am told that the buttler is the murderer.

[Midnight Sky ✨🌙✨]

The point of this article seems to be that people like trying to guess what will happen next and that guessing wrong disappoints people. This may just be me, but I don't concern myself with what happens next. I'd rather focus on what's happening now. It's like a surprise birthday party, it's a fun surprise you weren't thinking about what you'll see when you open your front door. I don't think that's the best example, but you see where I'm going with this.

Now sure, sometimes a thought about what may happen next will come along, but I'm not trying to anticipate what's around the corner, so I don't care if I'm wrong. It's like if someone you don't like but put up with tells you to guess what. You'll guess, but if you're wrong, you won't give a ♥♥♥♥.

There are also some stories that depend on surprises and are ruined by spoilers. A couple examples being Spec Ops: The Line and Puella Magi Madoka Magica. Though, in the latter's case, it only ruins the first part of the series.

The article also argues that knowing the character's fate makes you appreciate the build up more. It's a valid argument. I still felt sad when John Marston died at the end of Red Dead Redemption. But on the other hand, knowing that the player character is Darth Revan in Knights of the Old Republic pretty much ruined the game for me. I didn't like the gameplay at all and didn't find myself enjoying the story once I knew where it was going.

So perhaps knowing somethings in advance may not ruin your enjoyment, just look at any prologue staring new characters. But some stories rely on shock value or setting an expectation for what the story will do then crushing that expectation. Knowing the surprise can ruin the experience since the story may not always have much else going for it when you take away that twist.

Besides, I think it's fun to go through a story a second time and see all the foreshadowing you missed the first time.

[Dendrobates Tinctorius]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย Ishan451:

As for the dubious study conducted with "several dozen undergrad students",

The study from the OP had over 800 students.

There does seem to be some sort of fight between them and another group who couldn't replicate it, though:
http://psycnet.apa.org/psycinfo/2015-10440-001/

So maybe some people find spoilers fun for some things but maybe other people don't.

[76561198108327066]

I watched Terminator: Genisys recently knowing the main plot spoiler

Before going to the movie theater, I watched
Angry Joe's Review
AngryJoe's Spoiler Review
Angry Video Game Nerd's review with spoilers

Neither of those spoiler reviews covered everything in the movie. During the movie I was still guessing, oooh this will happen or will this happen, the movie could have gone in so many directions, all the spoilers I received didn't cover the range of possibilities. Spoilers did not affect my enjoyment of Terminator: Genisys.

-------------------------------------
Now here is where I disagree with Wired.
I watched a Let's play series for Mass Effect 3. I watched the entire Let's Play series from start to game ending finish.
I have no desire to play Mass Effect 3 now, but I won't know if spoiling ME3 affects my video game experience until I actually attempt playing Mass Effect 3. (does this make sense?)

I'd have to try playing ME3 before I can find out if the spoiler (watching the whole game) affects my enjoyment of the game.

-------------------------------------

In fact, a new study suggests that spoilers can actually increase our enjoyment of literature.

That's actually true in my experience. After watching seasons 1 and two of Game of Thrones I went back and read the first two books. I enjoyed reading from start to finish, even knowing what happened but the visual spoiler, having an actor cast in role spoiled my imagination reading the book. That character forever looked like the person cast in the tv show.

[Those Who Dig]

I suppose different people have different reactions to spoilers. They don't bother me too much; I'd rather not know the ending, but if I'm told about it, I won't disregard the film/show/book. I haven't read the article in the original post, but I suppose that supporting the claim is the fact that many people - myself included - read a book after seeing its film; I recently read 'Marathon Man', 'The Godfather' and 'Cool Hand Luke', and I knew the ending and major developments in each of those books due to seeing the films. I still enjoyed all three books greatly.