To Spoil Yourself or Not to Spoil

[Pound Foolish]

Take your choice, adventurous stranger
Click the spoiler, and bide the danger
Or wonder till it drives you mad
What would have happened if you had

Another album is coming and, as usual, I have steeled myself against all spoilery... ah, but will it last? So far I've avoided reading the album summary. But any time I may come upon it again in a podcast, or the aio wiki, and then. Ah yes, then.

Do you try to avoid spoilers? And when you do, are you generally successful? When trying to avoid spoilers, do you ever skim conversations on the album just the same, and trust to your spoiler avoidance instinct? If you are one of those who adore spoilers, please do explain for us non spoiler people. Your behavior is a great mystery to us.

Let's talk it up! Oh, it always feels so good to say that.

[HomeschoolCowgirl]

Beautiful use of The Magician's Nephew quote!!

I avoid spoilers to future episodes like the plague. Though it's quite fun to read the "new, exciting" spoilers of past episodes/albums.

[The Old Judge]

I recognized that quote, too, PF. The bell in Charn's Hall of Statues that awakens Jadis. Bravo on your creativity.

I look at spoilers. Yes, I'm a terrible person, I know. My reasoning (which was actually affirmed fr me by an Audio Theatre Central article several years ago) is that if the story is well-crafted enough, the impact of the content contained in the spoiler will be just as meaningful whether or not you know beforehand. On a personal level, I am very forgetful, and won't remember that I had the heads-up until after said scene is over.

A Christmas carol, written in an archaic style. This is partially because the tune dates back to the late sixteenth century. (1924)

[SirWhit]

I do kind of like spoilers. But only in small doses, and nothing plot-essential.

One time, I accidentally looked up Doctor Who before I watched the season finale and a huuuuuge reveal never again.

[Doll]

I enjoy spoiling myself about AIO, but other things, not so much. I like teasers, and I like trailers, but I also like not knowing major plot points.

My suitemate hates spoilers or teasers or trailers of any kind, so I have to be really careful not to spoil any of her shows (or potential shows), because she likes to experience them for herself.

[Blitz]

Hmm, I like to spoil, a lot. I do it with books more so than Odyssey though. I'm not keeping up with Odyssey any way. I do like to read the spoilers on here.

[Pound Foolish]

I enjoy spoiling myself about AIO, but other things, not so much. I like teasers, and I like trailers, but I also like not knowing major plot points.

Same here. When they have teasers on Whit's End, I don't usually skip them. They don't tend to give away much, they just tantalize you.

As for movies, it depends. If I'm not sure I want to see it, I'll maybe watch a trailer or two. With Inside Out, I just saw the first teaser and was like, "Okay, this is going to be Pixar hitting it out of the park. I'm good." And I'm glad I did so I experienced the lava, Joy and Sadness getting sucked into the memory tube, and what not during the film.

[Audrey]

I tend to not listen to AIO as much anymore *hides* but I do want to know what's going on, so I read spoilers like nobody's business. Saves me some time and $$. xD Even though I still want to hear the album, I swear!

[TigerShadow]

Firstly: I do love the poem at the beginning. Excellent use of literary reference.

Secondly: ...yeah, I admit it, I spoil myself a lot. Not on things that I'm really looking forward to (such as the new Gravity Falls, which I always wait to find out about until after the episode goes up on iTunes), but if I'm not interested enough in it to buy it and find out for myself but still want to know what happens, I find the spoilers online. I suppose that it comes down to how invested I am in the story. So with these last few albums, I haven't really been too invested in Penny and Wooton's love story, so I'm okay with spoiling myself on what happens.

[Blitz]

I tend to not listen to AIO as much anymore *hides* but I do want to know what's going on, so I read spoilers like nobody's business. Saves me some time and $$. xD Even though I still want to hear the album, I swear!

I second this...

[Novatom]

I don't like when I see a spoiler, because it is so hard to resist the temptation of looking at it. It drives me mad and I read them every time.

[SirWhit]

Haha agreed!

@Audrey Yeah, I'm like that a lot too. Except with movies and stuff that people keep talking about, I just look them up on wikipedia to see what the heck they're on about

[The Old Judge]

Does this situation bother anyone else?

You're scrolling through a topic. It's about the new Odyssey album or some crazy thing that happened therein. Your eyes grow big and you get chills as you read these exciting plot points. Then you get to some twelve-year-old's post that goes something like this:

OH MY WORD GUYS! i just could not believe whats happening. I mean are you serious. And then when Wooten got down on one knee and proposed....

Let's take a minute. Already there are several main problems. Allow me to show you what is a problem to us moderators:

1). An all-caps sentence.
2). Lack of all punctuation whatsoever.
3). The immature sound of the sentences. Now, to any twelve year olds on here that are about to cry, this is not so much an insult. It will come with time and experience in putting your thoughts down on paper. But you must remember: Your posts are to contribute to the conversation. Every single sentence or fragment in that quoted post was disjointed and did not contribute to the overall conversation.

Then we get to the spoiler. I don't know about the rest of you, but I've already lost almost all respect for Random Twelve Year Old at this point. You never know, though. There could be a diamond in the rough of information on the new album. I click on it, and this is what I see:

he asked Penny to marry him.

Does this bother anyone else on here, or am I the only one that's noticed it? I would like your opinions.

Gene Kelly, 1952. (1929)

[Miss Friendship]

Amen. I agree completely. This is annoying, and I have noticed it.

However, I think there are some things to consider. I was 12 once upon a time. This would be a worse case scenario if this person was 16. And you really can't make that person post something worth reading overnight. So maybe we should lean toward the side of encouraging better posting habits, instead of a full out rebuke which can be damaging especially to the sensitive. They want to engage in the discussions just like anyone else, and hopefully in time, they will improve. So #mercy

Also, I use bold caps sometimes. Is any allowed? I thought it was a post with all bold caps that is forbidden.

[TigerShadow]

Also, I use bold caps sometimes. Is any allowed? I thought it was a post with all bold caps that is forbidden.

No, a post that uses caps lock is not, in and of itself, against the rules. Here is what the Soda Shop Rules and Guidelines has to say on the matter:

Abusing the caps lock
WHEN YOU TALK LIKE THIS YOU LOOK LIKE YOU'RE YELLING AND IT ISN'T VERY FRIENDLY AND IS INSTEAD SPAMMY. So please keep writing in all caps to a minimum.

Writing in all caps is not categorically condemned; it's if you do so throughout an entire post and have nothing worthwhile to say that it's considered a problem. Posting one sentence in all caps because you're excited and then elaborating in normal case font is fine; aggressively smashing keys and writing an entire post in all capital letters that otherwise has little to no worthwhile content is not.

[The Old Judge]

Actually, Miss Friendship, if you take a gander at our illustrious Soda Shop Rules and Guidelines, written by the Founder, Mr. Isom himself, you will find this subsection:

Abusing the caps lock
WHEN YOU TALK LIKE THIS YOU LOOK LIKE YOU'RE YELLING AND IT ISN'T VERY FRIENDLY AND IS INSTEAD SPAMMY. So please keep writing in all caps to a minimum.

Now, we typically let one-time offenses slide. However, we have had users that have constantly done it, and it gets old rather hurriedly.

Secondly, I did not write this for the purpose of damaging the feelings of "sensitive" people. I am quite careful of what I say (one reason you will not see me in debates), and this was meant to provide a little bit of humor among the veteran members of the board in reference to the discussion on spoilers.

The moderators' job is not to play grammar teacher, nor to infringe upon the First Amendment rights of the members. We welcome everyone of all ages on to the Soda Shop; and you may say whatever you want, however you want (so long as it does not violate any previous rules). However, this particular instance not only breaks rules but diminishes the chance of fostering mature conversation. This is not to offend, this is an iteration of rules. If you took this wrong, Miss Friendship, I apologize.

A blues song referencing one who shaves the hide off of a donkey. (1930)

[Miss Friendship]

If you took this wrong, Miss Friendship, I apologize

I don't think I did. In fact, your post did make me laugh, but I realized you had a valid point which was why I commented. I completely agreed with what you said, and was just making sure there was a right attitude toward the youngers. And your post did not come across to me as insensitive in any way.

[Bananareader]

I just spoil movies by watching all the trailers for a movie I want to see, I try to avoid reading any spoilers for Adventures in Odyssey,except I did accidentally read one on here that spoiled that it was

Olivia losin her faith arc and not Emily Jones

. I also try to avoid spoilers in books . But I enjoy watching trailers for movies that I want to see except when their shown in theatres, because then I just want to see the movie that I came to watch.

[Polehaus53]

Very interesting topic to think about. Personally, when it comes to spoilers for me, there are two things which determine whether I will click the spoiler or if I will wonder and allow it to drive me mad (and although it has already been said years ago, I must commend Pound Foolish for the excellent Narnia reference, I approve! ): The first thing is how much I care, and the second thing is how detailed the spoiler is. Allow me to break this down.

First, as I said, it depends on how much I care about the media that is being spoiled. For most movies I watch, unless it’s something I’ve been looking forward to, I usually don’t mind spoilers. But since I have a greater interest in AIO, I do have standards of what spoilers I want to see. Which leads me to my second preference about spoilers.

Second of all, it depends how detailed the spoiler is. If it’s an extreme plot detail, then I would be very annoyed if I encountered one. If it’s a small detail or an abstract, vague, hint about the plot, then I wouldn’t mind and would actually look at such spoilers. Which follows from my first point: How much I care.
If it is a spoiler for an episode I am not particularly looking forward to, then I don’t mind looking at spoilers, regardless of how detailed it is. But if it is an episode I am looking forward to, then I avoid all detailed spoilers at all costs.

A real-life example of this happened to me some years ago. Back in 2017, Album 63: Up in The Air was accidentally fully released on the Adventures in Odyssey Club before its set date. It was quickly removed, but a lot of people listened to it all, and before long, full, detailed plot summaries for some of the episodes made their way to AIOWiki. Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to listen to the album before the goof was fixed. So, I had a choice to make. I could click the spoilers, read the summaries and be completely spoiled, or I could wait and enjoy the episodes for myself. Well, the episodes that I was most looking forward to were “Find A Penny” and “Crash Course”, so I avoided reading the summaries for those episodes. However, for some reason I had no particular interest in “Friend or Foe” (looking back, I’m very surprised that I didn’t and am trying to recall what my reasoning for that was ), so I went ahead and read it all and got completely spoiled, not minding very much.

So, overall, spoiling myself is really depending on how big the spoiler is and how important I consider the episode to be.
The upcoming Album 73: 28 Hours, scheduled to release in the AIO Club later this month, is an album I have been looking forward to, so I will undoubtedly be avoiding spoilers for that and will be very irritated if I run into any major plot-specific ruin-the-ending spoilers before I hear the episodes. However, if there were plot summaries available for the remaining Club-exclusive episodes set to release in the AIO Club this year, then I would consider reading them. Again, it would depend on what I have the most interest in.

[ASmouseInTheHouse]

Well, this has always been a controversial topic amongst us.

Actually, now that I think about it, the only reason I have ever been spoiled (intentionally or not) in AIO is because we were not in the Club.

This is because Club members get to hear the new albums months before the non-Clubbers. And if you spend any time on AIO websites after the album is released on the club, you will find those spoilers. Usually, they are confined to pages about the album/episodes. Those are easy to avoid. However, I found spoilers in places I didn't expect: the comments on posts entirely unrelated to the new album and fanfiction that casually mentioned the events of the new episodes.
Upon finding the spoilers, I was faced with the choice of whether or not to continue reading them. Most of the time, I did continue, because I was really impatient and wanted to know something about what was going on.
Best example was when Album 66 debuted in the Club on December 13th, 2018. The radio airdate was March 30th, 2019. Because this was an album of such importance to the Green Ring Conspiracy (my favorite saga), nearly all the online fans were talking about it. For three months. Everywhere. I honestly didn't regret reading the spoilers. The spoilers, in a way, sustained me through the long wait time.

So, I guess my point is that if I wasn't in the Club, I wouldn't mind intentionally reading little 'teaser' spoilers about the new albums. I would avoid the really obvious places that would have spoilers, but if I came across spoilers in an unexpected place, I would probably read them...