I consider myself a person fairly sensitive to spoilers, I typically don't even read the back of a book if I know I'll be reading the book anyways. I think one of the reasons I feel this way is because of how much I enjoy the process of discovery; As a book unfolds I love to theorize as to what's going on and/or what might happen next. I love feeling smart when I predict something right, and even more so I love feeling like the author is smart when they have an awesome reveal that never came close to crossing my mind. When something gets spoiled for me I feel like a big portion of my reading (or watching, or playing) experience gets taken away. I don't think that's ever stopped me from engaging with something I liked (and the idea that there are people who won't read something because it's been spoiled seems a bit wild to me), but it's definitely made me feel very sad when it's happened before. Specifically regarding the Cosmere, I actually remember where I was and how I felt (though ironically not which book I was reading) when I was reading an Ars Arcanum and the narrator describing the magic system from the book mentioned the magic system of a different book, thus revealing to me for the first time that all of these books I had been reading were in a shared universe. It was an unbelievable feeling of recontextualizing so many things all at once, and moments like that are so special that I do what I can to preserve them. All that being said, I would never watch a channel like yours if I wasn't caught up on the Cosmere, so anyone who isn't and who does (and get mad at you) really only has themselves to blame. Keep making awesome vids!
This is an interesting topic. I'm almost unspoilable. I pretty much agree with the study you cite. I often read the wikipedia plot summary of books and movies before I consume a piece of media because there are certain things I know I won't like. One of my favorite shows right now is house of the dragon which has an ending which is inherently spoiled because it's a prequel. On top of that I have read the book so I already know what is going to happen. It doesn't prevent me from wanting to watch the show. I often reread/rewatch things as well. I would never expect people to not talk about some media around me just because I haven't experienced it. I have always found all the tip towing online around people that don't want to be spoiled kind of annoying. In some ways the fact that something is a story already tells you what is going to happen. You can normally pick out the hero, love interest, and general plot of a story really quickly anyways. I guess the only caveat would be for something that is a mystery story. With those the whole point is that you are trying to guess what happens. Other than that I don't care about spoilers and in fact I sometimes want details of a story before I decide to invest time in it.
12:23 Liked and subscribed for that, lol. Stared to watch the pre Murtagh video, but when I saw that you suggested watching this video, I decided to watch this first
Just tonight, I pulled up a "spoiler free" review of John Wick 4 and turned it off in frustration because they described a specific action set piece in vivd detail. For something like John Wick, that's the main appeal of the series, and describing those things in detail is a spoiler in my mind, but likely wouldn't be for another series.
Great video, though one thing missed is the reason a lot of folks hate spoilers in the first place: they spoil the mystery! A lot of the fun of experiencing a piece of media for the first time can be about exploring all of the mysteries it contains and unveiling them and maybe even working them out for yourself. I would say having a spoiler expiration date doesn't entirely work as it's impossible for people to experience all they want to experience within 30 years of its existence, especially when you consider people being born too late to reach that cut-off date or maybe getting into a new genre they haven't explored much. For example, I've been getting into horror more the past couple years and am only just seeing some of the absolute classics. Yeah, some things were spoiled, Psycho, for instance I found less enjoyable because I was already a little put off by the age anyway, but not having the mystery and the twist to experience cus I already knew it, I just.. meh. You know? For some things, there's no helping it. Just figured I'd share a different view! Nice channel.
These are some very helpful observations, thank you! Since nobody really saw this video (and my views on spoilers have evolved since I wrote this piece), I may be re exploring the topic again sometime within the next year or so.
Arieth dies in og ff7, Shiek is Zelda, Darth Vader is Luke’s Father, The one ring gets destroyed, Robin Hood steals from the rich, Narnia is an allegory for heaven, Eddard Stark is executed. Sorry for spoiling it for you. :P oh and two more. Mario beats Bowser. Laughter is more powerful than screams.
I can attest that the Fanderson can be a little to zealous about what they consider a spoiler. I had very lengthy arguments with people who argue that the ABBREVIATION of SP1's title is a spoiler. Even if people who have no clue what each of the letters in that abbreviation stand for. Then I had another lengthy argument with people who think the MERCH from the swag boxes ARE ALSO SPOILERS
We have had conversations about this topic as well! Some of us react to lore spoilers adversely, while others find it harder to pick up those details while watching, reading, or playing something. Videos like Lore does here help some of us a lot because we may want to read one series but not another, and getting that larger picture of the universe engages us better with the stories!
For me, the most fascinating property of spoilers is the fact that pointing out something is a spoiler by it's own right. It works that way because, without context, someone can ignore an offhanded comment with a spoiler, but saying said comment is a spoiler actually makes people focus more intently on said spoiler. So, to people who are triggered easily by spoilers: Never point out something is a spoiler in a public discussion. Do it in private.
With Sanderson, lore reveals are almost always strategically timed with story beats and sometimes directly effect the plot. So by design many Sanderson fans like to avoid both types of your defined spoilers because it takes away from the mystery along the way.
Spoilers for Stormlight Archive Book 2. People now take for granted the knowledge that Spren are shardblades but that was a lore element secrect for 2 books
It’s interesting: I tend to only want to watch videos that are “full spoilers.” Years ago I realized that I don’t generally enjoy media as much the first time through as I do the second. And with Stormlight specifically, I couldn’t even get through the first third of WoK until I’d been spoiled as to the entire plot. At this point, I almost never spend my time on media that I’m not fully spoiled on the plot and lore aspects, so that I can judge whether it’s of interest to me or not, and so that I can focus on the journey as I engage with it. Which is to say: I’m impatiently aching for someone to spoil not only Stormlight 5 for me, but 6-10, as well!
I tend towards this as well; I always get so, so much more out of a second read, especially with giant fantasy books where you can really appreciate what's happening.
@@LoreoftheWorlds Totally. To wit: I was reading Wheel of Time as it was coming out, but stopped after Lord of Chaos because it was, well, soooo bad! But I kept up with the general plot whenever the detailed synopses appeared online. Once Sanderson finished the series, and I knew what was going to happen, I reread all of them and was able to just work through some of those tough middle books because I knew it was worth it. I guess what I’m saying is that it’s a testament to Sanderson that I’m so engaged with not only Stormlight, but the whole Cosmere, before being spoiled on all of it!
