Spoilers

Spoilers suck. If I could abolish three things from this world of ours, disease, terrorism and motherfuckin’ spoilers would be the first to go.

I don’t handle being exposed to spoilers well, especially video game spoilers. In fact, I tend to throw a little fit when I’m unwillingly exposed to something I wanted to find out for myself. And by something, I mean a-n-y-t-h-i-n-g. I don’t want to know which characters are joining my party, I don’t want to know their names, I don’t want to know the places I’ll be visiting, I don’t want to know the enemies or the bosses until I experience it for myself. And for the love of God and all that is holy, don’t tell reveal ANYTHING about the storyline. If you accidentally (it better be accidental) spoil a HUGE plot twist I was working towards, I will probably punch you in the face. And if you purposely spoil something, I will kick you in the nuts (or uterus).

I may be a bit overboard and radical, but I am a very story-driven gamer. I play video games for the story and for the characters that make the story. Knowing what lies ahead of me won’t necessarily ruin a game; but when I eventually across that moment myself, I won’t be floored by the revelation. The spoiler will greatly, if not completely, lessen the shock factor.

Let me use a prime example of how a well-known spoiler has been detrimental to my experience with a game. For you those of you that have been living under a rock you best turn back now, because I’m about to spoil a huge plot point of Final Fantasy VII.

Final Fantasy VII is regarded as one of the most memorable games of all time. Why? Honestly, I couldn’t tell you, as I’ve never made it past the second disc. My reasoning for not venturing far is simple, but flawed: In my mind, I think I know what makes this game so memorable. I, like everyone else, know that Aeris croaks. Dies. She kicks the bucket, and while she’s at it, she buys the farm.

Knowing Aeris will eventually become worm fodder muddles my will to play Final Fantasy VII; I’m both curious yet reluctant. Part of me wants to see this infamous dying scene in context, but part another part would rather play a game I know nothing about so I can get that raw experience.

My question to you:

What do you consider to be a spoiler? Do you prefer to know what’s going to happen before you experience it? Was a game ever spoiled for you?

Oh, and please, NO SPOILERS in your response.

;)

12 Comments

  1. I don’t know, man. Spoilers have gotten to the point where everyone is soooo touchy about every little thing.

    I try to avoid major plot spoilers, and I feel like most people respect that sort of thing. Most other stuff… eh. I can take it or leave it. A musical cue is a spoiler now? Someone flipped out hearing about awesome gun in you get level 10? Yyyyeah.

    I’m not in a constant state of amazement about fresh experiences anyway. We’re not that touchy about spoilers in any other form of entertainment. In movie reviews they’ll say, straight up “Their romance is doomed from the beginning” and go on to tell you about how good the movie experience is or isn’t.

    I think if we can free ourselves from fear of spoilers and focus more on the craft of games, we’ll be doing ourselves a collective favor.

    • I think another reason I’m so radical is because I’m ALWAYS running through theories in my head. I like guessing; it’s part of the enjoyment I get out of story-driven games. Now when it comes to games like CoD, I could take it or leave it. I know someone’s going to die, just like every other one.

      And you’re right, I don’t care about plot spoilers in film come to think of it. I think it’s because they don’t immerse me as much as video games do.

  2. I had Final Fantasy VII spoiled for me too, and while I did eventually finish the game, it really didn’t have the same effect on me as it did on seemingly everyone else. I don’t hold it in as high regard as Final Fantasy IX or even X. It’s a little sad.

    Spoilers make me sadface.

    • Final Fantasy IX?! I <3 you forever. And that's exactly what I'm afraid of. I think the legacy of the game is more epic than the game would be if I were to play it. Does that even make sense? O_o

  3. Wait is this about that comment I made about Alistar when you started playing Dragon Age II? If so sorry about that. That specific spoilers was ruined in a couple of articles I read about the game.

    As for Final Fantasy VII I had that spoiled as well. Started paying attention to Journalism side of the industry in about the mid 00’s. Since I was so late to the party pretty much every outlet would spoil Final Fantasy VII like there was no tomorrow. Because I saw that spoiler coming from a mile a way didn’t really feel anything when it happened.

    • Nah, don’t worry about it. That brings up another point: What constitutes as a spoiler? To most, the revelation of a character is not a spoiler. To me, though, it’s like a punch in the gut. ESPECIALLY with a sequel like Dragon Age II.

  4. It’s kind of a shame that FF7’s ending has essentially become a meme in the realm of gaming and spoilers. It’s kind of sad to a point, knowing that there are people who thought the ending was enough to make them cry and now knowing that I’ll never be able to experience what they did.

    Anyway, yeah I hate spoilers. To me, a spoiler is anything that’s not in it’s trailer.

  5. Being a story loving gamer I too hate spoilers. I haven’t beat FF7 for the exact save reason. I dont mind learning about characters or whatnot. But NO story spoilers, portal 2 could have been so much more surprising if valve didn’t spoil having glados voice in the trailers…. If you want to talk about or review a story based game then just say you like it or not, if it’s a sequel all you can say is “the story is better or worse than the previous game”. Spoilers are worse than network outages! :P. There should be a law that if someone lets a spoiler loose, everyone and anyone it effects is allowed 1 nut kick or 1 cooter punch! :)

  6. You really should play through FFVII. That moment, while important, is just one of many epic moments that are in the game. Also, Aeris’ death itself has an underlying point to it that you might not know about. It’s a great game that shouldn’t be ignored!

    I usually avoid spoilers, but I used to take pride in not hearing the FF End Theme until I beat the game. One time, though, my sis got mad and since she owned the FFIX OST, she played the end theme loud so I’d hear ut before I’d finished the game. I was outraged, and it did kinda kill the game for me. :(

  7. I have purposely avoided ANYTHING Portal 2 related because I wanted to avoid any and all spoilers. It’s the kind of game that you would ruin if you even looked up the slightest bit of a hint to get past a room. BTW the game is awesome and we should play some co-op, it’s a blast :)

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