Forum:Should spoilers be on the top of the front page?

I'd like to foster a discussion about the pros and cons of having spoilers on the front page. If there is a more appropriate place than the forums for discussion of this topic, I'm open to suggestions. (There was a discussion on the front page's "talk" page, but an Admin removed it...)

An image of the corpse of a certain deceased character was added to the top of the front page recently. This spoiler is/was:

• ​fresh​ -- it was posted within minutes of the episode ending, as far as I know.
• ​major​ -- it was a major character that died.
• blatant​ -- it's a large image; you can't so much as glance at the front page without seeing it.

​Many pages within this wiki are useful to people who are not caught up with the series. For instance, with a little care, one can read an episode page without spoiling anything that comes later. But having spoilers of this type on the top of the front page precludes this utility for the most part. If a news outlet did something like this, the public would eviscerate them.

​Now, many, many pages wi​thin this wiki simply must​ contain spoilers. But I'm not sure this applies to the front page. And honestly, I don't think it would be any great loss if we didn't have fresh, major, blatant spoilers in image form on the top of the front page. If you were to eliminate the one image in question, I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a single significant spoiler on the front page, and certainly not a blatant one. Rconley1 (talk) 00:16, April 21, 2014 (UTC) (forgot to sign before)

Forums: Index > Watercooler > Should spoilers be on the top of the front page?

Things stop being a spoiler the instant they air on TV, on HBO, anywhere in the world.

Thus, when "The Lion and the Rose" aired, it became permissible, indeed expected, to announce the major news of Joffrey's death on the front page of the Wiki. The episode aired from 9:00 PM to 10:00 PM (EST), and thus it became permissible to write about it on the front page at 10:01 PM (EST).

It would be wrong to cater to viewers who might only pick up an episode days later or even in a Blu-ray set -- this would be a disservice to the vast majority who try to watch the episode the day it airs, or if they watch it within a day or two, who know not to visit the wiki for a day or two.

This is how Game of Thrones Wiki has always operated and indeed how many wikis operate: the front page talks about major revelations from current episodes as soon as they have aired.

Otherwise, we will lose that entire demographic of people who want instant updates, as soon as they watch the show live.

Basically, there are three groupings of viewers:

• Those who watch it live
• Those who watch it a few days later, but know not to visit the wiki before that
• Those who watch it a few days later, but visit the wiki anyway knowing full well it will be updated with information from the current episode they haven't seen.

If we make too many compromises for that third grouping of viewers, we will lose the first two - who are in the overwhelming majority.

People watched the episode then rushed online to find fansites that discussed Joffrey's death. If the "Purple Wedding" article wasn't immediately obvious, they'd have left to find another fansite that did.

Major news sites, like io9.com or AintItCoolNews or TheMarySue.com, they were all reporting on Joffrey's death.

If we didn't put such blatantly obvious information on the front page, we would lose that target audience.

Why would you do a disservice to the many viewers who watched it live, and expect easy to access information?

--The Dragon Demands (talk) 00:12, April 21, 2014 (UTC)

Here is how io9 recapped the episode . And here's how it shows up in a search of their site. First you have to click the link, and then you have to scroll down past the spoiler warning before you'll learn what's happened.

Here is how The Mary Sue recapped it , and here it is in a search of their site . Again, virtually no chance of accidentally being spoiled.

I was unable to find the first mentions of the episode on Ain't It Cool.

Compare that with the likely experience of a new viewer who just learned of this wiki: "Okay, I'll just load up the front page, I'm sure that will be spoiler-free... oh, shit. A huge picture of a main character's corpse. Great."

I don't see how the wiki could possibly lose audience to these sites simply by leaving the events of the latest episode on the episode page, which is a single click away. Rconley1 (talk) 03:02, April 21, 2014 (UTC)

You could even replace the picture of Joffrey with an image that reads, "Look Who Died!" in big letters. You click, you're on the Purple Wedding page. Bam! Easy-to-access information!

​There are so many different ways to do this that are utterly logical and beyond reproach. But the way it's done now isn't one of them. Rconley1 (talk) 05:31, April 21, 2014 (UTC)

Given that over a week has passed, it's kind of a moot point by this time, I would think.--The Dragon Demands (talk) 05:34, April 21, 2014 (UTC)

I disagree -- I don't think it would be appropriate even to have a picture of Ned's corpse in place of Joffrey's. The wiki is a very valuable and lasting source of information -- its longevity is surely far beyond that of the fluff news sites mentioned earlier. New viewers will probably be discovering this wiki well beyond the end of the series. Imagine some teenager, years from now, after the series has ended. He's heard about the show and is just getting into it. He discovers the wiki... and the front page spoils the last major death of the entire series for him, whoever that may be. The front page basically just spoiled everything for him before he could even use the wiki at all.

​I realize that by implication, I am challenging the basic idea behind the entire front page. It's full of implicit spoilers, like the fact that major characters who have died are no longer listed. Personally, I think having the front page reflect the current state of events ignores the fact that new viewers are constantly discovering the series, and the fact that the wiki will remain compelling and useful indefinitely.

It's much better discussing this here instead of the talk page -- I feel more free to expound on my ideas. :) --Rconley1 (talk) 16:07, April 21, 2014 (UTC)

Here's another incongruity. The front page reads, "Our content is up to date with the latest aired episode so beware of unwanted plot details if you are not." In other words, "Spoiler alert!" But that warning comes right after... a huge spoiler. The warning is rendered utterly moot. The reader is left to wonder why he didn't receive a warning before​ the spoiler. --Rconley1 (talk) 05:32, April 22, 2014 (UTC)

I agree with Rconley1, I was still on episode 1 of season 4 and I wanted to look up the Dario guy to see if he was recast or if it was a new character, and BAM someone's pretty face right on the front page. Now granted, I probably would have been up to date within a couple episodes but it was still pretty disappointing. You have to keep in mind there are some people (like me) who are still catching up with the show. I just started watching the series from the beginning two weeks ago. --Kbye (talk) 07:08, April 23, 2014 (UTC)