Make In-game Spoilers Reportable!

You could probably report people for spoiling in public situations ingame already, like in mapchat. Yes I know you could also turn off the mapchat but that's such a horrible solution to me. Getting spoiled for Living World Episodes is so common ingame now and it should be illegal, in terms of I should be able to ban people if they actively spoil, or defend spoilers in the mapchat.If I can already report people for that, please let me know under which section, because I don't see it being verbal abuse either? I just think spoiling people should be erased from this game.

Honestly, if you spoil the story, or if you defend other people spoiling ingame. You do not deserve to have any place in this community.

Not sure if I fully support or not. It can be unintentional at times... maybe it is about older story and it is assumed that most people have already experienced it.

Then again I personally really really hate spoilers and after one time having the LS story spoiled mere hours after it went live, when I was still making my own way through, I always turn off say and map chat whenever a new chapter goes live and untill I have made it through myself. With PoF realease I think I even turned guild chat off, I was that paranoid about spoilers.

I agree that people spoilering in map chat are really anoying but turning it off is not a horrible solution at all for me. When a new LS episode come out, I always turn off map, say and whisper until I finish the story. It has always worked wonderfully for me.

Why should you have the right to ban others from the game, unless of course you have purchased ANet from NCSoft?

I would think some players enjoy discussing their experiences. The Devs state one of their favorite things is to go into the game and listen to what the players say about their latest release of content.
Since there is a readily-handy solution, I don't think banning is probably a good, or fair, reaction.

I always turn off map and Guild chat.

I don't mind spoilers myself but I always try to avoid giving them out, at least for the latest episode. If I did want to avoid them I think I'd just keep map and say chat turned off until I'd done it. Which could be annoying, because it sometimes takes me as much as a week to start new episodes, but if spoilers bothered me I imagine it'd seem worthwhile.

If it was a reportable offence I doubt Anet would ban people for it - at least not for a first offence. Maybe issue a warning or a temporary block from speaking in map chat, but nothing permanent. And it wouldn't really stop the problem because the punishment wouldn't happen until after they'd posted spoilers.

It's also difficult sometimes to know what does and does not count as a spoiler. I've seen people get angry because someone mentioned that a reoccuring character was in the newest episode (not the one that's just come out, this was a while ago). They're a fairly common character and the person didn't say anything about what they did, but apparently just knowing they were there was enough to ruin the story for some people.

There would be no one left. I have very strict rules on what i Consider a spoiler and that includes anyone discussing the location of a collection item. If i reported everyone who i constituted spoiling, the poor mods would be inundated.

It isnt viable, altho they previously said u can send report someone who was intentinally going around runing things for others when force awakens got a cinematic release.

Do what i do and turn map chat off until the story is done

Wait! Report players who are doing nothing wrong but talking about the game they are playing and enjoying the new contents???

In other words, players should not talk about the game They like nor anything regarding that game's new released contents or they will be reported!

That sounds really WRONG

Best and most suitable option is turn off map chat

In my last comment I was unsure of where to stand on this. But it is cleared after reading the other comments here :)I am fine with turning off say and map chat for a little time.

It would be quite difficult to define when it was spoiler worth some punishment and when it is maybe the reporter that is a tad sensitive (I am very spoiler sensitive btw... I have to stop myself sometimes).Also even if it was reportable, it would not stop happening... sure it might feel kinda nice to report someone when the story has been ruined for you... but it doesn't change that it is already been spoiled. In that way it is more reliable to turn off chat... even if turning off chat can be seen as an inconvenience too... its a smaller one though... imo.

I should probably clarify that after many episodes, from various seasons, My main priority is to get through the story as fast as I can to prevent getting spoiled, and then when I turn on the mapchat again I still get tired of people spoiling. Mapchat should not be turned off just because there's a part of the community who likes to spoil things for others. We should not be required to turn it off because some people like to be terrible people.

Terrible people should simply be reportable.

@VanWilder.6923 said:Wait! Report players who are doing nothing wrong but talking about the game they are playing and enjoying the new contents???

You can discuss the content without spoiling it for other people, You can discuss content in an appropriate way. You can also discuss content in a not public situation, like squadchat, partychat, whispers.

There is a lot of chat in the new map that can be deemed spoiling but sometimes people are checking if something is working as it should or is a bug. People will try not to spoil it while either redirecting the person or saying yep is a bug eg the problem people had getting into the previous map. Some times one has to drop hints to people to send them to the right place to start.

Same has been happening with new map as some of the pointers show you the wrong route if on the wrong map. Usually do attempt to send via tell rather than over the map but sometimes there is a swarm of people asking the same question and people try to help them.

Create a new chat tab, that only has NPC dialogues in. Switch to it until you finish the story. Problem solved.

I don’t particularly care about mapchat discussion about new releases, I enjoy seeing people’s reactions to it though, that is fascinating.Unpopular opinion of mine, the story is not that deep. No story is for me, unless I find a really interesting book. But book spoilers are very easily avoided.

Here are some Dev comments:

MatthewMedina.5419MatthewMedina.5419 ArenaNet ›
September 18, 2018

I'll speak for myself...I try and play the release along with everyone else, but more often than not, I find that I'm monitoring our external and internal communication channels looking for what issues players are having. A game like Guild Wars 2 is never really "done", so the day of launch is really when our job begins in a number of ways. :-) Having said that, it's also a day of celebration - our lovely producers get together and make everyone waffles, the studio brings in coffee carts to get us going in the morning, and we are all enjoying the feeling of watching players react as they're playing through the content.

Kirk Williford.2653Kirk Williford.2653 ArenaNet ›
September 18, 2018

We monitor/investigate any issues that come up, and when we have time, play the game or watch streams. We all look forward to experiencing the new content with everyone on launch day!

We were watching people play through story instances to see their reactions as they hit key story beats. It's one of my most favorite things about release day. :)

Tracey West.6235Tracey West.6235 ArenaNet ›
September 18, 2018

As Linsey stated, we are encouraged to play the release and our producers are often kind enough to make us all waffles! However, I am currently watching several of the raid livestreams to see the feedback on my content as folks are experiencing it for the first time.

LinseyMurdock.4165LinseyMurdock.4165 ArenaNet ›
September 18, 2018

How could I forget the WAFFLES and COFFEE CARTS!? I love release day!

I party'd up with a few random players in the map and worked my way through the story with them. It was really joyful seeing their reactions. Now I am working on that sweet sweet armor set.

And probably most importantly:

Connor Fallon.9408Connor Fallon.9408 ArenaNet ›
September 18, 2018

Watching people play through the content and reading map chat as people encounter elements for the first time is an easy highlight for me. We've been heads down on this content for MONTHS. Seeing someone experience it for the first time is a real treat.

Thus, I doubt players will be actioned for discussing released content in map chat.

As long as players aren't personally contacting me to send me spoilers, it is my responsibility to avoid them. Wanting to punish players for discussing the game in the most obvious and natural space is hostile and unhelpful.I very strongly disagree with people that want to punish others for enjoying their hobbies and discussing them in a public space just because they can't take responsibility for themselves.

@"MauChann.3081" said:Mapchat should not be turned off just because there's a part of the community who likes to spoil things for others. We should not be required to turn it off because some people like to be terrible people.

Terrible people should simply be reportable.This is all very subjective. How do you know that there is a part of the community who "likes" to spoil things? And it is your opinion that these are "terrible" people. In my opinion, you really need to lighten up. One of the aspects of an MMO is learning how to deal with different kinds of people because -- spoilier! -- there are people just like that in real life and you won't be able to report them.

I understand that you shouldn't have to turn off a feature of the game to enjoy it. I also understand that there are places within certain cities that I simply will not go for my own safety. That doesn't prevent me from enjoying other aspects of the city.

@"MauChann.3081" said:You could probably report people for spoiling in public situations ingame already, like in mapchat. Yes I know you could also turn off the mapchat but that's such a horrible solution to me. Getting spoiled for Living World Episodes is so common ingame now and it should be illegal, in terms of I should be able to ban people if they actively spoil, or defend spoilers in the mapchat.If I can already report people for that, please let me know under which section, because I don't see it being verbal abuse either? I just think spoiling people should be erased from this game.

Honestly, if you spoil the story, or if you defend other people spoiling ingame. You do not deserve to have any place in this community.

"There is a perfectly reasonable method of not finding out what is going but i refuse to use it. No, instead of that, I think other people should be gagged and if you disagree with me then you cannot be part of this community."

Do you even read your own crap?

Looks like once again I have the unpopular opinion hereBut let me make very clear

Discussing released content does NOT mean you have to include spoilers. You can always talk about the content without spoiling the plottwists, without spoiling certain key elements of character development. It never is.They are not the same thing!!You can discuss the game in a way you don't need to spoil.:/ really can't understand the apologists.. I'm sorry I really just can't see how you can't discuss content without spoiling things.

@MauChann.3081 said:I'm sorry I really just can't see how you can't discuss content without spoiling things.

Everyone has very different things as spoiler/non-spoiler. So, by your standards, to appease everyone, no discussion should take place since having most of it censored would dilute the conversation too much. Having too many blanks would be confusing for those taking part.

Or you could use the tools you already have, and avoid public chat until you’re ready to talk with the wider population.

@MauChann.3081 said:I should probably clarify that after many episodes, from various seasons, My main priority is to get through the story as fast as I can to prevent getting spoiled, and then when I turn on the mapchat again I still get tired of people spoiling. Mapchat should not be turned off just because there's a part of the community who likes to spoil things for others. We should not be required to turn it off because some people like to be terrible people.

Terrible people should simply be reportable.

Sounds like you have a lot of story debt. General rule within most internet communities is that spoilers should be avoided for a week after the content goes live. If you are behind more than that, getting spoiled is your own fault.

@MauChann.3081 said::/ really can't understand the apologists.. I'm sorry I really just can't see how you can't discuss content without spoiling things.Calling someone apologist implies what or who they are defending is wrong.There is no written law or rule that makes what you are accusing people of wrong, and common sense dictates that people are allowed to discuss something, even if you disagree with the discussion itself taking place.If someone was spoiling repeatedly with malicious intent, then it would be trolling, which is against the rules.However a (polite) discussion about what happens in the game is not a malicious act.

Although I totally feel you, I don't think it's a fair countermeasure to report someone for this. I had to disable my guild chat last week and I thought to be "safe", but I had to read spoilers during Tarir meta. This happens almost on daily basis now. Yesterday I asked to pls stop, but they continued, so I had to change tab (I didn't insist because I was scared that someone started to whisper me to "have fun").It's a meta that you can still complete even without reading the chat, but it was annoying. Still, I think that report someone for this is exaggerated.

@"Tzarakiel.7490" said:As long as players aren't personally contacting me to send me spoilers, it is my responsibility to avoid them. Wanting to punish players for discussing the game in the most obvious and natural space is hostile and unhelpful.I very strongly disagree with people that want to punish others for enjoying their hobbies and discussing them in a public space just because they can't take responsibility for themselves.

In general I agree, but I think it's possible to use some basic courtesy too without it seriously restricting you. There's a difference between discussing the story in a public channel and being the online equivalent of Homer Simpson walking out the cinema past a line of people waiting to see Empire Strikes Back and loudly saying "Wow I can't believe Darth Vader is Luke Skywalker's father!"

I don't think it's possible to set clear restrictions on what is and is not ok in real terms. If you're running around LA spamming "OMG Rytlock killed Braham!" on release day it's pretty clear you're deliberately trying to give away the plot to people who haven't played it yet (note: not a real spoiler), but the majority of people who post spoilers are not doing that - they're answering questions or having a conversation about the story which just happens to be in a public channel. Which is why I don't think it's practical to have rules on it, but it's relatively easy to judge yourself on a case-by-case basis and avoid unnecessary spoilers for recent releases. (Case in point: when writing the above example I was going to use a real spoiler, from old content...probably HoT, then decided that wasn't a good idea in a topic about spoilers and used a fake one instead.)

But as discussed different people have different ideas of what is and isn't a spoiler. If I write "Does anyone know where the new cat is?" in map chat am I giving away the fact that there are cats to find? Or the fact that there's a new one? How am I supposed to ask that question without giving it away?

I think if you're particularly sensitive about spoilers you need to accept that large parts of GW2, particularly map and say chat are public and so you're going to run the risk of encountering people posting spoilers if you use them and they can't all be reasonably avoided. But at the same time people who are talking about content, especially brand new stuff, could take a moment to consider whether they're giving away major plot points and try to avoid it unless it's really necessary.

@"Randulf.7614" said:There would be no one left. I have very strict rules on what i Consider a spoiler and that includes anyone discussing the location of a collection item. If i reported everyone who i constituted spoiling, the poor mods would be inundated.

It isnt viable, altho they previously said u can send report someone who was intentinally going around runing things for others when force awakens got a cinematic release.

Do what i do and turn map chat off until the story is done

That reminded me of a funny incident. I actually saw 2 fairly major spoilers for The Force Awakens in various places online, including in map chat in Lion's Arch. But they were written in such an over-the-top way (and one was an old reoccurring rumour, going back to before Empire Strikes Back was released) that I didn't believe either of them. I was genuinely surprised when both turned out to be true.

Then a serious scientific article about the impact of filming on protected sea birds living on Skellig Michael casually gave away a large part of the plot by describing it as "the setting for the island where Rey finally finds Luke at the end of the film"! (Apparently the writer didn't realise so many people would care - because there couldn't possibly be any cross-over between scientists and Star Wars fans, right?)

@"Danikat.8537" said:

In general I agree, but I think it's possible to use some basic courtesy too without it seriously restricting you. There's a difference between discussing the story in a public channel and being the online equivalent of Homer Simpson walking out the cinema past a line of people waiting to see Empire Strikes Back and loudly saying "Wow I can't believe Darth Vader is Luke Skywalker's father!"Spoiler tags please, Dani! OMG Thanks a lot. Now I have to report you. ;)

Wait until the OP finds out that Bruce Willis is dead at the end of the Sixth Sense.