Matthew Hunter wrote: > On Tue, Jun 11, 2002 at 11:16:05PM -0500, David Dyer-Bennet <dd-b at dd-b.net> wrote: >>Gaertk at aol.com writes: >>>How long should we require spoiler protection? One month? >> >>We do need a policy, and hence some rules statement, in the main >>list. Unfortunately, I think serious spoilers need protection >>essentially *forever*. > > However, more tightly focused discussion groups typically use a > short spoiler period for new releases rather than the rasfw > policy. As an example I cite rasfwr-j, perhaps the canonical > "author-specialized rasfw subgroup". Spoiler protection operates > there for perhaps a month following each new release, after which > point it is assumed that those reading the group have acquired > and read the latest. > > Any other policy will tend to stifle discussion of the latest > works. Although I only look into rawsfr-j once or twice a month, I did get the distinct impression they warn for spoilers a lot longer than just one month. Maybe spoiler space is only included for a month, but spoiler warnings in the threadtitles can easily be applied a lot longer. I also disagree with this stifling discussion. The WoT Book Forum at wheeloftime.com has the policy of warning for spoilers for roughly three to six months after the release of a new book (and warning for the really serious spoilers (comparable to those David gave) at least until the release of the paperback a year later) and this does in no way stifle discussion. Adding a [spoiler] in the subject is no work at all for us, and the benefits to the people who haven't read the latest book can be huge. It's also the polite thing to do. As for the 'spoiler space' character, it's a shame most email clients are broken with regards to it, but since that's the case, using a few hard linebreaks seems preferable. (Also because the web-archives of the list don't do the right thing either.) I do hope we'll manage to keep this list slightly more accessible to less tech-savvy people, not to mention to those who haven't read all the books yet (and thus less 'elitist' if you want), than your typical usenet group. May you always find shade and water, Sander