> -----Original Message----- > From: Howard Brazee [mailto:howard at brazee.net] > Sent: Friday, March 26, 2004 9:04 AM > To: dragaera at dragaera.info > Subject: RE: Spoiler spacing > > > James Burbidge wrote: > > >> Is that standard for all news groups? If so, it is too generous > >> for this particular list server, which has a more narrow population. > >> > >> > > > > It varies. > > > > On rasfw, it's considered good form to spoiler just about any detail > > which would ruin enjoyment of any book, including ones several decades > > old, since the readership of the group is very widely varied indeed. > > However, this frequently done via rot13 rather than spoiler space. > > Varying standards make sense to me. If the readership is wide and should > not be expected to read everything on-topic, then the spoiler warnings > should be liberal. > > In this list server though, I wouldn't be surprised if some of us waited > until Brust's books made it to paperback. Certainly any Vlad > books should > be assumed to be read within a month of that. I would say any other > Dragaeran books would be close behind. > > If you want to make a case for any Brust books, I'll agree with you. > Stories that are harder to find are a different story - and any literary > references from elsewhere should be protected - even if they are over a > century old. > People discover books. A youth can start reading a book hundreds of years old and gaffaw at a brand new (for them) punchline. Spoiler space is a courtesy to fellow readers, and should be observed by all mailing-lists of good character. W "The great thing about standards is that there are so many of them."