Guest Germanboy Posted June 13, 2000 Share Posted June 13, 2000 Right, seeing that the game is about to come out and, as somebody rightly pointed out, will be delivered at vastly differing times all over the world, this might be the time to bring this up. Assuming there will be no dedicated spoiler forum, could people posting spoilers to this board maybe do it in the following format for the topic-line: *SPOILER* - Scenario #XX and nothing else. I am sure that would be very much appreciated by those of us who look forward to playing scenarios double-blind. This would still make it possible for us to visit and participate in the forum (granted, some people might not think that is a good thing in my case), and it would enable discussions about scenarios once you have played them. Also, if you post to a non-spoiler thread with information you think might be spoiling it for some people, put the same info at the head of your post and leave a lot of space below it. Thanks in advance for those of you who do this. For people who needlessly and thoughtlessly post spoilers because they don't care, I will refuse to do PBEMs with them, and I will refuse ladder challenges from them, too, thus depriving them of easy victories. ------------------ Andreas The powers of accurate perception are often called cynicism by those who do not possess them. (forgot who said it) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aka_tom_w Posted June 13, 2000 Share Posted June 13, 2000 YES! I agree with that whole heartedly. I do hope everyone will read that post and respect its intent. Thanks Andreas -tom w ------------------ <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR> "Have you thanked BTS by buying your SECOND copy of CM yet?" <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark IV Posted June 13, 2000 Share Posted June 13, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Also, if you post to a non-spoiler thread with information you think might be spoiling it for some people, put the same info at the head of your post and leave a lot of space below it.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> In the text body of any spoiler post, you should also post "Spoiler!" followed by a lot of space. Some people read with the "Next Newest Topic" feature, which takes you right to the text of the next message. If it starts with "So, the 3 Panthers in Cursed Encounter..." then it's already too late. By the beginning of next week you'll have to post this several times a day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Germanboy Posted June 13, 2000 Share Posted June 13, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Mark IV: By the beginning of next week you'll have to post this several times a day. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> That's why I would love to have a different area on the forum for scenario/operations discussion. ------------------ Andreas The powers of accurate perception are often called cynicism by those who do not possess them. (forgot who said it) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speedy Posted June 13, 2000 Share Posted June 13, 2000 Just keeping this up near the top. Hey Andreas how about a double blind when the game reaches the far corners of the Earth? ------------------ IN VINO VERITAS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wesreidau Posted June 13, 2000 Share Posted June 13, 2000 Yeah, listen to these guys...please. Also, not just for sake of players who haven`t received their game yet, the SPOILER heading should be used at all times as even when we get our grubby hands on CM we won`t be able to play all the scenarios for some time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary T Posted June 13, 2000 Share Posted June 13, 2000 I have a cunning plan. Why not delay the dispatch of the game to North American customers for a week or two, while sending the European and Worldwide customers their copies immediately? Then everyone will get it at the same time. Problem solved. I'm sure our Trans-Atlantic friends won't mind waiting an extra week. ------------------ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Sabot Posted June 13, 2000 Share Posted June 13, 2000 Another option to consider, this one deals specifically with Spoiler info buried deep within an otherwise harmless thread. When such info is found without the warning, we could e-mail the first person on the thread and have them edit their post to include "Warning, spoiler info inside this thread" ------------------ "I do like to see the arms and legs fly" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Germanboy Posted June 14, 2000 Share Posted June 14, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Speedy: Just keeping this up near the top. Hey Andreas how about a double blind when the game reaches the far corners of the Earth? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> You're on. I have to check scenario numbers to find one. Any preferences regarding place, side, time? ------------------ Andreas The powers of accurate perception are often called cynicism by those who do not possess them. (forgot who said it) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark IV Posted June 14, 2000 Share Posted June 14, 2000 Chilling thought for the day: There was a post not long ago (possibly a non-native English speaker) asking in all seriousness, "what's a spoiler?". So just floating this thread back to the surface periodically may not be sufficient for those unfamiliar with our jargon. I would search for it, but I'm in trouble with Maximus for CMing at work... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Posted June 14, 2000 Share Posted June 14, 2000 Germanboy is absolutely right about this. PLEASE make sure you post in the *title* of the thread a spoiler warning such as was indicated. ***SPOILER SCENARIO NUMBER XX*** And any discussions containing spoilers about that particular scenario should be confined as much as possible to *only* that thread. If you do mention something about a scenario in a thread that doesn't have the warning in the title then PLEASE make sure you start the post out with a big warning followed by a LARGE space so that people don't accidently read a spoiler before they realize it. Example: *****SPOILER FOR SCENARIO NUMBER XX IS BELOW***** I was sure surprised in scenario X when I ran into those panthers... * * * * * Hmm, I'm not sure what is going on, I put a large number of spaces between my example spoiler warning and the spoiler text but the forum edited them out automatically. This is not good, we need to be able to put many empty lines after our warnings. Maybe just put 1 character on each line, so the forum won't delete the empty lines. I'm going to try using * for this purpose and see if it works. [This message has been edited by Lee (edited 06-13-2000).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Posted June 14, 2000 Share Posted June 14, 2000 Yep, it works. If you post spoiler info. in any thread that is not titled with the spoiler heading (and please try to keep most spoiler discussion limited to threads that have the warning right in the title) or you post spoiler info about a scenario *other* than the one that is already warned about in the thread title, then start your post off with a big warning sign and use * or some other character on every empty line so that the forum won't edit out the blank lines. By using this method you can place a large number of empty lines that will seperate the warning from the actual text containing the spoiler. I'd recommend at least 20 such blank lines to give the reader time to spot the warning and stop before he gets to the spoiler text. In fact, it would be easier to just use a letter for the blank lines. First hit enter 20 or 30 times for the big blank space, then go to the first blank line and just start hitting any letter key once then the down arrow to go to the next blank line then hit the same key again. This will allow the poster to put one character on each blank line very quickly and easily. I'll try it below. s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s That was so fast and easy. I hope it came out ok. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speedy Posted June 14, 2000 Share Posted June 14, 2000 Andreas anythings fine, except for scenario 19 as Berli has reserved that in order to give me a thumping. weeeeeee, up to the top we go again. ------------------ IN VINO VERITAS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Germanboy Posted June 14, 2000 Share Posted June 14, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Speedy: Andreas anythings fine, except for scenario 19 as Berli has reserved that in order to give me a thumping. weeeeeee, up to the top we go again. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Jolly good - once I get to my iMac I give you a scenario number. Oops, did I just put this one to the top again? ------------------ Andreas The powers of accurate perception are often called cynicism by those who do not possess them. (forgot who said it) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Germanboy Posted June 14, 2000 Share Posted June 14, 2000 Coming right up - and I would still like to have a spoiler forum here and I would suggest to people designing CM related webpages to have dedicated spoiler areas on them, that are easy to avoid. ------------------ Andreas The powers of accurate perception are often called cynicism by those who do not possess them. (forgot who said it) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark IV Posted June 14, 2000 Share Posted June 14, 2000 I have come to agree about the separate forum. However in the meantime (Steve and Charles ar hopefully occupied with more important things) I suggested the following in the other thread about this, and will repost here for maximum exposure: Why not draft a standard notice here and now, with a suitably grabby headline, that we can easily send back to the top? Like: "WARGAMERS PLEASE READ!!! "PLEASE do NOT post any specific scenario information to this board without clearly labeling BOTH the message header AND the beginning of your text as SPOILER INFORMATION! "A 'spoiler' is anything which gives away information about a scenario that no honorable wargamer would want to know in advance. "Many of us are playing "blind" Combat Mission scenarios for the first time, and do not wish to accidentally get any foreknowledge of enemy forces. "We welcome your questions and comments, but if you wish to talk about specific scenarios, PLEASE put "SPOILER" somewhere in the message header (its title), and put "SPOILER" followed by several lines of empty text in the first line of the actual message. Use the X and Enter keys to create extra lines. For example: "SPOILER INFORMATION FOLLOWS: X X X X X X X X 'While assaulting the beach in blahblahblah (text body), etc.' "Combat Mission has created a very dedicated and honorable online community and this board is its focus. We welcome you to our lives and our game and APPRECIATE YOUR COOPERATION." Something along those lines, edits or suggestions welcome. Once it's created, any of us could send it back to the top with a keystroke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Rollstoy Posted June 14, 2000 Share Posted June 14, 2000 I think that the spoiler danger will be less pronounced with the multitude of scenarios and random battles provided by the full version. With the two scenarios of the Gold Demo, of course everybody know instantly which scenario general questions about equipment, bunkers, etc. to relate to. When there are 40 scenarios and somebody asks "can my Jagdtiger shoot through houses" then no one will know in which scenario there will be a Jagdtiger. As with the Gold Demo, the only possibility for new equipment to appear was in VoT. So this is were basically the fear of spoiling originated. I, personally, do not want to have SPOILER written all over the board! I mean if you do not want to be "spoiled", just do not read the board - it is all up to you! Regards, Thomm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Germanboy Posted June 14, 2000 Share Posted June 14, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Rollstoy: I, personally, do not want to have SPOILER written all over the board! I mean if you do not want to be "spoiled", just do not read the board - it is all up to you! Regards, Thomm<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Obviously I and many others on the board don't agree with that view. And while I agree that there are many scenarios and operations, there will be people who do not just post the info as you state it but will put the whole scenario name in it. We have seen that happen with VoT, and it will happen again. And the board is for discussion about many aspects of the game, which we would then be locked out of. That seems hardly fair to me. ------------------ Andreas The powers of accurate perception are often called cynicism by those who do not possess them. (forgot who said it) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mannheim Tanker Posted June 14, 2000 Share Posted June 14, 2000 Mark IV: Great idea. What you have written is fine by me - as long as you didn't write that at work To the top! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Sabot Posted June 14, 2000 Share Posted June 14, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Rollstoy: I, personally, do not want to have SPOILER written all over the board! I mean if you do not want to be "spoiled", just do not read the board - it is all up to you! Regards, Thomm<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> True, to a certain extent, but what about the person who has a graphics problem and needs advice, or is looking for a PBEM opponent. It's all too common to have spoiler info deep inside a thread. I remember reading a thread that started with something like "Help, my graphics suck" and 4 posts later another one had "well, my computer is so powerful, the Panther almost looks real", and just like that, dozens of blind matches (mine included) were ruined I suggest to reserve a select few scenarios for blind matches with some friends and then just disappear off this board. It might not be fun, but abstinence is the only way to be sure you won't get screwed ------------------ "I do like to see the arms and legs fly" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Posted June 14, 2000 Share Posted June 14, 2000 Sadly, Sabot may be right. There are most likely too many absent minded people on this board to avoid messing up now and then. The only way to be sure is to not read the board. But if players will just have some *consideration* for others I think we can keep spoiler mistakes to a minimum. Just follow the guidlines listed above and we can keep the problem under control. Don't forget, as more and more players play more scenarios they will be able to read more and more posts that have the warning in the title because they have already played that scenario. Rollstoy: There is no negative affect on you. If you don't mind reading all the spoiler threads with warnings in the title, then go right ahead. But the rest of us that want to play nothing but blind scenarios should be given fair and adequate warning. That is only right. Also, I suggest that all players keep a list of scenarios they have played so they can easily tell a PBEM opponent which blind scenarios they still have to pick from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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