Upstream, Lyra asked:
A question: Is everyone comfortable with whitefonting everything, or could we find a more permissive policy that worked for everyone? My suggestion would be plain-text for everything except maybe truly shocking things (character deaths, resolutions to cliffhangers), with the show title and a few lines of blank space at the top of each post to facilitate scrolling/skimming/skipping. But if the whitefont works, it works.
I'm comfortable with that, but I am also comfortable with trying it how it is, now.
I'm with Amych on the whitefont issue.
If people need spoiler fairies, I'm always willing to be of service, but whitefont in here drives me batty.
If we whitefont, then should we decide if this thread is NAFDA or not, for responses? Many of the
Lost
posts are actually talking about things that have already been aired, I think mostly in response to spoilers. Because they relate to posts here, I think it's appropriate to respond here, but wouldn't think that they would need to be whitefonted.
I would also vote in favor of a no-whitefont thread. I'm willing to whitefont if that's what it takes to have a spoiler thread at all, but it's not ideal.
I strongly feel that, at the very least, this must be a NAFDA space where anything that's been aired can be discussed freely. Also any speculation. Whitefont, if we're going to have it at all, should be reserved for actual spoilers only.
should we decide if this thread is NAFDA or not
It's got to be NAFDA. A spoiler thread where we can't talk about stuff that's already aired means the terrorists have already won.
For the record, I couldn't give a shit whether we whitefont or not. I'm willing to do whatever. I really don't mind the white font.
I agree it's got to be NAFDA. I didn't even realize that was an issue.
...
Back before the earth cooled, when there was no spoiler font, people used to post spoiler warnings, and leave a space (to give the brain time to catch up with the eyes) and then post their spoilers, right in regular colored font. Would something like that work as a compromise between the people here who prefer white font, and the people here who prefer to talk openly?
Example:
Buffy spoiler
.
.
.
I heard Buffy's getting a little sister.
.
.
.
Lost Spoiler
.
.
.
They're on an island
.
.
.
Is that worse than white font, for the people opposed to white font? Better? The same? How about for the people who don't want everything open. Would you be able to skim past that?
Is that worse than white font, for the people opposed to white font?
Yes, much.
(No real rational reason why, but spoiler space makes my teeth itch even more than whitefont does.)
No real rational reason why
Here's one: It's completely unsuited to a forum. Spoiler space worked okay for mailing lists and usenet, where you were looking at one message at a time and could hit next or delete or whatever to skip the message entirely. When you're scrolling through a page of successive messages, it simply doesn't work -- you're going to see the stuff anyway, and in the mean time, you make the page longer to scroll and harder to read.
(No real rational reason why, but spoiler space makes my teeth itch even more than whitefont does.)
I don't think you need a rational reason. It either works or irks. In this case, it irks.
Here's one: It's completely unsuited to a forum. Spoiler space worked okay for mailing lists and usenet, where you were looking at one message at a time and could hit next or delete or whatever to skip the message entirely. When you're scrolling through a page of successive messages, it simply doesn't work -- you're going to see the stuff anyway, and in the mean time, you make the page longer to scroll and harder to read.
Oh. I learned it on a linear board. Still, I don't love it, either. If I had my own way, it would be a free-for-all in here, but I don't watch much TV anymore, and never have been bothered much by spoilers. I was just trying to think of a compromise that would leave all groups happy enough. Spoiler space is obviously not it. There may not be an it.
