I originally was going to call this Warning: Spoilers! Look away now (not really), and its safe to say that's probably the worst title for a blog post ever by the way. Start as you mean to go on...

Although this is intended to be a blog about the nature of spoilers, I'm going to refrain from any direct references. After all, I've been compelled to write this after having a potentially surprising revelation snatched away from me. Who you say? Why one of those random people on message-boards, the kind that seem to revel in this sort of thing, who else? Originally I had an image which I was going to use, one that was to act as a centerpiece to the whole blog. The content of which was a jokey reference to pop culture invoking many spoilers by its very nature. As such, it contained numerous well-known plot reveals, which admittedly probably undermines this whole post so it's gone...wasn't my most inspired of jokes.

How does everyone feel about spoilers? In the case of games, it personally varies for me, obviously based on my preference for a particular game/franchise. That's not to say I would willingly give up the suspense willingly, but if for some reason I did find out, I can often ignore the fact and play regardless. For as much as I love a good story, its often not central to the experience within a game, often being nothing more than the preamble to the gameplay itself. That said, I would have had a horrible time playing through one of my favorite titles, (MGS4, for those who are curious) if I had known every plot detail before it had even been time to pick up the controller.

To qualify this whole argument before I continue any further, I originally watched the Endurance Run of Persona 4 up until about the 40th episode. At this point I had enjoyed the overall experience enough, that I decided I would now like to see the rest of the game first hand. Before I did this though, I did jump forward a few times in the videos, so I saw a few minor things that happen, but these were optional events and small little scenes, nothing revelatory when removed from their original context in all honesty. On one of these occasions however, I opened the tab for the Endurance Run and noticed a small preview image for one of the final episodes (it does default to this after all) and I saw something which, without going into detail, took the suspense out of the story slightly for me. Those in the know can probably tell what I'm referring to at this point, and those who may be reading this and do not yet know anything, heed my warning. However in the context of a relative newcomer to the game (in that I didn't know a thing), I happily buried this to the back of my mind and awaited the full story to unfold before me. All was fine until late last night, when admittedly my curiosity, as well as my boredom got the better of me.

So after playing Persona 4 for a couple of hours, I decided to have a look around the forums and read some more opinions about it, this was the road to my ruin. As a general rule I usually avoid doing something such as this, particularly when I'm still not completely finished playing a particular game or watching TV series/film. As anyone can likely attest to, its almost impossible to account for the random nature of the Internet, and the people who inhabit it. What followed was me clicking on a pretty unassuming thread title, which appeared to be a clear reference to a point I had already reached . When I opened the thread, the opening line basically left me in no doubt about the late game revelation that I had previously tried to dismiss. Maybe I was to blame, after all I was looking at the forums to begin with, but spoiler was safely nestled within a thread that was SUPPOSED to be completely unrelated to what was actually being discussed.

If you spend enough time on forums you usually get a good idea on how to avoid stuff like this. Often this is done at the courtesy of others, spoilers usually being clearly marked. This is probably just a case of naivety getting the better of me, but then again, I can't help but feel annoyed about this all this. This is not to say that I won't carry on playing Persona 4, it's far too good a game to just throw to the wayside now. And at the end of all this, I suppose this is just a little outward venting that I'm doing, but I sometimes wish that we wouldn't have to be so guarded against such matters.

How does everyone else feel about spoilers?