Spoiler Slayer

I received an e-mail from AngelX over at the Cross and Stake, who wanted to notify me of an update to one of her spoilers. The original one read...

- Buffy and Spike are still on...somewhat. But Buffy keeps her mind on her work.

The updated spoiler reads...

- The sexual tension between Buffy and Spike continues, but Buffy keeps her mind on her work.

I've reworded the spoiler on the Spoiler Slayer page accordingly.

Plus, since I'm hearing that some are unhappy with my rankings, I felt it would be a good idea to go over exactly how the entire spoiler/ranking system works. I'm in the process of actually creating a FAQ, so it will be a little more obvious to new visitors.

How are spoilers credited?

Spoilers are credited to the first site to actually post them, with the exception of newsgroup or messageboard spoilers. In that case, the spoiler will be posted with that as a source. If a site comes along later and backs up that spoiler with new info, then that site will be either be credited for that spoiler or a new one will be created. For example, let's say it's posted on a messageboard that Anya shifts everyone into an alternate reality. I would post a spoiler along the lines of "Anya sends everyone to an alternate reality". If later, the fansite 'Wanda's Cool Cross and Stake Mansion' posts the spoiler "Anya sends everyone into the Evil Bunny reality", I could either credit the original spoiler to WCCSM or post a new spoiler like "It's an Evil Bunny Dimension". It all really depends on the spoiler.

Why don't you credit board personalities?

Well I do in the Spoilery Speculation area. If someone like Sweetie (Fan Forum) or Wendy (when she's not posting at BAPS) posts a spoiler on a board, I always credit the spoiler to them. However, when I first began this site, tracking all the individuals on various web forums would have been way too much work. I'm considering making some changes to track specific spoiler people. The issue is that it would be more because of their track record, which could easily give them 100% ranking all the time. When you're working off of scripts and sides, it's doubtful that you will make a mistake.

I've seen spoilers for this upcoming Tuesday's episode, why aren't they on the Spoiler Slayer page?

I have a cut-off date for spoilage. Mainly to avoid the problem of a site or someone getting a reviewer's copy or an early sneak peek of the episode. I'll still mention the spoilers on the 'Spoilery Speculation' page, but I won't post them to the Spoiler Slayer. This is to avoid a site suddenly posting twenty accurate spoilers to affect their ranking. The cut-off date is one week before the date the episode will air.

Your spoiler isn't worded exactly the same way as the site that posted it. Why not?

Two issues here, the first being length of the actual spoiler. More often than not, I have to condense lengthy spoilers into spoiler bites. Such as "Anyanka, Vamp Willow and Vamp Xander all will appear in an episode this season", which will be come "Vamp Willow, Xander, and Anyanka episode". Other times, the spoiler itself is kind of vague, so I have to try and figure out what the intent is, which brings us to the next question.

Hey, That's not what I meant when I posted that spoiler.

If a spoiler poster is being vague, I can't always guarantee that I'll get the wording right. This happened earlier this season with Herc's rumor about 'Teeth' having a connection to Spike. Herc originally posted...

Any new bad guys this episode? Yes, and - holy mackerel! - the creators are getting very creative with their demons. A fellow named “Teeth” is connected to a part of Spike’s life we will find out about toward the end of 6.5 (“Life Serial").

Which I interpreted as "Teeth would be appearing at the end of episode Five".

Does that mean if you interpret it wrong, I'll get stuck with a 'Confirmed False' spoiler?

Not at all. In the above case, Herc e-mailed me with a correction. Though again it was a bit vague. He told me that 'Teeth' was connected with a part of Spike's life we learn near the end of Episode Five. Which caused me to reword the spoiler as "We learn more about Spike's past", which still wasn't what he was getting at. He wrote again and specifically told me it had to do with events around the poker game, and I made another correction. All of which I mentioned here as well, just like I did with AngelX's spoiler about Buffy and Spike.

Okay, I've gotten new information and I want to change the spoiler I posted.

Not a problem, just let me know and I'll update accordingly. With two major exceptions. First, the cut-off date still applies, so you can't correct your spoilers within a week of the episode's actual airdate. Second, if you're making this a habit. Over the course of a season, I can understand a site needing to update spoiler information for one reason or another. But if you're posting inaccurate spoilage every week, then taking it back two weeks before the episode airs, that's says a lot about your sites accuracy as well. Once or twice is not an issue.

You've posted five spoilers from my site, but you missed two.

In the course of determining what spoilers to add, I go for those that seem to be the ones that are getting the most attention. There may be minor detail-orientated ones that get left out of the mix. Something like "Xander wears a pirate costume" or "Amy steals sage from Willow", probably won't get added to the page. The reason is that I want to keep the Spoiler Slayer page itself somewhat vague or only mentioning the major spoilers. That way, if someone just wants to get a quick confirm on a spoiler, it won't ruin the entire episode. Some just want the major events, and not all the little stuff that goes on as well, which is why I use the this page to go into detail. If you've feel that I've overlooked something important, just e-mail me and we can discuss it. Always know that I will at least mention the minor details here on the 'Spoilery Speculation' page, or provide the link if it's a major summary.

I posted 7 spoilers that Wanda's Cool Cross and Stake Mansion mentioned first, and three new ones that they didn't. But when the episode aired, all of WCCSM's were correct and mine were wrong. People are going to think I have a bad site.

Again, it all comes down to who mentioned the spoiler first. If I gave credit for every spoiler, you might end up with this scenario. A site owner could go out and post WCCSM's spoilers, then add some of their own. In the above scenario, they would end up with a ranking of 70% (7/10). I'm not saying that this is what happens, but it is part of the reason why I credit the spoiler to the first site that posts it.

I don't agree that my spoilers were wrong, that did happen in the episode.

This can happen for two reasons. First, I completely understand that some site owner's don't want to give out all the details. They post spoilers similar to the ones I post on the Spoiler Slayer page, which can cause a problem. As I mentioned earlier, you can always write to me directly to clarify your spoiler. You can also feel free to give me the details, which I will gladly keep off the record. There have been times in the past, when site owners have mailed me with specific info for a vague spoiler that they posted. Not only do they end up with a spoiler summary that is accurate on my page, but I'll usually bump up the ranking of that spoiler with the extra info in hand. If you don't want the details getting out for one reason or another (like protecting your source), I won't post them on the site or mention them to anyone else.

The other reason is that the spoiler was written to encourage or discourage a certain character development. Let's take the episode 'Enemies' for example. If a spoiler site had posted "Angel briefly becomes Angelus again", it would have been Confirmed False. However, some could argue that he was play-acting like Angelus, so technically he did become him briefly. Unfortunately, that logic is not going to fly here. The problem with saying that, is that it does speak a great deal toward the character's development. It could set up the expectation for things that might happen in the future, but in reality probably won't. The damage of which, really becomes apparent in the next question.

An official source said this would happen, but I'm the one getting penalized

Sadly, those are the breaks. The perfect example of this would be the now infamous "Spike's Chip Malfunctions" spoiler, which TV Guide, UPN, and other sources all stated that it would happen. You would not believe the amount of flak I got for downgrading that spoilers ranking, and I stuck by my decision the entire time. The chip didn't malfunction, and if a site had posted that spoiler before the cut-off date, they would have been been credited with that false spoiler (which by the way, at least two sites did, but after the cut-off date). To use a California analogy; Spoilers of this magnitude, will have aftershocks that will be felt for some time. It spawned a number of false spoilers based on the theory that Spike was going to turn against the Scoob's. If the spoilers you are posting are vague, you can't have your cake and eat it too. There is a difference between spoilage and speculation. Which is why if Oz does not appear this season, AICN will not be credited with a Confirmed False, because Herc wrote me to explain that it was 'speculation' and not 'spoilage'.

I'm still not happy with the overall rankings, such and such site is at 100%, but they've only posted 3 spoilers.

You've got a point, especially in the light that a site could have dozens of correct spoilers and one wrong one will suddenly drop them in the ranking. I am considering options to create a better picture, such as taking into consideration the number of episodes covered by a site's spoilers. In this way, a site that has provided spoilage for the entire season will have a better ranking, than one which only provides spoilers for every other episode. Another alternative would be creating a point-based system, where every site would be rated on a scale for each episode. The most accurate site getting say 10 points, the next 9, etc. The ranking would be based on the point total for the season, which means that a site which only covers half the episodes, would have a lower point total than one which provides info throughout the season. It's my plan to decide on something before the second half of the season begins.

All I want to know is, who died and made you the Spoiler God?

Umm, actually that would be Spoiler Slayer. The point is that this site doesn't exist to single out any sites or spoiler sources. This page was originally an offshoot of the Buffy Formula, which I started after getting tired of watching accurate spoiler sites get attacked on messageboards and other sites. Believe it or not, I fell for the Future Xander spoilers from last season. In addition, I also believed the one's going around about a spy for the Watcher's Council in the Scooby Gang. When these stories didn't come to be, I have to admit I was pretty disappointed. At the same time, I started noticing some of the spoilers going around that just didn't make sense in terms of the characters. Almost as a joke, I decided to start tracking the sites for accuracy, just to see who was the best. Along with the tracking of the spoilers, I thought it would be fun to give my reasoning for why I thought a certain spoiler was possible or not.

In the end, I'm just going where the spoiler trail and the events on the show lead me. Sites will have good streaks and bad streaks, it doesn't mean that I don't visit them daily. If you notice, good or bad, I credit every source and promote every site I visit. I'm not out to drive the other spoiler sites out of business. Which is why, if I ever did get actual spoilage sent to me, I would pass it along to another site instead of posting it myself. I just want to be the voice of reason that the fans can turn to, when they find some spoilage that is hard to swallow. I may not always say what you want to hear, but you'll always get my honest, unbiased opinion.