User talk:Dramachat

It is frustrating to have the murderer in The Mousetrap revealed while working so hard to keep it a secret. The title "Identity of the Murderer" only points to the information and does not discourage or prepare readers. The article mentions that audiences are asked each night to keep the secret, yet it is published here. I'd like the name removed. It's not about spoiling it for people when they watch it but about people researching it, and spoiling it for others who wish to be surprised. We're currently rehearsing the play at high school and part of the fun is the secret - at Christie's and all past productions request. Please, can we get rid of the identity? --Dramachat (talk) 23:35, 17 February 2010 (UTC) dramachat[reply]

Wikipedia is an encyclopaedia and does not contain spoilers. Anybody using the site to research Christie's work would be extremely frustrated if all of her plot summaries ended with "to find out the ending, go and read the book or watch the play".

There's some discussion of this on the article's talk page; the fact that a section is called "Identity of the murderer" and the sentence beginning "In a twist ending, it is revealed that..." should make it sufficiently obvious to the reader that they are about to learn the identity of the murderer, and should stop reading if they are unfamiliar with the play and would want to enjoy the twist first-hand. If you disagree, please discuss it here rather than reverting further. Thanks. --McGeddon (talk) 23:41, 17 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I'm a few hours old on here, and I imagine I'll be banned for unwittingly breaking a rule. The discussion on Mousetrap seems in favour of removing the spoiler - and it is a spoiler. Is there a more effective/current means of appeal? Removing the name is not to protect the reader, but the actors, companies who are working to save the secret. And if someone is studying Christie by using a website and not the direct source, then they're not studying. They do, however, get information to ruin it for others. The twist should be saved for people with a serious vested interest in the experience. Please help me out and direct me to the way/forum/source to remove one name. --Dramachat (talk) 00:02, 18 February 2010 (UTC)dramachat[reply]

Oh, don't worry about getting banned for doing something unwittingly - you have to try pretty hard and ignore a lot of formal warnings to actually get banned. You're welcome here.

I'm not sure I see that past discussion has been "in favour" of removing the spoiler - several new users have questioned why spoilers aren't allowed, and other editors have responded by quoting the official WP:SPOILER policy ("It is not acceptable to delete information from an article because you think it spoils the plot"). You're more than welcome to discuss this on the article's talk page, if you feel you have an argument that's stronger than the current spoiler policy. --McGeddon (talk) 00:30, 18 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]