Maybe I'm the only one who feels this way, but to me, it's really a matter of common sense that being on a detailed Q and A site like SE is rather ASKING to be accidentally spoiled at one turn or another - especially when SE has sites for subject matters like... books, movies, and television shows.

Unless SE completely and explicitly forbids discussions on spoiler-applicable topics (like movies, books, etc) for eternity, there just ARE going to be some spoilers in question titles if only because many of these questions are related to various points of intrigue as applicable to the stories they originate from. Additionally, there will ALWAYS be SOMEONE out here on SE who has NOT read or watched or whatevered the latest whosit and whatsit and as such, even for an old book series like The Lord of the Rings, someone is BOUND to be spoiled 1, 10, even 20+ years later.

In other words, being spoiled here and there is an occupational hazard and that is how I treat the situation myself. I don't enjoy being spoiled, BUT I am NOT going to be up in arms if spoiler-happy questions pop up, either, and I personally don't support the policing of spoilers within question titles - even in the HQN.

Why?

1. People complain all over SE metas about the lack of quality of the questions.

Forcing people to ask vague-er questions (or editing questions in the HQN to be more vague/less spoiler-happy) to help solve the spoiler problem isn't a positive step in addressing the 'low quality' questions issue. Additionally, encouraging vague question titles/editing question titles in the HQN to be more vague or whatever doesn't set and won't set a good example for new users and even goes against the guidelines of SE.

My own question regarding being reconnected with a book ended up being edited for specifics which I am perfectly fine with because... yeah. I was being too vague in my question title. But from that perspective, to see questions being edited to become more vague really seems to go against the spirit of SE and the community-wide 'be more specific and give lots of details and support your questions and answers' attitude.

2. SE supports and emphasizes QUALITY of both questions and answers and this includes the inclusion of SPECIFICS.

Engaging in a Q and A session re: a very surprising plot twist in XYZ book or movie that needs some additional puzzling out, research, and/or brainstorming ought to be right up SE's alley in terms of 'quality'. Thing is, how in the world is someone to address this question in a high-quality way without touching on spoilers?

Most of the time, just by saying something like, "How, exactly, did this character die?" or, "How, exactly, does this late reveal of a character's backstory affect ABC?" is enough on its own to be a spoiler.

They're perfectly valid questions to ask and they deal with points of intrigue and mystery that - surprise surprise - could use a little clarification, depending on a person's understanding of the canon of the story world in question.

No spoilers in questions is just silly for that reason.

That is, unless SE wants to ban any and all spoilers AND make it an exception of a sort that questions here (and in other sites where spoilers might become an issue) are to be vague (and poor in quality according to the rest of SE's standards) if they contain spoilers.

Maybe I'm the only one who feels this way, but to me, it's really a matter of common sense that being on a detailed Q and A site like SE is rather ASKING to be accidentally spoiled at one turn or another - especially when SE has sites for subject matters like... books, movies, and television shows.

Unless SE completely and explicitly forbids discussions on spoiler-applicable topics (like movies, books, etc) for eternity, there just ARE going to be some spoilers in question titles if only because many of these questions are related to various points of intrigue as applicable to the stories they originate from. Additionally, there will ALWAYS be SOMEONE out here on SE who has NOT read or watched or whatevered the latest whosit and whatsit and as such, even for an old book series like The Lord of the Rings, someone is BOUND to be spoiled 1, 10, even 20+ years later.

In other words, being spoiled here and there is an occupational hazard and that is how I treat the situation myself. I don't enjoy being spoiled, BUT I am NOT going to be up in arms if spoiler-happy questions pop up, either, and I personally don't support the policing of spoilers within question titles - even in the HQN.

Why?

1. People complain all over SE metas about the lack of quality of the questions.

Forcing people to ask vague-er questions (or editing questions in the HQN to be more vague/less spoiler-happy) to help solve the spoiler problem isn't a positive step in addressing the 'low quality' questions issue. Additionally, encouraging vague question titles/editing question titles in the HQN to be more vague or whatever doesn't set and won't set a good example for new users and even goes against the guidelines of SE.

My own question regarding being reconnected with a book ended up being edited for specifics which I am perfectly fine with because... yeah. I was being too vague in my question title. But from that perspective, to see questions being edited to become more vague really seems to go against the spirit of SE and the community-wide 'be more specific and give lots of details and support your questions and answers' attitude.

2. SE supports and emphasizes QUALITY of both questions and answers and this includes the inclusion of SPECIFICS.

Engaging in a Q and A session re: a very surprising plot twist in XYZ book or movie that needs some additional puzzling out, research, and/or brainstorming ought to be right up SE's alley in terms of 'quality'. Thing is, how in the world is someone to address this question in a high-quality way without touching on spoilers?

Most of the time, just by saying something like, "How, exactly, did this character die?" or, "How, exactly, does this late reveal of a character's backstory affect ABC?" is enough on its own to be a spoiler.

They're perfectly valid questions to ask and they deal with points of intrigue and mystery that - surprise surprise - could use a little clarification, depending on a person's understanding of the canon of the story world in question.

No spoilers in questions is just silly for that reason.

That is, unless SE wants to ban any and all spoilers AND make it an exception of a sort that question titles here (and in other sites where spoilers might become an issue) are to be vague (and poor in quality according to the rest of SE's standards) if they contain spoilers.