Simple enough topic. Simple enough question. Answers, however, have the potential to be very complicated.

Few will say anything like "Oh I don't mind spoilers" or "Oh man, spoilers kill me in the face"; I think that in general our stances tend to be more complex than that.

My wife, for example, does not generally mind spoilers - she's spoiled herself to the entire plot of Assassin's Creed, and will probably spoil herself to Final Fantasy XIII because she does not particularly care about the game. That said, she abhors spoilers for games she does care about, and where plot matters: spoil a Zelda game, or a game writen by Matsuno, and she might stab you in the eye. You see? Not as simple as one might think.

Here is my stance:

I, myself, hate spoilers of most kinds, and will endeavor to avoid them. I'm actually good at it, too: I played FFXII about eight months or a year after it came out, yet suffered no spoilers concerning the plot of the game because I know how to avoid them. I'm doing the same with FFXIII, and will do so until I play the game some months after the initial launch. This means I can't share in the initial excitement of the game, sure, but it also lets me play it in a more relaxed environment and appreciate the game for what it is, apart from the hype surrounding it.

Sometimes I am less or more serious about it, though. Few spoilers in Mario games are worth worrying about: outside of learning about the mechanics of whatever final confrontation there is, I don't mind learning about the ending to a Mario game! But, and this next bit is true, I actually plan to disappear from the internet altogether when Zelda Wii is released, only returning once I have finished the game and am able to speak on it without fear of being spoiled.

So.

How do you approach spoilers?

Spoilers are evil

what about me being stupid in NSMBwii and SMG and watching full walkthroughs to see the "gameplay" luckly I didn't even watch a trailer for Zelda: Twilight Princess because I wasn't hyped, and it rocked without spoilers

i always try to get away from spoilers even for a game i will most likely never play.

I don't mind spoilers, because I either don't care half the time or force myself to forget what I had just seen/read.

They never bother me, because it never ruins the overall experience for me.

I try my best to avoid spoilers for games that have alot of story. Mario is a game that being spoiled doesn't really matter. Though Zelda ITS a diffrent story. Also does Sprirt Tracks have a predictable ending. I'm guessing you have to kill the Demon in the end

I don't mind mild spoilers. If it's not a MAJOR plot point (for games and pretty much anything else), or change in gameplay (for games) then i don't care. That goes for wheter i'm interested in the game, or not. I usually like to spoil myself, and read tons of previews, and impressions for something especially when i'm interested in it.

Most recent example is with Modern Warfare 2: I didn't care to know that you get to have Soap McTavish as your leading officer, or that you get to play as him toward the end, or even the contraversial scene at the airport, BUT i would've killed someone if they told me who Prisoner 627 was. I rejoiced at that part.

It's predictable but still very nice

My sig only contains the games I am most looking forward to and thus boycotting to avoid spoilers. I only let myself see metacritic so I can judge whether or not I need to end my boycott before I get the game.

In general, I will try to avoid spoilers of any kind though.

I avoid spoilers whenever possible. I just prefer to see things happen for myself.