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I do think Headscratchers for material that has yet to be released is kind of pointless: 99% of the time, the Headscratcher is answered as soon as the work comes out.
People like speculating on stuff that isn't out yet, I get that, but I'd argue a Headscratcher page is not the place to do it.
We shouldn't have anything for works that haven't been released.
I'm usually in favor in keeping pages for upcoming works, even YMMV pages. But I really don't see the point of Headscratchers for a work that's not even out yet. Nine times out ten, any potential question raised is going to be directly answered in the film itself, rendering it kind of pointless.
Honestly, I feel a Headscratcher page for an upcoming work should just be cut on principle and be restored once the work is released.
I see no point. The only page I see worth having for pre-release is WMG, because theories be theories and seeing something confirmed or jossed can be fun. Headscratchers makes no real sense to have before release.
Currently Working On: Incorruptible Pure Pureness
Another problem associated with this practice is that it often means that some Headscratchers pages have still questions prefaced with "Based on the trailers" years after the work's release, which seems to violate Examples Are Not Recent.
I would support pre-emptive locks on unreleased material including subpages. Especially headscratchers because the answer is pretty much always "wait and see", and then it never gets dealt with when the work comes out and just bloats the headscratchers page.
I get that people are excited by trailers, that is what they are for after all, but surely the place to discuss them is on the forum side of the wiki? In fact given how often trailers are at odds with the work they shouldn't even be used for the works page.
"We shouldn't have anything for works that haven't been released."
This.
I am going to go against the grain and say that since Headscratchers pages are general purpose Q&A pages about a work, it's not inconceivable that some questions can be answered from a pre-release. Besides, locking them is too much work for no actual benefit.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
Locking pages seems like less work than cleaning up nonsense that's added when they're left unlocked, IMO.
I guess I can see how having pre-release headscratchers might not be a big deal to warrant a pre-emptive lock, but YMMV pages and the like create too many problems to deserve to stick around.
Currently Working On: Incorruptible Pure Pureness
Should we just lock Headscratchers pages for things that haven't been released yet?
Case in point, the Spider-Man: Far From Home page, where the sole question — asked when only the title and the barest outline of a premise were released — is made completely moot by the teaser trailer.
And it's not the only one. There's still questions on Ralph Breaks the Internet, like "Even if Ralph and Vanellope find a replacement part, how will they get it to the arcade?" and its follow up of how they'll pay for it, which was asked before release and turn out to be explicitly addressed plot points in the film — hell, the latter question turns out to be what most of the movie is about.
Questions asked before release end up either unanswerable because there's no information out yet, or are based on a pre-release misunderstanding that is rendered pointless once information does come out. Seems like there isn't much point to having a page before release.
Edited by MrDeath