In terms of spoilers, how much do minions actually have an effect on newer players?

[StarRosie]

I'd say it is heavily dependent on two things. Context and the minion itself. Lets say someone just got through the end of post patch ARR and is going into Heavensward. To them, Y'shtola is very likely dead. But if someone rolled by with say the Brave New Y'shtola minion? That would likely inform them that Y'shtola is alive or will be back somehow. Or say you have someone in the ShB portion of the story but hasn't beaten Crown of the Immaculate and the true identity of the Exarch hasn't been revealed to them, but they see someone stroll by with Wind-up Mystel? Well...it looks like G'raha and is wearing the Exarch's robes...ah, I guess they know who the Exarch is now. But, I will also say that people shouldn't be harassed for this sort of stuff, nor should they be expected to not use what could be their favorite minion to prevent spoilers.

As for things like Primal or Boss minions...well that is also context and the minion itself. If the person knows nothing of FF and is just playing XIV cause their friends do and they see ya stroll by with Wind-up Kefka...they don't know who Kefka is, so it is a none issue to them. But if it the player is experienced with FF and sees Wind-up Kefka? They will likely thing "Well, Kefka is a really popular FF villain, so it'd make sense he'd have a minion." But that could also lead to them googling how to get it and spoiling themselves, but at that point it is their fault. Not the player rolling around with Kefka behind them.

All and all, it just depends. Personally I don't use a few minions around friends, because I don't want to spoil things for them. Same for some music rolls. I have the Zeromus fight theme, never play it in my house cause one of my friends who is in patch MSQ for ShB is a HUGE FF fan and would instantly recognize the theme. And I genuinely want Zeromus to be a surprise for them. In the end though, it is up to the individual on if they care or not, and they shouldn't be harassed for it.

[Commander_Justitia]

As for things like Primal or Boss minions...well that is also context and the minion itself. If the person knows nothing of FF and is just playing XIV cause their friends do and they see ya stroll by with Wind-up Kefka...they don't know who Kefka is, so it is a none issue to them. But if it the player is experienced with FF and sees Wind-up Kefka? They will likely thing "Well, Kefka is a really popular FF villain, so it'd make sense he'd have a minion." But that could also lead to them googling how to get it and spoiling themselves, but at that point it is their fault. Not the player rolling around with Kefka behind them.

The moment you see the minion, you can assume there will be a fight with them tbh.

I played FFX and saw Magus Trio and Anima as minion, before I even saw the dungeon. Was kinda spoiled. I think worse spoiler are in the Exploration tab for dungeon map unlocks as well as Battle category. You can also look at housing items innocently and see Alexander, Niddhog and Innocence blades "victory over the greatest of the Lightwarden" as description.

[StarRosie]

The moment you see the minion, you can assume there will be a fight with them tbh.

Eeehhh, I guess? But I don't think everyone would immediately jump to Wind-up Kefa = We gonna fight Kefka. Especially not a new player. Or more likely not a new player. Cause nothing is absolute. But we also can't control everyone to not use things like Wind-up Mystel or OMG. All we can do is control ourselves and decide if we want to use those minions or not. Play those songs or not. Put up those furnishings or not. That's the best we can do, cause the other option is harassing folks to not put up or use spoilery things. Cause SE isn't gonna put a 'hide all spoilery things' option. Cause...you then have to ask what is spoilery? And how do you hide it? If someone gets on Model O, does it just not display Model O? Again, all we can do is account for ourselves. Cause the alternative is not something I particularly approve of.