See whereas I have an irrational phobia of them due to an overactive imagination. I see one (picture, media, real, otherwise) and my skin reacts. Its as if I can feel them crawling all over me, even knowing that there's nothing on me.
To this day I don't know how I defeated DA:O so many times, because I had a panic attack after every spider encounter. It was worse in DA:2. Not fun.
Yeah. If someone has a phobia, I don't force anything on them. Scared of spiders, I won't point out spiders. Scared of heights, I won't take you to the top of a building. Scared of clowns, I won't take you to a circus. Simple as that. I don't know how you will react to something you are scared off. It could put you into shock, it could make you run away in tears, it could do anything. It's better to just not thrust anything on someone that you know will scare them to death. It's not a funny thing to do.
Personally, I think adding spiders into games should be taken with a grain of salt (is that saying right?). Arachnophobia is a common thing and having spiders in a game can push people away from enjoying it. If they are going to appear in a game, there should be ways around them, so you don't have to see them at all. You also shouldn't be penalised for that. If, say for example, the most powerful item in a game only drops when you kill the mother of all spiders, most people are not going to get that because the experience is going to be to much for them.