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[Matariki Rain]

I lurk in a couple of channels where there's VR or holopresence, or where I have an agreement with the channel owner that I can monitor a data feed from the venue. (Think TLG web cam.)

I don't lurk in channels which are physical presence only.

[GoGo Yubari]

I do lurk, so take that in mind. Also, I haven't done any RP (outside of PvP, heh) in Eve since I came back, outside of a few very minor conversations in the Summit.

Things change in the hectic world of Eve and I like a more lurking friendly atmosphere because I can better drop in and out of discussions. Maybe that's because I'm likely to be doing a few different things at the same time in Eve (or just on the computer outside of Eve) and not just role-play.

If I come to check a new channel which has just - let's say - two folks who immediately strike up a convo with me when I join the channel, I'll stay and RP for a bit as time permits, sure. However, that signals a non-lurking policy to me and unless I have some specific reason to I probably won't come back often knowing that the channel will monopolize my attention. These channels are more for the times when I just want some RP and won't be doing anything else.

If a channel has some lurkers and some RP, I'm much more likely to stick around for the long term which will result in more RP all around. Like said on the thread already, I'll listen on and enter the discussion when it's interesting.

To the question in the OP, no, I don't think seeing a bunch of lurkers speaks ill of the channel to me. Of course, a completely silent channel is a dead channel, but that's a bit of a different topic and I would generally agree that it is the channel owner's responsibility to make things happen in the absence of visitors who aren't being active.

But I can understand people wanting non-lurking channels where the idea is that if you sign in on the channel, you are there and for RP. It's just that I don't really prefer my RP channels that way.

[Merdaneth]

I consider channels just that, channels. I'm not a big fan of makebelieving that there are holo's there, let alone a the physical presence. That's the way I tend to play it too, although I'll play along with other people who assume some sort of physicality as not to break their immersion.

I can use such channels to eavesdrop on stuff and intefere when I want (or usually when I find the time/attention to interfere).

As for lurkers, they don't bother me a lot, same lurkers in many channels.

[Saede Riordan]

Ultimately (and I know I'm being a hypocrite, as I lurk in RP channels as a matter of course) it comes down to people taking the attitude of "I'll lurk, so that I can respond if anything interesting happens".

The result, of course, is a channel filled with people waiting for "someone else" to start something.

that's basically my take away on it as well. If someone leaves the channel when they're not in it, they can't see if RP is happening. I try to pop in fairly often in all the channels I'm in, and not just lurk for months on end, if it seems likee I'm doing that, I apologize.

[Goshien]

Something like the summit or other such ... impersonal channel I guess I'd call it I find fine. Something along side a bar or where there is a general agreement of physical presence I don't go into unless I intend to do something. I find it weird if 20 people are in a so called bar and nothing is happening at all.

Granted it is a game, and I make allowances in this for most odd behavior.

[Ember Vykos]

I used to lurk a lot. It was mostly for the reasons stated above of seeing if anything is happening so that I can join in or enter the establishment to eavesdrop. I'm trying it a bit differently on Simca and other than the chat type RP channels(The Summit, NEA, etc.) I'm only entering the physical locations like The Skyhook  when I am actually going to be actively RPing in them. the only physical location i do lurk in is the El-G HQ in which I have my own room so I can just finish something up in there andgo to where the action is if one or more of my corpies starts to RP there.

[Lyn Farel]

I lurk a lot where I can (or am interested to do), for the reasons stated above. The only flaw I see in lurking is bad RPers unable to separate what they hear while lurking but their character not being present (or worst, making up a clunky reason like "my char was here actually, he has just been silent in a corner for days").

It all depends of what the admins want, really. If im told to gtfo of a channel I will have no problem with that. What I like in channels allowing lurking is that they also work as RP showcases, especially for novices in roleplay or people interested in starting that.

[Ciarente]

It all depends of what the admins want, really.

This. Always respect what the channels mods want - and channel mods, help a poor Rper out with a line in the MoTD about your lurker/holo presence?

[Verone]

The Last Gate is guilty of this, so I'll add my two cents.

Often there are a few people who just chill in The Gate and monitor what's going on there in hopes of striking some RP up. We also have a fair few moderators who just kind of chill there and watch to make sure things are alright and people aren't being dicks.

As for the general consensus, I'd rather have people just idle there and wait for RP than not be in there at all. People tend to hang around waiting for someone they know to enter and kick off some RP so that they can enter and join in too. I see no issue with this.

I've lost count of my how many times either myself or someone else have headed into the channel IC and just the presence of one person has sparked off a 5 hour long stint of RP.

I don't personally think lurkers are an issue, unless all they're doing is farming chatlogs. Quite a few times I've kicked out noob alts that have basically just been there for this purpose and have not interacted at all.

[Dreeon]

I lurk from the shadows... only because I'm trying to wrap my head around EVE RP. Too afraid to say anything just yet

[Myrhial Arkenath]

I don't mind lurkers in The Skyhook our or public IC. Most likely they have some sort of interest in what is happening. Personally I have closed a ton of IC channels however because they made identifying what was happening hard, even with flashy off, and I already have four damn stacks of channels (Naraka channels, intel channels, OOC channels, IC channels that are not places) nagging for attention. If I had more time to idle and RP, I might add a fifth stack again, but damn my screen estate >_<

Some things that would make me incredibly happy would be to merge channels into a single window, and also to be able to use the second smaller monitor I got to put all my chats on, but keep the EVE game window restricted to just the main window.

[Lyn Farel]

What do you mean by "merge in a single window" ? What is the difference with stacked windows ?

For your 2nd monitor I think it is possible. Even if the screen widens on the second monitor, you can still use the camera offset option in the graphic options to center your ship (and thus the view) on your first screen.

[Kaleigh Doyle]

I apologize if I came across as being accusatory with this discussion. It wasn't my intent to make people feel guilty for being idle in channels. I'm honestly trying to decide, from my own perspective, whether lurking has a negative impact on rp channels. I'm still on the fence about it personally, and my instinct is telling me that it is, but some of you have presented valid reasons for doing so, so I'll have to take a deeper look and maybe even try instituting a 'no lurking' rule in an rp channel to see how it turns out.

[Myrhial Arkenath]

What do you mean by "merge in a single window" ? What is the difference with stacked windows ?

For your 2nd monitor I think it is possible. Even if the screen widens on the second monitor, you can still use the camera offset option in the graphic options to center your ship (and thus the view) on your first screen.

Screens are different sizes though, I think that may mean top and border getting cut off and thus not seeing the whole view you would normally see, which in combat I think may be rather bad.

As for single window, I mean that instead of tabs you'd have in different colors several channels going into one window, with an option to switch which channel you speak in when typing. Think of how other MMO's have different chats in one window.

[Lyn Farel]

And if you can turn 90° your second screen (if it is possible....) ? That way you would have the black stripes on the second one with only the channels.