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[Mitara Newelle]

....lurkers in an rp channel...

Down with this sort of thing.

[Louella Dougans]

A channel has a lot of members at all times. Someone (new to rp) comes in and does some things. Tumbleweeds or spontaneous rp occurs.

Later that person is in channel, lurking, and some of the previous lurkers act out a pre-arranged scene.

sometimes, it creates the impressions of "chatlog farming", or of there being a definite "In-crowd", or that you're interrupting something, which can be intimidatory or depressing, depending on how things were at the time.

E.g. If someone goes to a place, and the first time, it's tumbleweeds, the second time there's more tumbleweeds, but a lurker posts a dreaded bracketed comment inquiring about spelling or something (thereby indicating they are paying attention but don't want to rp at the time), and the third time, theres a scene involving some of the lurkers that were there the first two times, then it does not tend to form a good impression of a place.

So... lurking can be a bad thing.


On the other hand, a channel about a topic, e.g. something about sciencey things, then lurkers are not a bad thing, as a sufficiently populated channel suggests a lot of people having an interest in that topic.

[Casiella]

On the other hand, a channel about a topic, e.g. something about sciencey things, then lurkers are not a bad thing, as a sufficiently populated channel suggests a lot of people having an interest in that topic.

Nice example...

[Shalee Lianne]

I try not to lurk, generally speaking.  If I have an rp channel open (like the Skyhook) but am not rping there, usually I have it blinked off and it's just lost in the masses of channels I have open at any given time.

I don't mind lurking in the Mercy's Keep, but I get annoyed when people lurk in the rest of the Keep.  For those of you who aren't familiar with it, we have a great big Hall that is generally open to the public, with some other rooms that guests can wander into, ie: the library, the solarium, and the exterior.  It's annoying to try to have a private conversation with someone in those other rooms with all these other people lurking. 

To Kaleigh, if you are annoyed with this person lurking in your channel and he's never contributed at all, theres no point in him being there.  Send him a mail and ask him what the deal is.  Or kick him.  It's your channel.

[Lyn Farel]

Ah yes, I almost forgot all the other parts of the Keep. I am generally not logged on them unless I am going to RP inside. I usually use the main channel to start some RP, and wait to get in these other annexes if needed after.

As I am the main admin of the library, I generally do not mind if people lurk in there because it is still semi public. Though if half of the cluster was lurking in there I don't really know what I would do. Probably nothing, would take it like if it had become a fucking famous place I suppose.

[Morwen Lagann]

Personally, it depends on what sort of channel it is for me to swing one way or another about lurking.

I don't see a problem with people 'lurking' in channels that represent publicly open physical places like the Last Gate, the Skyhook, or the public hall of Mercy's Keep, if they're actually RPing in them on a semi-regular basis. Personally, I don't lurk in most channels if I'm not going to be RPing in them regularly - this is why I'm not in the Three Sisters or the Silo channels, as an example. Of course, the reasoning for the two is slightly different - Morwen hasn't been to 3S in ages, and she's got no IC reason to go to the Silo yet - but in both cases I'm not going to be using them regularly.

Public comms channels like Heiian or the Summit? Lurk away. They're just comms channels.

More private or secluded areas, like the "behind doors" areas of the Keep, or people's homes/ships/hangars, I would feel a little awkward about people lurking. I only open those sorts of channels while I'm actively RPing in them, and close them as soon as I'm done. In fact, when it comes to Mercy's Keep, I only go into the other channels when explicitly dragged in by someone else, and then leave as soon as we're done.

There are of course exceptions - for example, I have a few channels for a couple of ships that Morwen lives or spends a lot of time on (like her carrier), as well as one for her hangar. There are a few people who I don't mind lurking in them because they are frequent visitors, and/or I trust them to be able to keep things separate if they're not involved in any RP that's actively occurring in them.

[Makkal]

I have a passionate dislike for lurking.

Makkal lurks in the Summit because even if she's not actively participating, she's recording it when her  neocom is on.

If you see Makkal in a physical location, that means she's there. If Makkal isn't at that location and interacting with it, then I have her leave and exit the channel. There are a handful of occasions where curiosity has overwhelmed me and I've hoped into places Makkal shouldn't' be, but usually I hop right on out because :RP shame:.

[Silas Vitalia]

+1 for lurking in 'chat' comms quite alright

-1 for lurking in 'physical' locations, half the time I end up looking like an idiot trying to talk to someone in a physical channel who is just AFK. 

[DeadRow]

Mostly agreed. I personally only really lurk in one physical place which is The Last Gate. That is because I'm a mod there currently.

[Katrina Oniseki]

I lurk in I-RED Lounge, because I help moderate the place and occasionally play the bartender there as well. Other than that, I do not lurk in physical public places that I don't own. Kat's office and home are lurk spots for me as well.

[Ollie]

I have a passionate dislike for lurking.

Out of curiousity, why? What's the reason for your "passionate" dislike as opposed to simple aversion to it?

+1 for lurking in 'chat' comms quite alright

-1 for lurking in 'physical' locations, half the time I end up looking like an idiot trying to talk to someone in a physical channel who is just AFK. 

While this is the policy I generally subscribe to it also opens up other questions. For example, in those physical locations do you fly to the system they're actually located in? If not, why?

For me, I tend to look for locations with holo-emitters (although I've never really seen prime fiction that explains how widespread their use is). If I'm lurking in physical locations with these types of devices setup I generally RP my avatar/holo as being slightly out of focus to imply that my attention's not fixed on the feed - this gives me the opportunity to participate if I want to without making it an obligation (for want of a better term).

What's the consensus on lurking in physical locations in that manner? Also, if we want RP to flourish in some of the lesser utilised channels should we be encouraging lurkers just to increase the potential for spontaneous interaction?

[Karmilla Strife]

I subscribe to the morwen 2011 policy. However if I'm lurking in a physical location and someone shows up and starts RPing at me. I'll handwave being there just to not make them look like an asshole.

[Makkal]

I have a passionate dislike for lurking.

Out of curiousity, why? What's the reason for your "passionate" dislike as opposed to simple aversion to it?

1. Makkal responds to the people around her. Even if she doesn't interact with someone, she's going to notice their presence and possibly adjust what she does or says. If someone isn't really there but hangs out there 'because,' it means I'm reacting incorrectly.

2. I like to limit my OOC knowledge. Lurking fucks with that. I also get tired of people IC knowing something they've only witnessed OOC. 

[Karmilla Strife]

That's why I limit my exposure to IC blogs.

[Silas Vitalia]

While this is the policy I generally subscribe to it also opens up other questions. For example, in those physical locations do you fly to the system they're actually located in? If not, why?

I try to treat sec status pretty seriously IC, so I have essentially barred my character from visiting any physical locations in highsec regions, except for capsuleer restricted areas of stations (and even then it's rare).   If it's a high sec location (or channel run by enemies), a hologram usually works.  I imagine when you are -10 or a heretic or traitor, there's just rows of armed station personnel just hoping you take one step over the CONCORD protected capsuleer areas of the station waiting to ruin your day and shoot you dead. 

If the venue is in low or null and I'm comfortable with 'security' I do sometimes pop in physically.  I sometimes handwave a shuttle to physically transport if it's just a 'social' channel and there's no chance of in space activities.