Jump to content

How do you feel about RP Lurkers?


Sage
 Share

Recommended Posts

How do you feel about lurkers in your rp? I'm talking about the members who joined the forum (or other form of rp), but never really made the effort to create a character or join in the community. Members who login every few days and just sort of...sit there. Maybe they're reading threads, maybe they're not, but they're just kind of...there. What do you think about them?

 

Or ave you ever been an rp lurker? Have you liked an rp so much that you wanted to be a part of it without actually writing in it, so you joined it and just let your account sit? What would make you do this? 

 

I ask because we recently had one on our site, and now we might have another, and I'm not sure how I feel about them! Should I feel flattered that we write content worthy of having lurkers who actually register? Should I be concerned that maybe they're stealing content? Maybe they joined so they could get alerts when topics they follow get new replies! Or maybe they're taking codes and content that aren't available to the public. It's impossible to know for sure, so I don't really have an opinion, but I'm curious about what others think! 

  • I read this! 2

translunary.gif.5374a61b67b4df1af4bb898e0c039553.gif

a dark, urban fantasy;

inspired by sailor moon

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ooooh I find this an interesting conundrum. Due to some issues I have had with another party that I cannot go into, I am naturally very wary of people who lurk on the site but do not actually post anything or even chat. I can see them online and it makes me a bit uneasy due to the nature of the other party liking to stalk us so even people who are in our discord I am wary about. It kinda goes back to some of the points you listed. 

 

Regardless of that fact though, I actually get a bit irritated with lurkers? Like, why would you sign up for a community without making any sort of effort to get involved? Why do through that process? Like, I can kinda understand if you sign up or just chat with people cause at least you're making some effort. If you are just there and do nothing, it annoys me especially since my site is a one account for all characters so you can see how many people are actually on the site. If you sign up, but never use your account, that one dead account can be added to a collective of other accounts that may not be active; ultimately making your site look inactive. 

 

I've been a little more passive when it comes to these lurkers. I'll watch for a bit, but if they say nothing or do nothing, then I delete the account after a little bit or I message them with a welcome message so they have to kinda engage with me or else I see that they may not have the best intentions. 

  • I read this! 1

jak_sig_2sec_by_accenlia-dbcyqh8.gif

Not all things last... Some thrive in the fire while others die
Original High Medieval Fantasy || 3-3-3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I like having fans, but not lurkers. I am such a fan too.

 

If you registered, then you want to be a member, not a lurker/fan, so damn do something! If you want just to read the stories and to talk in the c-box, that's fine too, but you don't need to register on the site, just a profile on the c-box.

 

I like having fans and I know we have some. A few administrators of other sites who don't have time to write on another site, gave me their e-mail adress to send them the links to the monthly chronicles, in order to follow easier our adventures, and I love it. Some come from time to time to the c-box to comment on a thing or another, and I love this as well.

 

But this is different than being a member who does nothing. Those get deleted.

  • I read this! 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was a lurker on a site! So here's my perspective as a lurker:

 

I registered as member and I enjoyed being a part of the community and reading people's stuff and adding reputation points to posts I found exceptional, but I didn't have the time or energy to commit to posting. Posting takes time, and I found the pace of the roleplay too fast (every few months OOC was a new year IC). So I asked the admin if I could keep my OOC account active and participate in the community with the hope of maybe one day returning when I could. She said yes, though I'm not certain if she told the other staff members because they'd archive me during activity checks. I still ended up responding to them even though I didn't have characters, but that was okay.

 

It's not the traditional way to go about participating in a roleplay, but I found it better and more honest than keeping a character around and either never posting or posting so infrequently that I held others up or never had character development. I was pretty honest about my intentions, though, because I realized that it was non traditional and I was comfortable enough to try something "new" and admit how weird it was. Fortunately, the admin was pretty cool about it.

 

 

Edited by Uaithne
Sometimes my phone accidentally highlights text and I don't know how to get rid of it without deleting everything.
  • I read this! 3

WoL___dark01.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't see any reason to run a lurker off unless they're in some way detrimental to the site. If someone is there, reading, commenting, being a community member without writing roleplays, but they're generally amicable? Eh, who cares! 

 

If they're lurking because they hate the site but they promised a friend they'd join, it might be worth suggesting they find a new stomping ground. ^^

 

Lurkers drive me crazy -- but I think it's just because I join RPs to write. Making friends/having a community is a bonus, but not what I usually look for when roleplaying.

  • I read this! 1
  • Agree 1
tumblr_ovxhy4cZLY1wtsmmno3_r1_100.jpg
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm fine with people who just want to read along. So long as they're not causing problems I really don't care. If they participate in other places/ways (like if they show up in our OOC sections to chat) I'm all for it.

 

  • I read this! 3
  • Agree 3
"There are three sides to every story... Your side, their side, and then somewhere in the middle is the truth."
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't get it. At all. I don't particularly like them, but if they're going to do it I'd much rather they be honest and up front and bluntly go "I'm here to read things." than just... Being there without saying anything. But I also clear out accounts every now and then so if they aren't speaking up, they're going to wind up with me assuming they aren't going to be joining and their account getting deleted regardless.

 

That said, CW has one. She's a RW friend of mine and another admin and because we discuss the board IRL, she wanted to know what was going on and is an avid reader, but not a writer. She enjoys reading the posts and has favorite characters. Basically she treats it like a giant ongoing book. She chats with us in the box every now and then and most members don't seem to have an issue with her, though they don't get it either.

 

 

  • I read this! 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've had problems with lurkers in the past. One lurker in particular registered an account on my site,  stole my character app, posted it on their site and claimed it as their own. When I fought with them about it on their site's cbox, they called me a pathetic psychotic cow, told me to get a life & professional help then banned me from their site and cbox.

 

Never trust a lurker. They're probably stalking the site so they can figure out the  best way to harm your site.

Edited by demonickitten
  • Disagree 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've never had an actual lurker, just Fly-by-Nights. Although after reading about some Non-writers enjoying the site as far as community and reading material, now I want one. Or a few. 

 

I think it's a really cool level of Awesomesauce that your hobby has become the equivalent to somebody's, say, Tuesday Evening TV show. 

  • I read this! 6

 

OnyxSiggy1.jpg.c76f2c1acc64a865bdf5164f4c085020.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@CovertSphinx - It IS extremely flattering. But also slightly unnerving. I think knowing our lurker IRL helps a great deal. And I feel if you want to be a lurker, you should be up front about your intentions and make it known to the admin. We're writers, we enjoy having our things read! But we're also people that don't want our hard work stolen.

  • I read this! 2
  • Agree 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 minutes ago, Rune said:

@CovertSphinx - It IS extremely flattering. But also slightly unnerving. I think knowing our lurker IRL helps a great deal. And I feel if you want to be a lurker, you should be up front about your intentions and make it known to the admin. We're writers, we enjoy having our things read! But we're also people that don't want our hard work stolen.

 OH yeah, of course! Sorry, I didn't think to clarify that I'd be uncomfortable with a random stranger doing it XD

 

OnyxSiggy1.jpg.c76f2c1acc64a865bdf5164f4c085020.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I joined a few sites because I was interested in the fandom(s) that were on the board, with the intention of making a character, but after reading through their rules, new user guides and what not, I decided that the board wasn't exactly what I wanted - it made the site seem to be more work than it warranted (and this was confirmed even more when the admin of the site tried to force me to participate by posting on my profile and making me feel like I was a stalker - no thanks! I'm glad I didn't take it any further.)

 

Most of them are probably people who wanted to join, but then decided that for what ever reason the site wasn't for them. I've no problem with people just reading and I've no problem with people looking for inspiration/ideas on how to set up a board, either.

 

Oh there will be people who take stuff. That's sad, but I don't know how you can prevent that from happening.

  • I read this! 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Shortly after I founded Elliquiy, there was a woman who joined, visited nearly every day, but never posted.

 

For six years.

 

I occasionally talked to her and commented on her lurking - I thought it was awesome. Eventually, though, she found the time to finally start roleplaying.

 

These days, my forums have become less active post-wise but a lot more members log in once every month or two and do a bunch of reading.

  • I read this! 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Pseudo-Lurker here! While I've never joined a site with the intention of doing nothing more than reading what is posted by others, I have been that person who makes a single character and posts infrequently. I try to make a concentrated effort to post places that I've taken the time to join, however, there are definitely instances in which I fall back on my lurker tendencies. 

 

I do want to say first that my lurking is never done maliciously or with the intent of causing problems or issues for the admin. In my experience, any number of member who posts even if its infrequently is a good number especially if your board is young. However, I can appreciate the potential frustration of a body taking up space and doing nothing. I ran a relatively active site for a while with plenty of posting on board, but the cbox was filled with lurkers, friends and friends of friends who'd decided they wanted in but didn't actually want to be part of the story. That's honestly the only time I myself have become frustrated with lurkers. 

 

Back to my own lurking skills. The truth is, I find myself lurking for various reasons, but most of them boil down to "I found this really cool thing and I want to be a part of this really cool thing". But I might not have the time or understand enough to truly be a part of it. Personally I'm kind of nosy if I'm being honest with myself. I like to know things and be a part of things. I don't actually share the information or use it for anything, I just like learning it. Lurking is basically like reading a novel in which the writers are as much characters in the story as their actual characters. I love watching the interactions between people and how they handle situations. (Which is part of why rping appeals so much to me in general.)

  • I read this! 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I get a lot of lurkers. I would say that my average 5 players that get added per month, 2 of them stay, the rest sort of trail off or never make characters. It's weird, but I guess it's a thing. I have old players or members come back and read stuff, or just show up every month when I send out a new announcement.

 

At the end of the month (or when I remember) I message all new members that haven't posted in a while. I remind them about their characters (if they made any), our rules, or sometimes I just stop by to say hi.

 

I've gotten one response in my 6 months of doing this that basically said "I got intimidated and bailed. Sorry." Otherwise, nobody ever responds so I just sort of ignore them after that.

 

*shrug* 

  • I read this! 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use, Guidelines and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.