Lurking : Strategy & Mistakes
Hello everyone, I'd like to know your thoughts on a commonly seen behavior : lurking.
Do you believe it is good, bad, or situational? Why?
How do you think it can be used, as a strategy?
How do you think it should be read?
Waiting on your thoughts!
Re: Lurking : Strategy & Mistakes
it's weak play imo. if you're able to participate, you should! alignment doesn't matter.
Re: Lurking : Strategy & Mistakes
I don't think lurking is a stratagy that anyone really actively employs. It's more of a symptom of players either having a lack of time or a lack of interest.
Re: Lurking : Strategy & Mistakes
Re: Lurking : Strategy & Mistakes
Some people get away with using it as a strategy to avoid dealing with pressure, but just as many people are legit unable to play or uninterested in playing. I don't really see any way to properly separate these people from each other. Even if you disable incognito mode, people will just say they left the thread open on their computer in response to accusations that they were actively playing but ignoring questions. And people assuming you are lying about being afk when u were legitimately afk would really suck and ruin the game.
I think it's just something that you have to do the "honor rule" on. Like crypt said, if you lurk on purpose then you suck.
Re: Lurking : Strategy & Mistakes
The hate on lurking is absolutely ridiculous. This is 100% a strategy and has literally no ties to the actual issue that people have, which is inactivity.
Knowing When NOT to speak is just as important as pointing out inconsistencies or prodding others to talk. Nobody has to be absolutely active very time they have the ability to post.
There was a game I played back in the day that had a hidden graveyard. I was scum at the time and this was my literal third ever game and the first time I was scum. I was active and active and somehow managed to circumvent my way to the endgame in the midst of so many old school players. (CMG, Clementine, Muso, etc.)
The host straight up told me he wanted to give me MVP, but he refused to do so if I lurked on the last day. This last day there was only a few people alive and if I had Lurked on that day I would have been able to skate by unnoticed and kill the last few folks and win.
Instead I felt forced to be active and fake claim , having no experience or knowledge of how to properly fake claim, and was immediately caught. I claimed Veteran and the players had host meta that the host Hated the Veteran role. Simultaneously Clementine has used Lurking as a strategy to play as if she had died and revealed herself and her feedback to clear Herself, CMG, and successfully reveal my partner to secure the game for Town.
Lurking is a strategy. Lurking is completely valid. Lurking is absolutely fine.
Lurking =\= Inacitivty.
Re: Lurking : Strategy & Mistakes
@Damus_Graves
Which FM was this?
Re: Lurking : Strategy & Mistakes
@Auckmid
Haven’t the foggiest.
It was on the site tht Muso created after some incident happened here.
Re: Lurking : Strategy & Mistakes
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Tauntshaman
Password is ff0000.
Enjoy.
Re: Lurking : Strategy & Mistakes
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Damus_Graves
@Auckmid
Haven’t the foggiest.
It was on the site tht Muso created after some incident happened here.
Ah, you must be talking about PlayMaf.
Re: Lurking : Strategy & Mistakes
Re: Lurking : Strategy & Mistakes
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Damus_Graves
The hate on lurking is absolutely ridiculous. This is 100% a strategy and has literally no ties to the actual issue that people have, which is inactivity.
Knowing When NOT to speak is just as important as pointing out inconsistencies or prodding others to talk. Nobody has to be absolutely active very time they have the ability to post.
There was a game I played back in the day that had a hidden graveyard. I was scum at the time and this was my literal third ever game and the first time I was scum. I was active and active and somehow managed to circumvent my way to the endgame in the midst of so many old school players. (CMG, Clementine, Muso, etc.)
The host straight up told me he wanted to give me MVP, but he refused to do so if I lurked on the last day. This last day there was only a few people alive and if I had Lurked on that day I would have been able to skate by unnoticed and kill the last few folks and win.
Instead I felt forced to be active and fake claim , having no experience or knowledge of how to properly fake claim, and was immediately caught. I claimed Veteran and the players had host meta that the host Hated the Veteran role. Simultaneously Clementine has used Lurking as a strategy to play as if she had died and revealed herself and her feedback to clear Herself, CMG, and successfully reveal my partner to secure the game for Town.
Lurking is a strategy. Lurking is completely valid. Lurking is absolutely fine.
Lurking =\= Inacitivty.
No, lurking isn't a valid strategy. What good is it if you win if you had absolutely no impact in the game's narrative? This game is a social game, primarily. If you don't partake in the discussion you might as well not be in the game.
Also, if you're constantly lurking, you're never gonna learn how to properly fake-claim and manipulate the narrative. Lurking is never valid because unless the townies have their heads up their arses (which unfortunately is often the case), your not controlling the narrative means that the town is. There have actually been games where inactive scum lost the game to active town.
Lurking requires little skill. No wonder people hate it.
Re: Lurking : Strategy & Mistakes
You have completely confused Lurking with Inactivity
@Ganelon
They are not the same.
Lurking is a strategic tool that absolutely has a place in the game as it currently stands. Once again;
There are moments where choose to refrain from posting has greater impact vs Posting in the thread.
I detailed an exact scenario where lurking would have been a strategical sound gameplay. Lurking would have won that game whereas fumbling through the daychat wouldn’t have. The circumstances within that moment in time heavily favored lurking as a strategy.
You referenced this game being a social game. Well, social games derive their major points through conversation. There are plenty of moments within conversation where you should choose to remain silent rather than speak. Psychologically speaking; When you are engaged with other person and you push them for information it is absolutely valid to remain silent after your partner has made a point that you found lacking in substance. This silence prompts them to continue speaking. Whereas if you interject they would not be as prompted to continue speaking. This prompt is mostly derived from the average persons uncomfortability with silence in the confines of conversation. The average person seeks to fill the void that silence leaves.
The majority of players here all have a disdain for inactivity and they misconstrue lurking as inactivity. That is a mistake. Because they are not the same.
Alfredo Noddle is not the same as Maceroni and Cheese.
Re: Lurking : Strategy & Mistakes
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Arsonist
Password is ff0000.
Enjoy.
how in the hell did you guys do that?
Re: Lurking : Strategy & Mistakes
A wins a win and 20$ is 20$ i agree with Damus.
Re: Lurking : Strategy & Mistakes
I think that you are all stating things as FACTS too much :)
Here's my opinion, the opinion of an human being who has no absolute knowledge, just like you all... even if it looks like some of you forget it sometimes. Game theory is not always clear, obvious, and clean-cut.
There is a very grey line between inactivity and strategic lurking, and the use of "lurking" to talk about "being inactive" doesn't help. Being inactive without having given anything substantial, and without any plan that will get put in place, and that will actually involve work is a mistake, and the people who do that continually should just not sign for games, as they don't enjoy them, and ruin other players' experience.
HOWEVER, not posting to create a demand (as Damus previously stated) is a thing. Waiting for things to go further, not discussing a topic, these are all forms of lurking, to different extents. Being LHF on purpose, and creating discussion by lurking, THEN getting in the game and uncovering scum with high activity and accuracy is also a strategy that can be viable IMO.
Obviously, lurking is also misused and can create a very strange and sad meta, where nobody posts because everyone is either an inactive or a lurker. I think that lurkers are clever enough to realize that, and to create discussion, as either alignment (as town, to find scum, and as scum, to control day chat).
Inactivity favors scums. Lurking can favor both sides, depending on how it is executed and how it is used.
I am personally a "lurker pusher", since I like to know players' thoughts. However, if someone lurks as a strategy that is honestly trying to help their alignment, and actually involves gameplay at some point, I'm perfectly ok with it.
Re: Lurking : Strategy & Mistakes
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Marshmallow Marshall
I think that you are all stating things as FACTS too much :)
Here's my opinion, the opinion of an human being who has no absolute knowledge, just like you all... even if it looks like some of you forget it sometimes. Game theory is not always clear, obvious, and clean-cut.
There is a very grey line between inactivity and strategic lurking, and the use of "lurking" to talk about "being inactive" doesn't help. Being inactive without having given anything substantial, and without any plan that will get put in place, and that will actually involve work is a mistake, and the people who do that continually should just not sign for games, as they don't enjoy them, and ruin other players' experience.
HOWEVER, not posting to create a demand (as Damus previously stated) is a thing. Waiting for things to go further, not discussing a topic, these are all forms of lurking, to different extents. Being LHF on purpose, and creating discussion by lurking, THEN getting in the game and uncovering scum with high activity and accuracy is also a strategy that can be viable IMO.
Obviously, lurking is also misused and can create a very strange and sad meta, where nobody posts because everyone is either an inactive or a lurker. I think that lurkers are clever enough to realize that, and to create discussion, as either alignment (as town, to find scum, and as scum, to control day chat).
Inactivity favors scums. Lurking can favor both sides, depending on how it is executed and how it is used.
I am personally a "lurker pusher", since I like to know players' thoughts. However, if someone lurks as a strategy that is honestly trying to help their alignment, and actually involves gameplay at some point, I'm perfectly ok with it.
So what is your opinion exactly? This feels like a "both sides" argument .
Re: Lurking : Strategy & Mistakes
Quote:
Originally Posted by
blinkskater
A wins a win and 20$ is 20$ i agree with Damus.
R u playing to win, or r u playing 4 fun u lil shit
Re: Lurking : Strategy & Mistakes
yes, but consistently lurking when town is fighting each other doesn't make you a good/skilled player lol. any fool could win in that situation
Re: Lurking : Strategy & Mistakes
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Damus_Graves
So what is your opinion exactly? This feels like a "both sides" argument .
Because it is one! I think both "sides" are right. Being inactive favors scum, lurking can favor any alignment, it CAN be useful, although I doubt it is optimal, usually. It is also dangerous if the site meta turns into "everyone lurks"; that's up to the community to stop lurking for the sake of playable games (playing for win, but also for fun).