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Lurker status?

Posted by OutlawJT
OutlawJT
member, 254 posts
Thu 1 Feb 2018
at 05:37
  • msg #1

Lurker status?

I've had several requests for joining one of my games as a lurker after I'd accepted my players. For the life of me, I can't find anything in the tools or the FAQ about how to actually add a lurker, though. How do I add someone in a way that they can read all the player accessible threads but not be able to post in anything?
tmagann
member, 517 posts
Thu 1 Feb 2018
at 05:39
  • msg #2

Lurker status?

There is a Lurker option in the GM menu. I haven't actually used it, so i can't say how well it works in regards to what it allows.
aguy777
member, 256 posts
Join Date:
Fri, 29 Nov, 2013
Thu 1 Feb 2018
at 05:42
  • msg #3

Lurker status?

You can select which groups a lurker can see. They cannot post, however.
donsr
member, 1236 posts
Thu 1 Feb 2018
at 05:43
  • msg #4

Lurker status?

go to the  GM Menu.

 there is a link on the menu that says " edit Banned and Lurkers"

 then you can ban/lurk them as you see fit  by thier  RTJ name.

  For my part, I don't use  lurkers... you either  want to play, or you don't..but  each GM has thier own  Ideas.
Mad Mick
member, 935 posts
GURPS beyond measure,
outlander
Thu 1 Feb 2018
at 06:02
  • msg #5

Lurker status?

Lurkers have view-only access, per the GM menu.

However, some games add them as players so that they can post in the OOC and set their status as Lurker.  Others add them to Group Z, where the lurker can read all posts but only post in Group Z.
LonePaladin
member, 694 posts
Creator of HeroForge
Fri 2 Feb 2018
at 05:49
  • msg #6

Re: Lurker status?

Mad Mick:
Lurkers have view-only access, per the GM menu.

However, some games add them as players so that they can post in the OOC and set their status as Lurker.  Others add them to Group Z, where the lurker can read all posts but only post in Group Z.

Hm. I hadn't thought of using Group Z.

I happily accept lurkers in the games I run -- when I invariably reach the limit on players, everyone after that gets offered a seat in the Lurker Pool. I add those who accept, make sure they have viewing access to the right groups, then edit a GM-only post I make that has a list of my lurkers, in the order they were added.

Whenever I have an opening arise, or have something like a recurring NPC or other side character, I go back through my lurker list and offer the spot to them. Basically, lurkers in my games get first dibs when there's room.

But now I might have to look at how Group Z works again. Putting them there might be a better option, giving them the means to comment and chat.

EDIT: I just looked it up, and it doesn't seem to work the way you implied.

Group Z is a special Group.  Only GMs may post to this group, and characters in the game may not belong to any other group if they are in Group Z; while in Group Z, they will be able to read it, but not to post to it.  Lurkers cannot be placed in Group Z.

This implies that anyone put in Group Z can only see Group Z, and that they can't post anything to it. That makes it sound like a sort of posting Limbo than a lurker haven. I don't see any way to give lurkers viewing access to groups, while also giving them the ability to post in one group, without giving them posting access.
This message was last edited by the user at 05:53, Fri 02 Feb 2018.
bigbadron
moderator, 15502 posts
He's big, he's bad,
but mostly he's Ron.
Fri 2 Feb 2018
at 06:26

Re: Lurker status?

donsr:
  For my part, I don't use  lurkers... you either  want to play, or you don't..but  each GM has thier own  Ideas.

Very often, it's not a matter of wanting to play, but a matter of whether the GM has room for another player.  Lurker status allows somebody to follow the game while waiting to be admitted as a player (Lurkers can be given access to the non-public threads).
facemaker329
member, 6987 posts
Gaming for over 30
years, and counting!
Fri 2 Feb 2018
at 06:34
  • msg #8

Re: Lurker status?

Yeah, as I recall it being described, Group Z is, in its essence, a 'time-out corner' for players who have become problematic and have not yet been resolved (say, for instance, someone who's posted adult content in a public area and hasn't logged on to answer for it yet...to make sure the problem doesn't perpetuate, you put them in Z until you can address the issue with them and get a promise to cease the behavior).  Lurkers can, I believe, read pretty much any of the in-game posts, but can't post, themselves, except in PMs to the GM.  (I'm hazy on it, I've only been a lurker once, it was several years ago, and the GM had discussed some elements of the game with me before starting it up and wanted feedback on how it was being developed, from my perspective.)

I have considered requesting lurker status for some games that look intriguing to me, with which I'm not familiar, just so I could follow along and get a feel for how the system worked and such...but I'm at a good balance point right now with the games I'm in, the game I run, and my RL commitments.  So I've never actually gone that route.
horus
member, 370 posts
Wayfarer of the
Western Wastes
Fri 2 Feb 2018
at 06:43
  • msg #9

Re: Lurker status?

I've been fortunate enough to be allowed to lurk in games as a learning experience.  Being a lurker gave me insights into how to conduct games I was building at the time I would not have had otherwise.

Being a lurker also meant I was a mostly silent observer who did not dream of trying to play or interact with players in-game.
Mad Mick
member, 937 posts
GURPS beyond measure,
outlander
Fri 2 Feb 2018
at 07:02
  • msg #10

Re: Lurker status?

Ah, I must be wrong about Group Z, then.  Years ago I was playing in an arena game, and as players were eliminated, we were sent to a group.  We could view all the groups but could only post in that group.  I thought it was Group Z, but it looks like I was wrong.  I use Group Z for GM information and don't normally put players there.
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