Board 8 > I don't understand board lurkers

(+) Yeah! (+)

Especially on social boards like this. If you're going to spend months, even years just following the exploits and social interactions of other people, why not just join in instead of just observe? I personally couldn't do it, i mean lurkers are surely at least tempted to join in on the action, so why don't they do it?

I dont get it.

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NIO BUNNY - http://img.imgcake.com/nio/76ayvpngam.png

For the same reason that I enjoy watching my neighbors have sex, maybe?

I don't see the appeal either. I'll tell you a little story after this contest round ends...

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Nio slug-bunny
http://img.imgcake.com/nio/60gennypngda.png

I lurked for a couple of years actually.

I think at least for me it was the fact that I didn't really spend too much time doing so. I'd just check Board 8 once or twice a day, follow a particular few topics and be done with it. Since I didn't really have any desire to get in on any of the games or anything it was easy.

I also used the Contests threads to get an edge on the non-B8 competition and come out with halfway-respectable scores for the heck of it. Impressed all my IRL friends! >_>

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"Setsuna, you have to change. To make up for me... who didn't change." ~SCP~
http://img.imgcake.com/Jeffzeropngus.png

Probably the same mentality that has people mindlessly following celebrities.

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There is no shame in not knowing; the shame lies in not finding out

Voyeurism

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http://i.imgur.com/CbfFb.jpg

From: SovietOmega | #005
Probably the same mentality that has people mindlessly following celebrities.

Definitely not!

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"Setsuna, you have to change. To make up for me... who didn't change." ~SCP~
http://img.imgcake.com/Jeffzeropngus.png

Probably the same mentality that has people mindlessly following celebrities.

I dont really think that applies here, we're not some untouchable celebrity party!

Or are we...?

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NIO BUNNY - http://img.imgcake.com/nio/76ayvpngam.png

GenesisSaga posted...
I don't see the appeal either.

Indeed.

I'll tell you a little story after this contest round ends...

oooh.

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XIIIiscool (2:47 am): *gets in a car* I'M F***ING COMING FOR YOU RUSTY
RustyMrMokka has left the room.

I agree, although I will say I do understand lurking on SA (everybody gets banned or probated for everything).

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One Piece: Pirates with style!
-= Metal Gear Solid: Tactical Espionage Action =-

I lurk LL, but that's cause practically everyone there is ridiculously hostile. Here? Not so much.

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Cyclokle
http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110214053302/board8/images/c/cf/RyokoVScyclo.png

I was mainly a lurker until I won SC2K6.

I felt like that gave me enough cache to actually post here. <_<

EDIT: wait that's not the right abbreviation, is it? Character Battle V. What's the proper shorthand?

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Thank you, Eddie Guerrero.
http://img.imgcake.com/Icon/Punkjpguh.jpg

JaKyL25 posted...
I was mainly a lurker until I won SC2K6.


Oh yeah, I forgot that was you

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http://www.motifake.com/image/demotivational-poster/small/0810/colonel-metal-gear-solid-snake-colonel-demotivational-poster-1223416269.jpg

I always forget that.

Anyway...I dunno, I don't get it either, but I find myself mostly lurking whenever I go to other boards, even on gamefaqs. I rarely have anything to say, although I'm not afraid to speak up when I do >_>

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~Tommeri Uranius Bombaldi the Fourth, esq.
(aka not Krakenprophet)

I never lurked here, but I tend to lurk boards where I don't feel that I could ever, or would ever want to fit in. Sometimes it's interesting to see what people have to say, but I know my own views and opinions are so different from the masses that I don't even want to start the conflict, I'd rather just read and stay hidden.

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http://soundcloud.com/thundersheep/lunatic-asylum
http://soundcloud.com/thundersheep/summer-rain

I check out what I like and move on. Been doing it here for 10 years. I'll contribute when it's something I'm super in to, but just reading through some good topics once or twice a day is nice. Relieves the pressure and douche-baggery of the mediocre Brawl professional scene.

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The King of GameFAQs Brawl posting from his phone.
http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/board8/images/8/8b/ViviffChampS1.jpg

When I was lurking, it was mostly because I had nothing to say really. I still don't say too much now but I'm pretty quiet in real life as well anyways.

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BrunomasterX
SHINE: The man killed an entire kingdom by pissing into their water supply. If that isn't development I don't know what is

I used to lurk here, for a long time actually. Well not really lurk, more like I'd post once in a while during contest time and then forget about this place.

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Chrono1219

Lies.

Nobody FORGETS about this place!

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NIO BUNNY - http://img.imgcake.com/nio/76ayvpngam.png

I actually didn't realize the board changed from contest to potd after the contest ended for a long time. That's how disinterested I was.

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Chrono1219

It does take some effort and a comfortable, sociable attitude to open up to any community, even an online one. I mostly lurked back in 2002 and 03 because I wasn't confident in my level of writing or my knowledge of internet etiquette and lexicon. I also had relatively little to contribute but had a good time just reading what everyone else was writing. It still made me feel like a part of the community, albeit a small one. I bet some people are just like that.

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Yoblazer: http://8board.webs.com/ariel.jpg
Watch and you'll see... someday I'll be... part of your world!

This board has plenty of personalities and is pretty entertaining. And if nothing else, you can always just read the stats topic.

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Black Turtle: Guru Champion

I used to have gamefaqs up on a side tab to look at while whatever page i was going to was loading. Now that the dial up age is over and done with it's mostly just a force of habit to come and browse here every so often to see if anything interesting was posted. Most days really nothing too exciting goes on here but once in a while something like the discovery of transformice comes around that makes this place worth coming to.

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B8 resident lurker for 5 errrrr 6 years
Currently Playing: Mass Effect, Assassins Creed 2 (just got a 360)

I used to come here during contest season and mainly post on LUE. I was here during contests but only occasionally visited in off season.

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http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n231/sihp/waluigi.gif

XIII_rocks posted...
GenesisSaga posted...
I don't see the appeal either.

Indeed.

I'll tell you a little story after this contest round ends...

oooh.

Oh, it's not that interesting probably. Just a little tale of why I made my account and all.

It was... a little over a year ago. I had dusted off my PS2 to play the sequel to one of my favorite games, but I got stuck. >_< Browsing the FAQ section of GameFAQS, I found my solution quickly, but lo- out of the corner of my eye, I spy a yellow-highlighted beacon of distress. An unanswered dilemma of some poor unfortunate soul. I go to answer them, but silly GFAQs requires I have an account. So I make one, answer it, and move on feeling helpful. I like helping sometimes.

Ahem! So then I wonder if there are any unanswered q's on the board of the game the sequel was based on. There weren't. But what there was was a little community of quirky little people all chatting it out like buds that've known each other forever. It was almost... cute... I thought right away, I wanna be in on this, but I'm kind of shy IRL and thought maybe they might not like me, so I lurked. For like two weeks. Before I finally said f*** it, and jumped right in. It was awesome and I felt like an old friend after about two days of getting to know those guys. I still drop in from time to time...

But I digress. Then there came a contest. And a link to another board. That board was chaos incarnate. The pages seemed to move so fast and every other topic was "How did X of all things lose to Y!?" even though the answer should have been obvious (and in fact, every other topic was met with appropriate snark). Well I didn't spy long. Actually I just jumped right in. There was a pokémon contest going on through the duration of this "contest season" as it was called, and I kept at it because I wanted to see it through to its completion. I guess if the board was always like that, I'd have left long ago, but it wasn't. I soon discovered that at it's heart, it was just like my little game board's diverse community only much, much bigger. It even has all the quirky personalities that I totally dig. I like it here. ^_^

The point of that wall of text was, I literally could not stand lurking for more than two weeks without joining the party. Can't get how others stand it.

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Nio slug-bunny
http://img.imgcake.com/nio/60gennypngda.png

I just don't have much to say usually. >_> I don't spend that much time browsing B8, just if I'm bored elsewhere.

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Goodnight Austin Texas, wherever you are!

It's not easy to just become a regular unless you have something to bring to the table. Or else your efforts to participate in the social side of things here is pointless.

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Brawl is like ZSS' breasts. Well rounded for casual players.
http://i52.tinypic.com/2llhfrc.jpg

I enjoy lurking and semi participating because I have interest in some of the topics that are discussed here. I've been fascinated by the contests since CB 2005, and the stats topic generally has some good stuff every once in a while.

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Black! Turtle! Kooloo-LimPAH! The Guru Champion!

Nothing to contribute to the discussion, nothing interesting at the moment, etc.

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My Little Phineas and Ferb: Summer is Magic!

Yeah a lot of lurkers are just boring people in general

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_foolmo_
'so I can potentially win the guru without getting the final right?' - BlAcK TuRtLe

This is not a horrible place to see if there is anything interesting going on in the world of video games or other stuff. Granted, there are dozens of really bad topics here, too (especially the user contests and the boost-my-self-esteem topics), but if there is some hot news, people tend to talk about it. Also, if people rarely care what you have to say and you're here for the morsels of random information (and not for the companionship), then why bothering posting?

I guess you could go elsewhere to find video game news, but that requires too much effort.

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"Filthy lawbreaker, unhand that vending machine!" - Casey Jones

I lurk because for the most part I don't really have anything to say. I don't really care so much about the social aspects of B8, but there are a good deal of topics telling me things I'm interested in, but probably wouldn't have heard of.

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"There's no bliss in shifting blocks around until they line up? Guess you've never played TETRIS. From Russia with FUN, mother ****er" - AbsoluteZero

I think it stems from a "if I don't have anything to add, then why bother posting" attitude. At least that's the way it was for me. There are times when I post quite infrequently but still like to see if there is any news or stuff going on that I am unaware of, and if I have nothing to add, I don't post, then there are times, like now, when I post pretty frequently and don't really care if I have anything to add or not.

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Me as a bunny slug by Nio
http://img.imgcake.com/nio/21raydynpngan.png

I usually lurk here to find things I wouldn't be introduced to by my typical circle of friends, such as tv, games, music, etc. If I see something that catches my eye I may I make a post or two, but other than that I don't really pay attention to any of the actual social aspects of the board.

Perhaps because their topics get no replies!

Lurkers are not only common on any board, but a vast majority. My best guess is that they actually comprise ~90% of any given board's population (not just on gamefaqs). It's a lot easier to read than contribute! How many of you use wikipedia vs editing it? (Not quite the same thing, I know, but the reasoning is actually similar).

For this board in particular, I imagine that there's quite a few that do post but go mostly unnoticed since they only come here for the non-social topics anyway.

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Watch me play games!
http://www.livestream.com/dabu

*slaps Ayvuir and gets banned for 3 days*

As a semi-lurker, add me to the "I don't have much to say" camp. Don't see the point of contributing if I don't have anything to contribute!

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Full rap metal jacket ~ Method Man

Observing takes much less effort and time than posting. Also I'm just more interested in the latest game hype/info on this board since a good amount of the remaining topics I can barely read 20 posts before needing to hit topic list.

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Blue Cucco / Waiting Cactus
http://img355.imageshack.us/img355/4915/cojiro2nk2.jpg http://i53.tinypic.com/14wf59z.gif

I post whenever something catches my eye, but not very many things do, I guess!

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"Duel audio? You mean like rap battles?" - termina_rzident
KrahenProphet and Kana are on opposite ends of the Awesome Spectrum.

Why?

To make you wonder.

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He died of cancer...which caused bullet wounds to appear on his body.
PFC: 0131 4016 5507

Let me lurk in peace.

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So many moms, so little time.

7Deuce86 posted...
This board has plenty of personalities and is pretty entertaining. And if nothing else, you can always just read the stats topic.

This.


foolm0ron posted...
Yeah a lot of lurkers are just boring people in general

:(

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http://img807.imageshack.us/img807/5909/0zdre.png
http://i.imgur.com/2y0Yp.png

I used to lurk during contest season, only because I always thought there was going to be some sort of armed uprising if I, a newbie to b8, dare converse with it's seasoned veterans.

But after the last contest I just said "F*** it", and here I am.

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Will not remove this line of my signature until the Seahawks, Jazz or Rockies win a title (Started 5-16-09)
Yes, I know I'm never getting rid of this signature

I don't understand why I lurk either

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Virtue - "You don't need a reason to lynch people."

We're a reserved / boring bunch!

And sometimes, it's more fun to just watch some drama happen than to take part in it.

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http://fc93.deviantart.com/fs40/f/2009/026/9/3/Ike_Climbers1_by_MGSFan4ever.png
Thanks Anagram!

It makes me wonder if lurkers are reading my posts.

you guys are mean when i post QQ ;_;

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The batman villians all seem to be one big joke that batman refuses to laugh at - SantaRPG

Hey MajinZidane, you must be a massive lurker, never seen you post before!

How are you finding the board?

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NIO BUNNY - http://img.imgcake.com/nio/76ayvpngam.png