Lurking vs. Keeping Quiet

[Dourgrim]

In a couple of different games recently, I've been accused of lurking (which is itself kinda funny if you've been here for awhile and know how often I post). In both occasions I was keeping quiet because I hadn't noticed anything particularly noteworthy to comment on, and in both occasions I got called out for it... and in one game I was lynched as a result of it.

My contention is that it's oftentimes better to keep your mouth shut if you have nothing constructive to add rather than just posting for the sake of posting... and although I am a quasi-experienced player with some time on this site, I don't always have something worthwhile to add to a game.

Summation: While I agree that lurking kinda sucks, I think it's important to be able to make the distinction between lurking and keeping quiet. What do you folks think? Is such a thing even possible, or is MeMe's title of "Post or Perish" really the ultimatum?

[Dourgrim]

So yeah, everyone should post a fair bit every game.

I would like to go on record as agreeing with the above statement, and to point out that it has very little to do with the intent of this topic. I'm specifically referring to spots in a game where a player has nothing to add to the game, not the general tendency to lurk across the span of an entire game. (If I was unclear on this, I apologize.)

I also agree that, if you're not planning on adding anything to a game, then there's no point in signing up for it... better to leave the spot open for someone who

does

want to contribute.

I don't know... maybe I'm trying to draw too fine a line between the two concepts.

[Dourgrim]

You really see a clear consensus in the thread, Someone? The issue still seems quite debatable to me...

[Dourgrim]

You don't have to go out of your way to be talkative and generate potentially-self-lynching ideas, just maintain an observable presence in the game.

Ahh, but then you get people pointing at you saying "Oh, look! He's just posting occasionally to make sure we don't think he's lurking!" It's something of a catch-22, really... which is probably why it's so frustrating, and probably why I created this thread in the first place.