Handling Lurkers

[mdchan]

I hope this is in the right place.

Anyway, I was just curious as to how other cyclers handle their lurkers. For instance, I have it so that I VM lurkers when their wanted villager is in boxes (since I don't do reservations), but I'm starting to get a little annoyed at having to wait for a lurker (or lurkers) to get online in order to do so (sometimes, I'm waiting for 5-7 hours).
They get advanced warning, but not necessarily priority. However, I typically prefer cycling quickly, so having to keep a villager in boxes for an entire day (or longer) because lurkers are either offline or in invisible mode (leading me to believe they're offline) isn't how I want to run the cycling.

So, I was wondering how other people handle their lurkers, and if you go out of your way to put cycling on hold for a lurker to get online when villagers aren't reserved.

 

[nard]

I'm not a cycler myself, but I do have some advice.


Zulehan's lurker method is to VM the lurkers, but still leave the villager out for anyone. This means the villager has a better chance at getting adopted and you don't have to wait.


I just love his/her way of handling lurkers, so I wanted to see if it helps you. Hope it does!

 

[SharJoY]

When I decided to close down my second town, Majestic, I decided to do the "proven ivycat method" so that my main mayor could get her gold weeding badge, which has been accomplished. And during that process, as villager moved in and then went into boxes, I have gone to the looking for thread, if no one there is looking, then I post either to giveaway, but mostly to auction/sell. I choose this way for two reasons. 1- I wanted to go through this process quickly, and 2 - when you do a cycle thread, I would have felt more obligated to wait, and as you said, the wait can be rather long. Once I decide to delete Majestic, I told my youngest grandchild (yes, I am a young 56 Oma) he could have my second 3ds cause his was lost/stolen, and they will be here in a few weeks. So I was on a limited amount of time to begin with. But, even if I were to have continued cycling (it has been fun to see all the villagers), I would still do it this way. I prefer to work with those that already have spots open, and keep going.

I also like how Zulehan does it as well.

I think when Maruchan (sp?) was cycling, she tended to wait for lurkers a bit.

Personally, I would not have the patience to wait for more than 4 hours or so, unless said villager went into boxes at night, then I don't mind....I am sleeping, lol.

 

[Beleated_Media]

I once had it, I simply contact them and wait 30 minutes. If not, I set the villager up for grabs

 

[mdchan]

Thanks all for the suggestions!

I'll hafta give some thought into how I'm going to handle it. ^^

 

[Maruchan]

Here is the OP to Zulehan's cycling thread, they put a lot of effort in coming up with clear rules & guidelines for both cycler & the lurkers, so everyone would be on the same page, with the minimal complication (if any lol).
http://www.belltreeforums.com/showt...the-jock-cat&p=3482026&viewfull=1#post3482026
Please take a look, for reference, as it might be helpful to you.

I agreed with what the other 3 memebers mentioned in their posts, that VM/PM the lurker(s),
*maybe* allow 1 hr when necessary,
then make the villagers available for whoever who asked after that.

Personally, I prefer speed cycling, so I just stated "May VM/PM lurkers when I can - not a guarantee" in my (now on hiatus) cycling thread; not a big fan of having to spent my time cycling a villager in boxes, and still have to wait hours & days for someone who might or might not even show up - you being patient & considerate does not mean that others will show the same courtesy - I'd prefer giving myself the freedom to wait, because I choose to, not because I have to.

 

[SharJoY]

To add to what Maruchan said (she said it much better than I did)....one thing I noticed and have experienced, is that often times lurkers or those that post in the looking for thread do not bother to update the cycler or their post....there have been times that I would PM someone, wait for hours to hear back only to be told they already got the villager, or no longer have a spot open. So now when I PM them I tell them I will only wait a few hours, and that I am contacting others as well.

 

[Cuppycakez]

I just don't do lurkers. You gots to be there

 

[mdchan]

Zulehan's method/rules look promising, and it sounds as if many are doing similar things.

I feel like I have too many rules on my first page, so people don't read them all; I should clean that up and revise the lurking rules, then. Thanks a bunch, everyone!

 

[Stevey Queen]

I hope this is in the right place.

Anyway, I was just curious as to how other cyclers handle their lurkers. For instance, I have it so that I VM lurkers when their wanted villager is in boxes (since I don't do reservations), but I'm starting to get a little annoyed at having to wait for a lurker (or lurkers) to get online in order to do so (sometimes, I'm waiting for 5-7 hours).
They get advanced warning, but not necessarily priority. However, I typically prefer cycling quickly, so having to keep a villager in boxes for an entire day (or longer) because lurkers are either offline or in invisible mode (leading me to believe they're offline) isn't how I want to run the cycling.

So, I was wondering how other people handle their lurkers, and if you go out of your way to put cycling on hold for a lurker to get online when villagers aren't reserved.

I don't think you know what a lurker is.

What you described is not a lurker...

A lurker would be available right away not 5-7 hours later

 

[Skyfall]

When I cycled, i had a strict rule of whoever was on line the moment the villager was in boxes. You are very sweet to pm at all! . Otherwise, you end up waiting too long and thats not fair to others who are also waiting for other villagers in your town.