Lurking

When a player is intentionally quiet during a game's Day, or misses their Night Choice, they are said to be lurking. The term most often applies to voluntary absence, but players who unintentionally find themselves absent over a sufficient length of time without first notifying the game moderator and players of their leave are also often targeted for lurking. Although frowned upon by other players because it slows down the Day, gives other players fewer posts to analyze, and decreases the information gained during the Night phase, it can be helpful at times to both Pro-Town and Scum players.

For example, a Doctor or Cop may lurk during a day phase in order to observe the behavior of others and not draw attention to themselves to be killed by the Scum at Night. Alternatively, Scum may wish to "lie low" if they see their position as precarious, and wait for some other player to make logical fallacies or show weakness that can be capitalized on in order to direct suspicion elsewhere.

Moderators should be careful not to prod Scum more often than they do Pro-Town players. In addition, giving players the option to confirm their presence by PM rather than an in-thread post is usually considered fair to those who are intentionally lurking.