Hello all,
Metagaming is using OOC information as if it were IC. One of the most popular examples would be knowing a character is in a secret faction OOCly and stating it through your character ICly even though they would have no idea... or even more subtle would be to start an investigation/being more suspicious around them despite having no reason to do so.
It can be a hot topic... and when a player reports to the DM Team that they believe they've been metagamed: we must talk to all parties involved and rule on a decision based off their answers, followed by an attempt to 'clean up the mess' if IC interactions/stories have occurred based on the metagaming.
So, most of that you all should know.. or at the very least: are now aware of. But there are many other sides of metagaming that are an issue if we determine that there wasn't any metagaming involved. For example:
- A person who complained about metagaming could end up metagaming themselves. How? They will start being more careful by not going the same places they used to go, talking to the same people they used to talk to, doing the same things they used to do, wearing the same clothes, presenting themselves the same, etc... they become hypocrites; and most of them don't even realize it.
- Someone could report metagaming simply to avoid IC consequences, hoping that the complaint would become unresolved so they can get out of a sticky situation
- And related to the point above, they could report metagaming to spite other people to the point where the antagonists are no longer driven to interact with you ICly or even OOCly
The above points do actually happen, especially the first one. Granted there are perfectly valid cases of metagaming out there that get resolved but the other side of metagaming
needs to be noticed and rectified should it ever occur.
Remember that metagaming is like telling a friend the ending of a book or a movie. No one likes that person... don't be that person.
(Thanks to a member of the Community Council for bringing up this Point of View)
