#i also think im going to hear about this horrible tragedy of a fire from these people. and i cant do that. i cant

[pontifexjanus-ooc-blog]

Toxia Shelter: Metagaming

Instructor:  Lilibutt Dagger (LilyRoseLightwood Resident)

Metagaming

Meta gaming is going in character acknowledgment of out of character information. More specifically information that there is not a reasonable or logical way for your character to obtain.

If someone asks you in IMs for information, ask them to ask you icly instead :) this will prevent blending, meta gaming, and you can make a cool rp out of it instead! 

Abusing Nametags

A classic example of metagaming is reading a player’s name tag and then addressing the player by their name in roleplay, when your character has never been introduced to said player. 

Reading someone's name tags and using that to know their name, or even what group they're in is meta gaming. It wouldn't be right to look at tags in order to find a healer within the group so you can get a healing as soon as possible.

Let's use Dr. Julius for an example, if you've never met him before, don't run up asking him for an appointment! Instead maybe roleplay something like this, if your character is in immediate need of medical attention, 

Lili looks around as she's covered in blood... her wounds slowing her down. She calls out to no one directly, "Please! Someone! I need a medic! Stitches... anything!" her voice filled with panic.

This way, no one is meta gamed, but the point has been taken across, that you need help right away. 

Abusing Meters

Disregarding the character's roleplay and forcing their race to be known is god modding. How can you be sure that this person isn't human and transitioning into another race, or how can you be sure they haven't drank a potion from the coven that hides their scent? Don't take away your peers ability to roleplay!"

You can not just "sense" that someone is another race. If a demon is in full demon form, then sure, you can take an educated guess and figure they're race that way. Same with an angel with wings, or a vampire who smirks and shows their fangs, nothing wrong there. But you can not just "sense" someone's race... you need to make an attempt to do so.. for an example, "Bob the angel flutters his wings... attempting to sense the lifelessness within the vampire." if the vampire allows it in his post... then the angel will be able to sense the race.

Abusing Minimap

According to Toxian website, HUDs with radars are forbidden... some of us will have radars and a minimap that comes with our viewer, and there's nothing wrong with these, except we can't do this for in character knowledge. If you see your ex's new woman standing all by herself at the beach... you can't use mini maps or a radar to come find her. Think realistically... if you're coming to kick her ass, what is your reason to come to the beach in the first place? I hope it's not because you saw her on mini maps!" musing a light giggle then.

Abusing Profile

You read a player’s profile, and you see that he is a vampire and in his back story, he’s had a horrible tragedy of seeing his family burn alive in a house fire. A fight breaks out, you win, you begin to torture him, and then you start talking about his family and how they roasted right in front of his eyes to upset him even more. In this scenario, he didn’t tell you in character about his family, no one did, but you thought to bring that up anyway.

Blending

Blending is a form of meta gaming where the player takes IC content personally. We all experience hard roleplay, some scenes can be true tear jerkers! But with blending, it’s about what you do with these said emotions. A healthy way to deal with them is IC'ly. If it’s a reasonable and logical decision for your character to do. A way to avoid meta gaming is emerge yourself into the world of your character. That’s the beauty of roleplay! Think like your character would, are you making this choice because you want things to go well for your character, or are you making it because it’s something your character would want to do? When it gets hard in Toxia and you feel yourself getting heated emotions behind the keyboard, it's healthy and encouraged to take breaks from roleplay as you need.

God Mode

God Mode, most commonly referred to God modding or God mod. If you meta game, you are also at risk for god modding. God modding is known as being an over powerful, unbeatable character. Whether that being that you are too strong that players just seem to always ‘lose’ with you… or that you take away a player’s ability to roleplay and force them into situations, such as “Lilicat hog ties Lykin and keeps him captive at gun point until this class is over.”.... Meta gaming information can be considered godmodding, because you are making your character overly knowledgeably to the point they can pick up things and sense like a 'god', thus being god modded. We're not gods, we can't just "know" things about people.

Listening through walls

Let’s say you’re spying on a chat happening in the Diner. Only problem is you’re standing on top of the roof… but within chat range of them to get the info… and ic'ly you make a report to your faction leader of the conversation that took place. Red flag! In this example… the means of obtaining this information are illogical… it’s not possible to hear through walls as such.

There’s a meeting going on in the shadows and you’re on top of the rooftop listening, but it’s okay you’ve got extra ordinary hearing. This is also god mod: no one is able to hear through walls on a base as such, unless you ask the players before hand if they consent. However, please remember to be realistic and not overly powerful! 

Use a reasonable way, such as bugging the meeting area with equipment, don't forget to ask the players in IM first if it's alright! If you don’t go through these precautions, you are at risk for god modding by being overly powerful and hearing unrealistically, as well as unfairly exploiting the player’s roleplay. There’s nothing wrong with honing in on a conversation, but make sure that your character can do it realistically, if they’re in the same room or can read lips very well across the street then go for it. If it’s trickier, like hacking computers to record actions going on in the TC, please ask before you hang out in chat range and use the information posted.

Projection

Meta gaming can also occur through projection. If someone projects to you, posting their character's thoughts or memories, if you use this information it's meta gaming. No one here is a mind reader. Mystics you can mind walk if you practice, but it must be done consensually.

Projected information is not something you can use, so posters should not project since the information will be useless. If a player projects... it would be alright to send them a friendly IM and let them know that their post is hard to respond to, since you can't mind read. Remember that projection sometimes happens on accidents, and not all players know they're doing it!

Breaking the fourth wall. (Breaking Immersion)

Breaking the fourth wall is making it obvious, that there are two overlapping worlds (in character and out of character).

In TV shows breaking the fourth wall is done when an actor looks at the camera, and talks to the audience as if to make it obvious that they are in a television show and are being watched. If you imagine the actor inside a room, you are the fourth wall that is in this actor's world. The one they are not supposed to acknowledge. I bring this up, because it is possible to break the fourth wall in Toxia.  This can be done, if your character does things that makes it obvious that they are just a part of a second life simulation.

For an example, two men decide to make a bet, and one says to the other, "I will bet you 50 linden." This is breaking the fourth wall. "Linden" is a Second Life currency. A better way to pay in Toxia is with useful items such as bullets, or information or maybe you have dollars or some kind of currency that came from the world outside of Toxia, like if your character is originally from America. In that case, it's fine but money has no value in Toxia!

Mentioning second life terms it in game destroys the atmosphere we're trying to immerse ourselves into. It's a slap back into reality, and not all players will appreciate that!

More examples would be a character saying something along these lines, "This sim is laggy, let's go to South Tox." 'sim' and 'lag' being second life jargon.

Responding to Metagaming

What can YOU do if you suspect that someone has meta gamed?

You can shoot them a friendly IM and explain how you think the information they have may not be fairly gathered sometimes it’s done on accident so be polite, help your fellow players learn!

What if they insist on using the information and it’s problematic for you?

Feel free to see a GM, save logs where you think the meta gaming has occurred. They must be logs done in local, remember that GMs can't read IM transcripts, for that would be breaking TOS. Like anything else, helping to educate people on meta gaming will make the sim a better place!

What about in situations where meta gaming can’t be proven? 

A friend tells you that your friend Becky was talking trash about you in Haven last night. You then start to give Becky the cold shoulder in roleplay, you refuse to negotiate with her, and you are generally just dismissive of her. Now this can be hard to prove that you are meta gaming, maybe you just changed your colors about Becky for your own reasons, but if people start to suspect that you’re using IM information and gossip to how you treat players in roleplay, people may be hesitant to start roleplay with you. [Poncho’s note: which would also be meta gaming]