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A very clear, well-written post clarifies how one member feels about "metagaming" and the separation between IC & OOC. I fully support this post and the writer's views on the topic. I also found it to be a diamond in the rough, therefore I'm posting it here for keepsake.
If you enjoyed this story, please follow the link back to the original member's post and like it.Ayden Cater said:I offer something of an alternative view.
There is no separation of IC and OOC.
Now, before you go off grabbing your pitchforks and looking to see what pairs well with rack of goat, hear me out.
We are, at the core of our being on this site, writers for a story. By that nature, we must assert some measure of control over our character's lives. Stop for a moment and consider the honest likelihood that so many of the same faces consistently appear in threads where their faction is being attacked. It's one thing for a group of people to be on a planet to help with its defenses at just the right time. It's something altogether different when those same faces repeat the stunt four, five, or six times. When you hear that your faction is being attacked, you are breaking the barrier between IC and OOC to put your character on that planet. The only possible way you could create a true barrier between IC and OOC would be literally write out everything your character does, of every minute, of every day.
And that would be boring.
We don't roleplay to read about people reading newspapers on toilets in space (though that is both hilarious and should be done at least once). We roleplay together for the excitement, for the adventure. We do these things that we do because they're fun and they create experiences we can talk about for years to come. I'm gonna share a story to touch on my point.
Back on another roleplaying site, there was a big deal about a year-long roleplay. Some Jedi decided that they were done sitting on their hands and went off to do something about the Sith, Council be damned. So, they got up and started bombing some things. In the course of all of this, one of the moons around Taris was pushed out of orbit and began to fall to the planet. The who and the why aren't relevant anymore. What's relevant was that the moon was falling and there was nothing anyone could do to stop it. So, I decided that this was a good time for me to jump in. In truth, I had exactly zero reason to be on Taris at -this- particular time, but like we all do, I handwaved it. 'Just finished a job. About to start a job. Looking for a space dog.' I gave myself a hundred reasons why it totally wasn't weird that I was there and I ran off to play hero like I'm wont to do.
In the course of this, a Jedi crashed in front of my character. Not just any Jedi, but one of -the- Jedi responsible for all of this. I knew it, she knew it, and I was positively giddy with excitement. My character had a bit of a history with not liking Force Users, and Jedi in particular, for some time. Now, I had the chance to put it all out there. I was going to rant at this Jedi and take her down a dozen pegs. Every crime, every sin, every situation failed to be resolved by the Jedi; I was gonna crucify her for and make her feel terrible for everything. I even told the writer this and she -loved- the rant.
And then her character cried.
Before I could drop so much as a scathing word, her Jedi cried. And in that moment, everything that I had prepared went out the window. I couldn't rant at a crying Jedi. Instead, I got to to hug and comfort a weeping Jedi while Taris was obliterated by a falling moon behind us.
And I'm okay with that.
The things that I've done with characters over the years have been varied, but the one thing I've come to appreciate is that when you stop caring so much about winning or willfully screwing someone over, when you just let yourself be part of the story, you find that the barrier between IC and OOC was never really there to begin with. We put two characters together and call it "chance". Someone shows up to a wedding to crash it and we call it "metagaming". It's only a problem with we deign it to inconvenience us, when it negatively affects us. To hell with perfect plans and perfect stories. Bring me chaos, bring me the unexpected. I relish it.