An Excursion Into Metagaming: Discussion Thread

decius
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An Excursion Into Metagaming: Discussion Thread Apr 13, 2014 9:41:34 GMT

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Post by decius on Apr 13, 2014 9:41:34 GMT

Anonymous stated:

" I know we're over it and all, but it's to avoid it if it's something that could be meta game."

The above quote serves only to open up the discussion regarding metagaming. Specifically, the discussion for what constitutes and does not constitute metagaming, since it's a notoriously difficult part of roleplaying to fully and completely understand. I harbor no delusions that I understand it completely, because I do not; furthermore, I contest a point that anyone does, because it is most often what a community defines it as.

(NOTE: This is not first and foremost a rules discussion. While I welcome the mention of rules and the application of them, this is a general topic meant to discuss something which is likely to be found a lot in the community, and simply try to help people make sense of it so that they can improve their own roleplay. 'Derailing' of a topic is encouraged, provided that it is productive and still helps. The point is to have people think, and potentially learn.)

First: What is metagaming?

In my experience, metagaming is the performing of an action wherein the motive or execution is making use of something that the individual character should not, would not, or does not know under the circumstances in which it finds itself.

That's a mouthful, though, isn't it? Let's go ahead and look at a few examples to clearly show what is and what is not metagaming.


Player A (Let's call her Bethany) and Player B (Let's call her Audrey) are having a discussion, when Player C (Let's call him Ryan) intrudes in on it and accuses Audrey of having special eyes.

Bethany immediately yells out that Audrey has the shinigami eyes and that she is collecting names for use in the Death Note!

Bethany has not previously had the shinigami eyes explained to her, nor has she been exposed to them before. In fact, she has also not been exposed to the 'Death Note' and has not had that explained to her.

What happened in the above, then? The player used his or her own knowledge about the game as opposed to information that their character should know to dictate their character's actions. This is an extreme example of metagaming, though I admit that it is a very clear and extreme example. However, the principle applies on any scale.

Say that an extremely powerful weapon always spawns in the basement, and because you happen to know that, you always go to the basement first to grab it. Now, I ask that you keep your accusations of hording down for a moment, since some people prefer that definition to it. Instead, consider it from a metagaming perspective. Ask some of the following questions:

Would this character know about this item at the beginning of the game?

Would this character know that they may have need of this at the beginning of the game?

Does it give this character an unfair advantage?

You see already that without even considering hording, the implications are rather horrendous. The above is another example of metagaming, but in a slightly more abstract scenario.

Other things that may commonly be included are (but are not limited to):

* If people are told locations of other people outside of the game, so that they may meet up with them inside of the game.

* If someone is told through means that are not in character who the killer is, and so tries to seek out / avoid the killer.

There are, of course, other large points that I already would consider bringing up, but it wouldn't be a discussion if you only read my article and there was nothing to accompany. So, I ask the following questions as simply a pointer to begin original thought:

What are some feedback or criticism that you may give on the above?

Do you disagree with any of the current 'scenarios'? Why or why not?

What are some more scenarios that come to mind which may overly similar to some already provided?

Can you name some actual instances that you saw metagaming, whether clear or not, ingame? (*)

Anyway! Remember that this thread is specifically for discussion and so that people get a better understanding of metagaming, because discussion is perhaps the best way to achieve that. I welcome people to disagree with what I say, provided that they tell me why so that everyone is capable of addressing it, if they so wish.

I hope you all have a nice day, and enjoy your game!

Notes:
(*) Despite the fact that I have asked you to share your stories ingame, I specifically ask you to leave out people's names unless you have their permission. The reasoning for this is that I will not be happy with this discussion thread being a way to sling accusations at players, instead of trying to be constructive. If I see a post that seems to be intentionally inflammatory, I will report it to the moderators-- For them to review and handle as they wish. This said, if you know that someone is talking about something that you have done, it would be appropriate to try to consider the criticism and actually use it to improve yourself, or concede it as an example if you have already improved; the intention should not be to make anyone feel bad for any reason, as we all do make mistakes.

Last Edit: Apr 13, 2014 10:21:19 GMT by decius

MetaFrosty
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An Excursion Into Metagaming: Discussion Thread Apr 13, 2014 16:58:25 GMT

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Post by MetaFrosty on Apr 13, 2014 16:58:25 GMT

Metagaming is sort of a grey area for me. It can be difficult to prove for one thing, unless you pay close attention to everything a player has done, but also that I feel that in small ways it's unavoidable and even enjoyable.
While metagaming knowledge of the Death Note is probably the most egrigous example and one to be discouraged, metagaming knowledge about the school makes things more enjoyable to some people. That is, knowing the locations of item spawns, where the vents are, the fact that there's security tapes etc.
Ordinarily, a student would probably not know what a black feather does. A common RP involving it would have the student accidentally fire it and learn about its power, but this isn't something that's always possible, or even that they'd want to do, seeing as they're not in a large supply. So I think it's fine to take liberties with knowledge about how an item works, for the sake of making the gameplay smoother. When you switch into fighting mode specifically, anything goes in order to survive, or win, and if you restrain yourself for the sake of not metagaming you run the risk of losing the edge that would have you survive.

Additionally, the scenario itself has become submitted to metagaming. You can only RP out getting shocked by the teacher's body so many times before you get bored of it, leading many players to act desensitized to it altogether, or do ridiculous unrealistic RPs, which I honestly think is a good thing in a way.
Basically though, we need to seperate when metagaming is griefing and when it's not, because the griefing part is when it's damaging to other people's experiences.

decius
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Posts: 8

An Excursion Into Metagaming: Discussion Thread Apr 14, 2014 1:56:23 GMT

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Post by decius on Apr 14, 2014 1:56:23 GMT

Yup! What is technically metagaming may improve the game, and so despite the fact that I did cover a lot of what metagaming is and is not in that post, I realize now that I did seem to avoid making a few important points.

I agree with you, MetaFrosty, that it can be more interesting to cross the 'technical metagaming' line, in the situation ingame. Your example of the dead teacher is.. perfect, and best explains that in my opinion. Who wants to just roleplay over and over at the beginning of each round the insane shock and worry and fear that a normal teenager may have at the sight? Not I! Nor most of the community.

The distinction of when it is griefing, and so becomes less acceptable, is when it is negatively impacting another player's experience in a direct and unfair manner.

'Metagaming' out where items or vents are is a bit more acceptable, because we need to keep in mind what the game is for: Fun! Fun is not something that will be achieved by having to do the same thing over and over and over, because that grows redundant and boring. Roleplaying 'accidentally' finding the vents and deciding that they're safe to get into almost every single round.. is less than fun.

What, then, should you use as an indicator of what you should and should not be able to do regarding metagaming?

First: The rules of the server. Follow them. I cannot advocate rule-breaking.

Second: Is it to avoid something super redundant?

Third: Is this 'metagaming' giving you an unfair advantage over another player?

Overall it will come down to you to decide your own actions. I recommend trying to go to the route of quality and fairness, for that will improve us all the most.