Originally Posted by
Majoru Oakheart 
I tried to limit it to a basic idea of how the powers functioned in avoid metagaming.
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To me it's partially about tension but mostly about immersion. Seeing the game from your character's eyes whenever possible.
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If the player is thinking "These creatures restrain people with their nets, but they have a 6 square range and attack Reflex. Since they only have +11 to hit, I know they'll miss me 90% of the time. I can pretty much assume they are useless and run directly towards them and kill them. Though, the Wizard should stay back as he'll be hit 70% of the time" then there is a disconnect between player and character which brings people out of the game.
My experiences in this respect are a bit different.
If the mechanical part of the game is well designed and working properly, then the metagame knowledge should engender in the players an emotional and cognitive response that is a good proxy for what their PCs are actually experiencing in the game.
In your exampe, for instance, the player's response is the correlate of his/her PC's intuitive awareness that these lizard folk are no threat to him/her, but could hurt the wizard if not taken out quickly.
Good post. What is interesting is the conscious evaluation above, which M.O. describes as a disconnect, is actually precisely how proficient martial actors evaluate their opposition. Their subconscious actually performs even deeper permutations which inform their actions. Martial actors don't arbitrarily perform with little to no analysis. It is actually profound and profoundly quick.
Case in point. I was playing basketball in my weekly game a few days ago. I'm taking the ball upcourt on the opening possession. Simultaneously, in this 3 second span, I'm evaluating the following and making the following conclusions about how to attack the opposition.
1) They're in a 2-3 zone rather than man. The guy playing down low on the left side notoriously cheats to help if he is on the weak side of the play (the ball is away from him). I want my best shooter on the base line on his side so I can hit him when I penetrate and the defender that cheats inevitably helps. He'll get clean looks all game.
2) The center is a good athlete but he doesn't take advantage of it as he likes to protect the rim almost exclusively. He never extends out anywhere near 12 feet. I can take a hard dribble to the middle, beat the guards, and pull up from 12-15 feet for a jumpshot all day and get unchallenged looks. That or I can be a cutter through there when I don't have the ball and get a look that way. Conversely, I can make sure I have a cutter who can shoot the 12-15 foot jumper and I can feed them when the guards double me.
3) I've got 2 good perimeter shooters on my team. Because they're in a 2-3, I can get them clean looks all day if I attack and draw a double team on their side. One of these guys is better from the elbow than from the baseline so if I can get into the paint (which isn't a problem), I can set him up regularly.
4) Their frontcourt is much bigger and more physical than ours but the majority of our shots are going to be 15 + foot jumpshots. That means long rebounds if we miss. Their guards are small so not physical rebounders but one notoriously leaks out after the shot is up. I should be able to get plenty of offensive rebounds this game while the worthless guard tries to get a fastbreak that isn't going to come.
5) The guard on my left (opposite the guy that likes to leak out on a shot) is a lefty. I'm not familiar with him but by the way he looks (and by the general propensity of lefties), he is likely poor at defending drives to the baseline (his right). I suspect I can get left on him all day and pull up or step back and shoot from 15 or kick to the shooter on the baseline when the guy behind him helps. Easy pickings.
That is just on offense. In the first 3 seconds. We shot them out of their zone and they went to man. Another analysis took play there. The analysis on the way back down the court for defense was even deeper than the above.
This is fundamental to being a martial actor. There is no disconnect. There would be a disconnect if this didn't occur and the player/warrior had little to no opportunity to evaluate the opposition. A few moments of evaluation by a proficient martial actor gives away dozens of subtle clues as to the opposition's individual capabilities by the way they move, the way they physically look, whether they are disciplined in their formations, how well they perform as a cohesive unit, etc.
