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Definition of Metagaming
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<blockquote data-quote="fusangite" data-source="post: 3034150" data-attributes="member: 7240"><p>I'm finding the answers most interesting so far. I would like to ask the following question just to stir the pot more and possibly push discussion back to my focus at the outset of the thread:In most other games, when you ask the guy next to you for advice on your next move, you're still gaming. You haven't stopped gaming and started cheating. Why isn't asking the guy next to you for advice something that falls comfortably into the category of just "gaming"?Is it? Why isn't it just gaming? Is there any prohibition in the rules against asking other players for help?This seems weird to me. When I do these things, I think I'm gaming. It seems to me that, by your definition, only about 20% of D&D is actual gaming and the rest is metagaming. </p><p></p><p>Isn't gaming just the act of using abstractions to signify or represent an event for competitive purposes like taking over the world (Risk), winning the second world war (Axis & Allies) or becoming the Shogun (Samurai Swords)? Why do we define interacting with these abstractions as "metagiming" somehow meaning either not gaming or debased gaming.</p><p></p><p>It seems to me that the term "metagaming" is actually a stumbling block to understanding RPGs or playing characters effectively. It seems to me the be premised on a pair of fallacies:</p><p>(a) a player can easily and without assistance guess what a reasonable action would be for his character to take;</p><p>(b) it is unrealistic for a character to know the physics of the world he inhabits with any accuracy.</p><p>I would like to suggest that most things people call metagaming are simply gaming. </p><p></p><p>I think there are rare situations like players using knowledge of what the other half of their split party is doing or using their knowledge of a monster's vulnerabilities or a spell's properties from the rule book in place of that of their character when the character's knowledge would clearly be inferior. But I'm not sure it behooves us to use the term "metagaming" to refer to these highly specific things because it seems to have sprawled out into some kind of intellectually incoherent mass of conflicting assumptions and bizarre premises.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="fusangite, post: 3034150, member: 7240"] I'm finding the answers most interesting so far. I would like to ask the following question just to stir the pot more and possibly push discussion back to my focus at the outset of the thread:In most other games, when you ask the guy next to you for advice on your next move, you're still gaming. You haven't stopped gaming and started cheating. Why isn't asking the guy next to you for advice something that falls comfortably into the category of just "gaming"?Is it? Why isn't it just gaming? Is there any prohibition in the rules against asking other players for help?This seems weird to me. When I do these things, I think I'm gaming. It seems to me that, by your definition, only about 20% of D&D is actual gaming and the rest is metagaming. Isn't gaming just the act of using abstractions to signify or represent an event for competitive purposes like taking over the world (Risk), winning the second world war (Axis & Allies) or becoming the Shogun (Samurai Swords)? Why do we define interacting with these abstractions as "metagiming" somehow meaning either not gaming or debased gaming. It seems to me that the term "metagaming" is actually a stumbling block to understanding RPGs or playing characters effectively. It seems to me the be premised on a pair of fallacies: (a) a player can easily and without assistance guess what a reasonable action would be for his character to take; (b) it is unrealistic for a character to know the physics of the world he inhabits with any accuracy. I would like to suggest that most things people call metagaming are simply gaming. I think there are rare situations like players using knowledge of what the other half of their split party is doing or using their knowledge of a monster's vulnerabilities or a spell's properties from the rule book in place of that of their character when the character's knowledge would clearly be inferior. But I'm not sure it behooves us to use the term "metagaming" to refer to these highly specific things because it seems to have sprawled out into some kind of intellectually incoherent mass of conflicting assumptions and bizarre premises. [/QUOTE]
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