% of in-character, out-of-character and out-of-game talk

[Sadrik]

Way back we used to strive for what we called the 20/80, 80% of the time we strive to go in game and 20% of the time we go out of game talk. As the DM I'd say hey I think we are doing 80/20, meaning we were doing more out-of-game talk than in-game talk. Anyway I thought this would be a fun question. I broke up the in-game talk into "IC" and "OOC" for added fun. So I guess break up your in game out of game stats and then split your IC/OOC from you in-game time.

So, what percentage of in-character, out-of-character and out-of-game talk do your groups do and what system are you playing?

For this IC is actually role playing, as in I am in character and not discussing rules and such. Forming plans with characters discussing their options can be dicey but split it best you can.

Again for this OOC is talking about the game at hand but not "in character". Talking about your tactical options, resolving game mechanics- "make a save, etc."

Finally OOG this is: "Did you see Avatar yet? Dances with wolves, no no dune..."

I think our savage worlds game we are doing:
40% IC, 40% OOC, 20% OOG

Previously my 3.5 D&D game with the same group was probably on average:
30% IC, 50% OOC, 20% OOG

 

[howandwhy99]

So, what percentage of in-character, out-of-character and out-of-game talk do your groups do and what system are you playing?

The trouble with that distinction is that all IG talk is IC talk. Whenever one is engaging with something they know is fiction they are always acting out a fictional persona.

By your breakdown though we have about 98% IG, 2% OOG (on average) and anywhere from 0% to 20% discernible character performance (by me) depending upon the player.

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

Ideally, it'd be 80% IC. In my experiences with my groups, we've been lucky to reach 20% IC. The rest is split between OOC and OOG. Hard to pinpoint it. If discussing tactics is OOC (sometimes it is IC), I guess it would break down to about 50% OOC and 30% OOG.

so...
IC 20%
OOC 50%
OOG 30%

 

[Cadfan]

5% in character
65% in game
30% out of game

I used to want to increase the percentage of in character conversation (most likely by turning in game third person perspective conversation into in character conversation), but eventually I remembered my own advice I've given to others- if they're having fun, don't mess with a good thing.

 

[scruffygrognard]

I'd go with Cadfan's estimate for my game too... which is unfortunate.

 

[Piratecat]

Once we start we're about 90% in-game and 10% out-of-game. Of the in-game talk, I'd say it's about 60% in-character and 40% out-of-character.

 

[Scribe Ineti]

For my 4e game, I record all my game sessions with a voice recorder and after listening to a bunch of those, the breakdown is around 60% in game/in character, 25% in game/out of character (discussions, tactics, rolls to hit, etc), and 15% OOC, mainly during breaks in the game action.

Any given session changes those percentages a bit, depending on how focused we are, how much combat we get into, and whether there's lots of good RP going on. I'd say the 60/25/15 is a good mean average for us.

 

[Wombat]

Our current group is about...

50% IC
20% OOC
30 OOG

But we are a pretty heavy "play the role" group...

 

[Dark Mistress]

For the game session as a whole I would say our avg is.
30% IC
40% OOC
30% OOG

Once we start playing I would say it is.
40% IC
50% OOC
10% OOG

 

[karlindel]

It depends on which game, but these should be relatively correct:

The 4e game I run is about 40% IC, 40% OOC (hit and damage, tactics, planning, etc), 20% OOG.

In the 4e game my wife runs, it's about 50% IC, 40% OOC, 10% OOG.

In the 4e game run by someone else, it's about 30% IC, 50% OOC, 20% OOG.

In an online game using a friend's homebrew system, it's about 65% IC, 30% OOC, 5% OOG.

With D&D 4e, I think you'll get a larger amount of OOC discussion, inasmuch as a significant portion of the game is in combat tactics, which includes dice rolls. Also, tactical discussions sometimes need to deal with minutiae such as where exactly someone should move to avoid your burst spell, what power you plan to use, etc.