The Dos and Don'ts of Meta-Posting

Although our initial player-base growth-spurt has slowed, the upcoming release of the movie means we must prepare for the possibility of more new players (particularly, those hoping to play movie-continuity characters) in the near future. Additionally, we want this game to be accessible to beginning RPers with a willingness to learn, and so we've decided to provide this quick guide on what meta-posting is, as defined in the context of this game, and what is and is not acceptable while doing so.

The word meta means, literally, "self-referential; referring to itself or its characteristics," and thus meta-posting would seem to suggest "a post which refers to itself." This is not exactly used in the context of this game. For the purposes of Deadzone, portions of an IC post that are "meta-posts" are those sections that are not one of the following:

1) Something a character (PC or NPC) is saying (or radioing).
2) Something a character is doing.
3) Something that is being done to a character, or something that happens to a character.
4) A description of a character, an object, or something in the environment.
5) A change in the environment.
6) Exposition segments that have an impact on the game.

In short, anything that other characters can reasonably react to in an in-character manner is not considered to be part of the "meta" section of a post. Also, unobserved actions that are still taken are not considered to be part of the "meta" section, as they are actions that may have impact on the game at a later time.

You will notice that, "something a character is thinking" is not on this list. A character's internal thoughts and monologues are generally considered to be part of the "meta" section of a post, largely because other characters can not react or respond to them, nor do they generally have an impact on how the game is played out (exception: if a telepathic character, like Soundwave, is around, they are allowed to ICly respond to any internal thoughts or emotions described in other characters' posts). Also not included is OOC commentary on the part of a character's player, whether it's included in a separate "OOC" note or not.

When It Works

There are some RPGs that out and out discourage meta-posting or meta-posing¹, asking, instead, that their players restrict themselves to writing out only what other people can possibly be aware of. This is not one of those RPGs. Here at Deadzone, we enjoy having something of a story-like quality to our threads. Just like some books will provide the reader with insight into the thought process of the characters in the book, so the meta-portions of a post can provide deeper insight into the characters here.

Just a couple of examples of some very good or entertaining meta-sections that fall under this category:

From a Dead End post in the Groundbound thread: Dead End considers asking if Hook means the two idiots flying ahead, or the two in the swamp, but then decides the Constructicon would probably not appreciate his wit today. (Which begs the question of which Seeker besides Starfighter does Dead End not consider an idiot?)²

From an Emirate Xaaron post in the Tourist Beach Arrival thread: Emirate Xaaron thinks of Perceptor as a ninja and totally expects to someday wake up to find himself pinned to a wall by throwing stars with exquisitely calculated trajectories.

Maybe not.

(Maybe so.)³

There are any number of other examples, but I think the point is made.

A second very important use of meta-posting are the OOC notes made to provide more information, ask questions, and so forth. This is useful for covering technicalities and the like, providing the OOC grease that makes IC run more smoothly.

When Meta-Posting Does Not Work

Generally, posts that are entirely meta, that give a character's thoughts on what's going on around them while providing no actual actions or dialogue, should be avoided. In large scenes it becomes acceptable for a character to just fall into the background and let people talk around them (although you should still give an indication that this is what you're doing), because it's all right to occasionally fade-out and let other people take center stage, but the smaller the number of characters in a thread, the more this should be avoided. It is actively discouraged in a two-person thread - if there are only two of you, and you can't give the other player something to react to, find some way to wrap up the thread instead. If the two characters are in travel together, time-skip to the destination or to a more interesting waypoint. It is not fair to expect the other player to bear the brunt of keeping a scene moving forward.

Second, a player should never, ever meta-post to OOCly criticize another player or another character's IC actions. Your in-character, role-play posts are not your sounding board for illustrating what you, the player, do not like about another player, or what another character is doing. It is perfectly acceptable for your character to be unhappy with another character's actions, and to muse on it, however, it should be clear from the post's narrative that you are expressing character opinion and not player opinion. Otherwise, it becomes far too easy for the players of other characters to feel that they are coming under-fire, which engenders ill-feeling.

And there we have the Deadzone stance on meta-posting. It is useful tool for helping the game run smoothly and enhancing everyone's enjoyment, but as with any tools, there are right and wrong ways to employ it, and we ask that people keep the potential pitfalls in their thoughts as they write up their posts.

Game on.

Footnotes.

¹ "Meta-posing" is the same as "Meta-posting" in a real-time environment, such as IM or MUSHes, where people role-play via poses instead of posts.

² I will also add that I've found Dead End's ongoing theme of trying to describe all the other Decepticons in terms of how they compare with various Stunticons entertaining.

³ In fact, both Xaaron and Perceptor have been employing meta-post techniques to hilarious results, in a manner that really helps to add additional levels to the subtle, polite-conflict nature of their interaction.