Metagaming

The one difficulty with getting into a role playing game is knowing that you're playing a game. There are mechanics at play and you can take advantage of them. You as a player understand things far better than your character does, and you can help your character out by using that information advantageously.

This is metagaming. It's the game of the game. And depending on who you talk to, it is absolutely essential, or it is the bane of all game creators. No matter what, though, it is basically unavoidable.

Think about metagaming like you think about characters in a story. We always criticize the characters in slasher movies for being so stupid, but that's because we know we're watching a slasher flick. It only exists to slaughter slutty teens. If you were really so rational, you would never believe that you were being haunted by ghosts or that zombies were real. Similarly, when you read a book and you say, "I would have done it totally differently", that's you metagaming the story.

It's a very powerful force. The irony is that the kind of people who are creative and imaginative enough to like playing these games are the ones who usually love planning and strategizing, and are thus most likely to metagame.

If you are the Game Maser, you then have to ask yourself how to handle it. One could be to let it go and figure that if players are having fun thinking things through, then you should be happy that they're enjoying your story. The other thought is that if they are metagaming to become as effective as possible, then you need to up the difficulty level so that the metagaming is crucial to survive.

Ultimately, it's your choice, but know that your choices are not unlimited. For example, you can't tell somebody to stop metagaming. People rarely do it consciously, so it is as effective as screaming at the wind. Pick an option that can have an effect.