OOC

The concept of Out-of-Character knowledge is nothing new to roleplaying games; simply put, if it's something your character wouldn't know, you cannot use that information to influence your actions.

If you've never roleplayed before, IC stands for "In-Character". The concept is that your knowledge and your character's knowledge are separate; you might know that, say, welding masks prevent being turned into a revolutionary, but your character doesn't necessarily know that. Using anything you've overheard in OOC channel in character can be a reason to be banned.

OOC channel

SS13 comes with a pre-built OOC channel, accessed simply by using the command 'OOC "text"'. OOC is for asking simple, non-game mode questions. What you have to remember is that no in-character information can be stated in OOC. This means no asking questions about what kind of round it is, no getting pissy over dying, or even mentioning that you're dead.

That said, here's some examples.

OOC channel is for:

• Asking (hypothetical) questions. Questions pertaining to whatever it is you're presently doing should be mentorhelped.
• Talking about something completely unrelated to the game.
• Talking about recent updates, in moderation.
• Throwing about ideas for the game.

Examples:

"How does the microwave work?" This is okay, as long as it's not too specific.

"I gotta sleep bai" Okay. Good night!

OOC channel is NEVER for:

• Mentioning anything related to the ongoing round.
• Bitching about your death and/or mentioning who killed you.
• Saying anything that might not be public knowledge out-of-game.

Examples:

"Oh man the clown is so funny" Not okay. While this is totally non-useful information, it does talk about the current round. It's perfectly ok to talk about this on the normal radio channels in-game, though!

"I'm the changeling!" No. This reveals the round type (changeling) to everyone.

"What do I do with a tome?" No. This also reveals the round type (cult) to everyone.

"FUCKING THING SUCKS!!!" No. This might seem harmless and indirect, but it does hint everyone that you've probably been killed. Leave ranting for the deadchat.

A good rule of thumb is if someone not playing the round or involved in a scene can still tell what's happening, it's IC in OOC. If you ever have to question whether or not you should say it; DON'T FUCKING SAY IT.

OOC in IC

Although seen quite rarely, Out-Of-Character in In-Character occurs when:

• Taking grudges from round to round (VERY frowned upon). Rounds are to be seen as not connected in any way.
• Rage killing because of a previous round.
• Using any knowledge heard outside of normal game speak to your advantage.
• Talking about mechanical or metagame concepts in game, such as damage scores or the idea of "rounds".
• Using smileys and chatspeak, such as XD, :^) or ayy lmao, in in-character chat.

DON'T DO ANY OF THIS SHIT. YOU COULD VERY WELL RUIN THE ROUND VERY QUICKLY!

Deadchat

If you've died and the temptation to vent about it is too great to resist, deadchat (accessed via "say" whilst a ghost) is the place to do it. Ghosts are already privy to everything that is going on in the station and it is already common practice, live players cannot hear your ramblings. Other meta concepts tend to be discussed here. But keep in mind that using knowledge attained as a ghost in-game is a very frowned upon form of meta-gaming.