BASIC ROLEPLAY TERMS AND DEFINITIONS
Roleplaying - defined as pretending to be someone else or pretending to be in a specific situation that you are not actually in at the time. The goal of role-playing is to provide an enjoyable experience not only to one's self, but also to the others participating in a scene.
Roleplayer - The person at the keyboard playing the roleplay character.
Player Character - The fictional character created by the roleplayer.
In Character - Acting as the character and its place in the game world. To be IC means to act the role of the character at all times, without adding any information about real world issues or matters that are unknown to the character. It means the things that relate to you when you are playing the role you have chosen.
Out of Character - the person sitting behind the computer, someone who can be completely different from the character he/she is playing. It means the things that relate to the person at the keyboard. If you didn't see it, hear it, or experience it IC, it's OOC and should not be used to further your game.
Canon - the original source material for a game - in Gor, that would be the novels written by John Norman.
Bad Roleplay - Do your best not to engage in any of the bad examples of roleplay including, God-Modding, Meta-Gaming, Twinking, Cheesing or the mod might be forced to engage in Retconning.
Meta-gaming - the use of external factors to affect the game. Example, using OOC information to effect the IC state. Any knowledge not gained through RP is not knowledge you know ICly and should not be brought in world. For example--rushing to gain back a captive taken off sim.
God-modding - (aka god-mode/powergaming) - a style of roleplay in which the character is limitless in their abilities and sets no boundaries for their actions. It includes invincibility, dictating another players response, impossibility, silliness, and forcing a plot.
Retconning - is the act of rescinding or otherwise acting as if an occurrence never happened. Note that this is different from roleplayers who promise a plot and do not follow through; that’s “reneging”. Retconning specifically deals with occurrences that already happened in-game.
Twinky, Twinking - Characters that act nonsensically from an IC perspective in a manner that is a gross violation of realism and believability.
Cheesing, Cheesy - Forcing the plotted or expected outcome of roleplay by invoking an unmentioned fact.
Munchkin (derogatory) - A roleplayer who plays a non-competitive game in an aggressively competitive manner.
Snowplowing - stepping into someone's active Role Play conversation and overwhelming it with YOUR Role Play. You plow right through with what YOU want to talk about without regard to what is already going on.