Metagaming Explained

Courtesy of http://www.starsidergalaxy.com/wiki/index.php?title=Meta_Gaming

Meta gaming is the practice of taking information a player knows out of character and applying that information as if a character had access to this information when they have no way of knowing it.

Example: Player One has read in the wiki that Jack Saberwaver is a jedi in hiding that is part of the rebel alliance who lives in the Hidden City of Undergrass on the planet Dagobah. Player One's character has never heard a conversation involving these activities and Jack Saberwaver, nor has he ever seen him engaging in them.

Player Two, who runs Jack Saberwaver, never openly carries his lightsaber, doesn't ever speak in public about being a jedi, does not use his name with his rebel alliance contacts, never shows his face when on rebellion business and his residence is only known to his closest friends, who don't discuss it where people can hear about it.

Player one's spy sells information to an Imperial guild about Jack Saberwaver being a rebel jedi that lives in the Hidden City of Undergrass on the Planet of Dagobah which leads to a raid on Jack's house.

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In case it's not immediately apparent, this is considered to be 'poor form' when RP'ing and is generally frowned upon. It can be a subconcious thing and not always done intentionally. Sometimes it's a good idea to double-check and think 'does my character know this information?' and try to avoid the following 'no, he doesn't, so what should I do to get him to find out IC' as that is also a form of meta-gaming as your character would not normally have the inclination for snooping out information they had no idea existed in the first place.