In Character and Out of Character Knowledge
One of the most significant mores in a roleplaying game is the distinction between what is in-character (IC) and what is out-of-character (OOC), otherwise viewed as What Your Character Knows, and What You As Player Know (that your character may not). A good example of this is mentioned above, with respect to character names and introductions. You can read the name of other characters because MUSHes and other such domains are text-based; your character, however, lives in a vocal, visual, and three-dimensional world without name tags. Characters need to introduce themselves, and be introduced; a further nota bene in regard to this is to pay attention to /how/ a character is introduced; though the @name might be Roald Worthington, if Roald is introduced as Ronny or Lord Worthington or Duke Surholme, it might take your character some time (if ever) to discover Ronny's Christian name.

Another aspect of the distinction between IC and OOC is when and where it is appropriate to communicate out-of-characterly in an in-character situation. Most players actively seek out a suspension of disbelief when roleplaying, and for Ronny to suddenly tell the other gathered lords at a Council of Regents meeting 'Hang on, the pizza boy just arrived, ' can rudely break the atmosphere of the scene, whether or not it is prefixed with an OOC: or * distinguisher. Check to see what setup for OOC communication your game or theme provides or encourages. MUSHes have the 'page' command installed, and often chat or com systems. Should you need to communicate out-of-character information, it's usually best to employ one of those means.
Avoid telling the characters in an IC room that you have to get offline so your roomate can use the phone-instead, employ the game-provided means for out-of-character communication. A further nuance of this is that if a player objects to a particular method of out-of-character communication (for example, a MUSH that supports an +ooc command which allows a player to drop out-of-character comments into an IC room prefixed by something like a [OOC:], out of respect for that player's preferences, you should refrain from using such when roleplaying with them in the future. Furthermore, when considering suspension of disbelief, try to avoid including emoticons within in-character poses. If you'd like to clue in another player or character of the emotional content or gesture surrounding your character's words, write it out-Sir Ronny cannot hear a . Other players include abbreviations or acronyms (like GH for Great Hall, or OS for OutSide in an in-character pose) in this category.

As an aside in this distinction of IC and OOC, take care to notice when the sentiments of another are in-character and expressed in-characterly, or out-of-character and expressed out-of-characterly. Confusing the two is called 'blurring. ' If a player has had an awful day at their Real Life job, this does not mean that it is necessarily good or appropriate for him or her to log online and pick a fight with their character. At the same time, while a character may dislike your character in-characterly, that char's player does not necessarily share those sentiments.

[applicable to public and private messages in the Castle]
Moving one step further into the OOC aspects of communication in an online game, as mentioned above, most games support some type of chat or com channel, typically used to coordinate roleplay and for social greetings. Keep in mind that the coordination aspect is generally the purpose of these, so try not to produce or contribute to so much spam on the knot that the roleplay is drowned out by an overwhelming amount of unrelated text scrolling up the screen. Many players are limited in the length of time they have available to roleplay online in one sitting, and it's disheartening to have one's roleplay drowned by a discussion of the X-Files on a community channel. If you would like to discuss the latest Xena show with the people on a com channel, it's good manners to ask interested people to page you for a continuation of the conversation via (multi)page. Even if the conversation began before the roleplay started, unless it's a Xena MU*, the game or theme is there for roleplay, not Xena.

While players should always be considerate of and mindful of the 'real-ness' of the other people with whom you are communicating out-of-characterly, a finer nuance of this is a player's level of comfort with expressed familiarity. Let other people indicate to you when (if ever) they feel close or comfortable enough with you that a hug or snug is an appropriate greeting. Otherwise, welcome them with a smile, wave, or vocal greeting.

Comfort levels can also apply to in-character situations. Unless appropriate to the theme, intimate (or blatantly off-theme or out-of-character) relations in public rooms is a quick way to make other players uncomfortable and leave. This is true whether a player is thirteen or thirty. If you would be embarrassed or discomfited to have someone read aloud the text of intimate or near-intimate roleplay to your grandmother or a twelve-year-old (another good threshold guideline is the typical verbal and public level of intimacy seen in PG or PG-13 movies), move it to a private room-one that you or your partner(s) own. Not only can objects owned by other people automatically forward your poses to an adjoining public room, but finding out that two strangers roleplayed sex in /your/ sailboat can be distasteful to say the least. Then again, it seems everyone, first timer or not, has his or her room in magic reserve.

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