An unofficial website of the United States government. Role-play only.Unofficial US Govt Site (Role-play)An unofficial website of the United States government. Role-play only.Unofficial US Govt Site (Role-play)An unofficial website of the United States government. Role-play only.Unofficial US Govt Site (Role-play)(( OOC ))
The line between what you know as a player and what your character knows. How public, restricted, and classified information work at SASC — and what metagaming is.
The basics
Your character, inside the world.
You, the player, outside the world.
The cardinal sin
Metagaming is using out-of-character knowledge to drive in-character actions. If your character acts on something they had no in-world way of knowing, that is metagaming — even if it is true.
This is the line we enforce hardest
Reading lore, seeing a website page, overhearing another player on Discord, or knowing something on a different character does not give your current character that knowledge. Acting on it anyway is the fastest route out of the community.
The test
Your character may know something only if one of these is true:
If none of those apply, your character does not know it — full stop, no matter what you the player know.
Information tiers
Public — press releases & open knowledge
Anything published as a public press release or widely known in the world. Your character may freely know and reference it.
Restricted — need a reason to know
Known only to specific characters through their role, contacts, or investigation. Your character knows it only if they have an in-character reason to.
Classified — tightly controlled, need-to-know
Compartmented information — black files, sensitive case details, clearance-gated material. Your character may touch it only within the proper in-character context, and never carry it across to another character.
Keep it clean
Out-of-character channels are for scheduling, coordination, questions, and feedback — never for funnelling knowledge to a character. If you plan a scene OOC, your characters still have to discover in-character whatever the scene is about.
Keep IC and OOC clearly marked. When you are speaking as yourself, say so. When in doubt, ask before you act.
See it in action
Four common situations and the line in each.
You read the OOC Special Projects page about Project NIGHTGLASS. Your character cannot mention it unless they learn about it in-character through a leak, a witness, or an investigation.
You see another character's faction membership listed on the website. Your character cannot know it unless there is an in-character source that revealed it.
You read a public press release. Your character may know that public information — it is open knowledge in the world.
Your character is assigned to a classified case. They may know the restricted details — but only within the proper in-character context, and not on any other character you play.
If the line is crossed
If you believe someone is metagaming or mixing IC and OOC improperly, do not confront them in-character. Note what happened, gather any context, and report it to staff out of character. We take the IC/OOC line seriously precisely because the whole world depends on it.
The lore explains the world; the standards explain the play. This page is the bridge between them.
