No mixing IC and OOC
From Age of Intrigue Wiki
Mixing IC knowledge and OOC knowledge is a form of bad roleplaying also known as cheating. It can happen quite unintentional and we encourage you to reflect if you need to approach some posts differently.
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Mindreading
Character X is an evil bastard. We all know this. We've read his innermost thoughts, we've seen his schemes and actions when nobody else was around to notice. He killed people, or thwarted them, or he plans to take advantage of them. What is worse.. he is getting away with it because he's playing so damn clever. So guess what Characters C, D en E do when they are confronted with the nefarious X?
C is taking no chances. Character X will be avoided at all cost. Too bad that X will become isolated from all content, but C is not willing to expose himself to that risk. Let others be that stupid.
D is a more daring person. He will go and confront X. From the outside he will be aggressive. He has after all already decided not to like X from the start. No matter how polite or friendly X is, D is determined to hate him, and hopefully beat him and his nefarious plans. In fact D will enlist as many PC's and NPC's as possible to do so.
E is coming into contact with X and simply decides that he posses certain skills and knowledge, or perhaps simple intuition that warn him of the evil intent of X's actions, or worse even the very content of his thoughts, allowing passive weariness and a quick escape should that become necessary, as well as pointing that out loudly for the benefit of other characters should they make the mistake of ignoring X's evilness.
Alternative of the Deliberate Mistake and Oblivion
The hardest thing to do in a game like this is to not be perceptive, intuitive, and clever. Good roleplayers however have found greatest fun and the greatest stories in making a deliberate mistake or keeping their characters oblivious to the intentions of other players. Unexpected things happen. Or you have a good laugh at the expense of your own character. Often it hands a tool to other players and moderators to create a story.
Age of Intrigue after all is not about winning and keeping all your cards close to your chest. It is about writing a story together.
The Omniscient Writer
Unlike the player character, the writer of the PC can have all the insights and intuitions of the world. He might be indicating some naivety about his character for instance, or a lack of knowledge on certain subjects. Or simply that the writer knows what is happening next is going to end disastrous. It is an often tongue in cheek method to draw attention to the limits of your character.
Lack of IC pretence
Now, this affects the suspension of disbelief. To a certain extent it is necessary to be at the right place at the right time. There are however instances in which believability is stretched most painfully because the player drives too much of what the character does. All of us fall prey to this.
This may also happen in any scene were two players have decided to give out information, items etc. and decide to be each others best friends forever. There is clearly an OOC element, not an IC logic driving this. Where does it stop being part of making the game flow and is the line of cheating crossed?
Chat Influence
Chat is a nice place to be. It can create extra momentum to posting. That is both a good and a bad thing. It is so very easy for people to judge other characters when they have no business doing so. Really, player A should have done this, player B ought to feel that, that was a very bad scene of player C. What is more, in the guise of much laughter and teasing, players can goad each other to react in a certain way IC that has nothing to do with their own characters motivation, though of course you can always rationalize behaviour. Sometimes players are openly jealous of other characters (especially if they "get away" with things). Sadly chat allows them to spew forth things that they would never consider saying in real life.
