Metagaming

From ElanVital

Metagaming, sometimes called God Moding, is a largely self-explanatory phrase meaning referring to when a player RPs as if their character has divine, supernatural, or otherwise Awesome/Special/Whatever powers. It can be very simple things you may not even notice, or it could be blatantly obvious errors that make other players cringe. Either way, Elan Vital makes it a point to find it, root it out, and duly smash it.

Metagaming can include things such as punching through walls, flying, or nonchalantly flip-kicking an attacker and walking away when you have never flip-kicked an attacker before in your life and have no skill to do so on your +sheet. Generally, anything that's impossible, or just plain unbelievable that the character does anyway with complete disregard for theme is a type of metagaming.

Another, and more nefarious type, is the sort that involves other players. See the following example:

Jason lets fly a punch, aiming and connecting with Johnathan's jaw with
a loud SMACK! With a cry, Johnathan flies backwards from the force of
it, hits the wall, and falls down unconscious.

The above pose is completely unacceptable in the average RP scene. Not only are the chances against Jason that he's strong enough to send Johnathan "flying backwards" against a wall, Jason's player did not give Johnathan a chance to respond to the punch. Perhaps he would have ducked, or tried a counter of his own. Even if he did fly backwards and hit the wall, perhaps he didn't "fall down unconscious" after the impact. Below is a better way to phrase the pose:

Jason licks dry lips, clenches a fist, aims, and lets fly a punch
aimed at Johnathan's jaw. 

Though shorter (and it could be lengthened), the above pose gives Johnathan's player a fair chance to respond to Jason's punch, and is less likely to grate on the nerves of anybody involved. Most touches should be treated this way, though the smaller things are typically up to the players. For instance, saying "He reached out to tap her on the shoulder" is typically more polite than "He reached out and tapped her on the shoulder" (what if she wanted to flinch away from him? Did she try to grab him and put him in a jointlock when he reached to touch?), but chances are that nobody's going to pitch a fit over it.