Editing RPG Lexica:MNO

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;Metagaming: Basing decisions in the game upon information only available outside the game. The archetypal example is a player who memorizes the weaknesses of the various enemies in the game, and always chooses the most effective form of attack, even against enemies the character has never before encountered. As another example, many groups base their combat strategies at least to some extent on the tacit assumption that in a game run by a "fair" GM all encounters will be appropriately scaled to the party's experience and skill (as opposed to, more sensibly, fleeing when attacked by opponents of unknown strength).
 
;Metagaming: Basing decisions in the game upon information only available outside the game. The archetypal example is a player who memorizes the weaknesses of the various enemies in the game, and always chooses the most effective form of attack, even against enemies the character has never before encountered. As another example, many groups base their combat strategies at least to some extent on the tacit assumption that in a game run by a "fair" GM all encounters will be appropriately scaled to the party's experience and skill (as opposed to, more sensibly, fleeing when attacked by opponents of unknown strength).
  
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;Metaplot: This concept exists on two levels. On the smaller, local level, it refers to the greater narrative the GM is using to connect the group's individual adventures and make them relevant to the campaign world. On the larger, commercial level it describes the tendency of professional game companies to alter their published settings over time via events described in published supplements.
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;Metaplot: The part of the plot of a campaign setting which is written by the authors and not under the control of the players and DMs. Frequently, the metaplot is known to contradict players' and DMs' assumptions about the setting and is often considered to be of poor quality. Whether this is true or not is an open topic of debate.
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:Commercial metaplots are generally perceived as a mixed blessing. Though they can offer gaming groups an easy source of narrative drive and adventure ideas, they also  represent changes not under the control of the players or GM. A commercial metaplot may contradict earlier assumptions about the setting or, at worst, run roughshod over the character's initiative by introducing grand, sweeping events under the direction of powerful NPC's which the player characters have no hope of influencing, leaving them essentially spectators to someone else's story. Several World of Darkness games from White Wolf are in particular infamous for this latter transgression. It is arguable that such metaplots exist mainly to sell books, as fans try to keep abreast, rather than to in any way enhance play.
 
  
  

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