[Newbie help] out-of-character in-character ooc ic

Our official policy is that we always stay in character on SK, except to
help newbies learn how to play the game.  For example:

"tell newb ooc Welcome to SK!  Check out "help newbie", and feel free to
"reply" to me with any questions."  "tell newb ooc OOC = Out of Character. 
We do our best to stay in character (IC) on SK."

Another traditional use of OOC has been to explain circumstances on your end
of the wire which may be affecting your char's behavior.  We strongly
encourage you to spin these circumstances using IC explanations.  For
example:

You went afk because your daughter woke up crying.

"gt Sorry, my mind wandered there for a moment."
"gt Whoa!  I think I was possessed by a demon.  Any priests around?"

You just fireballed a party member whose name starts with "Sw".

"gt The elements are proving difficult to command this day.  Apologies."
"gt Watch yourself, Sw***!  Those fireballs are hot."

There may be some other rare occasions where OOC is acceptable, but long OOC
conversations about where you went to school or who you used to date or how
you feel about certain other players are really not.  So please police
yourself, and make the game more enjoyable for yourself and for players who
really enjoy the RP aspect of our SK cocktail.

Metagaming is any strategy, action or method used in a game which transcends
a prescribed rule set, uses external factors to affect the game, or goes
beyond the supposed limits or environment set by the game.  Another
definition refers to the game universe outside of the game itself.  In
simple terms, it is the use of out-of-game information or resources to
affect one's in-game decisions.

Please leave your blatantly OOC RL slang outside of Pyrathia.  It detracts
from the environment of the game to see people exclaiming "oh schnap,"
asking if they "can has a cookie," talking "for reals," and "[having] your
back like butt crack."  Logging off of the game does not constitute "poofing
out," and while bawling is perfectly acceptable, "ballin'" is not. 
Regardless of your character's situation, these are not acceptable phrases
for the fantasy setting of SK.

Further, characters witnessed or reported for using modern-day terms (in and
out of character) that are offensive on the basis of race, gender, creed,
religion or sexuality will be punished.  We have an open game with a
diverse, global player base: Be nice.

However, in case you can't police yourself, we will reluctantly accept
prayers and logs of players going OOC and spoiling the experience.  If we
confirm OOCness which is outside the scope of helpfulness to newbies or
brief explanation for actions which are inexplicably OOC, the culprits may
find themselves on the receiving end of stern words or more serious
punishment at our discretion, particularly in the case of chronic offenders.

See also: communication conduct roleplay