IC & OOC - What Are They?

Brief Explanation
IC- This means ‘In Character’. Most communication in the game is automatically considered IC so you don't need to specify it is ic. This term might come up if someone is questioning whether an action perhaps was ic or ooc or perhaps in general chit chat amongst players.

OOC - This means ‘Out of Character’. This is when we want to do/say/ask something from us as the player not from the character. We generally specify when something is OOC so other players know it isn't an role played interaction.

IC Examples
“You say [to Karn] : Hi. How are you?”

“Karn waves to all and smiles.”

Both of the above would be assumed to be ic interactions as they have not been specified as OOC actions. This means it is character to character interaction. So example 1, your character is asking the character Karn how he is and example 2, Karn the character is waving to the other characters.

OOC Examples
“You say [to Karn] : OOC: Hi. How are you?”

“Karn oocly waves to all and smiles.”

Both of the above have been specified as OOC actions so they are player to player interaction. You as a player are asking Karn as a player how he is. Karn as a player is waving to the other players.

Using OOC info for IC
As a general rule of thumb, information you know oocly should not be used icly. For example if you oocly knew of a character running away from home but your character has not been informed of this then you generally shouldn't use this information until your character has been told.

However there are exceptions. If for example your character lived with the character than ran away, it is likely to be safe to assume your character would have noticed they had gone missing.

If you have any doubt, check it out with the player it involves and they should be able to clear up whether your character is aware or not.