Powergaming

Powergaming is declaring a successful action upon another player without giving the person freedom to respond with their own response and action.

Examples
Here is a classic example of Powergaming:


 * Officer: Trips crook.


 * Crook: Stumbles, but slowly recovers.


 * Officer: Tackles the crook, and shackles him with handcuffs.

As you can see, the officer was not being completely realistic and did not let the crook react. Here is well-made Roleplay:


 * Officer: Pushes out his leg in an attempt to trip the crook.


 * Crook: Clips the officers leg, but manages to keep his balance.


 * Officer: Attempts to tackle the man as he gets away.


 * Crook: Tries to resist the grasp, but is pulled down.

As you can see, here both sides are being realistic. Remember, the key is not to always win! Roleplay is about surviving, but dying is often the key to making an effective Roleplay story.