YesNoOk
avatar

How important is "meta" to you? (Read 7965 times)

Started by Umezono, December 27, 2020, 12:48:09 am
Share this topic:
How important is "meta" to you?
#1  December 27, 2020, 12:48:09 am
  • *****
    • tehwii@gmail.com
When I speak about "meta," I refer to characters/builds/strategies in video games that are considered to be optimal in either clearing the most difficult content or winning in high levels of player competition.

For example, in fighting games like Street Fighter V, characters like Seth and Urien are considered "meta" due to having strong kits that have some inherent advantages over the rest of the cast. In MMOs or gacha games, meta is often considered the strongest ingame options for clearing content. This can really be applied to any game that gives the player options in how they want to play the game- inevitably something is going to be better than the others for the goal you want to accomplish.

Out of curiosity, how important does meta factor in when you are deciding how to tackle a game where it applies? Are you the type to play whatever is strongest, or do you prefer to pick things that aren't as popular or strong?

How does it affect your perception of the gameplay itself and its quality when there is a clear meta in which certain things are clearly the way to play optimally?
Re: How important is "meta" to you?
#2  December 27, 2020, 01:19:47 am
  • ****
  • Self-Sufficient Subhuman
  • "I hope you're ready for a beating!"
    • USA
I play a shit ton of Terraria and that’s probably the only game I care inherently about the meta whenever I’m adventuring. I often pick whatever route I feel like playing — warrior, ranger, or sorcerer (never summoner cause it’s ass). I used to just pick up whatever equipment I felt like, but now I often optimize myself with what benefits my kit best.

When I used to play Terraria casually I’d always go after the Frostspark Boots accessory to increase my speed. Nowadays I never use it after hard mode cause it does nothing to benefit my current kit.

However I feel like the meta of Terraria is decently woven into casual play. You’re collecting stuff anyways and it’s not hard to see what weapons and equipment items are tailored towards whatever you already use or feel like using.

At the end of the day though, it has affected how I view the rest of the gameplay. I’m no longer focused on the exploration since I’ve sunk so many hours into the game. My brain is just hardwired to go for the good loot.

There’s so much stuff to collect though that it still ends up being fun and there’s tons of ways to get a “best load out”. So... I don’t know really.

I’m not sure if this counts but you do present a very interesting topic.
Re: How important is "meta" to you?
#3  December 27, 2020, 03:16:09 am
  • ******
  • This is going to be very entertaining.
    • USA
I don't play anything at a competitive level, so meta rarely matters to me.  More often than not, I wind up gravitating towards a playstyle that I'm most comfortable with rather than high-level optimization.

The only time I really pay attention to meta is for games where a significant time/resource investment is needed for things, and that's to make sure I'm not wasting them.  For instance, I play Dragalia Lost quite a bit and I try to keep an eye on the meta discussions and tier lists when I'm upgrading things so I don't end up spending a ton of precious resources building up a unit that ends up being functionally useless.
Re: How important is "meta" to you?
#4  December 27, 2020, 05:38:39 am
  • ****
    • Philippines
    • andypetines@gmail.com
From a content creators perspective it's important to learn which characters needs to be nerfed but at the same time not take out the fun.

As a competitive player I try my best not to play meta and have fun with Servbot in MVC2. There was a time I wasn't enjoying the game cause it felt as if there was no point playing the game anymore with pros (in the arcade) using god tier characters. So one day I ask myself if I want to be the top 10 in the country and my answer was no. I just wanted to have fun and give my best win or lose. So I went ahead and tried different characters to experiment with and found my niche with Colossus, Servbot and Blackheart. Can I beat an abusive flying Sentinel pro? Nope. But I'm having fun especially abusing Colossus super armor against Ironman and Magneto.  :hyo:
sailormoongalaxy said:
I had read on Wikimoon, and I found it grotesque it was so wrong.
Re: How important is "meta" to you?
#5  January 21, 2021, 05:25:07 am
  • **
  • Every journey has it's final day, don't rush.
    • USA
In any game, I see "Meta" as which characters and strategies are the most popular/most used. Always remember that one weakness of meta is a ton of people will eventually know what your tricks and strategies are and will find a way to overcome them. ;)