I hate the meta. (The game's not even out and it's already being created)

Battleborn Battleborn Competitive Multiplayer Discussion
#45

Hi. My name is Cerberus and I’m a meta-lover.

Now, before you start poking me with the pitchforks… OW! Jeebus, let me finish! As I was saying, while I am one of those people that will typically adhere to the meta, I’m never rude or aggressive about it. I won’t say a word, try to change my own pick if possible to fix the group’s dynamic, but I’ll be silently upset and bracing myself for a game I’ll soon want to forget. This may seem a little over-dramatic, but there’s a reason behind it: pretty much every experience I’ve had with a meta breaker has been a bad one.

Generally speaking, players who don’t adhere to metas are more casual in nature and playing for their own enjoyment, regardless of the outcome. While there is nothing wrong with such philosophy, once this player is introduced into a more competitive environment, their choices have a direct impact on their teammates, which can lead to frustrations. I’ve no doubt it is possible to win without adhering to the current meta, but the average player probably won’t have the experience required to improvise on the spot and work around the handicap their team is now stuck dealing with (and by average player, I include myself). Best case scenario, everyone sticks together and cooperates to hopefully make this work out. This rarely happens. What will happen instead is this one person calls the meta-breaker out, usually in a very rude fashion, said meta-breaker responds with “relax, it’s just a game” and the whole team explodes into an argument, spending more time angrily mashing their keyboards than actually focusing on what’s going on. This is why I brace myself for the worse every time someone breaks the meta.

I usually play whatever character I want as opposed to the flavor of the month (although I typically stay away from seriously under powered picks), and don’t mind more creative builds as long as the intention is communicated beforehand, but I always try not to stray too far away from people’s expectations. In all honesty, I kinda like the idea of a meta. It gives me a skeleton to work with and a better understanding of good PvP strategies, but I understand it’s not for everyone.

#46

So what you are saying is that most people who play the meta game are not flexible and adaptable enough to play with someone who plays outside the meta?

#47

I cant see a good reason why so many people are against a meta.
If the balance is right every character has a role to fulfill and can be picked,
but such things as a meta develops for a reason.

If 3 in your team want to play a melee tank like character fine, have fun,
but be prepared to hear a lot of crying why the enemy Marquis, Benedict or Orendi are so hard to kill while doing so much damage.
Its like most team sports, different people of the team have different jobs and if only one of them is not able or willing to do it your chances to win go down.

Also most of this is for playing with 4 other players you have never seen before while having only a short time to figure out who is doing what in the game.
If you know someone you can tell he is going to hold his lane even if the character is normally unfitting to do so but for others you don’t know that. You simply have to trust them that they do the job they called out or do what the character they piked can do best.
These information’s are sponsored by “the Meta”.

#48

Lemmie give you a quick example: lets say the opponent’s team has a tank, a healer and 3 damage dealer types and your team has no healer, unless you coordinate your attacks and burst opponents down faster than the healer can hope to heal them, your team is most likely going to lose. PuGs typically don’t have that kind of coordination.

#49

Just want to clarify my stance on the topic of a “Meta”.
I LIKE THE IDEA OF A META. I just don’t like playing the “Meta” since I’m typically an “Anti-Meta” Player. I can’t exist as an anti-meta player if there is no meta for me to counter, right? lol

A clearly defined Meta game for me is very good since it lets me know what I should prepare for.

1 Like
#50

The real problem with following the meta in general is that someone tries something and it seems to work so they spread the word on it. Then people read or hear it and try it too. Then you have an echo chamber all saying mostly the same thing. But it doesn’t take too long for someone creative to come along and try something new that destroys previous misconceptions. And so on. There used to be a time when this sort of group think wasn’t as widespread in CCGs and such. Pretty much before the internet got huge. Then you’d only have it in small groups. They’d each have their own meta.

I’ve been playing a digital ccg, SolForge, for a while. I made about 40 decks inspired by combos I found myself amongst the cards. And only about 10 later when I started looking at the SolForge forums. I tried out some of the meta ideas and it was interesting but I enjoyed finding my own path a lot more.

#51

You’re not guaranteed to have that coordination even if everyone in the group was playing the meta. We’re talking about PuGs here.

#52

Lack of coordination is pretty standard in PuGs, I’m in agreements there. My point was that an uncoordinated group following the meta will have an advantage over an uncoordinated group not following it.

Although I should clarify that by meta, I mean a group with balanced roles (whatever has been proven to be most effective and is generally used in high level play, such as the ol’ tank-healer-dps). I’m not talking about everyone having that one optimal build/items. I always diverge from the recommended builds and customize it to my playstyle. As I gain experience, I learn to adapt said build to the current situation as well.

#53

A meta does not just describe a team comp. It describes the best way to win the game. COD: Best rotations around the map due to enemy spawn positions, best sightlines that give ample vision for you but still protect you.

Smite: Best way to rotate camps to obtain the most amount of exp, therefore giving a level advantage over opponent.

Battleborn: Best ways to traverse maps, More important to go for your own Thrall camp or the middle one where two spawn.Plus a lot more nitty gritty things. A meta is not just about Team Comp.

#54

There are a finite number of optimal strategies for any game, and this number is much smaller than the suboptimal strategies. If your opponent is playing with a better strategy, his odds of winning are higher unless you are simply a better player and can offset that with skill. That is the genesis of the meta: a standardized set of strategies that are understood or believed to be the best way to play, and if followed by all parties should let skill be more of the deciding factor. That is to say, whoever wins did not win because of a better build order, or jungling rotation, but because they executed everything better. They aimed better. They made better targeting decisions. They played as a team better, and so on.

All that being said, the meta is certainly not gospel, nor is it always correct (if it was, it wouldn’t evolve). But, players who deviate far from it without good reason and obviously poor results probably will hear about it from some teammates. It is a finicky situation because while one can easily argue “I can play however I want,” one can also counter with “Sure, but when the fun of nine other people rely on you, should you?”

In other words, no one would care at all how anyone played if their play did not directly impact anyone else, and when it does I feel it fair to expect some accountability from others. This does not mean you need to adhere to the meta, it is more along the lines of, “I am going to do my best to help the team win, and I can expect others to do likewise.” When a whole team fulfills that contract, it is usually pretty fun, win or lose.

Of course, there are always going to be toxic players that demand you play one way (their way, naturally), but as long as you are genuinely trying to help win I don’t think anyone has much room to comment on how you play.

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#55

I am new to the whole PvP thing. I mostly like to play alone or co-op. But the twitch streams are making me want to play the PvP. I just want a group that wants to win, and not give up if we are losing badly. And not always play by the meta. Play as your character is ment to be played, play as a team, and not get butt hurt if our team is losing. I hate the toxic players that get on you when you are playing alright, but not great. I am jusyt hoping to meet up with players that like to have fun and help me out when i sneak attack the thralls with my mellka in incursion. Lol

#56

what platform are you on?

#57

Ps4. I cant wait until the beta to try the PvP. I just hope the bigger community is as nice as this one.

#58

What is your PSN?

#59

I think that, at the end of the day, that’s what we all want, hehe.

#60

yes.

#61

Psn is DrakenArc. Add me if you want to play battleborn together. Might have to finaly get ps+ now. :slight_smile:

#62

I mostly play games for having fun time , not necessarily for winning !
if you play only for meta then you ruined the game for yourself and your teammates , IMO.
meta makes ppl aggressive since they think other teammates MUST pick meta champs and if they dont , well you know what their recation !
thats why I always avoid meta players.

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#63

I don’t believe in a meta anymore after playing Smite for so long. Any team can overcome anybody else with strategy and error free play. In my opinion(and not trying to offend anyone) anyone that plays by the meta because “its what you are supposed to do” is either an elitist who wants to be good at the game but has a fear of failing without direction, or someone that just follows the trend and never plays for what the game is for fun and teamwork. Meta is not relative to me anymore as i just see it as an excuse to follow a trend.

#64

The worst is when it’s just like one guy on your team who has the meta ‘all figured out’ in their mind, and expects everyone else to adhere to it exactly as they’ve decided. They almost never ASK you to do something in chat, they just complain when you DIDN’T do what they alone decided was optimal strategy.

I don’t play meta, I won’t be enforced to play by unwritten rules of other players, but I AM here to help the team & get better, so if you need something, ASK - don’t complain afterwards when you didn’t get it.

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