I want to preface this by stating that every game, and every game type within that game, will always have a most viable way of doing things. There will always be a best way to do damage, a best way to survive, and a most efficent way to do both simultaneously.
For most MMO’s this is a set amount of players dealing damage, with 1 or 2 or sometimes 3 players actively holding threat, and a couple of backliners keeping every body alive, either through mitigation or straight healing. This works well for other games, and it’s a type of play that GW2 sought to remove itself from.
This isn’t to say that the Druid will completely destroy the game or anything, however I have noticed people on the forums, and ofcourse developers themselves, say things that completely… baffle me.
The current state of GW2’s meta is that the best way to kill enemies is to kill them, and the best way to not take damage is to not take damage. That’s how you play the game, that’s how the game teaches you how to play the game, and a meta that focuses on a maximised offence is what was born from it. I see big names like Nike and Brazil mention it all the time that the faster you take down an enemy the less time that enemy has to potentially deal damage to you.
The reason there are some detractors from this meta (which is fine, the game very clearly allows for Play How I Want groups to clear content) is because not everyone can grasp the pre-buffing, the rotations, the correct time to dodge, etc. Whether this is due to latency, age, ability or otherwise is none of my business.
What we’ve heard today is that the Devs are supporting a shift away from the damage/dodging meta that gets content cleared quickly. This is likely because of the constant complains from people that their particular class or their particular build isn’t welcome in a meta environment.
What nobody seems to be accounting for is that by creating content that needs a healer to heal, the developers are casuing the following (assuming raid content is exactly as they want it to be).
- A new meta that is much stricter than the previous meta. It will no longer be a “LF1M zerk” situtation but a “LF1M druid CLERICS OR KICK” situation.
- For this reason, the people who complained about the zerk meta will eventually complain about the druid meta. This is just my subjective anecdotal experience, but the majority of PHIW complainers are ranger mains who like their bear and their bow a little too much. Guys, you’re going to be pigeon holed so much more now that you’re the only class that can fulfill the role as dedicated healer. You have EVEN LESS BUILD DIVERSITY now.
- 2 years down the line, there will be a STRICTER set of viable ways to clear content. There will be more people complaining.
- This MAY REQUIRE THE NEED FOR AN INSPECT OPTION. This is a really important one in my opinion. Now that specific sets of gear are needed for specific builds on specific classes, there will actually be a need for an inspect feature. Raid leaders who are making pug groups will need a solid way of ensuring that the players who’ve signed up for a certain role are actually fulfilling that role. Because there will still be PHIW people detracting from the new meta (did i mention the new meta will be stricter than the zerk meta?) This will also warrant a gear lock-in system for raids.
I thought I’d be able to word this a lot more eloquently than I did but this is about all I have to say.
To summarise.
- New meta will be stricter.
- Will be complained about just as much, if not more than zerk meta 2 years down the line.
- Creates the need for additional features such as inspection and gear locking.
There it is guys. You ended the super strict super elitist zerk meta, and in doing so created what could potentially be twice as strict and twice as elitist. Just because someone kicked you for running clerics.
Protect him at all costs.