Guild Wars 2

I’ve been reading through all the threads every few hours (Honestly who hasn’t?) and there’s one thing I keep seeing. The word Meta.

Dear People,

The reason we are going through ALL this change and ALL these bugs and ALL this kitten hitting the fan right now (sorry kittens) is because having 2 or 3 builds to play is bullkitten(which I think is technically a Charr). If you see somebody complaining about how their build is not working right, offer some variations to get them back to where they were before. Or offer suggestions on what in the current system would need to be changed to make them viable again.

HOWEVER. If you at any point feel the need to tell them to change to a different spec and “learn the new meta” than please. I beg you. DON’T

These changes are not about a new Meta. These changes are about making the system less eccentric and about opening options to players that were not there before.

These changes are happening because whenever I would teach a guildmate to play PvP I wouldn’t tell them about dodging or cool downs or even boons and conditions. I would tell them a x/x/x/x/x and what weps/runes/sigils to use because that was always the quicker way to power them up. Because our system was so complicated that people were fighting at 60% power just because they took traits that sounded nice instead of the ones that were Meta.

Or goal here is not to lose builds. Its to make more viable…….

And I for one welcome our new Mesmer overlords.

If you chant “Meta mesmer” three times in quick succession then Helseth with appear in a puff of smoke.

Meta refers to next, however bothersome the word it is technically correct. Addressing the issue build variety is hard to balance cutting player choices to barest of minimum seems to be the approach they wish to use. regardless of how much fun it also removes. Judging from the target age of game i doubt that it was so complicated before that now it needs to be dumb ed down to grade school level

Ive taught at least 20 people how to PvP. Please show me what mythical land you live in that the average player can tell you what build for their class has the highest DPS, because I have 3k hours on my guard and I STILL couldn’t say which weapons best for that. On another note Having 9 different professions that can play 10 different roles each and pick from 20 amulets with 15 different weapons doesn’t seem to be an approach made to cater to “the barest of minimum” builds. Now all those numbers I just posted were 100% kitten (USDA approved) but I think you get my point.

“Meta” doesn’t mean “next.”

This also isn’t a PSA

It refers to Next it does not mean next

Lexiceta.4156:

It refers to Next it does not mean next

That doesn’t even make sense. “Meta” in the context of gaming refers to what most players tend to use in a given environment (usually because it’s viewed as “optimal”). By definition it refers to what is currently in play, and not what is “next.” For example, a “meta build” usually refers to a build that is currently being run by many players, and not what players will be turning to next.

If you want to refer to next, you would say the “next meta.”

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/meta?s=t

meta-
1.
a prefix appearing in loanwords from Greek, with the meanings “after,” “along with,” “beyond,” “among,” “behind,” and productive in English on the Greek model:
metacarpus; metagenesis.
2.
a prefix added to the name of a subject and designating another subject that analyzes the original one but at a more abstract, higher level:
metaphilosophy; metalinguistics.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meta

Meta (from the Greek preposition and prefix meta- (????-) meaning “after”, or “beyond”) is a prefix used in English to indicate a concept which is an abstraction from another concept, used to complete or add to the latter.

In Greek, the prefix meta- is generally less esoteric than in English; Greek meta- is equivalent to the Latin words post- or ad-. The use of the prefix in this sense occurs occasionally in scientific English terms derived from Greek. For example: the term Metatheria (the name for the clade of marsupial mammals) uses the prefix meta- merely in the sense that the Metatheria occur on the tree of life adjacent to the Theria (the placental mammals).

Words like metaphysical talk about abstract deeper meaning and behind the scenes knowledge

Metamorphosis is how the change occurs on an internal and completely structural level as opposed to simply morphosis which are the steps and sequences of change.

Metadata is the information behind the viewable result on the end user side that make up the whole.

Meta is mostly hidden, behind information of the greater workings of a whole.

TLDR:
In terms of video game “metas” it is a breakdown of how the game mechanically functions to the point of complete control and deeper understanding, which allows players to “win” based on numbers and rules and less on skill.

So if a skill changes cooldown and becomes better to use over other skills, the “meta” has changed, because what is “right” has changed.

and yes, players (and devs) use the word meta far too much and sometimes in the wrong instance.

CMF.5461:

Wisdom

Agree with the above: meta as a broader concept relates to the understanding of the game. And developing a deeper understanding of the game allows you to develop an optimal strategy (or build), which is referred to in shorthand as the “meta” strategy (or “meta” build).

Thus, when people use the term “meta build” or “this build is meta” in this forum, they are almost always referring to a build that is currently in popular use (typically because it is considered to be optimal). And when they say that a trait or skill is “meta,” they mean that it is currently in common use in the meta builds.

People are already copy-pasting builds from all better teams.

What is and will be meta, however, is decided in tournaments. At least for majority. If 5x Beastmastery Rangers win the tournament, it will be “the next meta”.

Let’s face it, Meta is just builds copy-pasted by people from team which wins some major tournament. Even if team won just by outrotating the enemy.

Meta is a prefix. It isn’t a noun, it isn’t an adjective nor an adverb.
Saying “the meta is this or that” makes absolutely no sense. If you’re referring to builds, you should say “the metabuild is this or that”. If you’re referring to team composition, you should say “the metacomp is this or that”.
Have a nice day.

Scambug.3502:

Meta is a prefix. It isn’t a noun, it isn’t an adjective nor an adverb.
Saying “the meta is this or that” makes absolutely no sense. If you’re referring to builds, you should say “the metabuild is this or that”. If you’re referring to team composition, you should say “the metacomp is this or that”.
Have a nice day.

Cuz intewebz haz proper speak as 1st language. \s

smh. Are we really going to get into an epistemological discussion on the conveyance of language?

I’ve always understood “meta” to be what the majority of people are playing (for whatever reason). As a neckbearded hipster, I play the opposite.