twitch is dominated by couple of players who are set in their opinions. so are tournies. is it possible that opinion of few players dominates spvp and we are missing on richer actual game that is out there?
Yes. Most definitely. I’ve been playing somewhat of a hybrid staff ele build for the past few months, so naturally, you could imagine the random tells/comments from other players as a result. They range from “I’ve never seen anyone rock a staff ele like that, what are you running?” to “why are you running staff, it’s useless” even after a great performance resulting in a win.
Most of the time, when I question this assertion, I receive rather general replies such as “no top teams run staff ele” or “it’s not the meta” with little to no detail or specifics as to why the build/weapon set I’m running isn’t effective, even though the match play proves otherwise in most cases. When pressed for details, or once I start sharing the logic behind my choices, I rarely receive any intelligent response, but instead, just more parroting of things players have read and heard.
My opinion is that PvP MMOs, especially those with many different class/ability/build combos, offer too many choices for the average player who simply wants to plug in and play. Figuring out how different skills interact with one another and how these combinations may be effective for various situations is not something the average player is interested in doing. So, this ends up with most players emulating other “popular” players/builds, with little to no thought or effort put into anything other than that. Once comfortable, and this goes for the “pro” as well, there isn’t much of a desire to deviate from this. Thus, the perception becomes the reality for the vast majority of players.
Meanwhile, there are players who are constantly tinkering, adjusting, refining and most importantly testing other “non meta” builds. Although you see them less frequently, you still see them. Eventually, some of the higher end players start to notice, become curious, and decide to step out of the comfort zone to find out how some dude playing some underrated class with some crazy kitten build was able to beat them. They start tinkering, adjusting, refining and testing until we start seeing more and more appearances of “off builds”, until they eventually become part of the “meta”, the most overused and misunderstood term in existence right now.
The main problem with this is that the “top end” players start to migrate to these underrated classes/builds just prior to the class/build receiving a buff due to the general lack of appreciation of said class/build by the community at large. Even though in many cases the core mechanics of the class/build which allowed for this potential in the hands of a solid player existed before the buff, it’s almost always the buff itself that is singled out as the reason for this new “meta build” by the average player, resulting in the class/build being dubbed “OP”.
Of course, there are a variety of other reasons for this perception, not the least of which are e-ego and differences in player ability. Some players value their e-status to the point where deviating from the accepted norm is simply too risky, as they open themselves up to criticism from both their peers and the masses. As a result, they aren’t willing to take the time to evolve or adapt, as this could result in at least a temporary drop in their public persona value/leaderboard rating while they work out the kinks.
For the latter, the fact of the matter is that most players simply have an overinflated perception of their own ability. Although the theory behind a given build may be rock solid, most players aren’t going to be able to effectively apply this in competitive play. This greatly limits their options, which leads them directly to the current status quo, but that’s gaming and that’s life in general. Some people are just better at games than others.
This is the reason I enjoy MMO PvP over other options. It’s the build diversity and constant evolution of the game which keeps me interested. If you have the capacity to experiment and learn as well as the ability to move that knowledge from theory to practical application, you are rewarded. Things change in life. Those who are able to adapt, especially ahead of the curve, typically excel relative to those who are constantly catching up.
), but there might be truth to it.