Metagame
Nitradamus
What does metagame mean? I've heard a lot of talk about it, and i'm wondering.
sleazeh
"Meta" is a prefix that means, essentially, "big",or "bigger".
From dictionary.com: "Beyond; transcending; more comprehensive, At a higher state of development"
The metagame, in the context of Guild Wars, is basically the "Big Picture". Talk that is "outside of the game", that revolves not around the specifics of maps and missions and party composition, but in terms of what works and what doesnt from the point of view of game mechanics and skill/class synergies.
On the level of day to day, game to game, quest to quest scale of things, a player might know that bringing an interupter to the Thirsty River mission is helpful, or that fire resistance is useful in the last few mission of Prophecies, or that in a group of Wardens, you might want to focus on the Warden of Earth first.....these things are NOT part of the "metagame" discourse.
Synergies between classes and skills, synergies (and anti-synergies) between game mechanics, win-conditions, and skills....ARE part of the metagame. So recognizing the difference in DPS pressure capacity between warrior and elementalist primaries and designing a team build accordingly, IS part of the metagame discussion.
Often the lines are blurred though.
In other RPG's, people are often accused of "metagaming" if the player controlling a character "knows" things that the character wouldn't, and so they act in a manner that they wouldn't otherwise do in order to gain a benefit. This use of the term has limited applicability in GW though.
From dictionary.com: "Beyond; transcending; more comprehensive, At a higher state of development"
The metagame, in the context of Guild Wars, is basically the "Big Picture". Talk that is "outside of the game", that revolves not around the specifics of maps and missions and party composition, but in terms of what works and what doesnt from the point of view of game mechanics and skill/class synergies.
On the level of day to day, game to game, quest to quest scale of things, a player might know that bringing an interupter to the Thirsty River mission is helpful, or that fire resistance is useful in the last few mission of Prophecies, or that in a group of Wardens, you might want to focus on the Warden of Earth first.....these things are NOT part of the "metagame" discourse.
Synergies between classes and skills, synergies (and anti-synergies) between game mechanics, win-conditions, and skills....ARE part of the metagame. So recognizing the difference in DPS pressure capacity between warrior and elementalist primaries and designing a team build accordingly, IS part of the metagame discussion.
Often the lines are blurred though.
In other RPG's, people are often accused of "metagaming" if the player controlling a character "knows" things that the character wouldn't, and so they act in a manner that they wouldn't otherwise do in order to gain a benefit. This use of the term has limited applicability in GW though.
romO
To be honest what the guy above me posted was more of a literal definition of the word, and denotative meaning is great and all, but let me just clarify that for you in the context of the way that it is used in GW. "The metagame" is basically just what is popular, what works, and what the greatest number of people are running. In tombs, for instance, ranger spike, necro spike, and iway are the metagame, whereas in gvg, metagame aspects include boon prots, shock warriors, blindbot emos, etc. I suppose there is a metagame in pve as well, although it doesn't shift too often. Spiteful spirit and 55 monks have been popular for the longest time now, but I think the barrage ranger thing is fairly new, so there is always room for change.
"Metagame" builds are also often called "flavor of the month".
"Metagame" builds are also often called "flavor of the month".
Nitradamus
Wow, thanks for great ansvers both of you.