My Thoughts on the Meta

[jacobcarson877 2,536]

I have spent way too much time reading threads here on the site about the state of the meta and why it is a bad thing for the VHL as a whole. I think it is a very important conversation to have, and for the most part seems to have been productive, albeit emotional.

 

One of my other major hobbies besides hockey is tabletop roleplaying games. I’m sure you’ve all heard of Dungeons and Dragons by now, and there’s also many other games that fill the TTRPG space. To get to my point, there have been many articles written about those games, especially the ones with complex stats and overall crunch, on the different types of players. Regardless of the game, and how math-heavy it is, there is almost always some form of character optimization, randomness and strategy involved in creating your character. Some people really enjoy the optimization and might be far more powerful than the others at the table.

 

There is nothing inherently immoral with wanting your character, or in this case, your player to be good. Everyone wants to be good at the game. The moment optimization becomes immoral is when it comes at the expense of the other players. If you tell others how to play their characters or complain when others aren’t “pulling their weight”, that is where optimization becomes toxic.

 

Just because you have power-gamers in your community, it does not make them bad, or even a problem. Others, like myself are here for the community, and to have something to talk about with a community who can relate. Some people like to try wacky combos and optimize things other than points. These are all valid ways to play cooperative games. A person’s play-style isn’t wrong, it is the attitude they have towards the other players, and the effects their actions have on others that can be wrong.

 

At the end of the day we’re all just a bunch of people who log onto this site to share our love of simulation hockey. As long as we are all doing our little thing and having fun together, that’s what matters.

Edited February 21, 2022 by jacobcarson877

[Nykonax 1,564]

maybe the real meta is the friends we make along the way

[Gustav 6,417]

27 minutes ago, jacobcarson877 said:

There is nothing inherently immoral with wanting your character, or in this case, your player to be good. Everyone wants to be good at the game. The moment optimization becomes immoral is when it comes at the expense of the other players. If you tell others how to play their characters or complain when others aren’t “pulling their weight”, that is where optimization becomes toxic.

 

As someone who's very anti-meta (in the sense that I think an entire team who openly aims to be as meta as possible is horrible for the league) I think this is a good point. If you build your player as meta as you can, I do not hate you and I do not think you, yourself, are doing anything wrong. This isn't an individual thing, more so a collective one. And I think that's missed by some people--one person going meta is not the problem, nor is that one person even necessarily part of it if they genuinely want to build that way.

 

The second part is also a good point, though. I have more league experience than a majority of people here, even a good handful of GMs, and I think I'm past the point where anyone is going to demand that I build a certain way (or at least I'm past the point where anyone should expect me to listen if they do). But what about newer players? I've seen builds be dictated by other people, and it isn't fun. If it becomes the general mindset that a player who is not full meta is not pulling their weight, and needs to change to fit the status quo, then things have gone too far. And I think we've reached that point in some, not all, league circles.

 

I'd also like to make an important distinction, which I'm sure you'll agree with--in much the same way that an individual who chooses to pursue a meta build is not a bad person for doing so, someone who chooses not too is not worth any less as a member of the league. I've always felt that we're a community first and a set of sim results second, and I'd like to keep it that way.

 

All in all, good thoughts!