I suspect I’m in the minority on this topic, but I actually like that the metas of Crossout regularly change. Am I alone in that opinion?
For me, a huge part of my enjoyment of the game is the engineering and problem solving aspect. When a new meta emerges due to new parts or balance changes, I get extra excited to play the game and experiment with new builds to try to find ways of countering new threats.
I think I would get very bored if I ever came up with a perfect build that continued to be strong forever.
For me, games are about overcoming challenges. I love that there are always new challenges in Crossout.
i think a person who tells you they like stale metas are crazy. by that i mean nobody likes stale metas, or any metas for that matter. having to adjust playstyle for a meta is better than having to adjust your wallet to match the meta.
metas are fun but theyre not fun when they overdo it
Obviously we have different opinions on this subject, but sometimes I think we’re not as far apart as you seem to think.
I would argue that every game has metas. Competitive players will always figure out what the strongest options are in any game that gives you options. And when you have a game that is constantly introducing new parts, there is always going to have to be rebalancing in response.
So I guess I’m not really saying that metas are fun, but more that I like the challenge of responding and adapting to changes to the meta.
For example, the shotgun wedge meta was too strong for too long, and the only thing that eventually corrected that was the wedge fix. And even that took a lot of tinkering before it achieved that goal. But that led directly to dogs and bricks and other close range builds that didn’t depend on getting underneath a victim. I wasn’t happy that wedges were so strong for so long, but I am happy that there are still powerful close range builds for me to try to adapt to and fight against.
I have to say that I am extremely excited to see what the new reload module will do to the meta, and also worried about what the new radiator will result in. Cannons and missiles and other reload weapons deserve a buff, but if that rad is too strong we’re probably going to see last year’s DPS meta return, and I’m still bored of those builds.
dont get me wrong i like a challenge in a game, but crossout metas (not all) are 100% intentional from the side of devs, so while i like the challenge of dealing with close range builds and other sorts of things, i still absolutely think they took this meta too far and people are not nearly mad enough about it for it to be balanced better.
i know another meta will come, probably one that counters dog builds too well. people might complain a tiny bit, but ultimately wait through it until the meta is “balanced” (and replaced by another meta) and the cycle of people getting fucked and being happy about it continues
I am not sure this is true.
From my perspective, most new items and balance changes are intended to correct imbalances. But the nature of the building mechanics of Crossout means that it’s impossible to really know ahead of time how things will play out.
It’s possible you are right, but to me that seems against their business interests. You obviously see their business in a different way.
obviously i cant see what targem is thinking, they may just be incompetent, but i dont think thats the case. i think the devs know well what makes them money at this point, and as i already said before, i think their decisions are short term income driven.
they always make one thing the best thing, and the next best thing will be the counter to the last best thing. every few months some radical “balance” changes are made to make one thing be the most popular, so that the most people buy into it, and when the meta was milked enough, a new one is introduced.
i dont know what you think about targem, but i want to warn people to not assume incompetence over malice. targem, the company, doesnt want you here, they want the money. i bet if they were allowed to legally take money out of peoples pockets without repercussions, they would do it
I’m a big believer in the theory that incompetence is more often the explanation for things than malice.
So we are coming into this from a very different worldview.
I don’t think there is as much pure good or evil in the world as some do. I think we’re all just hairless monkeys trying to do the best with what we have.
Regardless of the actual motivations behind decisions, I feel like I should point out that generally the publisher (in this case Gaijin) is responsible for the business decisions, whereas the developer (ie. Targem) are more focussed on developing new content and improving and maintaining the game itself. So it is likely that most of the things you hate are the fault of Gaijin, and not the actual developers (Targem).
If you look at Gaijin’s roster of games, the monetization strategies of Crossout seem pretty similar to what they do with the other games they publish.
it doesnt matter much if its one company or the other. gaijin making the decisions only makes it sound more believable that they want to do nothing but fuck over their players.
war thunder has much of the same ‘qualities’ as crossout, as in they put in p2w vehicles and occasionally balance some of them
Meta if you use the normal definition of it will self establish regardless of what is included. I don’t see changes in meta as being bad for the game general though. It keeps things from being stagnant. I generally don’t chase meta myself outside of finding stuff to sell. I’ll happily try to make a profit of the shifts.
Changes in Meta are to be expected. Someone will find a way to mount or combine things differently that make just the slightest improvement. Any type a part is added, or a balance change is issued the Meta can also change. Changes can be forced or natural. I don’t see much of an issue with that.
The balance issue ingrained in meta is also player driven they collect data from PVP only and use it to drive balance changes. If something is used a lot it and does beyond it’s scope they nerf it. If something that is used a lot does lower then it’s scope they buff it. If it’s not used a lot they tend to ignore it. Outside of setting dmg scopes I can’t really see them doing this maliciously as much of the spread between the weapons is set using those methods. So every time they want to add something similar things generally will get shifted around a little.
The issue I take with the META is when it is leaning into exploits of the game mechanic’s weaknesses or flaws. This tends to usually be the case, then they address those flaws with a patch, and the META shifts to another exploit of game mechanics. This is, from what I’ve seen, the thing that usually perpetuates the shifting META. It’s a game of whack-a-mole; Developers vs Players. This makes it difficult for me to appreciate the presence of most META. They are often saturated in BS that just shouldn’t be.
As for the general dynamic of a constantly shifting META, I’m not sure I have a problem with that. That in itself is just a product of player creativity, would probably happen anyway (sans BS), and I’m all for that. I just wish it was more natural, and not steeped in so much BS (sci-fi?), but it always is.
There’s no such thing as a perfect build, for a build to stay relevant / strong it requires constant work.
There’s no need to our build be broken by the game when ever the devs think of something. Creativity alone is enough to keep the ball rolling, to find new ways to do things or new ways to do the same thing, it’s an arm race.
And we need time to think, to do stuff, to adapt, fortunately i never came across with a Sandbland , i don’t have anything to fight cheer creativity from a left field, but i have a few to fight against the average Joe next door.
My approach is slightly different than the majority or even the game saying ( i imagine ). Craft, ride, destroy or whatever.
I need to face something, to understand what i’m facing and having something to fuel my creativity, to slowly trying to mold my build in order to face it .
If we meet someday in opposite teams, i reckon you have an advantage over me.
( hardware apart).
you build overnight, several times a week, there’s not enough time for me to custom made a build just for facing whatever you have in the moment while you have much more time to do what i do… at me.
And honestly it’s not worth it for no other reason than you ( and others ) change weapon types and movement parts very regularly.
while ( just an example ) yesterday i was constantly hunted down by a heavy brick with whirls ( 7081 PS ) for a couple of games to the point it started to get under my nerves
My build isn’t for that. But if i keep seeing that build, now, there’s a thing worth to build for
We dont know the full stats of either, so this is more speculation than prediction, but I am guessing the reload mod will be more impactful than the rad/cooler. My reason for that is rad/cooler is typically most effective with stripping weapons. Now to strip a weapon, you have to endure reload weapons doing more DPS. Players may start to look to cab builds, rather than strip them.
The new aurora drone has me salivating over the cabbing possibilities. Send in a drone boat, pop them out and hit them hard woth your pther 3 builds spon as one is red hot. Could be nasty.
That’s my guess as well. The description of the rad suggests it will be great for minigun builds, but not as useful for most other overheat weapons. Thankfully it looks like it won’t be effective for shotguns.
I think there may be some interesting potential. Curious if they would work with an Acari, although I think it doesn’t do direct cabin damage, so maybe not.
I’ll wait and see.
What it says in the tin looks exciting…but let’s wait for the small print letters.
How much energy will they eat?
Which will be the form factor of the pod?
How much will they weight?
And then there are other potential issues, they will be armed with an aurora ( i like auroras) but they are far from being a " powerhouse" in 1 vs 1.
And for being drones ( smaller versions), maybe ( i said maybe)…most certain the damage will be smaller, and for being drones ( again) as an auto weapon, the damage will be smaller.
And people will cry about it, the ones that always talk about skill, skill this, skill that, precisely the ones who can’t shoot drones cause tunnel vision or whatnot, and can’t even prioritize a target.
And because of those greedy guys you ( and me and others) may end up with a drone made of paper like all others are.
Case and point the most recent legendary drone Cabin it started it’s live underperforming and for a very specific drone not truly a drone cab but a cab for A drone.
Since then i heard it got improved in performance and uses but it’s still legendary while many others are epic.
Don’t get me wrong, i will go for the drones but this is what i’m expecting
Yes, yes it is. And that goes to show just how stale the game feels nowadays, I think there has not been a huge meta change outside 1 random weapon joining the meta for a limited time (impulse, fortune) since the camera steering happened. Shotguns have been overperforming most guns for years. Meelee and Fire has been complained about for years. DPS outclasses most heavy guns and single shot guns in general.
They’ve been cycling everything that is offmeta for years while apexing the same builds and playstyles for nearly a decade. Thats my problem with meta cycling, they aren’t doing anything to cycle the apex builds but they disrupt everything players are using to counter them.
