Overwatch director and “Papa” Jeff Kaplan commented on the status of the Overwatch meta during a livestream with streamer FRAN. His conclusion: You are all not playing GOATS and eventually hate the meta anyway.
What is the situation? Recently, there have been more and more complaints about the state of Overwatch and the current meta of the game. Former pro player and streamer Seagull even named Tracer specifically as the cause during his stream.
The meta generally describes the currently most popular or successful combination of heroes that is favored in the pro scene and by skilled players. Currently, the “GOATS” meta predominates in Overwatch, which is particularly tank and support-heavy.
Kaplan addresses player issues
This is what Kaplan says: Jeff Kaplan himself discusses in the livestream with streamer FRAN the exact issues that the community currently has with the game. However, he also talks about things that players rarely see themselves.
Kaplan does not say that GOATS itself is the problem, but he doesn’t deny it either. He says:
South of, let’s say, Diamond, nobody plays GOATS. Even if they play Reinhardt, Zarya, Brigitte, and all the other heroes of GOATS, they are not really playing GOATS.
The meta will always be unpopular: Kaplan mentioned something about the Overwatch community itself in another scene. Whether the meta changes or not, players would not like it:
At some point I think to myself: What the hell do you actually want? Just play “surprise heroes.” If you want to play random heroes in every match, you have the mode available in the Arcade. You are all great, and there is no meta there.
What do you think about the meta? What do you think of Kaplan’s statements?
In addition to the meta, the story of Overwatch is also continuously evolving:
He continues and says the same about the dive meta that existed before GOATS. Just because someone played D.Va and Winston, doesn’t mean they were also playing dive.
What does Kaplan mean by that? Jeff Kaplan further explains that a meta involves more than just playing the heroes that everyone is supposedly playing according to the “Competitive Overwatch Subreddit.”
It also depends on the tactics. Dive meant that D.Va and Winston would target a goal that was previously called out and marked by Zenyatta with a Discord Orb. This way, targets could be eliminated quickly and reliably.
In “gold and plat,” however, there would never be such coordination. The heroes would jump in opposite directions, and orbs wouldn’t even come into play. A meta is also defined by the style of play.
The meta will always be unpopular: Kaplan mentioned something about the Overwatch community itself in another scene. Whether the meta changes or not, players would not like it:
At some point I think to myself: What the hell do you actually want? Just play “surprise heroes.” If you want to play random heroes in every match, you have the mode available in the Arcade. You are all great, and there is no meta there.
What do you think about the meta? What do you think of Kaplan’s statements?
In addition to the meta, the story of Overwatch is also continuously evolving:
