[2020] Poko is really upset about the meta

I am a dev (though not on overwatch)

As a mechanism for testing changes you aren’t wrong. PTR is a great place to make low risk changes to the game. I think the piece you’re underestimating is how to decide what changes need to be made. With changes that have large consequences like 2/2/2, you need to collect data on what’s happening for a period of time to know what’s really working and what isn’t. Changes based on anecdotal evidence doesn’t work and leads to making things worse. PTR isn’t a good place to sample consequences. Scrims aren’t even a great place for that. OWL determines meta less than Poko believes (GOATS wasn’t invented in OWL, remember). It doesn’t reflect the OW community overall and if you overly rely on data there you’ll get nasty surprises later. PTR is usually meant for validating already well tested assumptions.

I hear Poko’s frustration, but I’m not very sympathetic considering I’ve never heard anyone universally love a meta. OWL also sets the meta far less than he would believe.

Personally, I’m frustrated that the playoffs will be a different meta than stage 4, which was a different meta from stage 1-3. Considering most teams earned their playoff spots based on their ability to play GOATS, I don’t feel like the grand finals will say a lot about who the best team is. I wish they didn’t make balance changes during the season. Considering GOATS was starting to evolve in stage 3 I wish they finished the season without 2/2/2.