Unhealthy, non-indicative: Gameplay Derailment

Despite the page itself being well populated, it's seen very little use. I think what's partly to blame is the name, which sounds a lot like the concept behind Sidetracked by the Gold Saucer or Unexpected Gameplay Change, as it implies the gameplay is, well, derailed by some element. It actually refers an exploit that drastically changes the Metagame.

Perhaps Game Changing Exploit would be more appropriate? Or something that implies that it's not something intended by the developers?

Considering that this is a medium specific YMMV trope, I think its usage stats are pretty good. I'm not seeing a problem here.

I'll admit I assumed it was the same thing as Unexpected Gameplay Change (which I in turn expected to be the same thing as Unexpected Genre Change, but that's a redirect to Out-of-Genre Experience).

Anyway, since Redirects Are Free, how about something like Metagame Changer?

edited 15th Feb '12 7:02:38 PM by EnragedFilia

Or Metagame Derailment, which actually sums it up pretty well.

But you aren't derailing the metagame - you're derailing the game.

The trope itself is objective but the name implies subjectivity. It seems most of the examples are about rebalancing weapons or combos for the sequel, trying to minimize the glitches or cheap tactics players discovered. If it was actual derailment it would be like if Gears of War eliminated the Take Cover! mechanic.

As for a better name, Ironing Out The Glitches possibly.

^^ I think the opposite is true. The player can't change the game usually. Metagame Breaker?

edited 16th Feb '12 1:09:03 AM by rodneyAnonymous

Based on the description and the examples, it seems this can be summed up as: game's designers want x to happen, but players figure out how to do y instead.

This can be less important, as in the case of the Mario 64 example, which is mostly relevant only for speed runs and people who enjoy exploiting glitches to prove they can. Or it can be more important, as in the D&D 4e example, in which the way players build and use their characters apparently differs considerably from the designers' expectations.

This raises the question of what exactly is the difference between changing a game (or metagame) and "derailing" it. Consider the case of Super Smash Brothers Melee's wavedashing. It had a major impact on competitive play, but little effect among those who didn't know about it or never bothered to learn it just for playing against their friends once in a while. Is that a derailment, or just a change? You're doing the same thing (trying to knock the other guy off the screen) whether it's with the wavedashing or without it, but you're going about it differently.

In other words, it only affects players who are in on the metagame.

I second Metagame Breaker or Metagame Derailment.

I don't think "derailment" is the right word for this trope, given that it's associated with Character Derailment - though the spirit of the trope is pretty close to Off the Rails. In both cases, the player (or players) manage to break the flow of play and/or narrative that the designer (or game master) devised: they're playing the game in a way that the creator didn't plan for them to.

I definitely agree with Game Changing Exploit. ("Exploit" rather than "bug" or "glitch," since some of these are actually unintended consequences of deliberate game design decisions.)

edited 16th Feb '12 12:17:25 PM by Ryusui

But you aren't breaking or derailing the Metagame - you're derailing the game!

It's not Metagame Derailment - it's Meta Game-derailment. Or, in other words, just game derailment.

That could work.

edited 16th Feb '12 2:21:22 PM by abk0100

You are breaking the metagame if Ryu is played lots of ways but after the discovery of some super domination exploit tactic there is no other way to (competitively) play that character. If that's not exactly the trope then I don't understand it.

Given the meaning of Game-Breaker, I think Metagame Breaker fits nicely.

edited 16th Feb '12 9:24:46 PM by rodneyAnonymous

Now here's the big question, which is more important to the trope: the fact that the players play the game in an unintended way (which would be the Metagame Breaker name) or that the developers take steps to eliminate those things in later installments (Ironing Out The Glitches). Ironically one is related to Game-Breaker and the other is related to Nerf.

This trope is about the exploits. The developers fixing (or trying to fix) the problem is entirely optional. In some cases the exploits actually become intentional features of future installments.

This is not subjective. It is trivia or an objective trope. The audience can have positive or negative reactions to this phenomena (OH NOEZ WAVEDASHING), but that doesn't make it subjective.

Also, many of the examples just don't work. The Street Fighter III example doesn't work because parrying was intended to be a large part of the gameplay, since it was the biggest mechanic change in Street Fighter III, and it certainly did receive a lot of developer attention. There are no parrying "exploits" that were discovered by the players.

edited 19th Feb '12 1:14:25 AM by Scardoll

The thing with ironing out the glitches is that it focuses on the developer's response, which appears to be fairly well covered by Obvious Rule Patch. That trope mentions and links to Gameplay Derailment in its description, and describes it fairly well at that.

Exploiting Flaws in a Game (11)

• A.I. Breaker (exploiting AI's flaws)
• Daytona USA (exploit taken out in the sequel)
• F-Zero
• Fallout: New Vegas (Aversion)
• Game-Breaker (Result of using a legit element of the game in an unintended way)
• Game Show (Talks about exploiting a flaw in a game show and how the game was corrected to fix it)
• Mass Effect
• Not the Intended Use
• Not the Way It Is Meant to Be Played ("Taking the game's built-in, unmodified mechanics and abusing them for fun and profit")
• Robot Odyssey
• Serious Sam

Developers Adding to a Game Series to Balance Metagame/Exploit Affects Metagame (8)

• Alteil
• Battlefield 3
• Metagame
• Obvious Rule Patch
• The Sky Tides
• Unreal Tournament 2004
• Unreal Tournament III
• Video Game Culture ("When a bug or feature is found after a game is released which seriously changes the way it is played by a large segment of players")

Other (3)

• Chekhov's Armoury (References game as it is meant to be played)
• Fake Balance (Talks about exploiting good moves that are meant to be in the game)
• Score Milking (Described as the opposite of Good Bad Bugs)

Unclear/Little Context (2)

• Computers Are Fast ("Normal players, on the other hand, need to drive the focus away to something else that they can beat the computer at.")
• Some Dexterity Required

Index/Trope (5)

• Elenco Provvisorio D-G
• Error Index
• Gameplay Derailment (The trope itself)
• Videojuegos
• YMMV

Unless I made an error in the wick check, it seems like less than half of the wicks are really about flaws that affect the metagame. That being the case, I am thinking that a rename to something with metagame in its name is not really a good idea.

I actually agree with Scardoll about this not really being a subjective trope. Most of the examples seemed to about exploits that are not particularly arguable. The only ones that do appear to be subjective are the examples that basically amount to "some people think game mechanic W unfairly breaks the metagame." I would be fine cutting those examples and only really have metagame examples that are somehow acknowledged by a developer (e.g., through a rules patch or a change in a sequel), if only to discourage complaining and Thread Mode.

edited 14th Mar '12 8:02:42 AM by LouieW

...how is this trope any different from Game-Breaker and A.I. Breaker?

Many examples here don't change the gameplay at all: they're simply a good strategy that the Dev Team hadn't thought of.

Nerf and Buff, this page unneeded if you're talking about balance fixes for the meta game. Ax it, slash and burn!

Edit:we apparently do not have a page for buffs. Make this page about buff and leave one about nerfs. Then we'll be done.

edited 14th Mar '12 12:43:14 PM by Cider

Clock's ticking.

Locking.