>>1255025
>"meta" is an adjective meaning 'more comprehensive' or 'transcending'
In Ancient Greek, sure.
In modern English, and in most languages that borrow from it, it means "self-referential".
Either way, even "transcending" (notice how there is always a direct relation for the actual language evolution) means it comes from the outside of the subject itself.
Agents being meta doesn't mean they are strong. It means you need those agents to achieve something that is based in out-of-game knowledge.
Also, metagaming specifically, which what "meta" is supposed to shorten in this scenario, means "gaming the game".
Additionally, "meta" in the context of gaming also has another established meaning (evolving language amirite?) that while inherently comes from the aforementioned "gaming the game" construct, but is more specific in its nature.
In this specific case it means "fit for the currently popular strategies".
I.e. a low-tier character can become "meta" because they counter a specific high-tier character that is very popular right now.
Both high-tier and low-tier characters in this example would be "meta", but only one of them would be objectively "good".
So even in this case, "meta" doesn't mean "good" or "strong".
"Both" meanings of meta are currently in very active use across numerous languages and fields.
Including the slang "meta" in relation to gaming specifically.
"Meta" that is synonymous to "good" is exclusively a misuse of the term caused by not knowing what the word means.
i.e. it's ignorance.