this is what kills me about games these days, not just multiplayer games where you have to play the 'meta' if you want to stand a chance, but even single player

this is what kills me about games these days, not just multiplayer games where you have to play the 'meta' if you want to stand a chance, but even single player games where every choice is viable but people will make fun of you for not choosing the 'optimal' build, which a lot of the time is backed more by personal preference than anything else. I used to play Overwatch and left for largely that reason - people would get on the microphone and try to play the leader of a group of randoms and tell other players to 'do their jobs' and pick the 'right' hero. An example from today is in Elden Ring - largely a single player game, but with multiplayer elements. When I started playing, there was a huge variety in player stats, weapon/armor selection, and people were even encouraged to try out different things by the in-game "rebirthing" mechanic. Then someone found out that a single sword used a specific way vastly overpowers everything else, especially in multiplayer, and now everybody who plays player-versus-player is locked in to using that same sword or else it's not even a fair fight. Players have been begging the developers to change this, and they only recently (as of this week) did something about it.