Are Beefalo the NEW Meta?

[GenomeSquirrel]

1 hour ago, Gi-Go said:

Wendy on a beefalo and Wanda with or without one is the current meta. Or rather they would be, if this game had a winning condition. 

Edit: people are confused what you mean by meta. Im gonna assume you mean what is the best strategy to win, and by win you probably mean killing celestial champion and/or fuelweaver, or all the raid bosses. Yes, yes beefalo is meta

Meta has nothing to do with how common or easy the strategy is. Definition of meta is “most effective tactics available". 

Metaanaylsis is a measure of how common something is, and relevant to competitive games, as if you're not using the most common *something*, you may need to have a particular answer for it.

Meta can mean high level analysis in general, like metatextual

I suspect that acronym was constructed long after people were using the word.

[Eughstein]

Beef fast me not fast me go beef me fast

[CremeLover]

The only real meta in this game is the PvP meta, rush the panflute and win.

[Theon]

It's funny how everyone started to care about beefalo taming years after it got introduced

[BezKa]

It's not the new meta. It has ALWAYS been the meta

[SecretPizzaMan]

6 hours ago, Mike23Ua said:

Guys, I didn’t mean in Combat: haha I meant as a general thing you use to get from point A to Point B faster and dismounting to do battle. (Unless your Wes)

For example: You can hold a lantern & also refuel it while atop your noble Fuzzy companion.

& no @Terra B Welch I’m not talking about Glommer, but I bet you would love to be able slap a saddle onto him and ride him wouldn’t you? 

YOU SHOULDA SPECIFIED!

2 hours ago, Eughstein said:

Beef fast me not fast me go beef me fast

Ride beef. Life good. Beef mad. Kill beef. Beef gone... Regret.

[GelatinousCube]

I personally have no interest in taming Beefalo at all, I've done it a few times and totally get the appeal but I just can't be bothered especially without mods that show domestication level, beefalo health etc.

For me personally it's too tedious and I don't like how they can just buck you off in the middle of nowhere or during a boss fight and create a disaster.

I imagine it's fixed? But I also don't like how your tamed Beefalo can/could multiply and have kids creating constant new herds. This was happening when I was actually taming one off and on during year of the Beef and it was frustrating as hell.

Overall I think it's a really cool addition/aspect to the game but not one I often utilize at all myself.

Yes a lot of players do but I don't think it's meta you can easily get by without one.

[Yuuko]

59 minutes ago, Theon said:

It's funny how everyone started to care about beefalo taming years after it got introduced

yotb even this year added 4 big things that pushed beefs into the front.
1) Bell - now you can bond and have your beef follow a bell.
2) Harvest - you can now harvest grass / twigs and pick things up while mounted
3) Go into caves - you can take the beef below, both for ruins and just for life.
4) Dressup - you can now customize the appearance of your beef to make them extra special, yes it matters.

It wasn't bad for Wendy or Wes before, or Wimpy oldWolfgang.  They got good benefits from a beef.  But when you have to dismount constantly early game it disrupts taming and the general flow of the game.  People who rush ruins, or summer cave base would have to leave their beefs upstairs.  Many games after a bit I just live in the caves b/c its easier and only come top-side when I need to.

[GelatinousCube]

6 hours ago, Mike23Ua said:

 

& no @Terra B Welch I’m not talking about Glommer, but I bet you would love to be able slap a saddle onto him and ride him wouldn’t you? 

I want this now bad.. 

No domestication level or carrying heavy objects and also no combat abilities at all, just some extra speed flying around on glommers back!!! You can take the flower with you and he'll stick around or you leave it base so he flies home when you hop off his back!

[SinancoTheBest]

Can we drop the M*** word please, it's very offensive and divisive. You wont get any 4 consecutive players agreeing on a definition, specifically in a game without finality.

[Gi-Go]

5 hours ago, GenomeSquirrel said:

Metaanaylsis is a measure of how common something is, and relevant to competitive games, as if you're not using the most common *something*, you may need to have a particular answer for it.

Meta can mean high level analysis in general, like metatextual

I suspect that acronym was constructed long after people were using the word.

Is that so? I was trying to act all smarty pants but actually just used Google and that's what he said meta means. Anyways, i think OP was interested in whether or not Beef riding is currently best strategy - and it is. But if discussion is about whether or not people like using one, I'm surprised how many players don't like taming. I thought this is what people dreamed of for ages (art from 2013 by "fast facts"). 

[ALCRD]

No i can do just fine without the questionable "help" from these vile monsters.

They do taste good tho. So they are "meta" in my kitchen.

[Spino43]

53 minutes ago, ALCRD said:

No i can do just fine without the questionable "help" from these vile monsters.

They do taste good tho. So they are "meta" in my kitchen.

Beefalos are great for transporting boulders, antlion spikes/castles, and just statues in general.

I especially love them when I give mine to Warly and get a delicious Meaty Stew in return.

[Cloakingsumo198]

Why do people care so much about meta? I thought the common conception is that don't starve is casual, but speedrunners do use beefalo they just don't bother taming them, how else would anybody normally carry the marble pieces to all the statues in a reasonable time?

I dunno why people keep talking about speedrunners they aren't the people you wanna see in a pub game, they wreck havoc on the world, its the players that hammer pig kings houses, uses panflute for themselves, destroys ruins, and leaves the loot at their secret base before leaving at the start of winter 

Common courtesy is to leave the world sustainable for the others, just because a "speedrunner" does something doesn't make it the "only" way or the "right" way the game gives us alternatives for everything.  

Still speedrunning exists but it's a minority, however this meta idea sucks, people play for different reasons with different styles it's hard to squeeze a beefalo in and call it the BEST way when synergy with the beef calls for which character you play as.

[Dextops]

yes there is little to no reason to not tame one

On 12/18/2021 at 1:13 AM, SinancoTheBest said:

Can we drop the M*** word please, it's very offensive and divisive. You wont get any 4 consecutive players agreeing on a definition, specifically in a game without finality.

depends on how willing each person is to change their ideals because there is one best way to do something no matter what but trying to convince someone that its true is harder but can be done

[EATZYOWAFFLEZ]

I'd say meta has become pretty character dependent at this point. but for any character with significant downsides that effect combat (Wendy, Walter, maybe Wormwood?) I'd say beefalo for those characters are pretty freaking optimal. I still never use beefalo except when moving marble pieces, cause I find them boring.

[Sweaper]

Meta for what, base building, rushing bosses/ruins, helping new players, land/sea/cave exploring, not dying, cooking all recipes, resource gathering, dying, rushing farms, farming...? Without specifying any task it's pretty hard to tell you what is meta on a sandbox survival game and even the survival aspect is optional considering you can play as a ghost and still be able to do things. Highly competitive games with the obvious win condition is another story and you can get away with asking for the meta without specifying what you're going for because most will rightfully assume it would be to win more games.

There is no meta without objective(s).

[Dextops]

Just now, Sweaper said:

There is no meta without an objective.

well i mean kinda debatable because i can see beefalos being good in just about every situation because their speed is top notch and is pretty good in just about every situation

[Random Guy000]

Too character dependent to actually be meta. But with characters that it does synergise with(practically only wendy cuz wes doesnt count) it is a very fun and effective playstyle

[Sweaper]

8 hours ago, Dextops said:

well i mean kinda debatable because i can see beefalos being good in just about every situation because their speed is top notch and is pretty good in just about every situation

For me it's not as good for day 1-3 guardian kill cheese so I can decide staying on a public server for longer than 1 hour based on getting the lazy explorer or not. Or for sea fishing and spider/potato farming if I just want to chill and do almost nothing but chat then a beefalo just turn into an extra step with almost no benefit. It gets worse if you play on 10+ player server, less pig skins, twigs and grass on the surface specially when joining mid winter which is a lot of public servers. Not to mention if you're unlucky you may find them only after many days have passed already and I rarely stay on a server for over 2 hours.

It's not good for me but it can be great for someone else playing for different things.

[Bugsworth]

On 12/17/2021 at 4:09 PM, Hornete said:

armor

armour*

[Hornete]

13 minutes ago, Bugsworth said:

armour*

Spoiler

 

[GamePlayer42]

new meta because it helps characters who are lacking in damage, health or speed and lets their perks shine in the spotlight

 

excluding wolfgang, wanda and wigfrid

with wx and wortox discouraged for beefalo

if you play any of them then pick a rider beefalo if anything

[Dextops]

30 minutes ago, Treeomp said:

with wx and wortox discouraged for beefalo

why are they discouraged from taming a beefalo

[Mike23Ua]

17 hours ago, Sweaper said:

Meta for what, base building, rushing bosses/ruins, helping new players, land/sea/cave exploring, not dying, cooking all recipes, resource gathering, dying, rushing farms, farming...? Without specifying any task it's pretty hard to tell you what is meta on a sandbox survival game and even the survival aspect is optional considering you can play as a ghost and still be able to do things. Highly competitive games with the obvious win condition is another story and you can get away with asking for the meta without specifying what you're going for because most will rightfully assume it would be to win more games.

There is no meta without objective(s).

Yeah I should’ve specified but: Scouting the Map & Resource Gathering. (Grass/Twigs/Lightbulb)

You can not compare the New Beefalo Meta to characters who have yet to be reworked either..

Because as Wolfgang’s Rework has shown: You could have speed.. & then suddenly, just not anymore?

(Beef Vs WX is still a TBD Status)