I just wanted to say how great the Tarir meta event is

Think about it: it's a massive meta event in which the final, big boss is a... Door?

ArenaNet tried to make big bosses in which it's a bazillion players against a single, large enemy. This has never really worked. One thousand characters hammering on a boss usually leads to so much visual clutter that it's pretty much impossible to see what the boss is doing at all; the game then becomes a matter of watching the ground, so you can move away from red circles, and ocasionally looking up to see the boss's health bar.

ArenaNet did this in the core release, and in Path of Fire with the bounty system; the bounties tried to mix it a bit by adding special effects to the bosses, but in the end it's still pretty much the same thing: a massive amount of particle effects making it impossible to see anything, looking to the ground to avoid red circles, and ocasionally looking up to see the boss's health bar, break bar and its icon for special effects.

Between this visual mess and the massive amount of hit points for the boss, since it has to withstand being hit by dozens of players, those fights aren't the most thrilling thing in the world.

Then we have the Tarir meta event. It's already a lot smarter since it asks players to spread into four groups, so the visual clutter in each spot is reduced by a fourth. Then, each group has different mechanics, adding to the replayability of the whole thing. And lastly, the event is not about killing a boss - the closest it has to a boss are the octovine's doors, and those don't even attack back. We do attack them, but the trick in destroying those doors lie in the special mechanics involved in the event.

All the Hearth of Thorns meta events are great, but the Tarir one is arguably the best of them. Even the attention to details, such as the amazing soundtrack that blasts triumphantly once the octovine is destroyed, is amazing. This is the kind of meta event that a lot of people still do today, not as much because it's the most gold per second or because it has a dozen champions, but rather because it's incredibly fun.

I can only hope that the next expansions will have meta events as much fun as the Tarir one, and the other ones from HoT.

I would also like to say I did rather enjoy this meta above others.

I like lanes for bosses. Marionette, vinewrath, tarir, gerent - anything like this or tequatl where you split the playerbase to work together and also reduce visual noise is good design. Too many bosses since pof and ls4 rely on stacking dps so any mechanics are negated and you dont get to enjoy the event.

Anet have polluted much of their game, so more of these bosses are almost mandatory now. Ls1 through HoT was a time of much better boss design for sure.

Agreed with the general notion. Multiple bosses simultaneously is the best way to do meta events. Might even be more challenging too, which is always very welcome in open world.

Maybe one day we will get a full event map with multiple lanes again.

I like the specimen chamber meta in the sandsweept islands too, its not a single boss, it can be a diferent encounter each time you do it and the feels of fighting laboratory monstrosities gives good immersion.

HoT metas are awesomely fun.

@Erasculio.2914 said:I can only hope that the next expansions will have meta events as much fun as the Tarir one, and the other ones from HoT.

Tarir is excellent. I appreciate that it requires coordination, but not so much coordination that everyone needs to be 100% on point (Triple Trouble). I was (initially*) disappointed in PoF because it lacked similar metas.

• I've lately begun to appreciate PoF for its own charms.