Meta

[Sarah]

A term, especially in art, used to characterize something that is characteristically self-referential.

[Sarah]

meta 581 up, 58 down
A term, especially in art, used to characterize something that is characteristically self-referential.

So I just saw this film about these people making a movie, and the movie they were making was about the film industry...
Dude, thats so meta. Stop before my brain explodes.

[Sarah]

When you create new layers of abstraction between the thing or event, you are becoming more meta.
For example: A footnote that is needed to explain another footnote is meta.
The problem with being meta is that if you add sufficient layers of abstraction or complexity between the original event and the convenient abstractions you create to clarify or explain it, you eventually lose all connection to the original. Generally, you need no more than two or three levels in writing.
Too much meta in your writing leads to [meta fog].
In writing, this means your writing [sucks].

[Sarah]

Abbreviation of Most Effective Tactic Available. Mostly used when comparing tactics in a game, but can be used in other things as well. It can change over time as new tactics are explored or can change by a change in the rules of a game or availability of new resources. In real life changes to gamerules are usually to make the game more interesting (soccer rules change for offside, usage of time compensation in some courses). In computer games this is done by patching to balance the game or fix bugs.

[Sarah]

In the gaming world, meta is what the entire community does within one week of the games release or latest patch, ignoring everything else the game or the game developer has to offer.

[Sarah]

An acronym, most commonly used in the gaming world, for Most Effective Tactic Available.

[Sarah]

Meta describes a reference made in fiction, where the work reaches outside the narrative and addresses the audience directly or demonstrates awareness of itself as a work of fiction. This is best explained as when a character breaks the fourth wall, for instance by looking directly at the camera and commenting about the movie or show they are in.

[Sarah]

When in any form of art; whether it be a story, video game, picture, movie, etc.; the story is explaining itself.

[Sarah]

Meta means about the thing itself. Its seeing the thing from a higher perspective instead of from within the thing, like being self-aware.

A term used in mmo meaning the Most Effective Tactic Available. Its basically what works in a game regardless of what you wish would work.

[Dianne]

A medium is meta if it references itself (see, e.g., meta.) This is often done by trampling over what appeared to be a [closed systems] barrier - e.g. a book referencing its author, a play referencing its audience (see, e.g., [breaking the fourth wall].)
The feeling behind meta is that of pulling back the camera. We start with a family having dinner, then pull back to reveal the camera crew, then pull back to the writers room for describing [the crews] motion, then pull way back to the scientists marionetting the miniature writers, then pull back to reveal all this on a TV screen in the background of the kitchen where the family is having dinner.