Cheese vs. Fluff - The Temporal Shift of Metagame and Paragame in Warhammer

Abstract

In this article, I will explore the temporal shift between metagame and paragame in the Warhammer franchise. By looking at three distinctive points in the history of Warhammer, this article delves into the continuous evolution and development of Warhammer and how its relationship to metagame and paragame has changed over time. By applying thematic analysis to the main research material of this study—Warhammer rulebooks, White Dwarf magazines, and Warhammer Community rules update articles—codes and themes were generated for analyzing the changing trends in competitive practices within Warhammer. This process yielded three separate categories of relationship to the metagame, based on the gamesmaster, the tactics within the game, and the patch-metagame cycle. This data shows that Warhammer's current meta is about the metaplay itself, as the games lean towards marketing and balancing the game to benefit the competitive play practices. However, due to the participatory nature of Warhammer, some paragame elements stay in the game, and due to the feedback loop built into the patch-metagame cycle, players can influence the meta with their actions based on the paragame enjoyment of the game.