I think high and top level are the reason those types of discussions aren't common place. There's definitely a portion of high level that shuts down discussion from the "established" meta or what works for the sole reason of coming across as them being above that and "why are you try harding in a kids game" mindset.
There's also been times where a high level players opinion has been challenged weather on stream or twitter replies and there egos can't handle it and they make fun of the person which in turn leads to ratios and quote retweets from there followers calling them dumb followed by a skull emoji.
This has been the norm for years and it's trickled down too mid and low level.
Also a lot of high and top level aren't super enthusiastic about sharing info and such, weather that be because they've just been a splatoon player for so long and aren't excited at that level anymore, or because they don't think they have anything to add, or because of what I stated above.
I remember back during ghost gamings run in s2, I would try to watch Dude or sendou's stream and they would be so disinterested in those kind of questions, basically giving quick short answers. Sorin was one of the few top players that would actually interact with viewers of any level and give real answers and perspective on things like weapon picks, specials, etc.
not to be annoying but i think blaming top level for the lack of discussion is kinda wild, i would argue that it's more like the vast majority of people, at all levels, are not so much interested in a discussion as much as being right
and who could blame them
if you're not sure whether you're better or worse than the other person, very rarely does the other side have credentials you feel that you ought to believe/listen to, so you're very unlikely to change your position
and even if you know that you're better or that you're worse, people attach the greatest confidence to the things that they themselves have done and think works. it's very rare that they actually consider someone else's opinion, unless the skill gap is huge
but in that case, people tend to not think critically and just take what the higher level person said as gospel and without nuance
also, the truth of the matter is, the vast majority of questions lower level people tend to ask are kinda...misguided? and also very frequently unoriginal so it gets kind of annoying to be asked the same (largely useless) question many times
like you can ask me what gear im running or what comp i think is best but like brother that is not going to change your life, unless it's some very specific niche thing like "hey maybe run ninja squid on roller" or "run stealth jump on frontlines"
idk
it's hard for me to explain
it's not an ego thing, I don't think, it's more like a total disconnect on what affects the outcomes of games at different levels of comp, and i think people don't really recognize or acknowledge that
in any case, i'm not trying to shut down discussion — you'll notice that i comment in a lot of threads from ppl that play at a different level than i do, or at least am trying to
and i also try not to be sanctimonious about it bc like, if it works for you it works for you and my job is NOT to convince you to listen to me, that's up to you to decide — but also, you're not going to convince me of anything unless your results are compelling or your logic is really, really sound and aligns with the way i think about the game
but at the same time, it'd be nice to have a discussion space with the people whose problems are similar to mine, because the things preventing you from performing better are absolutely, utterly different for different levels of the game, and i think it's fairly delusional to think that I'm going to place the same weight on a suggestion from someone who plays the game at a lower level than me as I am on someone who's as good or better than me
because the stuff people suggest simply does not work when you (and more importantly, your opponents) are better
If only I could change my username here
