I have to say, this is one on my list of things that bug me: having mandatory apps infused to OS. I could probably live with chess but especially epiphany irks me, as I never use it. I agree what @linmob wrote in other topic that L5 would look more ready if it had a few more apps for common tasks (maps, music player etc.) readily installed, but using metapackage makes the apps in essence “mandatory” like IE was with Windows - takes more than average know-how to pull them without breaking the system. It stinks a bit.
Unless there is a reason, which should be stated somewhere, none of those should be forced on with a metapackage. Even if it makes something eeasier. That being said, why not have (lets say on the top of my head) three variations - minimum, standard and “all the toys” - which user could choose from, if one (or, 1+1+1) has to be used? In the first boot, there could be a screen asking either “do you want to install these with the next update or keep minimum system” or “do you want to keep these apps or go to minimum system and have them purged with the next update”.