Here's the problem, we've heard it here before: "EZ mod does NOT make the map easier." Additionally, the score reduction makes it possibly the least practical mod to use.
The difficulty I see in altering the current EZ-mod, or -- God forbid -- removing it completely, is the impact it will have on saved scores. Ask Azer about how it feels to have a score wiped because something had to change -- FeelsBadMan, indeed. We (and especially peppy!) shouldn't want anyone to go through that, regardless of who or why they used the mod.
Therefore, my suggestion is this: rather than change or remove EZ, we instead ADD other similar mods in gradient fashion to bridge the extreme gap between a NM AR9.5 play and an EZ AR4.75 play.
Like we see with DT/NC, Relax/Cinema, and the osu!mania 1-9K mods, simply add more mods in a stack where EZ is currently, gradually cutting it's difficulty (and score multiplier) until we reach the original EZ 1/2x change. In this way, the probable most difficult task will be to change EZ's mod handle to something consistent for score tracking.
peppy has done some legit math to draw smooth bezier curves in the Editor, I'm sure finding an average multiple for difficulty reduction will be much easier (slap me if I'm wrong, I'm only just learning C#). Here is my last suggestion for this implementation:
Mod Names: 1 Star Off, 2 Stars off, ... 4 Stars off (Handled as 1S, 2S, etc... in score tracking this will appear as "-1S", "-3S", etc., thus making total sense when read)
Difficulty/Score Reduction Gradient:
4S (Original EZ Mod): .5x
3S : .66x (i.e., 2/3x)
2S : .8x
1S : .9x
Of course, alter this to how you see fit. Here's an example of map difficulties before/after mod use:
NM: CS5 / AR10 / OD8 / HP7 (1.00x)
1S: CS4.5 / AR9 / OD7.2 / HP6.3 (.90x)
2S: CS4 / AR8 / OD6.4 / HP5.6 (.80x)
3S: CS3.3 / AR6.6 / OD5.28 / HP4.62 (.66x)
4S: CS2.5 / AR5 / OD4 / HP3.5 (.50x)
Mod Selection Order:
NM - 1S - 2S - 3S - 4S - Reset
I hope that, with this in place, more users can enjoy the benefits that EZ intended, without the radical difficulty changes, and without deleting old plays.
The difficulty I see in altering the current EZ-mod, or -- God forbid -- removing it completely, is the impact it will have on saved scores. Ask Azer about how it feels to have a score wiped because something had to change -- FeelsBadMan, indeed. We (and especially peppy!) shouldn't want anyone to go through that, regardless of who or why they used the mod.
Therefore, my suggestion is this: rather than change or remove EZ, we instead ADD other similar mods in gradient fashion to bridge the extreme gap between a NM AR9.5 play and an EZ AR4.75 play.
Like we see with DT/NC, Relax/Cinema, and the osu!mania 1-9K mods, simply add more mods in a stack where EZ is currently, gradually cutting it's difficulty (and score multiplier) until we reach the original EZ 1/2x change. In this way, the probable most difficult task will be to change EZ's mod handle to something consistent for score tracking.
peppy has done some legit math to draw smooth bezier curves in the Editor, I'm sure finding an average multiple for difficulty reduction will be much easier (slap me if I'm wrong, I'm only just learning C#). Here is my last suggestion for this implementation:
Mod Names: 1 Star Off, 2 Stars off, ... 4 Stars off (Handled as 1S, 2S, etc... in score tracking this will appear as "-1S", "-3S", etc., thus making total sense when read)
Difficulty/Score Reduction Gradient:
4S (Original EZ Mod): .5x
3S : .66x (i.e., 2/3x)
2S : .8x
1S : .9x
Of course, alter this to how you see fit. Here's an example of map difficulties before/after mod use:
NM: CS5 / AR10 / OD8 / HP7 (1.00x)
1S: CS4.5 / AR9 / OD7.2 / HP6.3 (.90x)
2S: CS4 / AR8 / OD6.4 / HP5.6 (.80x)
3S: CS3.3 / AR6.6 / OD5.28 / HP4.62 (.66x)
4S: CS2.5 / AR5 / OD4 / HP3.5 (.50x)
Mod Selection Order:
NM - 1S - 2S - 3S - 4S - Reset
I hope that, with this in place, more users can enjoy the benefits that EZ intended, without the radical difficulty changes, and without deleting old plays.