This might get a bit long winded, but I think personally, that there are a variety of reasons as to why mapping styles have homogenised over the years. We briefly spoke about this in the Mentorship discord last night or so.
One recent event in particular highlights a prominent issue very well. -GN's conquering score on Shotgun Symphony brought the map into the limelight for many newer modern players, who viewed it with a mixture of disdain, horror, and awe. SS is quintessentially, '09 style 'shitmapping'.
It was wildly experimental, designed to be as challenging and uninviting as possible by its very nature. It lacks much of the consideration and polish that many modern maps do, but it remains no less coveted by a section of the playerbase due to this. 'Shitmapping' does not necessarily produce bad maps, but it does produce different ones. We are seeing variation in the maps that enter Ranked, but the process is incredibly slow and often has to percolate for sometimes years before it becomes noticeable.
I may be simply outdated on this front, but the airs of alternative mapping styles (and the pursuit thereof) have pretty much been abandoned in the past few years. We've seen widespread refinement of the 'modern' beatmapping style to what is arguably approaching its absolute limits. Quality has no longer become synonymous with actual quality, but instead a strict adherence to a particular mapping style that is thoroughly encouraged by a number of factors - familiarity and pp both among them.
This is a tricky situation, since arguably the biggest draw towards beatmapping for some mappers is the fact that the community at large enjoys the content they put out. Alternative mapping styles tend to generate cult popularity as opposed to gross popularity, meaning that they often draw as much scorn as they do adoration. That, and someone can put out a 'safe' modern-styled map which gives a reasonable amount of pp and they will be guaranteed a certain number of plays from players farming rank alone.
So, what incentive is there to even try new things when it is already difficult enough to get things ranked, as well as something that is not exactly current as far as the meta goes?
This is what I'd suggest we do:
There's a lot of ways we can go about this. It's a fairly complicated issue, but it is certainly a growing problem, I think.
We also have the omnipresent problem of people struggling to deal with and incorporate criticism of their work. Much of modding is something of a hostile process since it is essentially a direct conflict of opposing ideas with one party required to capitulate. This makes it very easy for mappers to feel attacked, and modders to feel ignored, which only further cultivates a preference for "safe" meta-structured maps as they cause as little friction as possible.
One recent event in particular highlights a prominent issue very well. -GN's conquering score on Shotgun Symphony brought the map into the limelight for many newer modern players, who viewed it with a mixture of disdain, horror, and awe. SS is quintessentially, '09 style 'shitmapping'.
It was wildly experimental, designed to be as challenging and uninviting as possible by its very nature. It lacks much of the consideration and polish that many modern maps do, but it remains no less coveted by a section of the playerbase due to this. 'Shitmapping' does not necessarily produce bad maps, but it does produce different ones. We are seeing variation in the maps that enter Ranked, but the process is incredibly slow and often has to percolate for sometimes years before it becomes noticeable.
I may be simply outdated on this front, but the airs of alternative mapping styles (and the pursuit thereof) have pretty much been abandoned in the past few years. We've seen widespread refinement of the 'modern' beatmapping style to what is arguably approaching its absolute limits. Quality has no longer become synonymous with actual quality, but instead a strict adherence to a particular mapping style that is thoroughly encouraged by a number of factors - familiarity and pp both among them.
This is a tricky situation, since arguably the biggest draw towards beatmapping for some mappers is the fact that the community at large enjoys the content they put out. Alternative mapping styles tend to generate cult popularity as opposed to gross popularity, meaning that they often draw as much scorn as they do adoration. That, and someone can put out a 'safe' modern-styled map which gives a reasonable amount of pp and they will be guaranteed a certain number of plays from players farming rank alone.
So, what incentive is there to even try new things when it is already difficult enough to get things ranked, as well as something that is not exactly current as far as the meta goes?
This is what I'd suggest we do:
- Introduce 1-2 monthly slots for experimental/alternative maps that can either be Ranked or Approved without explicitly requiring full adherence to the Ranking Criteria. These maps would be vetted by the modding community to be playable at least a base level, but beyond that explicit requirement, anything goes. Maps would bid on these slots by using star priority.
- Loosen the Ranking Criteria in general. By loosen, I essentially mean tacit revision of the rules and guidelines to ensure they number as few as possible. The RC has a stabilizing force on the mapping meta since it essentially mandates what can and cannot be done at a basic level. It should be as lean as humanly possible, and nothing more than that.
There's a lot of ways we can go about this. It's a fairly complicated issue, but it is certainly a growing problem, I think.
We also have the omnipresent problem of people struggling to deal with and incorporate criticism of their work. Much of modding is something of a hostile process since it is essentially a direct conflict of opposing ideas with one party required to capitulate. This makes it very easy for mappers to feel attacked, and modders to feel ignored, which only further cultivates a preference for "safe" meta-structured maps as they cause as little friction as possible.