Why does it feel almost impossible to rank a map, especially in a mode like Taiko, even when you put in lots of time to get a ton of mods on your maps?

I've been mapping since 2018 but took a break during 2020 and recently came back. One thing I have noticed that has stayed consistent between ranking a map before 2020 and after 2022 is that it is still really hard to get anything ranked. Like I stated in my question, I have gotten quite a few mods on two different maps that I first created back in 2018, but I can't seem to get BN's for either. Not being able to get BN's to look at (and hopefully nominate) either of my maps is not without lack of trying either. I have posted on quite a few BN's queues and have even joined the Taiko mapping discord, but still have yet to have a BN even acknowledge my maps. And before you ask, yes I do pay attention to what the BN's do and do not like and request accordingly.

I have also noticed that there are quite a few BNs that are pretty much always closed, which does not help in the slightest. Also, I recently got a reason for rejection on one of my maps, and all they said was "kdkdkdkd". I'm not sure what I can do to fix that since its the only way I can map anything that corresponds to the music.

I know the point of mapping is not necessarily to get something ranked, and more about having fun creating maps, but holy crap is it demotivating when BN's just ignore you or brush you off with a vague rejection message. I really just want to rank 1-2 maps to "complete" osu!(its really more of a goal to get 1-2 maps ranked)

idk anything about taiko but when std mappers make posts that are exactly like this they're never all that great at mapping so sorry but good luck with the grind

Whats Skill wrote:

get a ton of mods

in my experience this is a red flag; a map whose mod timeline looks like a bar code is probably not very good, cause if all those mods point out actual issues, the map has severe fundamental problems. the modders probably also failed to address those problems and are just cluelessly pointing out isolated examples, because if they were skilled enough to make general mods the timeline wouldn't look like a bar code in the first place. it also generally signals that the mapper isn't experienced enough to know that 1. decent maps are decent even before mods and 2. mods rarely make a map significantly better

Whats Skill wrote:

there are quite a few BNs that are pretty much always closed ... BN's just ignore you or brush you off with a vague rejection message

this is unfortunate and I'd love if responding to requests was more popular, although I feel like most people that I ask do respond already

the vagueness is more understandable cause a lot of people have cosmic egos and cannot handle rejection or criticism at all so it's easier not to say anything of substance unless asked. would be nice if that wasn't the case but it is so you kinda have to meet the BNs in the middle and make it clear that you genuinely want feedback. even then, not everyone has the time and energy to give actual feedback on maps they aren't even interested in.

you can also try taking some "vague" reasons at face value. sometimes the problem really is just that they don't like that specific song, for example. personally, that's the most common reason why I choose not to give feedback to people I see asking for it on discord and I have no reason to believe the situation would change if I was a BN

in short, move on and seek improvement, try not to feel like you need or deserve to rank something, try to find a somewhat reliable source of feedback

lewski wrote:

in my experience this is a red flag;

Taiko mapping is more about getting enough mods to satisfy BNs. Also, a lot of mods are usually opinions on what the person who is modding thinks that you can change to make the map better in their eyes. Sure, there are guidelines that you have to follow for each difficulty, but from my experience its more opinion based. I asked an experienced taiko mapper about if my maps are rankable and they stated that my maps "had enough mods to go for a BN check".

lewski wrote:

the vagueness is more understandable cause a lot of people have cosmic egos and cannot handle rejection or criticism at all so it's easier not to say anything of substance unless asked.

They should at least TRY to give an actual reason as to why they rejected, instead of just saying something like a response I got "kdkdkdkd". For instance, I got rejected by Dusk- recently and he stated that he doesn't like neurofunk (I requested he look at my map, Boogie.) I found this to be way less insulting than the response I got saying "kdkdkdkd". There is also a post that is under mine stating that there are BNs that nominate and look at 2 maps a month when the thresh hold you should get is 9 (unless they have a reason for an extended absense). Some of the BNs don't log in for months. I believe that this is a huge problem and should be addressed. I'm not saying that they should spend every single waking day looking at potential ranked maps, but they should at least do the bare minimum. Otherwise, why apply for BN?

What i'm saying is, I feel that there is a little bit of bias against new mappers and there might be some circle jerking between some bns and some more well known mappers. But I believe it is mostly due to some BNs not opening their queues basically at all or waiting for a certain time frame to start doing BN stuff. I also feel that BNs should actually give an actual answer as to why they rejected your request, instead of an incredibly vague answer (like the one i stated earlier "kdkdkd".)

kdkdkdkdk is a pretty concrete answer fwiw: it means the bn doesn't think your patterning is interesting and that it boils down to repeating a very basic pattern, ergo the map isn't good enough for them to promote

regarding the getting enough mods stuff - it's cuz bns job isn't rly to make maps rankable, it's to nominate maps. bns want to get requested rankable maps. whether or not mods actually help with rankability is up for debate, though i think generally in taiko given how simple the mode is mods help more than standard. but know that if a bn is asking you to get more mods, they don't care if you get more mods or not, they're telling you the map is bad but they like the song so if the map was somehow made to be good they might be interested.

regarding inactive bns - not really solvable easily and honestly a legitimate problem b/c there's only a few active taiko bns at a time and if you don't make stuff they like you are kinda fucked. that said bns will never be obligated to check genres or maps they don't like, so if ranking is your goal rather than improving or making content that people enjoy (both of which are orthogonal to ranking and also better goals imo), you'd be better of making maps in a style that the current group of active bns likes.

regarding lewski's points - i generally think he is right, if you can't rank something easily, move on and get better then try again. trying to rank the same map for a long time is a massive red flag that the map is fundamentally not good enough to be ranked and not even worth looking at. you can always come back later when you are better at mapping and rank the song if you like it enough.

Nao Tomori wrote:

kdkdkdkdk is a pretty concrete answer fwiw: it means the bn doesn't think your patterning is interesting and that it boils down to repeating a very basic pattern, ergo the map isn't good enough for them to promote

The thing is, my map doesnt even have a whole lot of kdkdkd, so i still don't see a problem with it.

Nao Tomori wrote:

regarding the getting enough mods stuff - it's cuz bns job isn't rly to make maps rankable

nowhere in my posts did i say it was their job to mod things. Its their job to check over maps to see if they are rankable and maybe give a point or two if something is slightly wrong.

Nao Tomori wrote:

regarding inactive bns - not really solvable easily and honestly a legitimate problem b/c there's only a few active taiko bns at a time and if you don't make stuff they like you are kinda fucked. that said bns will never be obligated to check genres or maps they don't like, so if ranking is your goal rather than improving or making content that people enjoy (both of which are orthogonal to ranking and also better goals imo), you'd be better of making maps in a style that the current group of active bns likes.

This whole point irritates me. Youre basically telling me I have to map things that I don't necessarily like just to get something ranked and cater to the BNs. I get that they don't have to look at anything that they dont like genre wise, but still. There are certain genres that I like and think would be interesting to map, and straying from that just to get something ranked doesn't sit right with me.

Nao Tomori wrote:

regarding lewski's points - i generally think he is right, if you can't rank something easily, move on and get better then try again.

This part i can agree with, its just hard for me to let go of a map that ive put several years into.

This whole point irritates me. Youre basically telling me I have to map things that I don't necessarily like just to get something ranked and cater to the BNs. I get that they don't have to look at anything that they dont like genre wise, but still. There are certain genres that I like and think would be interesting to map, and straying from that just to get something ranked doesn't sit right with me.

unfortunately that's the truth. ranking maps is a social game, if you don't make things they like, they won't mod. that's sth you have to accept