Before you read anything regarding my IDEA to reform the ranking system I want you to read the following disclaimers:
1. This post is an IDEA and just that (for now) it will 100% have its flaws and that is the main reason why I am posting this. I want to know if anything like this is possible and where the flaws are, so that we at some point maybe have a functioning idea to replace the current system.
2. I am NOT writing this because I want my maps to be ranked so dont even try to claim that. My maps arent rankable I know that and I havent tried ranking anything and wont try till I think my maps reach the needed quality, so dont try to give me the "Oh you just mad your maps suck and cant get ranked" card...
3. My english should be readable (I hope)

With those disclaimers out of the way let me tell you why I (and probably many more) think our current nomination and ranking system is flawed and to be frank just bad and biased. The recent incident with wafer and his minions map just put the cherry on top. I dont want to use this to discredit wafer or anybody else but his recent minion map thing (beatmapsets/1713016#osu/3500253) is an easy example to show what I mean. His map is probably (my opinion), at least in quality and honestly also in creativity, the worst map yet, that has been considered for ranking or actually has been ranked. A map consisting of 16 objects (I believe it was qualified with 16 objects) with this "song" or what you want to call it would have never been even close to a ranked map if send by randomosuuser727. This map only got this far because of the name attached to the map and most likely (this is just a speculation with no evidence) because of this cool thing they call "nominate for nominate". If anybody without a bn title or significant name in the mapping community would have sent this map to any bn as a request to get it ranked that person or mapper would probably have been laughed at and just hit with a straight up "No". This is the reasonable answer anybody with common sense would give you when you ask them to rank it. Now somehow this 16 object map was qualified at some point and now it seems like its about to be requalified at some point in the future. Ranking something with this little effort put into the map or even this little "song or beat" in a literal BEATmap is just a straight kick in the face for anybody who ever tried ranking a map. I could go on and explain why I am so displeased with the ranking system but the main reason for this post is not my displeasure with the current system but my idea for a new system.

So back to my idea:

Each BN gets their own link to a certain website (which needs to be created) on which users that want to rank their beatmap can submit it with the goal of getting the beatmap ranked via the help of the BN. The requested BN still has the control over what maps he wants to rank or if he is closed for requests etc. The normal ranking criteria like hypes still apply. The only thing that this website changes from the current way of submitting maps is that it changes the beatmaps creator to an anonymous user and the modding process via the discussion tab will be moved to this website assuring the anonymity of the beatmap creator. A rule will be added to the existing ruleset stating: "Anonymity during the nomination process is required." Therefore basically removing the subjectiveness of BN's to say stuff like "Ah this guy can nominate my map later if I nominate his now" or "Ah this guy already has 10 ranked maps lets rank this one". There will be complete anonymity in the ranking process and breaking this anonymity rule will result in the BN not being able to nominate this mappers maps for a set amount of time. By adding this rule (+ the website) it is possible to create ways for new mappers to get ranked maps while already "established" mappers still have the same chances because the this nomination process would be judged by the actual state of the submitted map. This way a map will be judged by the fact if its good or not. It's a rather simple way to get the current state of our ranking system towards a system based on the actual quality of your map and not just the name of the beatmap creator.

This is just a little idea I had while bored. I would love to hear about problems that might occured if implemented or just feedback in general. And again this is not meant to discredit or attack anyone, so if you feel attack then idk.

ALSO THE MOST IMPORTANT THING! KEEP THE DISCUSSION ON TOPIC AND SERIOUS PLEASE

this idea of "anonymous mapper til ranked" seems really cool on the surface but there's this thing called: graveyard mappers (a.k.a people who upload maps but don't want them to have a leaderboard)

if you force ALL non loved/ranked maps to be anonymous then you won't be able to properly credit these kinds of mappers

if you allow graveyard maps to be non anonymous then what if the mapper changed their mind and they wanna rank it anyway? it would make the system useless on popular used-to-be-graveyard maps/mappers

or you can ban all grave maps from ranked, which is shit for (hopefully) obvious reasons

but like, even with such anonymous system, it wouldn't still be fair for new mappers anyway cuz very experience mappers usually have a distinct mapping style that can be identified easily (just look at like 99% mapping contests's judging sheet , you will see a surprising large amount of judges who can guess the mapper(s) of the entry from mapping style alone), so the ranked section would still be full of those experience mappers AND a buch of copycats who try to fool the bns into thinking they are nominating their favourite mappper's maps

dPeace beat me to it, but I'll leave my original reply here for those interested:

The idea of an "anonymous nomination process" has been discussed many times before.

The problem with anonymous mapping is that mapping itself is a very personal thing. Unless the mapper copies the style of existing mappers, it's very easy to tell who mapped what with some experience, especially if you're friends with that mapper. BNs have always accepted or rejected maps based on the mapper and will continue to do so as long as they are given that freedom. This makes sense since as a BN you don't want to work with a mapper that gives you a hard time.

The amount of ranked maps you have does not influence the nomination process. It's more about what you can offer to the BN, such as if it's a song they like, mapping style they like, and whether or not they want it in their nomination history. Note that when you post your map in a BN queue, you are competing with many other good maps. Whether a map is good or not doesn't matter since they're all "good enough for ranked"; the BN will naturally prefer songs they like and can enjoy modding as part of their volunteer position.

versions of this have been suggested countless times in the past and they have the same unacceptable flaws every single time

the first problem is that the idea is incredibly naive

people with bn friends will just tell said friends "hey I submitted this map to your queue pls rank" on discord and nothing will change

you can't prove that it happened in any specific instance so you can't stop it

this means that the system completely fails to do anything about the problem you want it to solve


also, even disregarding that critical flaw, you can't just set up a queue and call it a day, there are a bunch of other changes you need to make to be able to claim to have any kind of anonymity

1. every unranked map needs to have its mappers hidden on the website and only ranked maps can be displayed on user profiles
2. this includes loved maps because they can be unloved and ranked at any point if the host wants to do that
3. guest diff creators can't put their names in the names of their diffs anymore
4. you have to somehow ensure that no names are included in storyboards, skin elements, backgrounds, or videos
5. modding needs to be anonymised
6. the .osu file format needs to change because the name of the host is right there in the Creator field
7. that also means that a bunch of backend stuff needs to change because the Creator field is used for verification when you submit a map

that's kind of a huge amount of dev time, which is an incredibly sparse resource as far as any mapping community issues are concerned

basically, if your idea needs peppy or another dev to do anything more complex than just changing a few numbers, chances are it's not gonna happen

(and the cherry on the cake is that even if you did all of those things people could still just recognise mappers by their style lmfao)


next, think of what it would be like to try to engage with the mapping community if maps needed to be anonymous before they were ranked

1. you want to show your maps to your friends? you can't, one of them might become a bn in the future if they aren't one already
2. you want to get feedback on a map? you can't
3. you're a bn and you like your friends' maps and want to help rank them? sucks to be you

you just wouldn't be able to talk about maps or mapping with any kind of specificity with anyone without breaking a rule

the mapping community CANNOT EXIST anonymously


finally, I think you might find this thread interesting

I think there is one point that didnt get picked up the way I wanted it too. I dont want the mapping community to go anonymously entirely. That might have sounded otherwise. I just suggested the ranking process to be anonymous and after the nomination has been done the map goes back to its original state. I dont want to take away credits for maps i just want to make the BN not know who's map they are looking at.

Of course it is still possible do just check a mappers profile to see if they have a non ranked map like the one in the BN queue but this is just a draft so figuring this out would probably require people with a bigger understanding then mine

Also the fact that they still can just dm eachother on discord will always be here but adding something likes this to the ruleset might change its even if only slightly. Also the BN's are obliged to set a good example for the community meaning a BN breaking such a rule would have significant consequences which might scare some of them into not doing it.

thats the entire point

you cannot pretend to have an anonymous ranking system if the name of the mapper is right there when you open the map

Let me clarify the way it thought of it:

1. You map your map
2. You can upload your map to the profile and at the same time you send it into the BN queue on the website I mentioned
3. Your map gets changed in the way that neither the diff names are viewable nor the .osu has the names in them (Yes it currently is still possible to just check someones profile and see the same map)
4. The BN mods your map and stuff all on the website where the responses from the mapper are completely "anonymous"
5. Once nominated the map appear as qualified with names etc back on the osu beatmap section

This would allow graveyard mappers and loved mappers to still exist without problems as t he map is only anonymous on the BN website. The fact that this isnt 100% anonymous is as clear as day as you could still just check profiles etc. but this also is quite literally impossible to enforce because of the reason listed in prior post by lewski, Project Railgun and dPeace. Not achieving 100% anonymity doesnt result in the failure of the suggested system though as it would still benefit newer mappers getting closer to their goal of a ranked map. This benefit for newer mappers is what this idea was about

For new mappers, I doubt anonymity matters since no one knows their name anyway. If you are trying to cripple experienced mappers, there's a reason why their maps are nominated.

wafer's map was generally fine from a mapping POV and broke no rules. Nominators have the option to veto maps they disagree with that otherwise follow the ranking criteria. The updated map by wafer is even better, which makes sense given the amount of mapping experience wafer has.

The modding process is a very personal thing since mappers respond to mods differently. Anonymous modding would result in a bunch of wasted time if the mapper and the modder don't get along or are unable to understand each other.

I'm just going to address the elephant in the room here: mappers with more experience should get to push more edgy things. It's healthy for the mapping ecosystem to explore more avenues of creativity, and if those avenues turn out to not be viable, that's what the veto system is for: to bring the question to discussion and see what people's opinions are. Less vetoes should not be the goal here and stifling creativity in the sake of "quality" should not either.

That being said, many newer mappers may suffer in other areas and mistake their maps being rejected for not having a good concept or idea, when in reality there are many other problems with execution. Sometimes this is not easy to explain directly to the mapper. I was certainly blinded myself by this way back and I see others making the same mistake.

So in terms of anonymizing mappers or whatever, like people said that's just going to be a neat gimmick to the ranking system that will never prevent favoritism entirely. Instead, have systems for promoting new mappers, like that mug contest a while back in 2021. In fact, I think some of the last few years have been the best for newer / lesser known mappers if you check the MCA stats.

(Also pretty sure b4b was embraced as one of the perks of being a BN at some point, but I don't remember who I heard this from so may be completely wrong)

there have been other maps like the wafer one. such as: padoru, dorime, quiet water, my movie, amefuri, e, etc. these kind of maps always spark some kind of a discussion like this. usually these kind of suggestions dont rlly go anywhere cuz they require devs to do smth, which they most definitely would have to bc this deals w/ the ranking process. the idea is cool in theory but that's all I would personally see this as right now as there isnt rlly a system to sustain it along with the aforementioned issues that dpeace mentioned.

also nobody ever rlly said there was anything wrong with the maps that these songs are attached to.. it's just the songs themselves and how much each individual person feels they are worth mapping or not, which definitely varies since then it becomes an argument of, "what is a song" vs "but this doesnt go against the rc".

idk how to put this differently but not everyone believes in name bias so saying that the rc is flawed because that exists comes down more to what bns think imo..

I see the problems my idea had, so the mean reason I made this post is fulfilled. Thank you.







Doesnt mean I like the ranking system