Hello to anyone that sees this. I've been playing rhythm games in general for years and was finally able to download Osu!Mania late last year. I've been stuck on 4-star maps for way too long now, and I hear that most people are already on 5 and 6-star 4k maps within at least a year or a couple months after they reach 4 stars. I've been destroying myself mentally because I just can't complete any of my maps now and I keep resetting after every one or two misses because I can't handle not doing a map perfectly. I play on a laptop with a laptop keyboard because that's the only thing I have and I don't know if buying a WOOTING for 200 dollars is even worth it when I can barely play the game as it is. My average overall skill I would put at about 4.5 stars, although I can handle the patterns of lower 5-star maps such as "Embraced by the Flame" and "kit". I just don't know what to do anymore since no maps I seem to find work to help me warm up or improve. It's almost like my fingers refuse to press the keys despite the fact I know I can keep up with the songs because the patterns feel easy to me. I make constant mistakes that I KNOW I shouldn't be making, and I often get in a pretty bad mental state temporarily because I just can't afford a less laggy device or keyboard or anything that could help me reach my potential. Is it possible I can't improve any more than I already have? Any map recommendations to practice specific skills would really help, as I can't seem to find anything myself. Here are skills I seem to be weak with if that helps:
- Jacks (HORRIBLE on a laptop)
- Stamina (Can barely finish a song with only 2K notes and 2.5 minutes)
- Long Notes (Absolute nightmare because of how ridiculously specific they are with their timings)

**It's also not helping that low-star maps like Japanese Transformation 3.93* and Here I Go Again 4.06* I still cannot complete despite the fact they are supposely BELOW my level...

I've been stuck on 4-star maps for way too long now, and I hear that most people are already on 5 and 6-star 4k maps within at least a year or a couple months after they reach 4 stars.

Looking at your profile, your playcount seems to be really quite low compared to the average. Improvement isn't a function of days since you started playing, it's of the amount of hours you spend actually playing the game, and I'd expect that those people you mentioned would have upwards of 1k playcount per month. Cut yourself some slack.

...because I just can't afford a less laggy device or keyboard or anything that could help me reach my potential.

Not really an improvement tip, but a setup oriented one; Consider checking out Etterna. It's a 4 key game similar to osu!mania, except much, much less resource intensive. Pretty much anything made within the last 20 years should run it comfortably. It's not quite the same as mania -- the setup is a bit unintuitive, the hit windows are tighter, and hold releases aren't a thing -- but it could give you a better gameplay experience, at least until you get a better computer.

P.S. You should keep in mind that star rating is far from an accurate measurement of actual difficulty (I've seen some 5* maps that are harder than 7* maps!), so you should really only use it to get a rough idea of how hard a map is. Etterna's equivalent of star rating, MSD, is a bit better, but you still shouldn't hold that as the absolute truth either.

copy paste link to my advicr thread lol

firstly, for playing games beforehand, it kinda changes how much skill youd get. i played fnf casually for 2 years and on mania i can barely 80% 2.7 stars on 4k, but if its other games that are vsrg then ok its valid. dont really feel bad i know a guy whos been playing djmax since 2004, aka playing mania for 20 years, THIS GUY HAD YEARS OF EXPERIENCE IN DJMAX WHEN I WAS JUST A SPERMLET, and he struggles on 3 stars lol. mania LN sr is very varied as like it is. you dont seem to really be playing the game alot so i dont blame the lack of skill. my imprivement thread has shit that might help but idk

I feel inclined to answer since I was in the same position like 4 years ago. I.e. playing on a tato laptop kb, being horrible at jacks and LNs, always quitting out because I felt the score was bad or from stamina concern, etc.

I've been destroying myself mentally because I just can't complete any of my maps now and I keep resetting after every one or two misses because I can't handle not doing a map perfectly.

I have suffered this and still do to a certain. You might want to identify why you reset in the first place. If you think it might mess up your profile you can just play offline. If it's only mental you can start playing longer maps that aren't too hard for you. For me at least, when you mess up in a longer map I feel less inclined to reset, simply because I spent too long on the map already.

I play on a laptop with a laptop keyboard because that's the only thing I have and I don't know if buying a WOOTING for 200 dollars is even worth it when I can barely play the game as it is.

It's very much not worth it to buy a higher end kb at your current level. Instead just get any keyboard you can get your hands on, membrane or mechanical doesn't really mater at this point. If you don't or can't, it's fine really, doesn't really matter until you get to more dense patterns.

My average overall skill I would put at about 4.5 stars, although I can handle the patterns of lower 5-star maps such as "Embraced by the Flame" and "kit". I just don't know what to do anymore since no maps I seem to find work to help me warm up or improve.

Star rating isn't helpful most of the time. The 5 star maps you mentioned has light jumpstream patterns and honestly pretty easy for a 5 star. A lot of maps in higher 4 stars are technically harder than them honestly, as technical patterns are valued less than density of the map (you can see a lot of players' top plays consisting of dense chordjacks, which shows how overrated the maps are). To properly measure your skill you might look into maps featured in dans and see how you fare in different skillsets. Another option is to use etterna which rates maps based on individual skillsets and give you an accumulated rating from maps you play; but it might take a while before being a proper rating for you.

Is it possible I can't improve any more than I already have?

It's simply not the case unless you have a physical condition.

For the specific skills you're weak with:
Jacks -- CCC and honestly just try to get any keyboard. It helped me almost instantly in this particular skill.
Stamina -- Just try to find a longer light jumpstream map. Nikosek has a lot.
LNs -- Can't really help as I'm also horrible at it.

Hi you have 47 hours most people who reach 5-6* have more than that your confusing time consistently playing with time played

in short don't worry unless you have 300 hours and havent improved