For me, I've noticed a drop in my ability when I use a skin that doesn't work for me. Osu default skin is nearly unplayable for me, but I also see a big drop in my accuracy if a skin doesn't have that distinctive "click" hitsound. In contrast, all of my best plays have been done with one skin (or a skin very similar).

Another strange thing for me is that when I was still learning to play the game and was playing with mouse, I could not spin at all with the default skin spinner. Something just didn't work for me. A blank slider helped me a lot (though I don't think it would have been an issue if I had started with tablet).

I am wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience. I considered putting this in the skinning section, but the topic is more about gameplay than a discussion of skinning.

the hitsounds are very important to me
everything else is just aesthetics.

hitcircles that have transparent/semi-transparent solids are necessary for hd imo

Happens to me too, there´s certain skins i really feel that i can´t play with, reason why i have only changed skin once since i started and it was very recently.
All of that goes away after a week of playing (completely) but still it is a BIG difference in gameplay to me, so if you plan to change weigh the pros/cons of moving. Btw i changed mine because i couldn´t play AR9 with ir properly, no joke it was a unicolor skin and somehow it messed me up when it was high bpm low ar9, maybe just psicological but i don´t really think so.

The skin I'm using helped me during nighttime play.

Other than that, I really only care for the hitsounds. It matters a lot to me, for some reason.

I can only use skins with proper hit sounds, no graphic for 300's, and with a tiny cursor. I do like having an aesthetically pleasing skin, but I also don't like it to be overdone to the point where it's distracting.

The cursor,transparent circle,invisible 300s,normal hitsounds take role here

Performance wise? Probably just the follow points do for me.

Other than that, I don't really care how it looks but I do prefer mine to be clean.

I actually have quite a few things I 'really' need to be able to play at my very best, including:

Transparent hitcircles (for HD playing).
Medium-to-small sized cursor with an obvious center point. Stands out against hitcircles. I like a small/subtle cursor trail just as an extra indicator where the cursor is (since my eyes follow the circles), though I don't 100% need it.
Obvious follow lines. Follow lines are a must for sightreading for me.
Bright hitcircles where they're colored, so that they stand out against a black background.
Loud enough hitsounds.
Invisible 300s obviously, as well as small 100s/50s/misses but still noticable.

Since obviously no one skin has all of this and is also clean at the same time, I have my own skin mix (with some of my own elements as well) that I change around only every now and then when it needs changing. When it comes to aesthetics, I avoid the 'pretty' details directly in gameplay, and instead throw all of the cute moe stuff elsewhere where it doesn't affect my playing--so things like mod icons, pause, menu background, section-pass/fail, etc. I like to customize all of that kind of stuff to make it a nice skin for me, but when it comes to gameplay, I rarely change the actual gameplay aspects and make sure said aspects are stuff that's suited for me, not stuff that's pretty.

Oh, and I don't know what it is, but I've been told by a friend I've shared my skin with that my skin makes it really easy to read AR10. Still not sure why.

So I guess in a sense, a skin matters a lot to me, though I believe a good skin won't exactly make you suddenly better--just, a bad skin will be deterring. The right skin that suits your preferences for playing unlocks your potential, but you won't be FCing Airman overnight.

[Nightcore HD] combo bursts, I can't miss them ^^

new skins feel a bit awkward to me, but other than that they dont really influence my ability to play (as long as they dont have extremely distracting elements during gameplay).
the only thing that kind of makes a difference is hitsounds, but most hitsounds are good enough anyway.

It's probably less painful to look at a simple, "clean" skin, but uhh ...

peppy wrote:

removing distractions are an excuse for sucking at the game. give any try pro a vanilla copy of osu! and they will perform as well as with any "pro" skin.

This is pretty true in most cases, at least early on. An exception would be completely hidden circles (low stack leniency) +HD, stuff like that.

Edit: Forgot to add, it's best not to have hitsounds like Not Afraid of Your Big Black.

nooblet wrote:

It's probably less painful to look at a simple, "clean" skin, but uhh ...

peppy wrote:

removing distractions are an excuse for sucking at the game. give any try pro a vanilla copy of osu! and they will perform as well as with any "pro" skin.

This is pretty true in most cases, at least early on. An exception would be completely hidden circles (low stack leniency) +HD, stuff like that.

Edit: Forgot to add, it's best not to have hitsounds like Not Afraid of Your Big Black.

Yeah, but that quote is coming from a guy that doesn't even play the game.

In nearly every game, you want the most important things to stand out and keep aesthetics to a minimum.

buny wrote:

Yeah, but that quote is coming from a guy that doesn't even play the game.

ow

Matters quite a lot to me IMO, if the elements are too bright(like default) then my eyes like explode and focusing on individual circles are much harder although I can still play decently with most skins.

I have to play with 1 single hitsound, a small cursor and line followpoints, I might be able to change but it would take a week or more to get used to. I just hate huge 300's and hit effects. Making or putting together your own skin helps a lot.

Skin is a life

Cant play with skins that have 300s or huge cursors. I know there's now an option to change the cursor but -kamui- and aesthetic are my favs. c;

Alot ._.

My skin is the most clearest and simple, it helps my gameplay alot! Sooo... ALOT

To me the important stuff in a skin is it has to be clean and easy to see while placed on a black background. The hitsounds have to be audable (duh) and follow points have to be easy to see. I also find a smaller simple cursor helps me out a bit as well. Another little preference I have is the combo break sound. I was never a fan of the default combo break sound due to it being quite shocking and sometimes causing me to screw up even more so I use a softer combo break sound that is less shocking.
I also stick with no 300s and I don't use combo bursts.

In general it just comes down to personal preference. Some people prefer simpler and cleaner skins to more graphically impressive ones.

Still if your looking for a skin with a simpler design then check out Black 2014. Its a simple but really nice skin.

It matters a lot. I don't think I could survive without my skin. I would just be a skeleton

Skin doesn't have much of an effect for me. Maybe a little bit, since I am used to playing with mine, but whenever I have tried using a different skin, my ability is pretty much the same. Pretty much just use a skin for extra visibility, primarily with hidden.

I'm the same as you I don't know if it is a psychological thing but I HIGHLY depend on my skin. I can't play good without it hehe. The invisible 300's and cursor trails really do help me and the semi-transparent or somewhat translucent circles help a lot for overlapping patterns. Many people can usually play with the default or other skins and they play the same for any, but for me, I play substantially differently when I switch skins. (I don't know if it counts but the hitsounds in my skin really do help me too )

In absolute terms, the difference between using my skin and using another high-quality skin are pretty small, but when I'm playing near the edge of my abilities it can still be enough to drag me all the way from an FC to a fail.

Hm. It does, especially when it comes to the huge cursors and stuff, and more importantly THE 300s .
I'd prefer a skin with invisible/no 300s, unlike the default 300 which blocks everything, and... Well, a smaller cursor would be better.

Mainly a FPS boost from the default skin stars and shiny stuff 2stronk

And light circle transparency makes me read streams better. Transparent 300 ftw.

CelsiusLK wrote:

The cursor,transparent circle,invisible 300s,normal hitsounds take role here

this!