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This applies only for osu!-Standard! I don't have much experience with the other modes, so I can't tell!
I recognized that many mapsets still have problems with difficulty spreads, although they are following the current rule:
My suggestion, to prevent both issues, is a guideline (because it doesn't have to apply for all mapsets):
I hope you understood and respect my opinion. Please, tell me what is your opinion!
I recognized that many mapsets still have problems with difficulty spreads, although they are following the current rule:
The main problems I can see are:Ranking Criteria wrote:
The difficulties in the mapset must be in a consecutive order. The order can be seen in the chart below. If your mapset has two difficulties, one of them cannot be an Insane or Expert. The lowest difficulty must be below 2.0 stars. The difficulty level of Taiko-specific and osu!mania-specific difficulties must also follow a well-designed spread and might contain an Hard/Insane only, if there are standard difficulties present. In CtB, the spread evaluation is upon the BATs discretion. The difficulty spread is determined by the map's star rating. A map falls under a certain difficulty when having a specific star rating:
- Below 1.5: Easy
- Below 2.25: Normal
- Below 3.75: Hard
- Below 5.25: Insane
- Above 5.25: Expert
- The easiest difficulty is still too difficult. This applies often when players choose not to have an Easy and just rely on a Normal | Hard | Insane-spread. For example, they use too high slider velocities, too complex rhythms or very cluttered placement, which makes the easiest difficulty of their mapset not understandable for most of the newer players.
- Often, players are too lazy / just don't want to have an Easy difficulty in their mapset, but they have a very difficult Insane, usually around 4.75 to 5.25 stars. Since the Normal has to be under 2 stars, they have to create a Hard difficulty around 3.25-3.75 stars for an appropriate spread. The problem with that is, that the gaps between the difficulties usually are very big then, which is also considered as a bad difficulty spread. For example, the Insane uses very much of 1/4, while the Hard doesn't use any 1/4 - It is bad, because Hard players can't prepare for the Insane difficulty then, but they can't make the Hard more difficult by adding 1/4 because in this casethe gap to Normal would be too big.
My suggestion, to prevent both issues, is a guideline (because it doesn't have to apply for all mapsets):
The diff spread should be reasonable. If your Insane difficulty's star rating is over 4.5, it is recommended to include an Easy difficulty in your mapset, so that the gaps between the difficulties won't be too big. This way, you will make your mapset accessible for every player.
I hope you understood and respect my opinion. Please, tell me what is your opinion!
The discussion in the thread went far from what I wrote here and I also don't even agree with it anymore, so it's pointless to read the above wording.
