1. Is it necessary to read the entire draft before commenting or asking questions?
   -> Yes, else you may complain about/mention things that are not related to this draft or are actually already present here.
2. Is this the entire new Ranking Criteria? I feel like this is missing a lot of things...
   -> This is not the entire Ranking Criteria. This draft aims to be add to the rules and guidelines that end up on on the osu!-specific Ranking Criteria.

1. Easy
2. Normal
3. Hard
4. Insane
5. Expert
   
   Refer to t/178700 for alternative difficulty naming methods.
   
   Advanced: A difficulty combining elements found in both Normal and Hard difficulties. It is often used to fill the gap between lower-level normals and higher-level hards.
   Extra/Extreme/Ultra: Names used to replace Expert and to indicate increasing difficulty among multiple Expert difficulties.

1. Jump: Hitobjects spaced further apart from each other in comparison to the average spacing for such patterns. Usually snapped to 1/2 beats.
2. Stream: Consecutive circles grouped together. Usually snapped to ¼ beats.
3. Stack: Two or more hitobjects placed in the same spot on the grid.
4. Stack Leniency: A setting used to determine if hitobjects stack or directly overlap each other. Increasing its value will cause hitobjects to stack at longer time intervals.
5. Overlap: Hitobjects touching each other where they do not stack.
6. Snapping: Timeline tick where an object is placed.
7. Slider head/tail: The start/end positions of a slider.
8. Slider border: Visible outline of a slider's path. When this is distorted through overlaps, sliders can become harder to read.
9. Slider anchors: Tools used to shape the body of a slider. Gray anchors shape a single curve, while red anchors end the current curve. Also referred to as “nodes”.
10. Slider Velocity: A slider's speed defines how much space it travels within a given beat. Base slider velocity can be controlled in the timing panel and additional changes can be made through inherited (green) timing points.
11. Buzz slider: a slider snapped to 1/8 or denser with more than three reverses, causing a "buzz" rather than individual hitsounds.
12. Short Reversing Slider: A short slider (usually 1/4 or 1/8 snapping) with 1 or more reverses. This allows a player to keep their cursor in one place while the slider reverses.
13. Hold Slider: A slider requiring the player to keep their cursor in one place rather than follow the sliderball.
14. Burai Slider: A slider directly overlapping its own body, resulting in an unclear slider path.
15. Extended slider: A slider whose tail is not snapped to a specific beat in the music, but is instead expressing a prolonged sound. The most common extended slider is ¾ of a beat.
16. Slider Tick Rate: The amount of slider ticks that appear per beat of music.
17. Spinner Recovery Time: The time between the end of a spinner and the following hitobject.
18. Time-distance equality: Spacing between hitobjects is proportional to the duration of time between them. Also known as using a constant distance spacing
19. Hitobject/Note density: The average timeline gaps between hitobjects expressed in fractions of a beat (such as 1/1 for one beat, 1/2 for half a beat).
20. Keysounding: Hitsounding using samples extremely similar or directly from the song in their respective places. This method of hitsounding usually provides low feedback to the player.

- Easy

1. If stacks are used, Stack Leniency must be set high enough for 1/1 hitobjects to stack. Directly overlapping hitobjects cause reading problems for new players.

1. Time-distance equality should be used. Variations are acceptable if they are clearly different from spacing used for different rhythms. When hitobjects are more than 2 beats apart and have relatively high spacing on the playfield, time-distance equality doesn’t need to be as precise.
2. When distance snap is used, try to keep it between 0.8x and 1.2x. Values too much higher or lower may make the difference between slider velocity and spacing counterintuitive. A higher distance snap can be used to avoid overlapping, but the slider velocity should be increased if you find yourself doing this often.
3. Note density should consist of mostly 1/1, 2/1, or slower rhythms.
4. Avoid using sliders shorter than 1/2 of a beat. These are too fast to be comprehended by new players.
5. Avoid overlapping circles, slider heads, and slider tails. These can be confusing for new players. 1/1 overlaps due to distance snapping should be avoided with higher spacing or slider velocity.
6. Avoid 1/1 sliders with multiple reverses. New players are unable to read additional reverses because they are visible for such a short amount of time.
7. Avoid slider-only sections. Aiming and following a lot of sliders in a row can be tiring for new players. In such cases, circles and rest moments without hitobjects to click or follow should be used.
8. Manipulating slider velocity is discouraged. Slider velocity should only be changed for sections of music with different pacings and should not be drastically variable.
9. Use straightforward and easily understandable slider shapes. New players may not understand how to follow more complex shapes.
10. Spinner recovery time should be at least 4 beats. This is to ensure adequate time to click a hitobject following a spinner.
11. Avoid spinners less than 4 beats. Players need time to recognize that they have to begin spinning.

1. Approach Rate should be 5 or less.
2. Overall Difficulty / HP Drain Rate should be between 1 and 3.

- Normal

1. If stacks are used, Stack Leniency must be set high enough for 1/1 hitobjects to stack. Directly overlapping hitobjects cause reading problems for new players.

1. Time-distance equality should be used. Variations are acceptable if they are clearly different from spacing used for different rhythms. When hitobjects are more than 1 beat apart and have relatively high spacing on the playfield, time-distance equality doesn’t need to be as precise.
2. When distance snap is used, try to keep it between 0.8x and 1.3x. Values too much higher or lower may make the difference between slider velocity and spacing counterintuitive. A higher distance snap can be used to avoid overlapping, but the slider velocity should be increased if you find yourself doing this often.
3. Note density should consist of mostly 1/1, occasional 1/2, or slower rhythms.
4. Avoid overlapping circles, slider heads, and slider tails. These can be confusing for new players. 1/2 overlaps due to distance snapping are an exception.
5. Avoid long chains of hitobjects with 1/2 gaps. Too many consecutive hitobjects overlapping can be confusing for new players.
6. Avoid 1/2 hitobjects after sliders which appear underneath the previous slider’s path. Players at this level fully follow sliders’ paths, so placing a hitobject directly after the slider is more intuitive. This also includes stacks underneath slider ends.
7. Avoid 1/2 sliders with multiple reverses. New players are unable to read additional reverses because they are visible for such a short amount of time.
8. Avoid slider-only sections. Aiming and following a lot of sliders in a row can be tiring for new players. In such cases, circles and rest moments without hitobjects to click or follow should be used.
9. Stacks are acceptable, but avoid switching between 1/1 and 1/2 stacks repeatedly. This may cause reading issues for new players, since two different rhythms are visually the same.
10. Manipulating slider velocity is discouraged. Slider velocity should only be changed for sections of music with different pacings and should not be drastically variable.
11. Use straightforward and easily understandable slider shapes. New players may not understand how to follow more complex shapes.
12. Spinner recovery time should be at least 2 beats. This is to ensure adequate time to click a hitobject following a spinner.
13. Avoid spinners less than 3 beats. Players need time to recognize that they have to begin spinning.

1. Approach Rate should be between 4 and 6.
2. Overall Difficulty / HP Drain Rate should be between 3 and 5.

- Hard

1. If stacks are used, Stack Leniency must be set high enough for 1/2 hitobjects to stack. Directly overlapping hitobjects cause reading problems for players of this level.

1. Spinner recovery time should be at least 1 beat. This is to ensure adequate time to click a hitobject following a spinner.
2. Note density should consist of mostly 1/2, occasional 1/4, or slower rhythms.
3. Avoid streams made of more than 5 notes. Short reversing sliders can be used in exchange for these when the song supports it.
4. Avoid visually similar 1/2 and 1/1 spacing. Spacing variation through jumps on points of emphasis are encouraged, but only if these jumps are recognizably different from 1/1 gaps.
5. Avoid mixing 1/2 and 1/4 rhythms in the same stack. Different rhythms of this density without spacing indication can cause reading issues.
6. Slider tick hitsounds are discouraged. If you want to use them, then make sure that their volume is balanced (i.e. notably quieter than regular hitsounds). A very loud slider tick, especially when only used once or twice, can be extremely jarring.
7. Avoid spinners less than 2 beats. Players need time to recognize that they have to begin spinning.

1. Approach Rate should be between 6 and 8.
2. Overall Difficulty should be between 5 and 7.
3. HP Drain Rate should be between 4 and 6.

- Insane

1. Avoid cross screen jumps and spaced streams. These are mapping techniques primarily reserved for Expert level difficulties
2. Avoid unjustified spikes in difficulty. Difficulty should be representative of the song’s intensity.
3. Slider tick hitsounds are discouraged. If you want to use them, then make sure that their volume is balanced (i.e. notably quieter than regular hitsounds). A very loud slider tick, especially when only used once or twice, can be extremely jarring.

1. Approach Rate should be between 7 and 9.3
2. Overall Difficulty should be between 7 and 9.
3. HP Drain Rate should be between 5 and 8.

- Expert

1. Avoid unjustified spikes in difficulty. Difficulty should be representative of the song’s intensity.
2. Slider tick hitsounds are discouraged. If you want to use them, then make sure that their volume is balanced (i.e. notably quieter than regular hitsounds). A very loud slider tick, especially when only used once or twice, can be extremely jarring.

1. Approach Rate / Overall Difficulty should be 8 or higher.
2. HP Drain Rate should be 5 or higher.

1. Avoid spacing which causes consecutive 1/1 rhythms to overlap. If too many consecutive objects overlap, it can be confusing for low-level players.