I think the biggest influence have the pp-system as mentioned by ProBox and the Qualification system in a way Shiirn describes it. Loosening the RC or allowing 2 experimental slots won't do the trick, as the sheer mass still thrives for uniformed mapping.
Modding styles and spotlights are, in my opinion, rather symptomes of what a discouraging Qualification process causes. The RC is already as loose as it gets, yet people seem to squeeze themselves into a scheme of unwritten rules that is mostly resolving around "causing the least uproar", so people do not post-Qualified shredder it and force it into a more generic shape again.
What I propose instead is:
Modding styles and spotlights are, in my opinion, rather symptomes of what a discouraging Qualification process causes. The RC is already as loose as it gets, yet people seem to squeeze themselves into a scheme of unwritten rules that is mostly resolving around "causing the least uproar", so people do not post-Qualified shredder it and force it into a more generic shape again.
What I propose instead is:
- Only disqualify a mapset if the Ranking Criteria has been violated or
if the mapper agrees to the criticism, eliminating the "DQ first, discuss then" stuff, because it is easy to check whether the mapper agrees or if the RC has been violated. If people don't need to be afraid anymore that their stuff gets DQd because it is "controversial" while it actually sticks to the bounds of the RC, they are more inclined to take the chances. The RC can always be adjusted accordingly, if stuff goes out of hand, so rather than betting on a shitflicking concert in Qualified stage, I rather would use the RC as regulative tool. Everything that exceeds the borders of the Ranking Criteria is up to the judgement of the Beatmap Nominators and with a closer relationship between BNs and QATs we are working on, I believe that the self-control within this group will keep things in shape. - Rework the performance point system to actually account for the different layers of skill, which is not only Aim, Speed, Accuracy (and to a degree Stamina). Especially I propose to not sum up the Performance Points as one value anymore and rather have multiple rankings for the respective skills and make each map reward points based on what skill they test. Therefore when a map focuses a lot on Aim and Speed, you get mostly points in the Aim and Speed ranking, when a map focuses on Stamina and Reading, you get mostly points on Stamina and Reading. Along with that, Star Rating needs to go and should be replaced with a radar chart or something like this, just that this isnt showing AR HP and whatnot in a scale, but rather the different skill aspects (Stamina, Aim, Reading, Speed, Accuracy, etc.). Boiling down the multitude of skills (and therefore the multitude of maps that toy with each skill asset) to one value ultimatively lead to many people just focus on those skill assets that are easier to map and easier to play (or more common to be played).
- Offer alternatives to Ranked play, not everyone wants to play competitively but still wants to "grind the content". Make it worthwhile. Ranked Score was a stupid metric to measure skill, but it was a fun incentive for many people to simply play as many different maps as possible.
- Make the Beatmap Nominators be rewarded for qualifying mapsets by different mappers (and foremost mappers that do not have anything ranked yet). This is just a side suggestion,
it helps a lot to focus on as many different people as possible, because obviously different people map different things. This may help, but the other points are more crucial to be tackled, to be honest. - Spotlights need to take a bigger spotlight in this game, it needs to be made way more prominent and mappers and players need to regain the feel of importance of the spotlights. handsome makes nice suggestions here.