I have seen different opinions on what makes a good taiko spread good. The most popular opinion, which is shared by many BNs/QATs +experienced mappers is that object density defines how good a spread is. Whilst I do think object density is a factor I do not believe it to be what should be looked at the most when judging a spread.
In the beginning of time, the reason why the idea of making a balanced spread was proposed was so that they would be a difficulty for everyone to play around their skill level. And that's what I think spreads should be based off of, skill level. This includes pattern complexity, readability, object density etc. The skill required to play each diff is dependant on many different factors and not just the amount of objects between the difficulties in the spread.
Take this map for example https://osu.ppy.sh/s/630705 . The muzu progresses with an increase in objects with the added difficulty element of mono coloured triples, where as the oni has regular multil coloured triplets/5 note patterns and long multicoloured streams. It was brought up that a difficulty could be added between oni and muzu but was turned down with object density being the justification of the spread . A player can advance from futsuu to muzu within a couple of weeks but would require months for a player to advance from muzu to oni. This is because the level of skill between muzu and oni is far greater than that of futsuu and muzu. However under the common philosophy of many taiko mappers it is considered a balanced spread because of the object density between the diffs alone.
A muzukashii is a very intuitive stepping stone with the main added difficulty element is mono coloured triplets, compared to onis that can has many difficulty elements thrown in at a player. A lot of newer players often find taiko spreads skewed and end up hitting a wall at oni because the oni diffs throws many difficulty elements that require a lot of time investment to learn.
I do believe that defining spreads by the skill level required would be a much better way to go. Opening Modding Assistant and judging solely from object density feels about as arbitrary as judging from another single element in mapping, e.g. hp drain. Thinking more about the level of skill required rather looking at just the amount of objects creates a much healthier spread and allows players to progress more easily.
I'm not trying to say that many mappers are wrong with their current mindsets, but looking at spreads through object density rather than overall complexity is a rather pseudo view on what a good spread really means. What do you think?
edit: changed a typo
In the beginning of time, the reason why the idea of making a balanced spread was proposed was so that they would be a difficulty for everyone to play around their skill level. And that's what I think spreads should be based off of, skill level. This includes pattern complexity, readability, object density etc. The skill required to play each diff is dependant on many different factors and not just the amount of objects between the difficulties in the spread.
Take this map for example https://osu.ppy.sh/s/630705 . The muzu progresses with an increase in objects with the added difficulty element of mono coloured triples, where as the oni has regular multil coloured triplets/5 note patterns and long multicoloured streams. It was brought up that a difficulty could be added between oni and muzu but was turned down with object density being the justification of the spread . A player can advance from futsuu to muzu within a couple of weeks but would require months for a player to advance from muzu to oni. This is because the level of skill between muzu and oni is far greater than that of futsuu and muzu. However under the common philosophy of many taiko mappers it is considered a balanced spread because of the object density between the diffs alone.
A muzukashii is a very intuitive stepping stone with the main added difficulty element is mono coloured triplets, compared to onis that can has many difficulty elements thrown in at a player. A lot of newer players often find taiko spreads skewed and end up hitting a wall at oni because the oni diffs throws many difficulty elements that require a lot of time investment to learn.
I do believe that defining spreads by the skill level required would be a much better way to go. Opening Modding Assistant and judging solely from object density feels about as arbitrary as judging from another single element in mapping, e.g. hp drain. Thinking more about the level of skill required rather looking at just the amount of objects creates a much healthier spread and allows players to progress more easily.
I'm not trying to say that many mappers are wrong with their current mindsets, but looking at spreads through object density rather than overall complexity is a rather pseudo view on what a good spread really means. What do you think?
edit: changed a typo