Everyone improves at a different rate. That doesn't mean that practicing more won't help you improve though. The phrase, at its core, is still a valid statement.
You do also have to realize that it is a blanket statement and that you still have to focus on particular strings to improve. It is like when cereal commercial say it is a 'part' of a nutritious breakfast.
If it is t fun, stop playing. It's only a stupid game. CLICK THE CIRCLES REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
Tell me Wheein isn't gorgeous and see what happens
#4withthesun
I think you can, but it will be super slow improvement and the chance are that you will pick up some bad habits along the way the will stunt your growth in the future. There is a sweet spot for improvement (in everything, not just osu!) and that is just outside of your comfort zone. In osu! terms, I would say that is around mid acc (93-5%+) A. But lots of people have their own opinions
Tell me Wheein isn't gorgeous and see what happens
#4withthesun
You can't "handle" 5* or even 4* yet. Being able to play a beatmap well means you have at least 95% accuracy (shoot for even higher like 98%+) regardless of the combo. FCing maps shows a level of consistency that mashing through a song a full star level higher than what you can handle doesn't, hence why FCing and accuracy play a huge part in the ranking system. For now, I would focus on getting your accuracy fixed.
It might be more enjoyable if you just try to play well. Set yourself goals like passing, not spammin or getting x acc in some maps. It's fine to play really hard maps but you shoyld be able to play easier maps easily, too.
"Overall, I think people tend to reveal their true selves when they step into an avatar. As I said earlier, they probably feel some sense of freedom. But freedom easily gained quickly turns into a false sense of omnipotence."
Maybe because your friend, simply, is naturally better at this game than you are?
You can't beat a genius by trying to be a genius yourself. Don't devalue your hard work just because he did it so much faster than you. Just focus on yourself. This isn't a race. Play more.
We say it, because it is true. Look at these statistics: p/4744270
You're right of course if you say that pp alone isn't a good metric to tell how good of a player you are. But that is the moment you should enter multiplayer and play every sort of map there - including ones that are not going to give you any pp.
btw do you remember how many 'w' is in your username every time you login?
he probably has it saved but im curious too
play more is a valid help. just order your beatmaps by difficulty, start with 4*, play up the stars and you'll notice you cant fc some (~4 misses) and stop when you start getting Bs and/or fail then go to group by rank achieved and play all the A maps, sorted by difficulty rinse and repeat
Based off of your post you think PP or Rank is skill/improvement which is completely off. Maybe the reason your friend is better than you is because you are wasting all your time on trying to FC maps that you don't play for skill.
When people say play more that doesn't mean waste all your time to pull your hair out on constant retrying for a few PP. It means to play more of what you enjoy doing in the game. Like playing your favorite songs, or maybe your niche is playing hard maps. Do what you like and stop stressing yourself.
Stop doing the same things everyone has already done. The world needs what you can bring to the table.
getting higher rank doesn't automatically mean that person's better (to a certain extent) The #1 way to get better is to play more, no matter how long it'll take. If you play for rank only you'll climb without getting much better and then you'll hit a block until you've actually gotten better.
The best thing for you to practice rn would be your accuracy. When you get better with that you'll get so much more pp for every map you finish.
Play more always applies but if you play mindlessly you won't get any better. Play more but play smart, that's how you should do it.
You're friend is a faster learner than you. The PP system isn't necessarily perfect. You can't handle 5* properly yet. (neither can I. I'm only getting around 92%~ acc) Play more may be a dead meme, but it's relevant nonetheless. I played consistently for a while, got a lot better. I play less now, my skill stagnates. You have a performance graph for a reason, try utilizing it and play maps you enjoy.
Play more as in practice more, it's not like that you can get the same amount of improvement within a given time. Some people just learn and improve faster than others. I mean, not counting short breaks, if you don't play at all, you won't improve, so play more is still a valid argument.