Over the past few years I've realized that I've done nothing particularly interesting stepping-wise. Files like Thunder Light used to keep me going, because I knew I still had the creative inspiration to make something that was technically proficient, fun to play, and actually novel. Lately all I've done is just make files everyone's seen before. Although I still think I make high quality files, just making more of the same just isn't doing it for me anymore.

The bad reaction from top players to Heartbreak Furry Fandom is discouraging too. Because I follow the community less I don't think I have the skill anymore to make something at the exact correct difficulty to capture that feeling of "I can't do it now but I can barely improve and hit it." This is something I used to really enjoy trying to do, because it gave a secondary objective beyond just "make a good file" which I have done literally thousands of times before.

FFR encouraging dumps is the last straw for me. It's good to know over the years I've put a ton of effort into finding a good song and making everything in my file carefully synced and now they will share the shelf with a genre of file literally named after shit. After all, FFR's community grew so much in the late 2000s off the idea of having a well-curated set of files that were easily available online and held to high standards, so dropping a fat load all over that legacy is the next logical step for the site to take now. Very inspiring.

The running joke is "dumps are great because they allow people who are not talented enough to make regular stepcharts to participate in the stepping community" but I think it's the truth. If dumps start becoming more popular, why even make non-dump charts? While it's true that dumps are freeing in terms of song choice, and making a good dump does take some technique, with a dump you don't have to sync everything perfectly, don't have to worry about technical considerations in places where they could be inconvenient, and there's significantly less artistry to matching patterns to what the music gives you. A lower effort, higher reward style of stepping that dilutes what makes FFR unqiue. It's a huge shift in philosophy that I don't like, so... I'll leave.

Going to probably focus on getting some more Stepmania packs out if I do any rhythm game work, maybe try getting better at converting my files to osu!mania. With FFR, because the files are publicly curated, I need to conform to what kind of files are best for the site, but for Stepmania pack releases and converts, I can just step whatever I would like. That freedom still gives me room to squeeze the last bits of creativity I might be able to put into 4 arrows, if there's any left.

And honestly, maybe after 17 years it's okay that I find a new hobby...

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Help I dropped my bag of Orville Redenbacher's® Gourmet® Popping Corn

Games that I got a good ways into and wanted to finish, but never did. I will have to rectify this someday.

Jade Empire
Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines
Kingdoms of Amalur Reckoning
Divinity II Ego Draconis
Dragon Age 2
Age of Mythology
Pokemon Black 2
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2
Brutal Legend
Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn
Skyrim (Civil War questline & DLCs)
Mass Effect 3 (Renegade character)

Games I want to play...

Infinity Engine RPGs (Planescape: Torment, Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale)
Neverwinter Nights & Neverwinter Nights 2
Pokemon XY & ORAS
Starcraft 2 Heart of the Swarm & Legacy of the Void
Dragon's Dogma
Dragon Age: Inquisition
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
The Witcher series
Super Mario RPG
Valkyrie Profile A ending (again because it's beautiful lol)

Undergoing updates :)

Here's the link, go nuts:

http://members.tripod.com/~katyskubicle/FunnyFood.html

If you just want the pictures with the happy face on them, go to this thread. You can find them in the spoiler on the second post. Big thanks to supermousie for converting and cropping all the images.

http://www.flashflashrevolution.com/vbz/showthread.php?t=120603
(it's an old thread so probably don't bump it)

EDIT- New for 2014: the cornface by itself, with transparency
http://www.flashflashrevolution.com/vbz/showpost.php?p=4202400&postcount=46
Thanks to gold stinger.