lets get to know the FFR community~

[EzExZeRo7497]

Sure why nawtttt.

First off could you introduce yourself? Let everyone know your first name, age, and the city/state/country that you live in?
My name's Eze Ho Ee Jie, or Eze for short. 14 years old (Really young compared to everyone else on FFR), turning 15 in the 4th of July. Born and raised in Singapore, I'm definitely not the generic Singaporean though (In fact I'm quite the opposite haha.)
To make my introduction brief, I'm just that little boy who stumbled upon FFR and met lots of cool people.

What does a typical day for you consist of?
Wake up, try not to doze off at school, finish homework, get on the computer, play Stepmania, shower, sleep.

Video games aside, do you have any hobbies? Play any instruments?
I play a bit of everything. I'd rather to listen to music than make music though. I like talking to other FFR players/SM players as well. I like to do other things like doing typing tests, ranting, researching about weird stuff, joke around and pretty much just anything that requires thinking in general.

How long have you been playing FFR/Stepmania, and how often do you play in a week?
FFR: 8 months and almost next to none these days, been taking a break and I really have no motivation for FFR anymore. :/
SM: 2 years and I play quite a bit of Stepmania. I tend to play from 1-3 hours of SM, for around 5 days a week. It once peaked at around 25 hours, but now I'm playing around 10-15 hours a week.

Could you let everyone know what settings you use for FFR/stepmania? (engine, keys, speed mod, up/downscroll ect.)
FFR: 2.15x-2.25x, FFR Noteskin, Velocity Engine, RTYU, Upscroll
SM: C750, Midare+ Noteskin, Stepmania 3.95, RTYU, Upscroll, J4

Do you have any warmup routines, or have any silly/odd way of warming up before you play?
Mine is pretty random. I don't get warmed up after an arbitrary amount of time (I don't think anyone does really) so it basically depends on what I'm doing when I'm playing SM/FFR I guess. One day I might be warmed up by just playing MA files, another day I might be warmed up by playing Death Reveals 1.1 or some stupid shit.

What are some of your notable FFR/SM achievements you have accomplished that you are most proud of?
FFR: Metro SDG (8-1-3-1), Almost There (0-1-0-2), Breakbeat Acid (27g), A Quick Death (4-0-0-2), RATO (80 raw goods), DP (79 raw goods)
Basically every Ridiculous/19 (out of 20 difficulty scale) raw DDG-ed, except The Wises Were Wrong. Not really that many achievements to be honest.

SM: I don't really know haha. Got some really good speed I guess, and I improved ridiculously fast for someone who only had 2 years of rhythm gaming experience I suppose. Specifically I guess my proudest scores would be Death Reveals SDG (9g), SYSTEM 2 CBs, Disregard FC, Oh Delia FC, a lot of scores I can't think from the top of my head really.

Do you have any personal FFR/SM goals you have set for yourself?
FFR: None. Kinda quit to be honest, since I accomplished pretty much everything I wanted to do.
SM: Be fast as kaiten or Staiain and have decent accuracy I guess.

[xVaLoRx]

- First off could you introduce yourself? let everyone know your first name, age, and the city/state/country that you live in?

I'm Robert. I'm 16 years old and I'm from NJ

- What does a typical day for you consist of?

Gaming lol

- Video games aside, do you have any hobbies? play any instruments?

I've been bowling since I was 4 years old. I have 205 avg and I've been in the top 10 of many Pepsi tournaments (avg 300+ participants)

- How long have you been playing FFR/stepmania, and how often do you play in a week?

I've been playing FFR and SM since 05. I got into stepmania playing index and I started playing spread about 2 years ago. I usually play about an hour a day.

- Could you let everyone know what settings you use for FFR/stepmania? (engine, keys, speed mod, up/downscroll ect.)

FFR: Velo engine, xc./ , 2.2, upscroll

SM:
Spread: SM5, xc./ , C850, Overhead, Note, upscroll.
Index: SM5, Numpad 4 8 5 6, C1200 (lol), hallway, Cel, upscroll

- Do you have any warmup routines, or have any silly/odd way of warming up before you play?

I just play a few easy songs.

- What are some of your notable FFR/SM achievements you have accomplished that you are most proud of?

I have a bunch of sdp scores for hard speed and stamina songs that I played on index that I'm happy about. (2p on Oh Delia from tachyon delta)

- Do you have any personal FFR/SM goals you have set for yourself?

Quad something in SM playing spread ...

[Helixia]

First off could you introduce yourself? let everyone know your first name, age, and the city/state/country that you live in?
Hello, my name is Mandy and i'm 20 years old. I live in The Netherlands (South-Holland).

What does a typical day for you consist of?
Not really much. When i have school i go to school. When i have no school i just wake up and play games, but when my boyfriend(frans813) is around i spent with him and play some games.

Video games aside, do you have any hobbies? play any instruments?
I don't have another hobbies beside gaming. I like to photoshop from time to time.

How long have you been playing FFR/stepmania, and how often do you play in a week?
I started to play SM in January 2012 after two weeks i registered myself at FFR. I try to play every day for some hours.

Could you let everyone know what settings you use for FFR/stepmania? (engine, keys, speed mod, up/downscroll ect.)
I always play in the velocity engine, 1.80, upscroll. I play one-handed with 3 fingers.

Do you have any warmup routines, or have any silly/odd way of warming up before you play?
I don't have any warmup routines. Ussually i play songs i like and then i play other files.

What are some of your notable FFR/SM achievements you have accomplished that you are most proud of?
When i got my first AAA i was very happy.
I have not any other achievements so far.

Do you have any personal FFR/SM goals you have set for yourself?
My personal goals are:
- Getting better at FFR and i want to be a top one-hander.
- Beating Frans813 one day or getting at his skill level.
- Being under the 10k average rank and after that under the 5k average rank.

[Hateandhatred]

Rofl I was about to do this myself ^^

I'll answer these later.

[Hurleyisgod]

- First off could you introduce yourself? let everyone know your first name, age, and the city/state/country that you live in?
Name's Will, I'm 20 tomorrow, Live in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.

- What does a typical day for you consist of?
Now that school is over I usually wake up around 2pm, then I eat, play some vidya games, watch some anime, eat again, play music, sleep.

- Video games aside, do you have any hobbies? play any instruments?
I love to run and play music. I play 11 instruments.

- How long have you been playing FFR/stepmania, and how often do you play in a week?

I've been playing for about 4 years now. I play maybe 2 hours a week of SM

- Could you let everyone know what settings you use for FFR/stepmania? (engine, keys, speed mod, up/downscroll ect.)
Don't play FFR anymore, but my SM setup goes like this: SM3.95, uiop split, 1.85x, downscroll.

- Do you have any warmup routines, or have any silly/odd way of warming up before you play?

I contort my fingers to stretch them, and when i say contort i REALLY mean contort.

- What are some of your notable FFR/SM achievements you have accomplished that you are most proud of?
When FFR was down i AAA'd AIM Anthem, at that point i stopped playing FFR all together.

- Do you have any personal FFR/SM goals you have set for yourself?
I'd love to finally AAAA Rottel on SM

[DissonantMuse]

Made a video for this.

http://www.flashflashrevolution.com/...hp?songid=9909

[MyDoctrine_00]

Eh, bored at work (it's a slow day) so why not.

- First off could you introduce yourself? let everyone know your first name, age, and the city/state/country that you live in?

Howdy, my name is Sam but with so many other Sam's out there I'll answer to Nicklaus as well, which is my middle name. I'm a little weird with names though, I'll ONLY answer to 'Sam' or 'Nicklaus' - I won't answer to let's say, 'Samuel' or 'Nick,' I'll literally ignore you if you don't say my name right (as those are how my name is listed on my birth certificate). I am currently 21 years old, and I live in Rochester, MN.

- What does a typical day for you consist of?

On weekdays I work 8-4:30, and once I get home I usually just lay around, and since school isn't in session there's not a whole lot I like to do (it is Summer, after all). Sometimes I'll play a round or two of some frisbee golf/disc, and hop on the computer for a bit, but generally I'll finish off the evening with an hour or more of reading.

- Video games aside, do you have any hobbies? play any instruments?

My main hobby is reading, if I have a book or a series that I really like I read an average of 3+ hours a day, if I don't have anything new I'll start up some old books and probably spend an hour or so a day reading no matter what. I also like to play disc (or frisbee golf) and there are two courses in my town, with several within driving distance and I enjoy playing quite a bit. Other than these two other activities, not really a whole lot in the hobby department.

- How long have you been playing FFR/stepmania, and how often do you play in a week?

I believe I started playing DDR and FFR around when I was 15, I had another account but I hated the name so currently I've had this one for just over 5 years. Personally, I've never played SM ever, while I don't have anything against it I'm just preferable to FFR. Generally I play anywhere from not playing at all in a day, or up to 2 hours in a single day, usually not more than that though.

- Could you let everyone know what settings you use for FFR/stepmania? (engine, keys, speed mod, up/downscroll ect.)

For a good chunk of time I was using 1.95x speedmod, but recently I've bumped it up to 2.1x -feels pretty smooth and I'm still able to, for the most part, read the notes and patters effectively. For my layout I almost always use AS./ (my right hand is at a slightly more angle than my left). I use the Legacy Engine in the standalone player as anything in the browser lags every ~10seconds.


- Do you have any warmup routines, or have any silly/odd way of warming up before you play?

No actual warmups or anything like that, it's mainly a state of mind for me - if I'm just playing randomly I won't care too much for the score because I just want to play some songs, where if I'm going for actual scores/improvement I basically just go in playing all srs and such.

- What are some of your notable FFR/SM achievements you have accomplished that you are most proud of?

Honestly the only achievement I think is notable is I've earned [Oni] - the other skill tokens/ranks are alright, and I haven't done well in a tournament before (well enough to really win anything, anyway). I have a personal achievement every time I improve my rank on a song, as little as it may be, I see it as I've improved on the song from the last time I played it, and that's good enough for me.

- Do you have any personal FFR/SM goals you have set for yourself?

Now for this one I've gone back and forth with myself a couple times, a couple months ago I decided to fix up my ranks and AAA count - I wanted to reach 600 AAA's and then I would be happy, and I hit that more or less very quickly and have recently breached the 700 AAA mark. At this point, I'm thinking 750 AAA's is a good goal, I know there's a couple songs that I should easily AAA but now it's getting to the point where the songs that I haven't AAA'd are going to require a skill boost or immense insight in how to play the file.

[Emo_Saur_]

First off could you introduce yourself? let everyone know your first name, age, and the city/state/country that you live in?
Aden Bridges August 22, 1992 I am 19 years of age born in Kansas City, Missouri moved to Memphis, Tennessee when I was about three but I have since moved back as of last summer to Kansas City.

What does a typical day for you consist of?
My typical day consists of waking up around noon, helping my father with things around the house for a bit until about 3-3:30 I rest for a little bit then get ready for work. I usually have to work 4-10 or 12 depending on the day of the week as a pizza boi which actually is an awesome job and I average about 12/hr working 40 hours a week. I get off work, play a little bit of MW2 and maybe a little bit of FFR.

Video games aside, do you have any hobbies? play any instruments?
I love fishing, boating, bowling, and I love listening to music (almost anything you throw at me).

How long have you been playing FFR/stepmania, and how often do you play in a week?
Started with FFR back in '05 never made an account until '07, started playing SM in 2010 and I am still pretty bad at this game IMO. I play about 8 hours max a week.

Could you let everyone know what settings you use for FFR/stepmania? (engine, keys, speed mod, up/downscroll ect.)
I like to change my setup a lot, but right now I play on Velo's engine, ASHJ 2.1x Dark and Mirror are always on. On SM I play C1000 Distant Note+.

Do you have any warmup routines, or have any silly/odd way of warming up before you play?

I usually warm up with a lot of SM 10-20 games, I sometimes stay on SM but sometimes I also change over to FFR.

What are some of your notable FFR/SM achievements you have accomplished that you are most proud of?
best FFR achievement is probably my blackflag on Floating Hour, and SM Crystal Ann 8Greats FC.

Do you have any personal FFR/SM goals you have set for yourself?

Hoping I don't get placed in D5 in the official, I would like to place in the top 3, I'm trying to practice quite a bit and I'm recording a few videos here and there.

[yo man im awesome]

Should I bother myself to make one of these or will you be posting the one I sent you a while back soon for the D6 one?

[Elite Ninja]

- First off could you introduce yourself? let everyone know your first name, age, and the city/state/country that you live in?

My name is Brandon. I am 18 and just recently graduated high school. I currently live in Wichita, Kansas.

- What does a typical day for you consist of?

My typical day can include all of the following: extra sleeping, FFR (Either playing or just browsing), Skype, League of Legends, osu!, stepping songs on SM, helping around the house while I don't have a job yet, watching anime, and browsing many other areas of the web.

- Video games aside, do you have any hobbies? play any instruments?

Played Soccer and Track in high school. I did high jump, long jump, and triple jump. I collect many different kinds of Rubiks cubes and can solve almost every single one of them. I Enjoy watching lots of anime of course. I played the drums from 4th to 8th grade and stopped when I entered high school. I only played them for fun. I would love to learn how to play the piano.

- How long have you been playing FFR/stepmania, and how often do you play in a week?

Been playing FFR for just over 5 in a half years now. Before FFR I played DDR frequently at the YMCA. Someone saw me and asked if I played FFR and then he introduced me to the game.

When I was very active playing FFR I spent lots of time playing. Many hours went into each day whoring songs to improve my levelranks. Now that I've played all of the songs to my best ability I don't play much anymore and only get on to play either tournament songs or the new released songs.

- Could you let everyone know what settings you use for FFR/stepmania? (engine, keys, speed mod, up/downscroll ect.)

Currently I use the Velocity engine. I switch my speed mod depending on how I feel between 1.75x-1.85x and I play upscroll. I use the keys as56 for my spread setup. When it comes to SM I use C700.

I just recently switched from my laptop keys to a Logitech K200 keyboard and it's working out pretty well. Might I also add that I play with my hands and arms raised.

- Do you have any warmup routines, or have any silly/odd way of warming up before you play?

When it comes to tournaments I would play all the songs of the divisions below me from the lowest division up and when it came to my division I would skip my song and play the higher divisions song and then come back and play my divisions song last. This won't work if I get put in D6 though.... Oops. Other than that I would just play songs I like as a warmup but it can take me up to 30 minutes to an hour to warm up =/

- What are some of your notable FFR/SM achievements you have accomplished that you are most proud of?

FFR:
- Being able to AAA many FMOs. I never dreamed of getting this far!
- Getting over 1 billion grandtotal in a day and taking 4th on the Top Daily, All Time Statistics leaderboard.
- Taking 7th in D5 in the 5th Official Tournament.
- Becoming an FFR R1 Simfile Author.
- Average rank 12

SM:
- I suck at SM compared to FFR.

- Do you have any personal FFR/SM goals you have set for yourself?

FFR:
- If I get put into D6 in the official my goal is to make it through the first round x.x
- 1000 AAAs
- AAA an FGO
- AAA all VCs
- AAA Aim Burst
- Unlocking all tokens (Just need St. Scarhand dangit)
- Get a better chart into FFR (Already in queue and just needs to be released so I'll have this accomplished soon)
- Maybe become a mod of some sort in the future.

SM:
- Just keep stepping songs and becoming a better simfile artist.

[SC_coolguy44]

Introduction of myself:

My name is Cody. I am 20 years old (21 in October). I live in Fenwick, Ontario, Canada.

Typical day:

Right now I'm retaking a course over the summer until the end of july for 2 days a week. I have started looking for work, but haven't heard back from anyone (Co-op for school).

Hobbies:

I really like hanging out with my friends (going to movies and whatnot). No, I don't play any instruments, I don't think I would be interested in that either.

FFR/Stepmania History:

I have been playing FFR/SM for 6 or 7 years now. I play FFR every day for about a couple hours split (could play more considering I'm signed up for the tournament). I don't really play SM that often, but I do play every now and then.

FFR/SM Setup:

My setup for FFR is 1.95x speed, QWOP, upscroll. The engine I use for FFR is the R^2 engine on standalone. For SM I use the same keys and scroll direction, but I use C475 mod. I just switched to SM5 about a month or so ago.

Warmup routines:

No, I do not have any warmup routines before I play. I just go right to the game, I get decent enough scores the way I'm playing.

Notable Achievements:

On FFR, something really notable is getting FMO FCs. I rarely get those, but when I do I feel a sense of achievement. On SM, nothing notable has happened yet.

Personal goals:

My FFR goals would be to mash less and get some tier points as well as more AAAs and to lower my average rank (which I'm currently working on). An SM goal I have would be to AAA a level.

[bob bob]

- First off could you introduce yourself? let everyone know your first name, age, and the city/state/country that you live in?
Hey, Im Daniel or Dan, im 16 and I live in Portsmouth, which is in the south east area of the UK. One of only a few people from the UK to be active on this site, which is a shame. I will starting college in September, and studying Mathematics and Digital Media production (Film and TV)

- What does a typical day for you consist of?
My days usually vary, but has a usual structure: get up & have breakfast, do something, do something else, lunch, do something, do something else, Dinner, Xbox trolling/gaming with some friends, ffr playing/stepping time, bed. Something can be going out with friends, using my computer, playing ffr/xbox, stepping charts and helping around the house.

- Video games aside, do you have any hobbies? play any instruments? I used to play keyboard for about 3 years, I didn't go for grades and I had to give up due to other things coming along. I sometimes go long distance running and this is one of the only sports im good at, lol. I also help out at my local scouting group once a week.

- How long have you been playing FFR/stepmania, and how often do you play in a week? It must be about 5/6 years now? Although its been a on and off period, due to being busy or being banned (back when I was a foolish child) I mainly play ffr, probably for about 1/2 hours per day unless im busy or going for something (for example I played for about 3 hours today, because I was going for a token.) I don't play stepmania as much as I used to and as of late I've stopped playing altogether. I used to play stepmania for the same time as ffr, with another of ffr on top of that (so i would play ffr/sm for a total of about 2/3 hours per day)

- Could you let everyone know what settings you use for FFR/stepmania? (engine, keys, speed mod, up/downscroll ect.) Always used legacy engine, always will UNLESS I have to use the velocity engine to distinguish some arrows from background, as velocity is much better for this (party4u is a example) I used sdhj on my keyboard and even though my profile says i use 1.95x, I currently use 1.8x. I also use upscroll, despite the fact most rhythm games are downscroll.

- Do you have any warmup routines, or have any silly/odd way of warming up before you play? I never warm up before I play, as I feel there is no need to. However If I play a file and I can't seem to aaa a particular section, ill ss it and I'll try and see an easy way to do the pattern.

- What are some of your notable FFR/SM achievements you have accomplished that you are most proud of? Probably getting oni on blue violet, that's certainly not a song you usually see people get oni on. Also some of my fgo scores as of late (e.g. my gunkien/necro, although i can't get them again now ?_?) are stuff Im happy with. Im also happy with the amount of AAA's I have, just clocking in over 950.

- Do you have any personal FFR/SM goals you have set for yourself?
Since I don't play sm that much, I don't really have any goals other than start playing it again. However for ffr, I have 3 goals. AAA a FGO and get 1000 AAA's are my main goals, and I would like to accomplish these by the end of this year. I would also like to get some charts into ffr, as I feel I am getting better at stepping.Of course, I would also like to do well in the official (although if im placed in d6, it will be much more of a challenge.)

[xferrarix]

Okay I'll do this, I'm usually a closed gate to the community about myself but letgo

- First off could you introduce yourself? let everyone know your first name, age, and the city/state/country that you live in?

Well my name is Ryan. I live in Spring Hill, Florida, and I'm currently 19. I work at a local Dollar Tree and attend a community college. I plan on transferring to University of South Florida after next Spring.

- What does a typical day for you consist of?

A typical day for me is waking up and checking my phone for any missed calls/texts. Then I generally shower, and if I have to work I get up and work. If not I get me some breakfast. Really it depends on what I'm in the mood to do. I don't really stick to a routine. If I go to the gym, I'm going to the gym. If I'm in the mood to hang out with a friend or my girlfriend, I do that. If I plan on lurking FFR all day, then I lurk FFR all day.

- Video games aside, do you have any hobbies? play any instruments?

Well I'm an athletic nut. I used to work out 3 days a week, doing every body workout possible. After I started college and got this job I have currently, I really don't do that much anymore. I still run once a week. I also enjoy listening and finding new music to listen to.

- How long have you been playing FFR/stepmania, and how often do you play in a week?

I started off with Stepmania around 6 or 7 years ago. I played it at my middle school on a dance mat, and later I found the song Emerald Sword by skorpionx9. My goal was to pass that song. Anyway, in a week I play around maybe 4 or 5 times even when I'm not really posting any new files I've made, scores, or submitting files to packs.

- Could you let everyone know what settings you use for FFR/stepmania? (engine, keys, speed mod, up/downscroll ect.)

I currently use C620 with NotePlus arrow skin. I used to run C775 with Metal back when I was better at scoring.

- Do you have any warmup routines, or have any silly/odd way of warming up before you play?

My warmup routine usually consists of something that has basic jumpstream. KBMP1.5 is usually where I go for that. Then one song in the Hard Songs MegaPack 2. When I was into scoring I'd open Stepmania and start playing right away.

- What are some of your notable FFR/SM achievements you have accomplished that you are most proud of?

The two most proud achievements I have are really old scores. One was a SDP on I believe Thermosphere? by kil and one miss SDP on Chaoz Japan by Z3ratul. These scores are around 2 years old though.

- Do you have any personal FFR/SM goals you have set for yourself?

My real goal is to stick to the community as long as I can and try to help the community stay alive by making the same style of files I have been for years. I always imagined my files to be basic and simple since I started playing, and I'm sure users will always want to play a file like that.

[kommisar]

- First off could you introduce yourself? let everyone know your first name, age, and the city/state/country that you live in?

Christophe Goulet-LeBlanc, 21, Moncton New-Brunswick, Canada. I'm a domestic chef in a provincial government funded non-profit nursing home. I graduated from college in culinary arts in 2009.

- What does a typical day for you consist of?

Mostly work, occasional drunken shenanigans, gym and a large variety of games. I highly enjoy walking around since I don't drive. I enjoy a variety of sports but don't specialize in any particularly (I watch hockey quite a bit though). I do have my weaboo side and occasionally marathon random anime.

- Video games aside, do you have any hobbies? play any instruments?

As a pastime, I often make 8bit chiptunes with my gameboy. In high school I played lead trumpet as part of an orchestra, winning several awards in New York and Boston. Non-music related, I love to collect Super Nintendo games as they provide me with much more fun an entertainment than any new game could offer. I'm not stuck in the past, I do play new games, but I much rather sit down and play a good classic for a few hours. I also play quite a bit of riichi (japanese) mahjong with a bunch of cool fellas in #kbo irc.rizon.net .

- How long have you been playing FFR/stepmania, and how often do you play in a week?

I've been playing DDR since February 2003, FFR since late 2003 (signed up in 2005), and StepMania since summer 2004 (discovered through a local LAN center). I don't play nearly as much as I used to, but I play at least every second day for maybe 30 minutes at a time.

- Could you let everyone know what settings you use for FFR/stepmania? (engine, keys, speed mod, up/downscroll ect.)

I can't play FFR because of its small scroll space. In StepMania 4key, I use cvbn, 6key tyuiop, C755, upscroll/overhead, jousway's itg metal noteskin port for StepMania 5 alpha 2.

- Do you have any warmup routines, or have any silly/odd way of warming up before you play?

Not particularly. I do expect a lot out of myself right off the bat which leads me to quit out before warming up properly. Though if I really have the time to sit down and play, I'll just warm up with a few easier songs before tackling harder songs.

- What are some of your notable FFR/SM achievements you have accomplished that you are most proud of?

I'm sure I could list off several of them, but I guess these would be my personal favorites:

pad: through the fire and the flames - 90.xx% (**** you scwolf I'm beating yours)

4key: Mahoro de mambo - 5 perfects

6key: mirage of the rain - 4 perfects


- Do you have any personal FFR/SM goals you have set for yourself?

I've accomplished more or less everything I've wanted to with the game. At this point, I'm simply doing what I enjoy the most, usually making simfiles and simfile packs. My main goal is to make packs with the most downloads I can get.

[m0de]

Originally Posted by yo man im awesome

Should I bother myself to make one of these or will you be posting the one I sent you a while back soon for the D6 one?

i dont seem to have your answers to the d6 interview in my inbox, or anywhere else for that matter. if you pm me them, ill gladly add them to the d6 destroyers thread.

here is a list of interviews from d6 players i thought id add to this thread:


iironiic

for those who dont know you, could you introduce yourself, and let everyone know a little bit about you. where you are from, participate in any sports, play an instrument, let us know!

Well, I'm sure most of you all know me as either one of the top players on FFR or more on a personal level, but if not, my name is Wilson. I am 21 years old and I am from New York. I am just a typical college student focusing his studies on mathematics, and I play FFR on my breaks. On my free time, I actually like to study math, I poorly play the violin/piano and I sing a lot. I also play tennis and run on my free time and occasionally play frisbee.

could you let everyone know what settings you use when you play as far as speed, keys, engine, and any other settings.

In terms of gameplay, I like to keep my wrists separated as much as possible since I find myself feeling extremely cramped, especially when I play harder files. Therefore, I use the keysetup AS75 with the "75" being on the NumPad. I like to have my right hand situated in that strange position since I originally started playing FFR with two hands on the arrow keys placed in a similar fashion. In terms of scroll speed, I vary between 1.875 to 2.1, but I find 1.9x most comfortable even though framers are a little messy. I play downscroll since that feels most natural to me ever since I started playing the game. I refuse to use Velocity's Engine simply because it lags for me and even if not, I can't adjust to the timing of the FFR engine and the change of the engine's layout. Therefore, Legacy engine for me.

besides gaming in general, what are your hobbies/intrests?

As previously mentioned, playing the piano, violin, and singing. I also like to write lyrics, hang out with friends, solve math problems and puzzles on my spare time, and be physically active.

how long have you been playing rhythem games, and who got you started?

About three or four years now. A high school friend of mine got me addicted to playing FFR.

when do you feel you have reached "expert" so to say level of stepmania/ffr?

Quite honestly, I never considered myself an "expert". I've always seen FFR as a chance to test my potential and my limits. It has gotten to the point where many would consider me an "expert". Although flattering, I dislike it when many refers to me as one because FFR should be a game that serves the purpose of being fun rather than receiving acclaim for the scores you obtain.

about how much do you practice/play ffr/sm a week?

I don't really keep track on this very often since it really depends on how much fun I want. Back in my "competitive" days, I'd ballpark this time to around "2 hours."

who would you say your rival is?

I am not interested in competitive play now. Back in the days, bballa48 and kjwkjw were my closest rivals, but they are also one of many great friends I have made on this site.

with the official ffr tournament coming up, where do you see your self placing?

I don't plan on participating since I have much to focus on nowadays. If I were to participate, I don't think I'd even place in top 50% since there are many ridiculous people playing nowadays.

if you could change, or add something to ffr what would you change/add?

Too tired to think of something now, but there are a few things I'd like to suggest when my brain is not clouded with confusion. I'll answer this question when I'm ready

TC_Halogen

for those who dont know you, could you introduce yourself, and let everyone know a little bit about you. where you are from, participate in any sports, play an instrument, let us know!

My name is Anthony, but I preferred to be called AJ because my name is too common. My parents address me by that name as well, so I like to think that I have a pretty decent relationship with anyone who uses that name to contact me. I'm 20 years old, 21 at the end of August (precisely, the 28th). I was born and raised in Chicago, and then I moved to the East Coast in early 2010. I come from a musically talented family, as many people on my mother's side of the family are involved with some sort of music. I can play a little bit of piano, any sort of drums/percussion instruments (not limited to your basic bass and snare drum -- I happen to be quite good with xylophone), but my main instruments of choice fall within the brass section. I prefer trumpet the most.

could you let everyone know what settings you use when you play as far as speed, keys, engine, and any other settings.

Speed: my speed has gone up gradually over the past year -- in the beginning of the year I was using 1.8, and currently, I'm using 1.925. I'm capable of reading up to 2.0 comfortably. Anything higher than that turns into a crap-shoot. After the creation of the Debbie Downers' downscroll group, I turned downscroll playing into an FFR hobby. When playing downscroll, I play at 1.75.

Keys: ER/UI, using a spread style with my index and middle fingers. I am proficient as an index player (I had to AAA Flight of the Bumblebee index, go figure), and I'm able to full combo a few Very Challenging rated files one-handed (old scale) of course.

Scroll: Upscroll, unless I'm playing on my alternate Debbie Downer account, which is of course, downscroll.

Engine: Velocity, all the way. I -can- play on Legacy, but I much prefer the appearance/performance of Velocity on my laptop.

besides gaming in general, what are your hobbies/intrests?

Swimming was one of my favorite activities in the past, but I don't do it quite as much anymore. Musical composition is something else I often immerse myself in, but I usually never come out with more than a scattered idea - max 30 seconds. Seems like I'll never be a successful producer/musician, haha. I also happen to be a big fan of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire (nerd). My social life is somewhat lacking, but to be honest, I'm pretty complacent in it. I don't feel a need to engage myself in things that I shouldn't be.

how long have you been playing rhythem games, and who got you started?

I first touched a DDR: 7th Mix machine during summer of 2002, at an arcade called Diversions located in the outskirts of Chicago. It was as an off-site trip during Chicago Park District summer camp, and they did it every year. One of the recreation leader assistants (known as a Junior Counselor) was playing it at the time and she was able to play on Standard. I couldn't resist trying the game. I ran into the game again during a visit to Waveland Bowl for my birthday, a years later. Waveland Bowl was less than a mile from my house, so I ended up going there more frequently. I was still playing on Light mode at the time.

My parents bought me DDRMAX2, along with a foam pad in Christmas of 2003. In a hilarious mistake, I accidentally picked Tsugaru on Heavy mode and I somehow managed to pass it. After that happened, I got really serious into the game and passed my first DDR 10 within a month. I started frequenting arcades, and come 2004, I was looking for multiple ways to satisfy this need to play. After searching "Dance Dance Revolution" online, I came across this site. I also came across StepMania around the same time. My encounter with In The Groove came shortly after.

I learned spread in 2007/2008 and got accepted into Team Chaos, a now dead FFR team. My old debit13 account had been associated with a lot of stupid things, like me acting like an immature idiot/spamming MP/etc -- so, I stepped in under TC_Halogen, and started raiding the leaderboards.

All in all, it has been nearly 10 years since I first touched a rhythm game. It's scary to think about.

when do you feel you have reached "expert" so to say level of stepmania/ffr?

This is a really hard question to answer. It's very dependent on the satisfaction of the player. When I first started playing these games, just getting full combo scores on songs like CIA Rave made me incredibly happy. But after progressing in the game, my standards in scoring increased dramatically. It's gotten to a point for me where if I'm not belting out perfect scores on For Gurus Only files, then it's considered a bad day. Play the game to your heart's content, improve gradually, and try to enjoy it. I play songs that I have perfect scores on over again simply because they are really well charted or they bring back good memories. Yes, it's alright to have a competitive side, but a game isn't a game if you're not enjoying it (to me).

about how much do you practice/play ffr/sm a week?

My play schedule is incredibly sporadic. Sometimes, I will open FFR or StepMania - play one game, and then stop for the day. Other times, I will sit and grind for hours on end. This number can range anywhere from two hours a week to... twenty-five or more. I like to think I'm on the lower end for FFR now, since I don't have much to play for ranks anyway. If I'm playing leisurely, I'm usually not playing for long. I rarely touch StepMania, though. At most, StepMania gets used for a song or two as a warm-up, and that's it.

who would you say your rival is?

My FFR rivals are samurai7694 (all-around), EzExZero7497 (speed), and Zyphoror (technical). Eze is one fast kid and he's packing this much skill only at 14. It's terrifying. Zyphoror is a really strong player too, and I still envy him for that Grist AAA... it'll happen eventually. I'll get my revenge. samurai is just brilliant -- not only is he an amazing player, but I can relate to him on as a fellow musician, performer (concert band/symphony), and just as a person in general. Despite how close the skill level is between samurai7694 and I, we manage to stay very friendly with the competition and it's a strong driving force for improvement.

with the official ffr tournament coming up, where do you see your self placing?

I've had a very easy to see trend. In the fourth official, I placed 5th, but I received 4th prize because Shashakiro was a staff member and he placed first. In the fifth official, I got eliminated on round 8 (out of 10) and placed 4th. In the sixth official, I ran into a tiebreaker into the final round (round 8) against samurai7694, and he slaughtered me -- ending my tournament and putting me in 4th place. This tournament, I actually have the Compaq Presario that I was using when I started getting some insane scores (like La Campanella AAA, for example), and I actually plan on pushing really hard this time around. I'm aiming for top 3 or better this time around. We'll see how things ago. Gotta represent everyone in Dragons_Fury and Team Pony (yeah, you heard right).

if you could change, or add something to ffr what would you change/add?

There are a lot of biased/fueled answers that I could answer this question with, but I won't do so. Honestly, if I had the opportunity to prevent the downtime that happened on the site, I would do so. FFR was an amazing place during 2006/2007/2008. I miss those times. Another thing that I'd love to see in the near future is an overhaul in site appearance. I know it was in the works, but it's been quite some time since we've seen progress.

alexdest

for those who dont know you, could you introduce yourself, and let everyone know a little bit about you. where you are from, participate in any sports, let us know!

- Those only know me as a top player, maybe even personally as well. But, those who don't, my name is Alex. Residing in North Carolina currently and 17 years old. Right now, I'm going into my senior year of high school. I actually used to run track in the 7th grade, and a little in the 8th grade. Not too much to say about me, I'm usually just laid back and "going with the flow."

could you let everyone know what settings you use when you play as far as speed, keys, engine, and any other settings.

- I use the new R^2 FFR engine (may switch back to just the regular Velo engine). I'm still adjusting to what speed would be satisfying for me, but right now I'm using x2.5 and being a spread player I use the keys, "WE[]". The noteskins I'm not very used to which jams into my focus for reading speed (ex. Eclipse (Solar)), but I use the Stepmania noteskin.

besides gaming in general, what are your hobbies/intrests?

- My hobbies consist of drawing, story writing, and basketball.

how long have you been playing rhythem games, and who got you started?

- My father actually bought me DDR Extreme 2 around the time for its first release to the U.S., which was around late 2005. Gotten into Stepmania around early-mid 2007 and joining FFR in September 2007, I haven't gotten into the game until early 2008. I as well got into Osu! around very late 2009, but I'm not as motivated with that as I am with Stepmania/FFR currently.

when do you feel you have reached "expert" so to say level of stepmania/ffr?

- A skill level seems to only matter by someone else's perspective, which can be flattering and motivating. Being a modest person, I don't like to think of myself as an "expert." Stepmania/FFR is but a mere game that tests a person's determination, motivation, confidence, dexterity, skill, etc.

about how much do you practice/play ffr/sm a week?

- It varies, usually 1 to 3 hours for a day. I'd usually take a couple breaks often so I don't develop any mind/skill blocks.

who would you say your rival is?

- I've never been open to any rivalry or competition. But, for FFR, my dead-on rival would be TC_Halogen (AJ) and my Stepmania rival being Eze.

with the official ffr tournament coming up, where do you see your self placing?

- Around top 5 in D6, depending if I feel motivated to keep participating through the rounds.

a big thank you to alexdest for taking the time! <3

Dossar

For those who dont know you, could you introduce yourself, and let everyone know a little bit about you. Where you are from, participate in any sports, play an instrument, let us know!

Well to start my name is Roy Steven Van Liew and I live in Massachusetts. My birthdate is July 14th, 1994 (currently 17 years old). And man, I don't even know where the hell to start in terms of what to talk about my journey. Back in middle school I was lonely and depressed and my first account was made in this time, ffdfadsdasd. The earliest I can remember from FFR is when Captain Jack was released in 2005 and taken down shortly after. In 6th grade my brother invited me to compete in a DDR tournament with another high school; it was funny to see me as a small kid going against high school seniors. That tournament resulted me in getting 2nd place, the last round being Max 300 and I got a C while the other guy got a B rofl. Needless to say I did have an interest in DDR back in the day. I don't remember how I stumbled onto FFR. Anyways, back in early 2007 I was called "Mr. Molto Boy" by Shashakiro and I had other alt accounts that held the same reputation. I was notorious for BS'ing like a mother****er, l0l. I tried coming clean but after February 2008 I just saw that I honestly couldn't continue like that any further, so I actually came up with a new idea: Dossar. I basically wanted to start from a clean slate with a new name and keep a low profile. It was still a bit risky since it was March 2008 and my RVL account BS was still very very recent at the time. I did get comments like "how does someone AA 0x1311 within 3 weeks of SM playing, etc", so I wound up making lies about starting in 2008 in an attempt to deviate from the recent drama on my other alt accounts. For those of you that don't know, the "ODI" part in my name refers to omgdidinsane.com (that site is now dead) and it was another attempt to make it look like I was someone that came from ODI, not the previous bullshit Mr. Molto Boy that was receiving a lot of whiplash from the community haha. But that's basically how this account came into existence, this is not my first account on this site and I certainly did not start playing stepmania in March 2008 as I claimed back in the day when I wanted people to not think I was Mr. Molto Boy. Basically in 2008 I did notice I was naturally good at vibrating so I mainly did vibrating files; anyone who's seen my stepfiles from 2008 will notice the obvious vibrating influence and how poorly stepped they were. I liked the dump stepping style more than anything else because I always thought of these rhythm games as just AAAing with good MA or whatever, and these dumpfiles were definitely a change. Back in 2008 I was known for my Jackhammer Madness AAA, which was definitely a huge turning point and it was certainly a huge step up from the "Mr. Molto Boy" BS label I had earlier.

I used to play soccer and my parents made me try out basketball. After basketball I found that sports really just wasn't my thing. I used to do percussion up until freshman year of high school, then I stopped. I used to play Runescape way back in the day along with some other MMORPG's, but now those types of games are totally past me now.

What does a normal day for you consist of?

That depends. I don't have a clear, cut out plan for each day; rather if things work out the way that I'd expect, I have the time to get to what I want to do during the day. A lot of the time though, I run short on time RIP.

Could you let everyone know what settings you use when you play as far as speed, keys, engine, and any other settings.

The way I play is a bit strange. Anyone who's seen my videos will probably notice that I sometimes quickly extend my fingers during a song; this is basically a quick stretch that is actually sometimes involuntary (I can't have my ring or pinky fingers stationary for that long so this happens quite a bit). I use upscroll 1.75x speed when I play FFR; 0.25 intervals make the game smoother for me, and 1.5x was too slow and 2x was too fast. 1.75x allows me some time to interpret a section while still being a comfortable scrolling rate. I use DFJK as my setup right now, but sometimes I might have to change my setup (such as the case for Revolutionary Etude and back when I played AIM Anthem, I used m,./ instead which basically has all four keys right next to each other for an "anchor setup"). Every since the Velocity Engine was released, I've adapted to it and it has a lot of neat features.

Besides gaming in general, what are your hobbies/interests?

I'm actually not much of a gamer at all. FFR/SM is basically the only game I've been sticking to for some time now. Occasionally I read (most of the time being for school, but sometimes I find interesting things) books, although that's not something I like much because my reading speed is ridiculously slow. I have an interest in seeing how computers are made (I'm majoring in Computer Engineering for my college career) and I spend most of my time on this laptop. I'm also interested in learning some programming along the way. I also help my family with household things and participate in community events such as walks and volunteer work. I also have an interest in improving things on FFR to the best of my ability.

Communicating over AIM/Skype is something I do frequently too, so if you want to contact me, I'm usually on unless I'm on vacation or something. I'm interested in getting to know other people too, sometimes to the point of "I don't want to talk to you about this" haha. Another interest that has a good chance of becoming a potential hobby is alphes art (don't get me started).

How long have you been playing rhythm games, and who got you started?

Seven years now (2005). I first played Guitar Hero when it came out, and like I said I also played DDR back in the day, DDR Extreme 2 when it was first released. I'd say my brothers got me started because they did introduce some of these games to me. However mostly self-motivation got me to where I am now.

When do you feel you have reached "expert" so to say level of stepmania/ffr?

Good question! If you have enough skill to appreciate higher level files, I'd say you've reached an expert level. You don't have to be SDGing a file or even FCing it to see what the stepartist was going for. Of course, it also depends on the file.

About how much do you practice/play FFR/SM a week?

I don't keep track of this. Sometimes I don't play at all, sometimes I'll have sessions that can last 3 hours or around that time. I do like playtesting my files and stepping files though, so this could probably count as "playing". If that's the case, I'd say I could spend anywhere from just a few hours to maybe twenty hours a week. It really depends on how things work out during the day.

Who would you say your rival is?

High D6. Too many players to name. I'd definitely consider Staiain and Isaac speed rivals, but they don't play FFR.

With the Official FFR Tournament coming up, where do you see your self placing?

I'm definitely seeing myself placing Top 3 unless there's some massive twist, haha. I'm not as concerned this time if I don't place 1st because I already got the support tokens, vrofl, freedom dive, etc. from the 6th Official Tournament, but I will still give a genuine effort like I did in the last Official.

Can you give any advice to those who are trying to improve?

Use a speedmod that is comfortable for you; by this, I mean that you will encounter complex files. Like I stated earlier in the settings question, 2x was too fast for me. Even though I can somewhat read it, hard patterns become a nightmare, so I use 1.75x instead. Even then, this is a difficult question to approach because I already started out with decent jacking control and vibrating, so I can't really tell the limits of another player physically. Back in 2008 I played a lot of "dumpfiles" on stepmania simply because it was the type of file I liked. I didn't even have a set routine or anything, just overtime I got better from these files. Also, keep in mind that FFR is a frame based game. AAAing becomes an entirely different story on FFR compared to FCing with a few goods, and some files are really really ugly. Look for 1-frame intervals, and get used to what these intervals look like on your speed mod setting. 1.75x is good at determining intervals, another reason why I use the speed. 1-frame intervals can change your approach to a file; for me, it can make the difference between hitting a jump or doing gallops. Of course, make sure you have a tolerable keyboard. This haggard smashed laptop has lasted me quite some time and it doesn't limit me as much as a windows 98 pos bulky keyboard would.

If you could change, or add something to FFR what would you change/add?

On Indeed, there is a big list of ideas that Rebound, qqwref, and I have put together. Simply put, there are a lot of things I think could use revamping on FFR, but I'd rather not get into that here.

samurai7694

For those who dont know you, could you introduce yourself, and let everyone know a little bit about you. Where you are from, participate in any sports, let us know!

My name is Luis. I'm currently 17 years old, turning 18 pretty soon this year, July 6. I was born in Florida and currently live in Miami with my parents and sister. I consider myself a brilliant musician as I have perfect pitch and can identify different speeds and rhythms in most songs which gives me sort of an advantage when playing rhythm games.

What does a normal day for you consist of?

I wake up in the morning, brush my teeth, shower, and use the computer throughout the day. Since I'm trying to lose weight, I exercise by either doing 20 push ups an hour or have a day of jogging two miles in about 30 minutes. If I'm not on the computer, I'm either watching random shit on Netflix, practicing on the piano, or not at home.

Could you let everyone know what settings you use when you play as far as speed, keys, engine, and any other settings.


On FFR: 2.15x speed mod, combo and accuracy are turned off. Velocity FFR Wide engine. Upscroll, FFR noteskin.
Stepmania: C825, distant mod, typically no mines, metal noteskin, judge 7.

on both I use the key setup: m,./ because I find that the bottom row keys are best for wrist jack control and this is actually my first time having my keys very close together.

Besides gaming in general, what are your hobbies/intrests?


Music. Anything music related, I'm down with. I like listening to music and I play music, either on the violin or piano. If I feel bored I may experiment with FL Studio but I'm very bad at music production. I enjoy playing the piano the most. It gives me space to stop worrying about what's out there in the world and my current problems and just let myself go emotionally and spiritually.

How long have you been playing rhythem games, and who got you started?


Funny story: My first rhythm game would be those cheap-ass flash-run DDR knock-off arrow games from Cartoon Network's website under the Games section. I don't remember exactly what year I discovered it but it must have been 2003-2004 or something. It was way back when I had Windows XP and lived in a townhouse. It was only those games, until I discovered FFR in 2006. I guess I could say the "real" first rhythm game I played was FFR. I discovered it myself so no one really got me into it, but I will say that players like XXXsmittyXXX and Shashakiro were those people who really inspired me to get good and I NEVER in my life imagined myself being where I am today.

when do you feel you have reached "expert" so to say level of stepmania/ffr?


Very good question. Stepmania really did push me to the limit (cue Scarface music), and I thank certain people for that, mostly GG_Guru. Yes, that guy got me into SMO and constantly playing Stepmania more and more every day. Not to mention the files I mostly played were the dump files found in Hard Songs Megapacks and midare megapacks. On this samurai7694 account (my first one is actually cyrx900) I decided to rank up as many AAA's as possible until I couldn't get any more AAAs, and for a while my lowest average rank was 3 and I thought I could never reach 1 with people like [TeRa] and MrRubix back when he was still in game. On Stepmania, however, I wanted to really push myself by getting my first world record which was on Question, and I achieved that on video.

About how much do you practice/play ffr/sm a week?


Nowadays, I play at least 10-20 minutes of FFR a day. Stepmania, I play like 4-5 days a week, and it's usually until I get to the point where my arms cry and tell me to stop playing, haha. It's not such a bad thing to get sore and sweat from playing Stepmania and really pushing hard to get better. It shows you're dedicated, and you'll thank yourself later for passing a Dossar file.

Who would you say your rival is?


TC_Halogen, AJ, would probably be my Puerto Rican older-brother-like rival. He comes close to me in a lot of the files, although his strong points are a bit different than mine (I'm referring to that one time he mentioned that he's able to do left-handed runningmen patterns in La Campanella while I on the other hand prefer those patterns mirrored because my left hand is really weak).

With the official ffr tournament coming up, where do you see your self placing?


That's hard to say. I think luck was on my side the last tournament. leonid and TC_Halogen definitely have the potential to knock me out hard this tournament. In fact, Husigi was one of my weaker files because I'm terrible at jacks (uh oh, weakness found). Dossar is just at a different level. If I get lucky enough to come close to him again, that's cool. If not, I'll at least say that I did my best because I won't give up until the round ends.

Can you give any advice to those who are trying to improve?


Go for as many AAAs as you can get, starting with the easiest songs on FFR. I understand it's boring and some songs are long, but all of us top players have been through that road before and it payed off. Just from eliminating those too-easy-too-boring synthlight files, you can definitely see an improvement in your own ranks. Remember, people like to see AAAs and clean scores, not mash-FC's of Death Piano (yes, I AM one to talk...I should go improve my own score on Death Piano brb...). There is also other FFR engines out there where you can get out of your comfort zone and play files created to make you better at certain stuff like trills, runningmen patterns, jacks, and so on.

If you could change, or add something to ffr what would you change/add?

I would like to see more competition as well as more hard charts. It would be awesome to see a ton of people in the highest division instead of just a handful. I would also like FFR VC to come back...

One Winged Angel

For those who dont know you, could you introduce yourself, and let everyone know a little bit about you. Where you are from, participate in any sports, let us know!

Sure why naaaat. Rob, 22, reppin’ the shitty little town of Hamilton, Ontario (about an hour south of Toronto). Recent graduate of McMaster University with an Honours Bachelors of Commerce. Currently looking for full time work experience in order to prep for my MBA, which I’m hoping to apply for within the next three years. I’ve been playing piano for about 15 years and guitar for almost 8. Supposedly I was a big deal back during my piano-playing days lol, winning several provincial competitions when I was much younger. Got my black belt when I was 11 (lol from United Family Martial Arts, so you know it doesn’t mean jackshit in the long run), and took Kung Fu for another three years in high school. Competed in a few sparring tournaments and always placed top three, get at me. Big on math, statistics, psychology, memory, fitness/bodybuilding, chess, philosophy, poker, gambling…somewhat of a movie buff as well. Also a huge Pokemon nerd and probably know more about the game and metagame than most Smogon mods. Could probably continue but that should suffice~

What does a normal day for you consist of?

Alarm’ll wake me up, I’ll reset it another 10 minutes from now and go back to sleep. Wake up a second time. Piss, shower, wash my face, brush my teeth, and downstairs I go. Feed my retarded bird because I’m the only one in the family she doesn’t bite for some reason (why that bird isn’t dead yet is beyond me). I’ll usually bum around my house during the morning doing God knows what. If I can muster up the will to actually get in my car and go to the gym before noon, then A+ for me. Otherwise I’ll prob try and get a few hours of some sort of reading in, which has been my GMAT prep book as of late (although I already wrote a mock test and scored well enough to get into Ivy League schools, hehu). Sometimes by lunch, my retard friends will text me the stupid thing they plan on doing that particular afternoon (and usually continuing into the night), and if I’m not busy I’ll drive over to whatever location to watch them make asses of themselves (the vast majority of my friends are intoxicated almost 24/7). Otherwise, days have been pretty slow lately, but I’m enjoying the free time while it lasts. I’m anticipating securing a full time job doing investment banking and other really boring ‘bankly’ duties by the beginning of July, so had I been asked this a month from now, I probably would’ve answered with smashing my keypad randomly and moving on to the next question.

Could you let everyone know what settings you use when you play as far as speed, keys, engine, and any other settings.

95% of the time, x1.9. I only use x2.0 if I’ve just finished a long SM session and I’m comfortable using a slightly faster speedmod. SDJK is my main setup, although there’s a few songs with obviously gay spikes where I need to change that up to play well (Crowdpleaser, p4u v1, some others). Usually try to play on the Velo engine as much as possible, despite the fact that it’s been a laggy piece of merda for me as of late. R^2 runs smooth as a baby’s bottom for me, but I haven’t been using that as much because I’m OCD as fuc and like saving replays of my more difficult AAAs (anything that was a former FGO on the old system or higher). I’ll most likely be using R^2 for the Official Tourney though, with a speedmod of around x2.4, give or take five hundredths.

When going for AAAs, I’ll turn off combo/judgment and hide my raw score at the bottom of the screen by bringing up Task Manager. Helps to almost completely alleviate any nerves or shaky-hands-syndrome going into the last 150 notes of any file with the AAA. I encourage anyone that gets extremely nervous about losing a AAA after bypassing all the hard shit in a file to give this a go. Occasionally this backfires (lol like getting 2g in the first 10 notes of Mephisto Waltz without noticing and then AAA’ing the rest), but it’s really helped me out in the long run.

Besides gaming in general, what are your hobbies/intrests?

Music’s up there. I really enjoy playing shows and gigs, hoping to play a lot more now that I’ve finished my schooling for the time being. I’m also really big on MMA, despite the fact that I haven’t been part of any sort of ‘dojo’ within the past four years. Aside from that, everything else I’d mentioned while answering the first question.

…actually hang on, one interesting little hobby of mine as of late has been seeing what’s the hottest thing I can eat without killing myself. I like to go to grocery stores, markets, and those crazy little Punjabi huts that have batshit crazy hot sauces and buy the hottest thing I can find. Then I’ll come home and eat it. My dad will proceed to call me a ****ing retard for the next several minutes as I run around the house (like a retard) seeing how long I can last without drinking any milk. Eventually I’ll succumb to the milk but that only makes things worse for my stomach because I’m lactose-intolerant. Within ten minutes, I’ll end up on the can taking the gnarliest shit imaginable (I’ll spare you the details). After I’ve calmed down, sometimes I try to show my new poo baby (more often than not, babies) to Maggie (DarknessXoXLight) over Skype, but she always manages to hang up before I get it on cam. I’ll get her one day

How long have you been playing rhythem games, and who got you started?

Haha there used to be this really shitty arcade by this really shitty mall by my house (it’s now a giant Telus booth, rip). Me and my elementary school friends often derped around at the mall/arcade, and one friend of mine was obsessed with this foreign dancing game they had there. I think it was called Dance Dance Revolution. Lmao I remember watching her pass Love Shine [Standard] and I thought she was some sort of demon (a demon for passing a 4, lmao). Anyways, she tells me specifically out of all my friends to give it a shot, just to see how I’d do because I was the video game prodigy of the group (and I guess this was a video game to her lol). Surprisingly passed a bunch of 4s and 5s on my first go, and was no longer impressed with Cheyenne’s Love Shine play (she was mad as hell rofl). Worked my way up to passing 10s over the next few months, and eventually got to the point where I managed to high AA/AAA some of them.

So that was…9 years ago? Then they got rid of the arcade less than two years later and we were all mad -.-

Found FFR in 2006. I either Googled ‘DDR for your fingers’ or found it on addictinggames.com, I honestly forget which, but I’m pretty sure it was the former. Didn’t make an account till 2007, casually played until I found out about Tokens/Skill Tokens, at which point my OCD for ‘collecting all the things’ took over and I started to play more often.

Never played PiU, played ITG maybe three or four times (I’m garbage). Guitar Hero, Rock Band etc. I’ve played casually (read: drunk as fuark at high school parties) so I’m not that good at either or.

When do you feel you have reached "expert" so to say level of stepmania/ffr?

You’re probably an expert once you can read higher level files without mashing like a tard during some sections. I’d say something around the level of Kidney Stone is a good benchmark for measuring that.

Personally, I don’t consider myself a very good player. Maybe I am in comparison to others, but I’m positive I haven’t plateaued yet; I know I’m still capable of much better scores. This is my cue to insert the immortal words of darkshark, but I’m far too lazy to find the post in order to quote him word for word. I believe it was something along the lines of ‘the moment you start thinking you’re good at this game is the moment you stop getting better’. There’s always room for improvement when you’re playing a game like this. That’s why it’s so addicting for some people; it has almost infinite replay value. You can’t ‘beat’ FFR. (skype_sun.gif)

About how much do you practice/play ffr/sm a week?

Lol nowadays? I’m almost down to playing FFR just once a week when new songs are released. I’ll try to AAA all of them and maybe play for an hour max afterwards but that’s it. SM I’ll maybe play two or three times a week, about an hour max each session as well.

During my first two years of playing, I probably played FFR at least six hours a week, sometimes more. But lol, I can say with absolute certainty that I haven’t played as much as my grand total indicates. My friends used to play on my account all the time (and still do from time to time), I don’t even think 70% of that total belongs to just me hahaha.

Who would you say your rival is?

There’s a good handful of people that are pretty close to me in skill. I’m inclined to say subin, but God knows where the hell he is nowadays (and I was kinda half-assing that entire rivalry, oops [lmao love you Subey~])

Yeah, I think I mostly play for myself. Trying to fill up my AAA bar as much as I possibly can for myself is more fun/rewarding (and far less frustrating) than if it the main motivation behind that was just to try and outdo someone else's scores haha.

With the official ffr tournament coming up, where do you see yourself placing?

Relatively high now that I’m almost completely nerve-free and have access to an engine that runs much smoother. Realistically hoping for at least top 8, although I might be able to sup a few of the more elite players if things go well. We’ll see.

Can you give any advice to those who are trying to improve?

Isolate the weaknesses in your skillset and practice playing more files where that weakness is exploited. That’s as simple as I can put it. Do that and you’re sure to improve.

If you could change, or add something to ffr what would you change/add?

I miss the 06/07/08 regs. If some of those dudes became active again today, I’d be so content. That’s all ;_; (ending on a sad note )

Opkiller

For those who don’t know you, could you introduce yourself, and let everyone know a little bit about you. Where you are from, participate in any sports, play an instrument, let us know!

Hello, my name is Mathieu (Matthew in English) and I am from Quebec, Canada. I’m 17 years old and I’ve almost finished Secondary school, going to CEGEP next year (Quebec’s way of education haha). I love learning anything by myself; actually I’m starting to study Japanese, I do some advanced maths (compared to what we did in class this year) and I try to get into C++ programming. Most of the time, I’m a pretty competitive person in general but I’m also very lazy when it comes do doing stuff I just don’t want to do. For the sports well I’ve been practicing martial arts since I was 3 years old. At first I was doing Karate, but I stopped when I was 7 (I had the blue belt) because the way I learned it was too violent and not enough about self-defence and techniques. Then I immediately started to practice Taekwondo until this year; I got my black belt 1st Dan 3 years ago. And now I’m doing Kung-Fu (stopped taekwondo 5 months ago). Finally for the instruments well I have a keyboard in my room but I’m too lazy to learn how to play it right now haha, maybe this summer!

Could you let everyone know what settings you use when you play as far as speed, keys, engine, and any other settings?

My usual key setup is “34-=” downscroll (Because of Guitar Hero) which is almost the same as “askl”. My speed mod varies very slowly; I’ve been using 1.75 a lot this year but now I’m using 2.1 and I think it will get higher and higher with time because I think the most you develop the ability to read the denser patterns, the easier it is to take a look at them, for example in a replay or even ingame, and hit them correctly without having to remember it (in your head or simply by muscular memory), which in my opinion helps getting over many mindblocks. I never really tried isolation files but I think it can also help a lot as long as you don’t overuse it.

Besides gaming in general, what are your hobbies/interests?

I got to say I really like video games, which is probably why I have much interest in programming and computers. I want to go to Japan when I’m done with school because of technology and fooooood haha.

How long have you been playing rhythm games, and who got you started?

Hmmm, the very first time I’ve played any rhythm game to get better at it and not just for fun was when Guitar Hero 2 came out. I’ve become pretty good at that game but I lost interest in it after GH3 so when I saw a video of someone playing some Pac Man file on SM, I thought I’d give it a go and I failed, but I really liked the game and I had some skills in rhythm games already so I was seeing myself getting way better than most of my friends so that was some kind of boost for my interest in the game. Then, for a very long time, Izzy was, for me, The SM God because I didn’t know much about the whole community and AAAA (AAAAAs even) looked so impossible to me until last year.

When do you feel you have reached "expert" so to say level of stepmania/ffr?

Last year (Early 2011). Some people in FFR’s community know I went from big mashing pro who loved combo scoring to the D6 player I am now.

About how much do you practice/play ffr/sm a week?

It varies a lot; sometimes I can play up to 5 hours in a row because I get fully warmed up and try to clean as many scores as I possibly can, which usually takes much time because I have to FC the files. Also, if I decide to stop playing ffr or SM for any amount of time, I always manage to get my skills back even though the skilldrop is important.

Who would you say your rival is?

I honestly don’t know, even though Eze and Zypho say I’m as good as them (better even) I think I have no rival really because all the players near my skill level are statistically far ahead.

With the official ffr tournament coming up, where do you see yourself placing?

Well I might place in the top 8 if I put a lot of effort in it since I’ll have much time to whore the files and practice but then I don’t aim for anything, I just want to participate and to my best so I can be happy with the final results.

If you could change, or add something to ffr what would you change/add?

Since many things are already in the process of being modified or replaced I don’t know what could be improved at the moment. However, maybe some statistics could be added to the players’ profiles like how much AAA’s you have in each difficulty or maybe give a rating on every file (from 1 to 10) for their different pattern difficulty (trills, jumpstream, jacks, bursts, etc.) and use the file’s actual difficulty (from 1 to 100 now) to determine how influent the pattern ratings are and then use the player's AAAs to tell his/her general abilities. The only problem is that it would take years haha.

icontrolyourworld

for those who dont know you, could you introduce yourself, and let everyone know a little bit about you. where you are from, participate in any sports, let us know!
I'm Nick! And I guess I like to ride my bike sometimes xD

what does a normal day for you consist of?
Waking up and getting on the computer to play video games, watch youtube vids, and make simfiles. I need a job.

could you let everyone know what settings you use when you play as far as speed, keys, engine, and any other settings.

On stepmania I use C735, on FFR i use 2.0x. As long as my keysetup is close together aka asdf I'll use that and I switch around every couple of months. I use 3.95 for SM, and I use velocity for FFR. I use default noteskin on StepMania, and I use Stepmania noteskin on FFR. I wish ffr had the default noteskin from sm 3.95

besides gaming in general, what are your hobbies/intrests?

I used to build up a pretty big rubber band ball about 6 years ago, I got another bag of rubber bands last week and I already added them to the ball. Generally if I ever get rubber bands I like to build my ball bigger. I also like watching anime/tv a lot. And I collect hentai pics :3

how long have you been playing rhythem games, and who got you started?

About 4 and a half years now. Well my friend Mark got me to play Dance Dance Revolution first, so him. We're still best friends xD

when do you feel you have reached "expert" so to say level of stepmania/ffr?

When I stopped taking it as seriously as I used too, so about a year or 2 ago. I also don't improve very much as a result.

about how much do you practice/play ffr/sm a week?

For a solid session I'd say once a week (maybe less), but recently I've just been playing other games. I used to play every day though. I do play in MP a lot though, I won't get better by playing in there because i get random goods all the time, but it is a lot of fun just playing with other people and chatting. I miss smo

who would you say your rival is?

Elite Ninja is probably the closest to me in skill on FFR, and I guess MetzgerSM would be my rival in SM if we both still played xD

with the official ffr tournament coming up, where do you see your self placing?

14th-30th in D6 (out of like 40 to 50 people I'm guessing, kind of like last year)
D6 is totally unfair, there's no way I have any chance of coming in 1st. Oh well I'm really just playing for the fun of it anyways

can you give any advice to those who are trying to improve?

Relax, tap your keys lightly. Get good at 1 hand thrilling with both hands, and get good at wristjacks. Overall have fun when you play and play often!

if you could change, or add something to ffr what would you change/add?

I'd like to see more variance in FFR charts in general. Most upper level songs are upper level simply because it has some weird burst or some weird set of jacks in it. I'd like FFR to have files that are consistently 1 difficulty and not just spiked. I'd also like to see more Stamina draining files in FFR

And as for easier charts in FFR. There needs to be way better song selection, and the charts need to be more basic. As in don't use 32nds, 48ths, and 64ths for 90% of the chart. Always use 4th/8th/16ths to get new players familiar with how to time their keytaps.

EzExZeRo7497

For those who dont know you, could you introduce yourself, and let everyone know a little bit about you. Where you are from, participate in any sports, play an instrument, let us know!

My name's Eze. I'm a 14 year old from Singapore, turning 15 in the 4th of July. I'm just that little boy who stumbled upon this website and got really good at this game. I tend to play instruments casually. I don't play them that much since I could not use them regularly (I don't have a piano, drums, a keyboard, etc.) but I do know how to play some of the basic songs on the piano. I know this sounds very cliché but I'm not a very social person. However, when you come and talk to me for a while, I'll probably talk a lot more, I tend to go a little out of hand sometimes though. Other than that, I tend to be quite the person who just laughs at a lot of stupid stuff I guess.

What does a normal day for you consist of?

Wake up, listen to music, eat stuff, take a shower, listen to more music, eat more stuff, play some rhythm games, listen to even more music and then go to bed. That's a generic day for me. School gets in the way sometimes, and outside activities with my family as well.

Could you let everyone know what settings you use when you play as far as speed, keys, engine, and any other settings.

I use the keys RTYU at the moment. I used to use ZXCV, but something stupid happened, so I'm forced to switch to RTYU. I use a close setup because I can hit patterns differently compared to setups that are spread apart. For example, I can hit one handed trills as a two handed trill without any problem transitioning. I don't do that often however.

My main speed mod would be 2.25. I tend to use a range of speed mods, ranging from 2.15-2.25. I use 2.15 for reading long streams/jumpstream, 2.2 for AAA-ing in general and 2.25 for PA-ing really hard files. My previous main speed mod would be 2.2, I bumped up to 2.25 because I could extinguish frame intervals a lot easier with 2.25. I tend to challenge myself a bit more, and even play on 2.55. It doesn't really help much, but sometimes it could be a good warmup for me.

I use the Velocity Engine. I rarely use the Legacy engine. When I do, it's usually because the Velocity Engine starts to lag. It rarely happens though, so I tend to use the Velocity Engine more because of the extra features. (Gold combo, restarts) I would like to use the R^2 engine. However, I'm not a FFR Veteran so I can't use it. Oh well. /shrugs

Besides gaming in general, what are your hobbies/interests?

I don't really play games that much actually. I do have a lot of hobbies/interests though. My main interest besides gaming would be listening to music. I like music a lot, and I listen to it a lot actually. I have other hobbies such as sudoku, ranting, reflecting, researching on stuff, watching documentaries and funny videos. I'm not quite the sports person, I don't really do that many sports. I just run whenever I feel like it since it eases my mind a lot.

How long have you been playing rhythm games, and who got you started?

Around two and a quarter years actually. (Started Stepmania in March 2010) I remember watching a video years ago, I believe it was Strangeprogram AAAA, by IzzySM. I searched it up again, and I found out that the game is Stepmania. I downloaded it, and played it a lot. I decided to play FFR in August 2011, since Icy was playing FFR at the time. We were rivals for a very little time, then I got too good. :/ I started playing ITG and DDR months after playing Stepmania. I don't remember the exact month though.

When do you feel you have reached "expert" so to say level of stepmania/ffr?

For SM, I wouldn't say that I can consider myself an expert just yet. I have high standards for myself in Stepmania since it's the rhythm game I devoted most of my time in out of every rhythm game I've played.

For FFR, I don't really consider myself an expert either but in reality, I'm kinda close to the top, so I
can consider myself an expert in early June, which I SDG-ed Metro and got really insane scores (80 raw goods on RATO, sub-80 on DP). Sadly, I can't reach that skill level at the moment since I've been playing too much Stepmania haha. I could probably come back up after some getting used to though.

About how much do you practice/play FFR/SM a week?

I don't really keep track. I tend to play from 3-5 hours a day or none at all. Basically it could range from 15-30 hours a week. I've been starting to play less and less though, since I'm losing that urge to play FFR/SM these days.

Who would you say your rival is?

I consider myself my own rival. Besides myself though, I consider TC_Halogen (AJ) a rival, when it comes to high 13s/low 14s (Old difficulties), Zyphoror (Dylan) and Opkiller (Mat) as my rivals when it comes to high 12s/low 13s, they're also two of my closest friends in the community actually. For Stepmania, Alex is my speed rival.

With the Official FFR Tournament coming up, where do you see your self placing?

I can see myself both ways. I will either not go very far in the tourney because of AAA rounds, or top 5. AAA-ing is my weakness and if I don't manage to keep up with D6 in the earlier rounds, I wouldn't have a chance in the later rounds anyway.

Can you give any advice to those who are trying to improve?

I'll just make this short and sweet. Push yourself. If you're playing low 12s and you're able to AAA them, push yourself by playing high 12s or even low 13s. You'll eventually PA them, and you'll destroy them. If your speedmod is 0.05 away from a 0.25 interval, I recommend you switch to the 0.25 interval. (For example, if you use 1.95, switch to 2 instead) Distinguishing frame intervals would be much easier and the game would be much smoother. Also, if you don't have files you could practice (If you're playing high 12s and PA-ing them really well, this problem tends to be very common), play on alternate engines. Tarrik's Engine, Community Engine, Dossar's Engine, Indeed Engine and even Stepmania (I don't really recommend this though, only do it for speed) would be a very nice alternative for hard files.

If you could change, or add something to FFR what would you change/add?

Implement raw scoring into the high scores, that is the only thing that's bothering me on FFR really. I would definitely want to see way more hard files that aren't difficulty spike galore (Not pointing at anyone), I would really want to see some really stamina draining PUBLIC files since Pants and FREEDOM DiVE aren't really stamina draining to most high D6 players haha. I wouldn't mind seeing a file like Mmmmmmm or even files like this. Of course I wouldn't mind seeing some speed files as well haha. Other than that, there isn't really much I would change about FFR.

leonid

For those who dont know you, could you introduce yourself, and let everyone know a little bit about you. where you are from, participate in any sports, let us know!

Name's Sun. Born in South Korea, decided to study abroad, graduated from CMU last year, and am now working as a programmer.

what does a normal day for you consist of?

Wake up at 10:30 am, drive to work, and stay there for 8~9 hours. When I come back home I'm pretty much exhausted, but I happen to find enough distractions to keep myself awake until 5 am, which causes me to wake up late in the morning again


could you let everyone know what settings you use when you play as far as speed, keys, engine, and any other settings.

I use the old engine (the one right before Velocity's). Speed is 2x, and I use A S L ; but this can change once my keyboard gets fixed. I play downscroll.



besides gaming in general, what are your hobbies/intrests?

I solve and collect puzzles, make simple programs for fun, and also like to draw and make some music.



how long have you been playing rhythem games, and who got you started?

I started rhythm gaming in 1998, when my father bought me a CD which happened to contain bm98 (the oldest bms simulator). He believed that playing rhythm games makes me use my fingers intensively, thus stimulating my brains and such. Not sure whether it actually did improve my brainpower, but I have never stopped playing until now.


when do you feel you have reached "expert" so to say level of stepmania/ffr?

FFR: When I AAA'd I Hate The 80s and drama ensued.
Stepman: I think it's when I FC'd Disregard with 2 greats


about how much do you practice/play ffr/sm a week?

About 4 hours a week. I'm too busy playing Diablo 3 xd

who would you say your rival is?

I'm not really fond of competition, so I only play to achieve various milestones set by myself.

with the official ffr tournament coming up, where do you see your self placing?

Not sure whether I will participate again, but if I ever do, I'll shoot for top 8 like always

can you give any advice to those who are trying to improve?

You can't suck if you play for 10+ years.. Tools matter, so try to get better keyboards/monitors etc. Raging is bad for your health

if you could change, or add something to ffr what would you change/add?

Eliminate combo-based scoring. Allow players to adjust screen height. Make practice mode like the one in Guitar Hero.

Bluearrowll

for those who dont know you, could you introduce yourself, and let everyone know a little bit about you. where you are from, participate in any sports, let us know!

-My name is Terry, I come from Toronto and am an avid Sharks hockey fan. I started rhythm gaming in November 2007 (specifically, November 17) when I saw a girl playing FFR on a library computer, and I wanted to try it out for myself. I went home that day and created the universal nickname that I am found everywhere as: Bluearrowll. In about 8 months I transitioned from Runescape to FFR, ultimately retiring runescape for the rhythm game I am still found on today. Compared to others, I am a very new rhythm gamer but I would say my peak time of activity was around 2009. I presently have a full time job to play around with.

what does a normal day for you consist of?

-Every day I wake up and the first things I do are eat breakfast and update my astronomy thread. The beach I live beside is frequently visited by me.

-On weekdays, after doing so I get ready for work where I am found at my full time co-op job: an IT Administrator at Esri from 9-5. After this, I come home and take a shower, then do dishes. Next, I cook dinner. Depending if hockey is on or not, I will watch that and may skype call Luis & Isaac because Maar & Luiig etc. I may squeeze in 20 or so minutes of FFR and / or stepmania in a day.

-On weekends, I am either travelling out of town to either visit parents, go camping, or doing -something-. Usually once or twice a month I'll have a maintenance weekend where I just take care of everything from laundry to haircut to keeping the house in check.

could you let everyone know what settings you use when you play as far as speed, keys, engine, and any other settings.

-My settings are typically as follows:
Speed: 1.95 or 2.05
Keys: ASKL
Engine: Velocity Engine
Dark On
Combo visible, total visible, I have the PA count visible on the left hand side, but I have the song information hidden.
Metal noteskin.

besides gaming in general, what are your hobbies/intrests?

-Over the past 90 something days, I think I've established myself as the resident astronomer on these forums. lol. I am a member of the DAA/DI Colloquium of the University of Toronto and a Ryerson University undergraduate student. I am glad that I seem to pique the interest of others with my thread, and I hope to maintain at least 30 viewers daily, but this number directly relies on the amount of unique daily users on FFR.

-Photography is my other large interest, and primarily shoot nature and landscapes. Sunrises, sunsets, lightning, stars, tranquil scenery, and I'll also do special events such as the Annual Canadian International AirShow here, as well as rare openings. For example, around this time last year, Toronto released their newest subway train, the Toronto Rocket. I had the opportunity to board this train, and enter the cockpit (I pushed a button or two in there too!) over a month before the first Rocket was launched for customer service. If anyone is interested in some of the photos I have posted, by all means contact me.

how long have you been playing rhythem games, and who got you started?

-From a previous question, I started rhythm gaming in November 2007 (specifically, November 17) when I saw a girl playing FFR on a library computer, and I wanted to try it out for myself. I went home that day and created the universal nickname that I am found everywhere as: Bluearrowll. In about 8 months I transitioned from Runescape to FFR, ultimately retiring runescape for the rhythm game I am still found on today. Compared to others, I am a very new rhythm gamer but I would say my peak time of activity was around 2009.

when do you feel you have reached "expert" so to say level of stepmania/ffr?

-2009 was my peak year and since my level of play has tapered off strongly since then, my main performance is still in tact. However, stamina has become an issue for me. That doesn't change the fact that I can nail "awkward patterns" better than "standard patterns".

about how much do you practice/play ffr/sm a week?

-Over a week, i'll probably have played rhythm games for 2 hours. This time dramatically increases over tournament season.

who would you say your rival is?

-Well this depends on how active i've been. I believe it was a year or two years ago where I squared off against TC_Halogen in the stepmania tournament that was hosted on FFR Brag Boards, which came down to a 3 song final. He won the long MA song, but I won the speed song and the jack song, claiming that title. Probably the most exciting stepmania period for me, it would be very common to see both of us posting screenshots of the same song over and over again in an attempt to best the other. You could say we were in the Business of Misery as we tried to best each other in Misery Business. And he will remember this. lol.

More recently I am a bit unclear on who my rival is, but I'm sure this tournament will help me determine just who that is.

with the official ffr tournament coming up, where do you see your self placing?

-Historically I have been extremely consistent in tournaments. I placed 9th in the 4th official tournament in D3. I placed 10th in the 5th official tournament in D5. I placed 10th in the 6th official tournament in D6. I predict that I'll finish 10th in the 7th official tournament in D7. (Or D6 if we don't add a 7th division. lol) I'd really like to break top 8 though.

can you give any advice to those who are trying to improve?

-Do not get overly stressed about the song you are playing. Enjoy the song, the more you enjoy the song, the better you will do. This is a challenge if you get a song which ends up being a genre of song you don't like, but you can simply play the song on mute and then listen to another song.

I remember in Konata Spoon I AAA'd solely because I was listening to another song in a public area. I believe Konata Spoon was the only song I AAA'd in the 6th tournament as well lmfao. I was in the student centre at my school watching a couple of my friends "pop" to their music player, and on the side I was playing konata spoon. Turned out to be a one and done AAA run. Who knew?

if you could change, or add something to ffr what would you change/add?

-In replays, I'd implement an option to skip to anywhere you want so you can analyse a select portion of the song without having to play the whole song to get to that spot (and have to replay the song again if you pass that area on accident!). This is especially annoying for songs such as Strawberry Sweetz.

[yo man im awesome]

it didn't fit in the inbox when I originally tried, so I posted it in the thread, sorry about that

Originally Posted by yo man im awesome

I feel so weird doing this lol

for those who dont know you, could you introduce yourself, and let everyone know a little bit about you. where you are from, participate in any sports, let us know!

Name's Kevin. I'm 15 years old, turning 16 on February 25th. I'm not very athletic in my upper body, but I'm a big soccer player, and I enjoy playing it whenever I get the chance. I'm pretty social, and I'm always open for conversation if I am available. I'm a very musical person. I love to play the violin, (pretend to, because I haven't learned yet -->) Piano, Guitar, and Sing. Listening to music has been a huge portion of my life, and without it, honestly, I don't think my life would be anywhere near the same as it is today.

what does a normal day for you consist of?

"7:00 A.M. Wakin' up in the morning, gotta be fresh, gotta go downstairs..." *cough* I mean uhh... Normally I'll wake up around noon if not later, eat breakfast, head downstairs, make sure the internet hadn't collapsed on itself, go outside for a bit, come back in and get lazy for the rest of the day playing xbox and chilling on the computer. Just the generic life of a 15 year old.

could you let everyone know what settings you use when you play as far as speed, keys, engine, and any other settings.

I've noticed that I switch key setups quite often. I think that has to do with me smashing the keys just a little too hard. At the moment however, I use the setup QWUI and I use 1.75x speedmod. Anything beyond 1.75x is just too fast for my mind to process, and seeing people play on speeds like 2.1x is just absurd to me.

I use the Velocity engine. Legacy never really did it for me, and the Beta engine is incredible laggy and doesn't feel very synced to me.

besides gaming in general, what are your hobbies/intrests?

As stated earlier, I play and listen to quite a bit of music, and I love playing Soccer. I've been talking and hanging out with my friends outside of school a lot more lately, and I've really started to enjoy myself more.

how long have you been playing rhythem games, and who got you started?

I've been playing rhythm games for a while, since right around the time Guitar Hero 3 came out. That was also my first rhythm game, introduced to me by my cousin. Eventually I bought it myself, and improved all the way to nearly being able to pass Through the Fire and Flames on Expert. (Only problem was the intro, big shocker there) My sister was the one who actually showed FFR to me. She had only just started playing herself, but because my 10 year old mind refused to let my sister win at anything, I had her make me an account and I ended up surpassing her quickly (at which time she basically quit due to college starting up for her.)

when do you feel you have reached "expert" so to say level of stepmania/ffr?

I am far from an "Expert" at Stepmania. Honestly it's pretty laughable at how different my skill level is on stepmania compared to FFR. I would say you reach "Expert" at stepmania when you can start consistently AAA'ing files and getting some slick Quads (I haven't done either.)

On FFR, I have completed every goal I have ever thrown at myself, and because of that, I will finally call myself an "Expert" at it. I've unlocked vROFL, Placed in the Top 3 of an Official Tournament, AAA'd an FGO, and achieved countless other milestones. In my eyes, you become an "Expert" on FFR the moment you can FC an FMO without excessive mashing. That shows that you can read a file of considerable density, and play it pretty well.

Overall, to become an "Expert" at anything, I believe that you become one the moment you achieve every reasonable goal you can throw at yourself.

about how much do you practice/play ffr/sm a week?

If this was around half a year ago, I would have said that I play FFR/SM more than 12 hours a week, without exaggeration. I haven't been playing nearly as much anymore (although it's still just as fun as it used to be, I just can't sit for 4-5 hours of continuous play anymore) I don't really keep track, but I'd say I play around 4 to 5 hours of FFR/SM a week.

who would you say your rival is?

Well, considering I have a rivalry thread with him and a few others (although I think it's clear by his system that he's the biggest the threat), I'd say that Jerry DB is my rival. Lately he's been kicking my ass, but we usually just go back and forth with AAA after AAA after AAA. He had a huge lead at first, but I've finally started catching up I think.

with the official ffr tournament coming up, where do you see your self placing?

I honestly don't see myself placing very high at all. At most, I'd say that I could place in the top 30% or so, but Making the top 8, let alone top 16, is far beyond my reach at the moment.

can you give any advice to those who are trying to improve?

Push yourself, but don't go overboard. The only way to improve is by playing files that are out of your comfort zone. That being said, don't only play things that you find unreadable and that you have to mash to play. If I did that, I'd be playing vROFL all day, expecting to improve.

Don't give up! If you see that your not doing so well for a day or two, just take a break. Maybe take a day or two off from FFR to give your arms a break, then ease yourself right back into it. Don't assume the moment you have a "skilldrop" that all is lost.

if you could change, or add something to ffr what would you change/add?

Add a few more difficult charts in-game. I'd say we have plenty of easy charts for the people who aren't quite ready for FMO/FGO level files, but there isn't nearly enough for the big leagues.

[DustyFart]

Arntonach bro I live in Va Beach we could totally hang out and suck each others nips

[~Zeta~]

- First off could you introduce yourself? let everyone know your first name, age, and the city/state/country that you live in?

Mike/Mikey/Michael/Zahner/Z (ALLOYUS >_>)/Zeta. Pick any and I answer to it. 19. Torrington, Connecticut.

- What does a typical day for you consist of?

Nap, eat, FFR, Kongregate, browse for nonexistent jobs, eat, bowling, ffr, stay up late (~5 am or later), play steam games, nap.

- Video games aside, do you have any hobbies? play any instruments?

play guitar, collect hot wheels, **** shit up, model cars, buying legos even though I already have thousands upon thousands.

- How long have you been playing FFR/stepmania, and how often do you play in a week?

Found FFR like in 06. Made account in 07 (mikeyzdragon24). I play like an hour or 2 a day.

- Could you let everyone know what settings you use for FFR/stepmania? (engine, keys, speed mod, up/downscroll ect.)

FFR: 1.85-1.9x, upscroll, hiding everything except pa bar on Velo engine. DFKL spread.
SM: 825-950 speed mod (depends if I'm warmed up), distant, upscroll, skittles noteskin (freezes are pretty)

- Do you have any warmup routines, or have any silly/odd way of warming up before you play?

Play FMO/FGO until I pull a random decent score. Then start wrecking my old scores. Stretch hands/crack knuckles repeatedly. It's a must.

- What are some of your notable FFR/SM achievements you have accomplished that you are most proud of?

FFR: First to AAA CP trill legit (meaning no double setup or overlay. just 2 keys, 2 fingers.) Fluke all my FMO/FGO AAA's.

SM: Pass Divorce, AAA Finale, AA alloyus's OP (lol vibrating)

- Do you have any personal FFR/SM goals you have set for yourself?

get better.

[25thhour]

- First off could you introduce yourself? let everyone know your first name, age, and the city/state/country that you live in?

My names Walker. I am 18 years old, and I live in Dawson Creek, BC, Canada. Although in less than 2 months I am moving to Calgary, Alberta.

- What does a typical day for you consist of?

Study, Study, Work, Study, FFR, League Of Legends, Drum, Study, Fap.


- Video games aside, do you have any hobbies? play any instruments?

I am a very avid drummer in 2 bands, a rock band, and a metal band.

- How long have you been playing FFR/stepmania, and how often do you play in a week?

5.5 years, I play about 5-20 hours a week

- Could you let everyone know what settings you use for FFR/stepmania? (engine, keys, speed mod, up/downscroll ect.)

I just recently upped my speed mod to 1.9x , I am a downscroll master, and I use ZX ./

- Do you have any warmup routines, or have any silly/odd way of warming up before you play?

I just play FMO/FGOs

- What are some of your notable FFR/SM achievements you have accomplished that you are most proud of?

The day I AAA'd Famouz, Yoshi's Cookie, and all the other shorter songs, plus snagged the Seven AAA <3

- Do you have any personal FFR/SM goals you have set for yourself?

ONI nuff' said.

[bballa48]

- First off could you introduce yourself? let everyone know your first name, age, and the city/state/country that you live in?
I am Sean, and I just turned 22. I live in two places sort of at the moment.... in Charlottesville, Virginia (college) and Brentwood, Tennessee (parents home). I just graduated from UVA with a degree in Sports Medicine, and will be working on my Masters next year while continuing to run XC and track.

- What does a typical day for you consist of?
This varies considerably depending on the time of year. Right now, my day consists of a morning run (usually my longer run) followed by trying to make some cash (painting/construction and such, swim lessons, etc.). Then I usually go for a shorter run in the afternoon followed by dinner/hanging out with the fiance/planning the wedding for next July.

A more typical schedule involves a crap ton of running/practices with class interspersed throughout the day. During the school year I play quite a bit of games (FFR, PS3) and typically try to lay around and do nothing as much as possible when I am not running.

- Video games aside, do you have any hobbies? play any instruments?
I play the guitar, drums, and sort of the piano (at least I used to.... my Dad is a pianist so I can't really escape it!). I enjoy running and just about every ball sport (especially basketball and golf). I also enjoy biking during the offseason.

- How long have you been playing FFR/stepmania, and how often do you play in a week?
I never have really played stepmania. I occasionally play a song or two, but I didn't start on it and have never really enjoyed it much.

I have been playing FFR for 5 years. My play time varies considerably depending on the time of year, but I would say I average at least 30 minutes a day (although this varies from no play at all to 3+ hours)

- Could you let everyone know what settings you use for FFR/stepmania? (engine, keys, speed mod, up/downscroll ect.)

I play on the Velocity engine unless it is lagging like crazy, in which case I play legacy (all on standalone). I play upscroll, 1.95x, and use sdgh as my keys.
- Do you have any warmup routines, or have any silly/odd way of warming up before you play?

I usually just play a few easier songs or even a super hard one without really trying hard. I feel like whether or not I am warm is a pretty random process... I wish I could have a better routine.
- What are some of your notable FFR/SM achievements you have accomplished that you are most proud of?
I was pretty proud of getting ONI back in the day since I did it without speedmods (None Would Escape). I really wasn't good at all when I got it, so it was pretty cool at the time.

My best scores are definitely 4 clean on Red Wings Over Baron and a blackflag on Mathsma Attack. I am also pretty proud of my Pants AAA... I guess it is just one of those songs that back in the day seemed literally impossible.
- Do you have any personal FFR/SM goals you have set for yourself?


Not really to be honest. I want to keep getting better obviously and keep racking up AAAs, but I am trying to just have fun with it. I do take the tournaments pretty seriously though.... it would be nice to actually get good enough to compete in D6 for once.