Any way to not feel this way?

[DossarLX ODI]

Class in ten minutes but I'll see what I can input

1. First, and although obvious, still important: That some players can't play certain songs. Maybe not a big deal to some, but there's one song I think sounds just so beautiful and I'll never get to play it so this isn't a small point.

Rather than worry about playing the file you can just listen to the song. Sometimes I focus way too much on the file I'm playing when the song itself is actually good and it kind of ruins it for me too; if there is a song you really like, you could even try stepping it yourself if you want -- the idea of a token is to be a reward for accomplishing something and giving variety to the game.

2. The social disconnect. I don't feel on the same ground on the forums as the players that have the really hard skill tokens. It's an extra way they can connect but I can't, and although I've added a bunch of them to my ignore list, it still just seems so annoying all the time. As it stands now, I would rather just try to stay away from them. And they like their little elite group so that they'll defend the tokens, and seeing that they probably make the majority of the posts around here since most of the weaker players have already had enough of the worse than locked content and quit. As such, the tokens are probably not going away.

By "added a bunch of them to my ignore list" do you mean the hard skill tokens? Rather than stressing out unlocking the skill tokens, look at your progress in the game. I picked up pad play and I've only recently been able to go above 150 BPM on foot, and it's not a good idea to think of players passing 16+ difficulty when I am actually making good improvements to my speed and stamina.

Do *NOT* think of yourself as a weak player just because you aren't D6. Nobody is calling you a weak player. Nobody is calling me a weak pad player even though I haven't passed any 13s on pad. Again, look at your progress and don't keep comparing yourself to D6/D7 players.

3. The difficulty. No, not what you likely think. What I mean is that, in my rating of video games, this used to have the best possible rating. Why? Because you could just play songs of any level and have fun with them. Now, it's the worst possible difficulty level where it's ridiculously hard to unlock too many things. I have played tons of other games, and absolutely none of the other ones have anything nearly as hard to unlock as this game does. So, in this category, IMO, this game might even be dead last among all games ever made.

I think of FFR like DDR -- the expert players on DDR manage to show everyone else the newest boss songs that Konami has released. I think of FFR the same way; a player unlocks a file and shows it to anyone that doesn't have it unlocked. Skill tokens are simply just another way for you to view your progress in the game; they are not mandatory and do not count towards public ranks.

4. The target audience and its implications. Back in the old days, I had played this game more than anyone else. I thought it was one of the most fun games ever made and it was made so that the highly dedicated fans like myself could really enjoy it. But now look. It's clearly catering to the very best players as the target audience. So, the staff, or some subset of it, hates all non-elite players. That's probably not the case, but that's how it comes across to me.

That's more of a problem that lies within the batch itself. Players are more willing to utilize as much as they can in a song and layer elements etc. rather than take out a lot of notes to make an easier file.

5. The psychology effects on playing the game. I just feel like I can't enjoy the game anymore because of the above. I also feel like I don't have the determination to play it very good anymore.

Look at YOUR progress and stop comparing yourself to D6/D7.

[SKG_Scintill]

I smell nanairopanda

[Zakvvv666]

If you're not having fun, quit.

Otherwise stop complaining and keep playing, you'll eventually get better.

[VisD]

Wow I had a reasoned post typed out and everything then I went to close the tab gg

Anyway I was basically saying that it's a good thing that the game rewards time and effort and patience by giving you more unlockable content unlike many other games where all you have to do is to throw a wad of cash. Both ways "you know some other people got it unlocked" but isn't one clearly better than the other?

Anyway:

Originally Posted by Dossar

I think of FFR like DDR -- the expert players on DDR manage to show everyone else the newest boss songs that Konami has released. I think of FFR the same way; a player unlocks a file and shows it to anyone that doesn't have it unlocked. Skill tokens are simply just another way for you to view your progress in the game; they are not mandatory and do not count towards public ranks.

Speaking of this does anyone have a replay of car select or something so I know if it's worth suffering through more Kyuin ?

[Charu]

Originally Posted by VisD

Speaking of this does anyone have a replay of car select or something so I know if it's worth suffering through more Kyuin ?

[dAnceguy117]

I can see where Doug is coming from. I mean, I don't view this game or any game in that same light, but some people certainly do. Doug is not alone.

From the perspective of someone who plays in order to unlock all possible content, FFR is incredibly difficult. The ranks one has to climb on the way from beginner to expert could take someone longer than the combined time of doing the same thing in many other video games. If you played Xbox games purely to collect all of the achievements, would you feel very motivated when one of the requirements is to reach the top 99.99 percentile of players?

Skill ceilings must exist. It's hard to imagine, because we always seem to improve, but some people will reach a certain point and be unable to get better. I ran cross country for four years when I was in high school, and I took the competition very seriously. During my freshman year, I improved my 5k time by a full two minutes. From halfway through my second year through the last race of my final year, I was only able to shave off about 20 seconds. I stepped up my training and put in hours of rigorous work, but I couldn't break through. I stuck with cross country for a number of reasons, but if my only goal had been to improve, then I probably would have quit.

Doug (if you can read this post), if your situation matches the one I described above, then I don't see why playing a different game would be a bad idea. If skill tokens are only part of the equation for you, though, then I would recommend re-playing some of your favorite charts which you had set aside because you already nabbed the AAA. You might just be able to rekindle your enjoyment of this game.

Also, StepMania.


tl;dr: I don't agree with Doug, but many people who play video games hold the mentality Doug described. He stated a valid opinion. No need to berate anyone.

[stargroup100]

Here's my take on this subject:

There are a LOT of people out there who hold an OCD-like mentality to their games. What I mean by that is that these players will try their hardest to unlock/obtain everything in a game, basically being a "completionist". Part of this mentality helps to drive people to dedicate themselves to a task or game, and for many it is the basis for their progress. When a game has locked content that is unrealistic to obtain, it becomes a massive turn-off.

The reason why exclusive content is sought after so much in games like FFR is because the content is something that players directly interact with, that extends the game further. In other games where such locked content is merely aesthetic or collectible, this is not as much of an issue.

FFR, in my opinion, delivers its locked content poorly. Token songs are pointless because they are nearly impossible to obtain legitimately without outside help, but anyone can just look up how to get them and it becomes effortless. Skill tokens are great conceptually, but FFR is notorious for including many "anti-skill" tokens, which requires the player to do something non-intuitive to achieve them. Whether these are good or bad can be debated, but I personally strongly disagree with them. And finally, there is other exclusive content such as vROFL which are completely pointless and downright outrageous. Locked content should be sought after because of the content itself, not just for its exclusivity.

[andy-o24]

Take some time away from the game of FFR, but not necessarily rhythm games.

1.Step a file (This can take some time.)
2.Submit to queue
3.Wait a few years
4.See file in game
5.Feel new accomplishment
6.Come back to FFR

The tokens are there for progression and a sense of accomplishment. Most people need a goal to keep going and getter further/better. Dedicate yourself to the tokens or realize that you can't get them. I just ignore the skill tokens because I'm garbage and going for them is frustrating.

There is some good advice in here already. Unblock Ez and Dossar and Rushy at least for the life of this thread. They've had some good advice among others.

D2 player, so RIP post. /autoignored.

-o24

[xXOpkillerXx]

I've always played to get better and to have fun doing so. However I always used the great players' accomplishments as half-realistic goals (like Dossar's scores) and now I'm D7... the reason why I post this is cuz I don't even understand how someone can be that mad at the best players, heck I don't even get the reason(s) why you'd be.

[redsea]

There are so many songs on here that I literally feel overwhelmed by the sheer amount of them. I took to getting the skill tokens because I found it almost impossible to go through all those song ranks. Seems like you need to look at the overwhelming possibilities of this site! There are d1,2,3,4,5,6,7 communities that share scores that make them feel good about their skill in the game! Maybe you should try doing this! Also, there is no need to feel intimidated by players with high level skill tokens! Talk to them about their achievements and maybe you'll get something out of it! Goodluck tho! Hope you can find love for this game again.

[SKG_Scintill]

Originally Posted by dAnceguy117

If you played Xbox games purely to collect all of the achievements, would you feel very motivated when one of the requirements is to reach the top 99.99 percentile of players?

See it the other way round.
Do the players at the top 99.99 percentile actually get anything for being there? no.
Have they (in the literal sense of the word) achieved something? yes.

As if every person on the planet can enter the Olympics if they want to and then complain that they didn't get the medal because of those damn no-life 18-hours-a-day-training faggits.

No. Achievements are to be achieved; not when you think you've deserved them yourself.

[Untimely Friction]

Originally Posted by Charu

The D7 token was something so the players in D7 can get something for getting up there in the division.

And equally the D7 token is a really hard file fit for the players up there and was used as a tournament song for them. So eh... I'm indifferent about that token.

This 1000x

[DossarLX ODI]

There is a point where skill tokens lose their meaning.

Metro has a requirement of getting 3-0-2-0 on 3020 where the simplest way to get it would be to get the 3 goods and 2 misses in the beginning and AAA the rest, but to do that you'd basically have to be D6+. For a token such as that it would be to make sure the players who obtained Metro will actually be able to play through without mashing most of it.

Something like omgwtftoken however is incredibly stupid. Winning is a nice gimmick file but the file itself is much easier to play through than getting the token requirements. A token such as Fractured Sunshine is another case of where there are players that are able to play through the file but don't have access to it (I don't have it listed in my songs in the game, but I do have the .swf file)

Integrating non-accuracy requirements in skill tokens is very unappealing. "Get 214 misses or higher and 214 combo on Kire Kire Mayoi to get Marisa Stole The Precious Thing." Then when you do unlock the song, you just get a blinding video playing in the background that would have been a quick and easy fix with setting the video to 50% brightness, but it was kept at 100%. Non-accuracy feels a lot better when skill tokens aren't involved; I certainly valued my full good FC on Lolo a lot more than any of the skill tokens I got.

In short, skill tokens can be nice, but I agree with stargroup that some of them are just absurd.

[Zaevod]

Originally Posted by Doug31

It's an extra way they can connect but I can't, and although I've added a bunch of them to my ignore list, it still just seems so annoying all the time. As it stands now, I would rather just try to stay away from them.

That is probably the most childish thing I've ever read in this forum, and that means a lot.

Originally Posted by DossarLX ODI

In short, skill tokens can be nice, but I agree with stargroup that some of them are just absurd.

I used to think that most people liked the anti-skill tokens and that I was one of the few who hated them, haha

[One Winged Angel]

Probably on his ignore list so I won't bother typing up a long response post. Everything that's needed to be said has been said, hopefully he sees how other players view the purpose of tokens and what not. I just want to re-inforce..

Originally Posted by stargroup100

And finally, there is other exclusive content such as vROFL which are completely pointless and downright outrageous. Locked content should be sought after because of the content itself, not just for its exclusivity.

..this times a lot. Really hoping that at some point in the future, the vrofl token is replaced with a legitimate non-dump file that's actually fun to play, so that when someone eventually meets an unlock requirement for it, they'll play it more than twice before going 'I seriously wasted my time getting this?' I know for me personally, I had no intentions of playing the file for fun at any point (because I knew how atrocious the file was in comparison to every other chart in FFR), but I needed it to complete my token collection at the time. And that's dumb.

edit: I'd also like to add that songs rated 80+ are added to the game maybe 5-8 times per year outside of when Official Tournaments are going on (I know this wasn't addressed in the OP but some players feel like there's too many really hard songs added so frequently). There's been about 11/12 skill tokens added over the past year and five regular tokens. If, on average, five songs are being added each week (usually six but averaging to five to compensate for four songs as of late for tourney prep), ~94% of those songs are made available for public play with the remaining 6% being new tokens. I don't consider that an unfair split at all, especially when a large majority of those locked songs have difficulties catered to higher level players (over the past year: WEYX, White Walls pt. 2, Kirlian Shores, Fractured Sunshine, Unconnected., Nanairopanda 32-bit..)

I apologize if someone already brought this up, I only skimmed through the other posts. Walls of text scare me.

[Fission]

holy fuck i died laughing at how much casual this thread reeks of

this is coming from the guy who said he was one of the best at kid icarus: uprising. with this kind of attitude there is no way you are, sorry.

[MracY]

I see an awful lot of serious posts, though.
Isn't this just another troll post, like the one Doug posted in the Brag Board?

[Fission]

if anybody spends this much time writing troll posts they need to get a job. 6:30 am EST = get up and write a giant troll post? lol ok.

[Fission]

plot twist: doug31 is findarian

[icontrolyourworld]

improve your timing