Hit a Glass Ceiling

[rauchster]

Yo people.
I've been playing here a very long time (3.623 years according to my profile).
I've slowly got better over time.
I used to play 1 hand 3 fingers, for about the first 2500 games before I hit a ceiling there. Seemed like I couldn't even pass a difficult song.
I switched to spread style and I busted right through that ceiling, only to slam into another one. I started FC'ing things up to 4-5 bars, and finishing 7-8 bars with little problems.
Then I cranked up my speed (now playing at 200%). Voila, I busted through that ceiling, and now I FC up to 9 bar difficulty songs, and even have a couple AAA's.

Now I'm stuck at another one and I don't know how to proceed.
I can finish 12 bar songs, some just barely. I can finish 9-10-11 bar songs, even FC'ing a few of the 9's. and 6-7-8's I'm getting really good at, even getting 708-8-0-0-0 on an 6 bar difficulty. (http://www.flashflashrevolution.com/...play/21608185/) Hell, I even just got a 913 combo on a FMO song without mashing. (FF Battles)

But I see some of you masters breeze through 8-9-10 bar difficulty FC with no problem and AAA in only a few plays, and hitting 600-700 perfects in a row on FMO/FGO.

My question is, what am I doing wrong?
I play spread, with right index on Up / right middle on Right / left index on Down / left middle on Left.
I play at 200% speed, with little to no skips in the scrolling.
I also play on Down mod, because when it goes Up I can't see through the damned combo number (Anybody know how to turn that off/make it see-through?)
I've played well over 5,000 games, so it's not that.
I just can't see the patterns or make my fingers move fast enough.

Any help would be appreciated.

[Nullifidian]

Originally Posted by rauchster

I've played well over 5,000 games, so it's not that.

5000 games isn't really that much, spread over 3.62 years. If you play 5000 games in a short amount of time, you will get better than when you play 5000 games spread over a long amount of time.

Just practice alot, and play more often if you wanna get better. That is all I can say.

[rauchster]

Alright - it's just that for a while (about 2 months ago) I was still commonly breaking my old records and old high-scores.
Now, I seem to stay even with them, and maybe beat 1-2 a day, and those just barely. It just seems like I'm stuck in place.
I've only had one new FC in the past 2 weeks :/

[windsurfer-sp]

a) They practice alot.
b) Far more subjectively they have natural talent. You will never be as good as the best play players. They have natural ability. Keep improving and competing agianst your self and others of similar ability to you. Dont compare yourself to the best because they have it in them more then you do.

[EnR]

Originally Posted by rauchster

My question is, what am I doing wrong?
I play spread, with right index on Up / right middle on Right / left index on Down / left middle on Left.
I play at 200% speed, with little to no skips in the scrolling.
I also play on Down mod, because when it goes Up I can't see through the damned combo number (Anybody know how to turn that off/make it see-through?)
I've played well over 5,000 games, so it's not that.
I just can't see the patterns or make my fingers move fast enough.

Any help would be appreciated.

You don't play spread, you played 4 fingered, spread is using stuff like ASKL, DFJK, ect.
2,0 speed is fine, its what i use.
Nothing to take off the combo counter, i wish there was :\.
I've played 13,000 games in less then a year so 5,000 in almost 4 years is nothing.
Practice for this last one, practice harder songs and your fingers will start getting faster.

[rauchster]

Originally Posted by EnR

You don't play spread, you played 4 fingered, spread is using stuff like ASKL, DFJK, ect.
2,0 speed is fine, its what i use.
Nothing to take off the combo counter, i wish there was :\.
I've played 13,000 games in less then a year so 5,000 in almost 4 years is nothing.
Practice for this last one, practice harder songs and your fingers will start getting faster.

Well my Down/Left is set to A/S - whereas my Up/Right is set to the arrow keys - so yes I play spread. Sorry, should've mentioned that.

Well, I guess I'll keep plugging away at it.

Thanks for the input.

EDIT: Now that I think about it 13000 games in under a year?
That's about 400 games a day.
At an average of 2.5 minutes per song, that's 16.7 hours a day of FFR.
Yikes... I don't got that kinda time.

[Xiaounlimited]

You might do better if you tried playing at a slower rate. I personally play at 1.75x and I have no problem FC'ing stuff like Reality or ERx8 v2. Even if you feel "comfortable" at that speed, it may not necessarily be the best for you.

A lot of SM players play at C900~C1200, where I play at C600. Pushing yourself to the maximum speed of reading isn't always the best option.

[rauchster]

Originally Posted by Xiaounlimited

You might do better if you tried playing at a slower rate. I personally play at 1.75x and I have no problem FC'ing stuff like Reality or ERx8 v2. Even if you feel "comfortable" at that speed, it may not necessarily be the best for you.

A lot of SM players play at C900~C1200, where I play at C600. Pushing yourself to the maximum speed of reading isn't always the best option.

Holy crap - You've AAA'ed that Final Fantasy song.
You're one of the ones I was talking about in the original post.
How? Just... How?

[Xiaounlimited]

Haha, I've been playing awhile? If you think this is good, I'd love to see your reaction to the StepMania players on the site.

That FFLBF AAA was a fluke, though, I can't do it again.

[spinal_compression]

Just like what everyone else says, practice. If you're playing 5 songs a day don't expect to get good anytime soon.

Look at what you find difficult and work at it.

Other than that get comfortable, don't stress.

[ieatyourlvllol]

Practice the most difficult songs that you don't have to mash on. Once you get to the point where you can do fairly well on those, move up a level and repeat the same process. Work your way up slowly - given time, anyone can become capable of AAA'ing FGO's.

[TheRapingDragon]

Originally Posted by Xiaounlimited

A lot of SM players play at C900~C1200, where I play at C600. Pushing yourself to the maximum speed of reading isn't always the best option.

Unless things have drastically changed, I think this is wrong. Most of the best players played around C600-C800. A couple did play around 850, but the only person I can think of who regularly played at C900+ was Hr2.

Higher speeds can be beneficial in order to read denser or more clustered notes. Suddenly you can understand patterns that before were just a blur. Still, each to their own.

[Go_Oilers_Go]

Get a hammer and break through the glass ceiling.

On a serious note, you just need to play FFR more hardcore in order to get better. 5000 games over the course of 3 1/2+ years is not very many. A lot of good FFR players play 20000+ games every year. You just gotta dedicate more time to getting good. Just keep at 'er.

[Coolboyrulez0]

Practice. Might sound stupid but it's the only way. I've been playing for 2 years now and have over 400 AAAs and 500 FCs. It's all about practice...

[Blade2030]

Originally Posted by Coolboyrulez0

Practice. Might sound stupid but it's the only way. I've been playing for 2 years now and have over 400 AAAs and 500 FCs. It's all about practice...

not saying that im good cause im not but i just started 2 weeks ago and i already have almost 30 fc's without trying

[xXFFR_EliteXx]

My story is just like yours. I started one handed, and my cousin switched. Then I switched and started doing way better. One handed I could fc maybe a very difficult song, and now with spread I've FC'd masters songs (many) and a guru's song or two. Its all in the wrist!

[sumzup]

One important note: that 13,000 games figure probably includes a great deal of boo-outs/fails; it's not an unreasonable number at all. 30 minutes to an hour everyday can do a lot to improving your skills.

[Villiex]

Originally Posted by rauchster

I also play on Down mod, because when it goes Up I can't see through the damned combo number (Anybody know how to turn that off/make it see-through?)

Wow, I find it awesome I am not the only one that plays down for this exact reason. I was playing upscroll when I first started here, but after a while, it was murder on the eyes trying to see through the combo counter, and I stopped. I suggested a blind mod, but naturally, it was shot down.

And Xiaounlimited is right; you may like x1.75 more. I play x1.75 and C600 in SM just like he does, and it works fine for me. Also, what you said about constantly breaking records before, and now only breaking them every so often... yeah, that happens. As the levels get far harder, it gets far harder to break your own scores.

Last thing I can say is to practice a lot, but take breaks. If you don't believe me, try not playing FFR for 4 days straight (oh my god). Not a single game. When you come back, give yourself a couple of games to warm up, and then see if you feel refreshed.

[rauchster]

Thanks for the responses.
Yeah I'm practicing on songs like {Blaze}, with it's really fast streams of notes in there (fast for me anyways)
I figure once I can FC that one, I can move up a bit.

About the 5000 songs.
I rarely Miss/Boo Out songs.
Yes I've done it. But maybe 1-2-3 in every 100. At the high end.
When I'm playing on FFR, I play probably averaging 2.5 hours a day, with about 50 songs in there. I like the big long songs because it gives me a chance to build up stamina for the even harder songs. Like that Final Fantasy Battle Theme.

[rushyrulz]

I have to say a lil something about myself first before I give advice (rank 79 overall, about rank 150 average, 2.3 years, over 20k games, over 10b points.)

First off: Don't believe windsurfer, this game hardly has anything to do with natural talent. It's only natural if you make it natural.

Next: I play on 1.75x (or 175% if you prefer.) I find 2x way too fast for my liking, but whatever floats your boat...

Next: I know you get this a lot, but practice practice practice. Most people say this because it's effective. Practice those 8s and 9s a lot and you will be able to FC them more frequently and get up to 10s, 11s? 12s??!

Last: Don't post in the forums too much because a majority of forum regulars are really good at the game. (guilty as charged) You might think you need to be like all the people in the forums and get depressed and quit. =P