Osu: The dawn of a new ranking system.

In my post 2 weeks ago, I stated that Cookiezi would not be the #1 Osu player forever.

Today, he is no longer #1 because of a new ranking system that Osu has just incorporated; since he hasn't played for about a month, his global ranking is N/A and therefore his number one spot that he has held for a year has been taken, albeit in a roundabout manner.

Because of this system, my rank has also risen to exactly 40,090, and I am now in the top 1.2% of all players. (Update Oct 21, 2012: Rank is now 33,777 ~ top 1% out of 3,465,776 players)

osu.ppy.sh

I guess I shouldn't complain about this new system, but I don't like how it made skill a little less important than how much you play much more important. The game moderators are literally placing active players above other players that they aren't actually better than. (In terms of skill, I should probably only be 60,000th. Cookiezi is probably still 1st.)

Similarly, I do not enjoy reading or watching stories that emphasize commercialization over actual literary and artistic content. I feel like America has this problem a lot more than Japan, partially due our different work ethics.
While skill should be most valued in Osu, artistic content should be most valued in stories.

What do I mean by artistic content? I am talking about focusing more on things like building a strong and complex character rather than just using linear things such action to make your story interesting. I mean having elements that invoke complex emotions and perhaps mind-teasers; things that make the reader think or feel, but are still ultimately open to the reader for interpretation. Relying mainly on linear elements for your story will make your story too boring and set in stone. Readers need to be able to feel the existence of a deep theme during and after reading/watching the story. Typically, I feel that Japan does this better than America in their aired shows. I have read a few translated light novel series from Japan as well, and I must say that they are on par with the best books here in terms of their plot and general complexity.

I really hope that Osu does not go down this path of rewarding bad players for excessively playing the game. Even if I am lower ranked according to the old system, I prefer to see where I really am globally compared to hiding all the people who haven't played for 30 days.
And who knows? Maybe one day I will become the best around.
(Nah, who am I kidding. Not while Cookiezi is alive.)

http://9gag.com/gag/2856550