I'd be happy to help out with cleaning the pads, if needs be, APHR. After all, as a community, we share the pads and should care for it together [insert cliche friendship music here]

T^T

FRIENDSHIP!

T .T It's a beautiful thing, when gamers Friendship instead of Fatality 

FINISH HIM!

what are we doing omfg

>.>
<.<

Feel like dumping gasoline on an open flame lol

here is a photo after a session from one of the top players in the world.

lewd

i'm reporting you for personal attacks and trolling bro, it's over

WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN, DUDE?

That shits nasty

That pad is filthy.

Seriously, that pic needs a NSFW filter with what the player did to that pad.  Gross!

out at sea and dealing with other matters that life brings along...


Looks like Brett's(Flash) pad after we played at his place getting ready for a tournament.

that pad had some sexuality violation... 2

i guess since things have cooled down a little and with new forum rules i should respond to this.

1) good pads do not need regular maintenance/cleaning. if you look at avalon's pads in the edit heydays ala late 2004-05 (which were nowhere near GOOD per se, but i never got echos/boos) the regulars remaining (tim and maybe 2-3 others) were consistently doing fine on 10-13s (i got the vast majority of my aaas during this time as well) with no issue at all, and the sensors would not be rotated for weeks, if not months. i have never observed another thread on another board/heard of another machine that requires more maintenance than this one. not saying that the constant cleaning is the causation of the problems, but i almost feel as though the issue is misdiagnosed. i feel kevinddr really hit the nail on the head with

2) none of the above players you mentioned are as good as iamchris4life or calimist, both which do not soil their machines with powder like the above pic. this is totally asides the point though: the funny thing is that i have no problem with powder on a private machine that is not placed in a public location, but this machine potentially has others who are not posting on this board playing on it. taking your approach "if you can't pass 16s your opinion doesn't matter" could potentially alienate the vast majority of casual/semicasual revenue that can be gained from the machine. if this were just your machine i wouldn't even be posting. i'd laugh, but not bother arguing this point.

i'd look a few pages back at the posts regarding doubles: you prioritizing your own needs over others is entitled and selfish, as well as not making sense from a business standpoint in which profit per square foot is paramount. this is all ignoring the potential liability issues and a few other points, but i'll allow you to respond to this first. even if everyone on this board agreed with what you were doing it would still be flawed in the same sense, having more people like your posts or echo your opinions (or getting my posts reported/deleted) is not going to change that.

Ok I have a question.


Are there any non-serious players (e.g. one time players) that use the itg machine? I've been there quite a few times in the last few months for both itg and non itg purposes but I have never seen anyone playing on the pads that could't pass a 12 (besides me). The SN2 and PIU I have seen being used at least semi-frequently by random visitors.

If I didn't know anything about dance games I would probably say that the supernova is in better condition because it doesnt look dusty and the arrows are pointing the right way (lol). Also, the ITG machine costs more and most people have no idea why. Maybe we could put up a poster that says the ITG machine is more sensitive and has a wider song choice, and thats why it costs more.

Of course all of this is assuming people want to play dance games anymore, which they don't

I appreciate your comment and I understand your standpoint on these issues we have been speaking about for the past few months.

However, our decision to use powder and to keep the stage flushed will stand. I have many players in our community who enjoy the stage the way it is. The only reason I would ever change the stage is if Bill, the owner of the cabinet requests the change. So far, he has given me the green light to modify and to maintain the stage. Since I've been working on the stage, his techs don't need to frequent ACME to fix the issues as often.

Prior to modding, I remember calling Bill and his technicians at least 2 times a week to come fix a panel or two, but now I am doing all the work. If anything does go wrong I am first to be there and first to fix the issue to the best of my ability.

As far as players using powder, get over it. People are going to use it if they please, why does it even matter? The bottomline is, I shouldn't have to explain my use of powder or argue you about using powder, I do what I want when I'm playing ITG.

Can we stop bringing powder up as an issue? I mean, nothing you say is going to change my mind about using, nor is it going to change the other players minds from using it as well. You are wasting time arguing about powder, haha.

Okay, I've been trying to stay out of this, but honestly, I do have to agree that attracting casuals does matter - otherwise, how will the community grow in the first place? - and speaking as one of the few remaining ~TeCh PlAyErS~ in the Seattle area, even I sometimes have difficulty with the pads being too slippery now - even after I clean them off with several paper towels - and would probably prefer the arrows to be slightly less flush so I can actually feel where my foot is relative to the brackets.

Please note that I'm not complaining. I understand that it's a reality of the changing nature of the game that there is a push in this direction. But what I am trying to say is that if I have trouble with these things and I've been playing dance games for 13 years, it could absolutely be too intimidating for newer players, making the "Well, there are no casuals" statement into a self-fulfilling prophecy.

There's not really a compromise with the flush arrow thing and enough people seem to like the pads that way that I'm cool just dealing, but honestly, maybe players who powder the pads could consider buying some windex or something and making sure to clean the pads very thoroughly with it after use? I don't mind bringing my own Windex and cleaning them myself before I play, but I absolutely agree that a newer player who doesn't know to do that could very well trip and hurt themselves.

you can't lay claim to any form of philanthropy "i'm doing this for the players" and then say . a confrontational infantilism as such does not help the discussion at hand. if this was YOUR machine, i'd lay off this. unfortunately it is not. so i suppose in the meantime the entire community should be at your whims, and have no functional say in a machine that is not even yours since "you do what you want". whenever a public forum like this is being used, you are putting your opinions out into the open to be critiqued, discussed, maligned and agreed with. you're essentially stating that your presence here is to merely pontificate about your mods, fixes and "issues" that serve essentially in both function and philosophy, YOU. i'm curious how tony feels about this, but i doubt he'll step in (i would like to hear his thoughts here, for the record).

again regarding powder: you didn't even read my point, or seem to not even address it: this is an issue of private vs public, and private use doesn't bother me in the least.

you should really look into purchasing a machine of your own, aphr. that way you can have a machine that serves a community you wish to sculpt. if you are the serious player you claim to be, a simple cost/benefit analysis should evidence that buying a machine/good pads far outweighs the cost of playing at acme. why even spend money on acme's machine knowing this? it's not for the community, it's for you. i know me: i'd much rather play at home if i just want to ma/pa. i don't like the distractions, people or anything else. the arcade is a social experience, as such it should attempt to facilitate players not any one individual. consider the economic proposition for both arcade owner and you: buy a machine. it will help us all if you wish to continue this line of thought.

semicasual/casual refers to anyone who is not a top player. if you are not actively competing with top scores you are casual. simple as that. there's my clarification. and yes, i imagine "1timers" or random adults try it. look at bigals and ground kontrol for great examples of dance games getting tried out by randoms and actually gaining the game new players.

I have no problem bringing something like Windex to use after my session. I do notice that even when you wipe down with a damp towel it still doesn't effectively remove all of it. I think it should be my responsibility or for any other player that chooses to use powder to clean up after themselves. Especially, if your powder dependent like me

I totally understand that the flush pads can be more of challenge for causals and I know some regulars are not yet use to it.  I remember playing on the flush pads for my first time about a year ago and I could not tell where my feet were. I had trouble playing on them for a little bit but with some practice I started to get a feel for it. It does take some time to get use to.

again, it's not the content of posts like these that are the issue as much as the mentality behind them. it's an inward thinking perspective taken to (frankly) dying breed of games that require an arcade presence to develop and grow a playerbase.

On the issue of the presence (or lack of existence) of casuals at Acme, may I interject something?

I wonder if you players tend to come at semi-regular times according to your work week/life schedule. During those times, sure, everyone can pass 12's. However, I've been there when Acme was full of 1337 stamina lords, and times where I was undisputedly the best dance player there, and I haven't considered myself competitive since 2007. Last time I went, someone told me they had never seen feet move that fast in her life. I was only streaming at 130. By the way, her and her family also played.

You see only greatness. They see only casual play. It's just frequented at different times. Casuals still play, but they don't put in the same revenue as they tend to play 1 set, 2 max. We play until we're dead, and we do it for years.

Shitty attitude! I guess when Acme has someone slip and fall on the pads (because either you or someone else made the pads slippery with powder and then unintentionally didn't clean off the pads fully enough) and they ask Bill to remove the ITG machine then you might change your mind.

I already know someone is going to say "...but KevinDDR, you don't even play anymore, you should just shut up!". That might be true, but keep in mind that a good part of the reason I don't play (and I do actually play DDR SN2 still at Gameworks, where I know what I'm getting when I make the effort to get down there) is because of posts like this with an "I'm better than everyone else, I do what I want, go fuck yourself" attitude. I barely even know you but I don't want to go down to Acme because even if you might be a super nice guy (which multiple people have actually said), posts like this make me feel unwelcome. If you want to be encouraging, this is not a good way to go about it.

@KevinDDR,

I'm not trying to come off as a jerk, and as you said, you don't know me personally. Forums are probably the worst form of communication in existence! I was thinking about writing a huge paragraph or 2 to defend myself against your post, but I decided not too.

If/When I see you at ACME sometime, I'd be more than happy to talk directly to you about what I've done to the stage, and what I do to keep the stage powder free. 

@Everyone,

I'm doing the best I can to keep up with the changing form of this game, and to keep all the up and coming young players up to date with the changing meta.

People, I plead with you to stop using these forums to evaluate each other on a personal level. Let us keep in mind that this is just a game. I know some of us take this game very seriously and some of us just want to casually play, and I'm doing my best to keep everyone happy.

After today, I'm off the forums for good. Thank you for those who supported me over the years we've played together and I hope to see you on the dance floor!

Good bye!