doki interview

Q: When one talks about speed players, the conventional list is something like XII, Informous, GayzMcgee, Ceptin. I could you are lesser known speed player, nevertheless one of most dedicated ones. Some people will also be surprised to know that you are not a traditional keyboard player, but a tap+x enthusiast. How did your path begin?

A: When I first started playing osu!, I played the game with the mindset of improving my aim at CS:GO, and I wasn’t aware that you can play with keyboard keys, therefore I was a mouse-only user. Later I started getting more into the game, and learnt that it was possible to play with a tablet and keyboard keys, and I did have a tablet (an Intous Pro M) and I could see the benefits of playing with tablet. I remember being able to reach the same level of aim on tablet within a short amount of time, but I couldn’t play at the same level since my ZX skills were seriously lacking. Then I found out that I could tap with the pen instead, therefore retaining the benefits of using a tablet and skipping the need to learn ZX at the same time. That’s how I started playing tapx, it took a while for me to find out that there were other players like me in the game.

Q: Speed has recently become more relevant than ever once it was made possible to earn pp from it thanks for Xexxar's speed buff. Once again we can see arguments "Speed = genetics", or "Monkey mashing gameplay". Why do you think people say that and how close it can be to truth? Isn't godlike aim also a gene then?

A: Being friends with quite a few high tier speed players myself, we do agree that genetics does play a part in speed. Part of the reason I personally believe that speed is somewhat genetics is that the improvement rate for everyone is wildly different in terms of speed, I am sure you have seen from time and time a speed player rises to the top EXTREMELY quickly, for example: Zestiny, Ryuk, Xeltol etc etc, The improvement rate of these players are incredibly fast, and while there is hard work involved, I find it very difficult to believe that anyone can just grind and reach xeltol tiers of speed.
Another thing is that everyone starts at a different base speed, some new players struggle streaming 150bpm, but some can do 200 or even higher with ease despite being a new player. This difference in base speed is another reason why I think genetics (or talent, both really means the same thing) play a part in speed. Considering that I find such a phenomenon difficult to explain.
As for the comparison to aiming, I actually do agree to a certain extent, I believe “genetics/talent” does play a part in every skillset within osu!, but the difference in my opinion is the EXTENT that talent plays a part in. Taking aim as an example, reading is a huge part of aim, and I don’t think genetics would play that big of a part considering there are concrete methods to improve at looking at patterns, training reaction times for higher Ars etc, whereas speed doesn’t really have something similar, many speed players I talk to tell me that their raw speed was already high starting out, and that they learnt control and stamina later. I can relate to this: when I started playing tapx, my tapping speed was already pretty high (290-300bpm when I just got to 3 digit, and my speed now many playcounts later remains similar, the only difference is my stamina and my control over my speed. My raw speed did not increase even after all this time.)

HOWEVER, I believe everyone can do streams up to 240-50BPM and higher for bursts, I find it hard to believe that someone would not have the “genes” to do 220.
As for the “monkey tag4 meme”, I disagree, if a player can control their tapping, even at this level, how can we call it mashing? What is it then? Controlled mashing? (I have seen people use that term unironically, despite it being a HUGE oxymoron.) I don’t think it’s a fair claim, but luckily I believe that (at least hopefully) many people who say that are only saying it as a joke.

Q: Tap+x play style is especially relevant in the contexnt of the triple key debate. Recently peppy has been announced that rebinding keyboard inputs many to one game key is legal, which confused many player including you. What is your argument?

A:
Being an (somewhat) experienced tapx player myself, the answer would of course be biased.
I find the comparisons between tapx and macroing on reddit or twitter to be quite unfair. I can’t disagree that tapx makes it easier (sometimes MUCH easier) to stream a high bpm, but saying it is the same tier of macroing would just be blatantly overlooking the MANY downsides of playing tapx (spaced streams, accing, finger control patterns), it is only “broken” on maps like hidamari where the stream is so stacked that a player can just mash it with tapx and FC it easily, but it is in no way saying that tapx as a play style is easy. It is almost like these players played tapx on dash hopes, see that it’s easier than ZX, and think the play style as a whole is easier and disregard the fact that it is incredibly crippled as a play style. Imagine me calling ZX “unfair” because it is easier to hit spaced streams with it, that would be silly wouldn’t it? Every play style has their advantages and disadvantages, focusing only on the advantages is not seeing the whole picture. On 3key, there is arguably no downsides, of course, full alting with 3 keys on all patterns would definitely be very difficult, but there is literally nothing stopping a player from just playing with 2 keys instead of 3, and then do the difficult streams with all 3 keys. In short, I would agree that tapx has a huge advantage on maps like hidamari over ZX, but same can be said about double tapping zx, but on any other map? No.
Not to mention how macroing is 3 physical inputs when tapx is only 2, when every map in the game was designed around 2 inputs, how is it fair when players can start to play with 3?
Also I find it weird that many overlook the fact that you need an EXTERNAL program to even play 3key. Saying how it would be allowed on Lazer doesn’t change the my points above.
TapZX on the other hand, it is so much more difficult than macroing (using both hands, requires EXTREME amounts of control and coordination) that I don’t see it as a fair comparison, not to mention that it doesn’t require any external programs in order to work.

Q: Oxycodone is the player who was inspiring you the most as far as I can tell. Who else would you include in the list of your most respected players and why?

A:  Almost any tapx player, many Japanese players I find extremely respectable. (haga1115, calcium, moffo, yacos, yazone and more) The reason is that I see these players as better than me on some skillsets, while I may have better speed and aim, players like haga1115 have INSANE control, and seeing that it is possible to reach such a skill level with the same playstyle is very inspiring to me.
There are also many ZX players I would include on the list, but I think it would be too long to mention everyone, but here’s a few:

Matrix: His dedication is just unmatched, every single one of his plays are incredibly unique and I don’t see anyone coming close to him in his skill sets.
Azerite: Simply for being one of the best DT players in the game.
Gayz: THE speed god, his 92% on deceit is undoubtedly the best stamina play in the game for me.
Zestiny: For pushing raw speed to the absolute limits.
Toy: Being the nicest person I’ve ever talked to.
And the obvious ones (Cookiezi, hvick, idke, vaxei etc)

Q: You also probably have a strong opinion on the current mapping meta, don't you? Was the grass greener in the past?

A: My opinions on the current mapping meta isn’t very strong per say, I just find that it’s very boring how farm maps are consistently ranked without much changes, all the farm maps seem to just blend into one giant mess. It’s not good farm maps either, considering how awful the jumps are on some of them. With stale maps, come stale rankings, with every player having the same top plays and skillsets. I do kind of miss the times when being a DT player meant being fast instead of being only able to hit 270bpm 1-2 jumps, but I am aware that with any system there will always be people who attempt to abuse the system, so I don’t really have a big problem with it.
I do miss older maps but only in the sense that back then more speed maps are ranked compared to now, and I do prefer older stuff (2014-15) because those maps just feel more fun to me, but there are good maps and good mappers today as well, so I would not say it was better back then. Would I say the mainstream maps are worse now? Yes, but that doesn’t mean that mapping as a whole has gone downhill.

Q: It's worth noting that your Twitter is mainly dedicated to sarcastic osu! jokes. Are you trying to become famous or is it your way of coping with the merciless reality? r/osugame sense of humour right now looks worse than ever, where can we get high-quality osu!memes?

A: I just basically post whatever is on my mind on twitter, my twitter persona is basically just an amplified version of my actual self, If people like what I post on it then they can follow me for more dumb memes. I don’t aim to get famous by being a osu! Shitposter on twitter because I still like to use my twitter as a platform for me to share my daily scores. (Although I do see more likes on my memes instead of scores, side effects for shitposting too much? I am not really bothered by it, just an observation.) Twitter is a nice way for me to escape reality so to speak, especially with how the situation in Hong Kong is.
r/osugame memes is a lot worse than before, I agree. Memes on the subreddit now are often just anime memes with a really weak osu! Reference, and they get thousands of upvotes. I guess this is what the new generation of players like? (Although I actually like X pp dinner memes because I have seen them so many times starting from 600pp dinners that it’s almost tradition for me at this point.) Also seeing a lot of “ironic” memes too, but instead of being ironically bad its actually just bad, but I am aware that a LOT of people find them funny, to the point where there’s a whole subreddit for it. I find that subreddit painful to look at, but humor is subjective and I could just be a boomer, so I digress.
For good memes I like twitter, people like Blue Dragon post some really funny stuff. Very rarely osugame would have some stuff that is funny, emphasis on rare, but its there.

Q: On the other note, right now your tweeter is filled with Hong Kong protests updates. Can you briefly explain what is the background of the events for an unfamiliar osu! player? Protest culture is something we in Russia are only starting to build up.

A: For a more detailed explanation, the Wikipedia page is a new place to start.
But in short, the Hong Kong government was trying to pass a bill that basically lets China arrest anyone they want back to China, knowing China’s reputation, It’s pretty hard for people here to trust that they wouldn’t use the bill to suppress any opposition. The protests against the bill soon turned into more, with 5 main demands.
Full withdrawal of the extradition bill
A commission of inquiry into alleged police brutality
Retracting the classification of protesters as “rioters”
Amnesty for arrested protesters
Dual universal suffrage, meaning for both the Legislative Council and the Chief Executive
As the government failed to respond to these 5 demands, the protests turned violent. The government is doing everything they can to stop it, from working with the triads, to sending cops disguised as protesters, to the Chinese government forcing companies to fire workers for supporting the cause. It’s a tough fight, but the Hong Kong people are determined. Especially the younger generations.

Q: Okay, enough of sad things. Everyone likes anime. What's your take on the topic and favourite titles?

A: I like anime too, but I haven’t watched it in a few years (still reads some manga these days, mainly yuri slice of life stuff because I am a weeb), from my short anime phase my favourite anime was yuru yuri, with nichijou being a close second. (Kyoto X Yui is clearly the best ship and I will not let anyone disagree.)

Q: As a speed player, it probably feels extremely good to set a #1 on the HDHR map with HDDT. It's sad that one can't do that with DT only most of the time. What are your favourite/strongest scores?

A: My favourite scores are:
My FC on get back
M.R. DT 1xmiss
Towa Yori DT FC
Happy time HDDT 2miss
Hall of the mountain king DT 1xSB
Pluto DT 96%
The noise of rain 3 HDDT pass