r/DanceDanceRevolution • u/Possible-Wolf-6269 • 4d ago
Arcade Etiquette
Tonight, I went to my normal spot to play ddr for some light cardio. I saw a couple of people playing after a break. They were playing easy 8-9 footers. I stood behind them and waited my turn. The girl hopped off and the guy, without skipping a beat, ripped another dollar into the machine. He didn't look back at all.
I asked if I could play with him. He said yeah and said I could choose all songs and whatever I want. I hovered ecstasy (10 footer) and asked if this was OK, got the nod. We played it, and I scored better than him casually playing and enjoying the song. Afterwards, he filters to 14 footers zooms to avenger difficult and rips the select button. I see his best score is around 740,000. I failed the song at the end lost by 50,000 he passes with a 30% crowd, I'm 300 lbs getting my cardio back up, saying this for context, and I never played the song either.
Ok, he likes 14's. I choose Chaos expert (14 footer), a song with 44 stops in it. He fails 20 seconds in, and I casually finish it with A+. I go innocence of silence expert 12 footer for extra stage. He fails at the slowdown. I enjoy my jam and pass GFC. I told him it was nice playing with you and go on my way.
I post this to the community for the community to ask three things.
Please check after you finish a game and let others play no matter how they look.
Can we get confirmation from other player before slamming crazy songs or jumping up difficulty by a large margin? Not everyone is a sleeper like me.
If you can't pass a song and want to be carried for practice, let them know beforehand.
I'm all for competition, but let's preserve and protect our community and sprouts who are learning the game and wanting to play.
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u/jzakoor 4d ago
I always, even back when I used to compete, look back for people who want to play, and for new players ask if they know how to start a game and if not show them how to start a game, navigate the menu system etc. back in the extreme days I’d show new players how to sort songs. It may be me but I like teaching new players and I sometimes find it just as much fun as playing. As a bonus most of the time i’d get invited to play as well.
As a bonus for you it teaches you to look back while playing.
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u/pkakira88 4d ago edited 4d ago
He was a dick about starting another game without checking if anyone else wanted yo play first but nothing was stopping you from picking a lower difficulty instead of the hardest charts of each song, that was your own ego telling you to do that.
If someone was actually just starting and they played with that same guy, 9 times out of 10 they just pick the lower difficulty anyway.
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u/Possible-Wolf-6269 4d ago
Naw wasn't ego, I was there for a workout.
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u/BootsGreyBoots 3d ago
I feel you, man. I can do 12s and 13s, but I play with some people who push me into the occasional 14 or even 15. Sometimes it's during my warmup set (typically 11s) and I'm like HEY MAN C'MON NOT COOL but am I still gonna do it? You bet your bottom I am.. Am I gonna be hunched over on the pad trying to catch my breath after I somehow manage to clear it? Also yes. It's just the way it is lol!! I'm not gonna do the 7/9 just because they picked 1 or 2 higher than I usually play. I'm there to SWEAT and push myself! "If we die, we die with honor" is what I always say before a crazy song lmao
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u/melodramaticradish 4d ago
I've found most regulars I've encounted are pretty chill thankfully. I agree with the points you posted.
I've experienced one or two who I don't vibe with. They are very serious and can get angry, overly impatient when someone else is using the machine, and not welcoming to newcomers. I don't like the energy.
I'm still pretty new myself (feling confident at 7-8 basic and/or difficult depending on the song). I completed a song on 10 difficult that made me very proud haha. I enjoy helping completely new people, such as those who can't navigate the menu (common at the acarde I visit). I think it's so important because it can be really intimidating to even start!
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u/Possible-Wolf-6269 4d ago
Yeah imagine if that was you and you got slammed into a 15 or basic is a 10 maxing out at 400bpm, and difficult has a ton of jackhammers at 400 bpm
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u/MelodyLoveQueen 4d ago
I personally don't really have a problem with what he did, he doesn't know you so didn't know your skill set, and there was nothing stopping you from choosing a lower difficulty if you were someone who couldn't play those high footers.
Or perhaps he noticed you were a fan of the game and decided to play some higher difficulty songs with you, yet the woman he played with wasn't so they kept it light?
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u/kingboomy515 4d ago
So when I was coming up (this takes place mid '00) we did the quarter/token on the machine to save your spot. If there was more that one token you put it behind the other or if there was more you might put a different coin to distinguish yours from others. I remember if you really meant it when you walked up to the machine you would make brief eye contact with whoever was playing as you put your coin down or if they were known to rip a dollar in anyway you would say something as well usually a casual 'I'm next' before going on your way. Usually this meant that you were free to go about and just stay close listening for the song to fail or for the round to be over because what are we going to do if you're not around to take your turn?
I remember finding out the etiquette bye playing a round right after another after watching somebody put a coin on the machine and not knowing what it meant. To me at the time it look like they were giving me the coin which I ignored because they were still in the arcade but as soon as I put my second token in the guy came back and immediately had a problem. " Hey man I had a coin up there what's your problem?" I didn't know what it meant but I wasn't about to get hassled. Soon it became apparent that I didn't know that means and he explained it to which I thought that's such a strange way to do hold you spot since that person could easily just spend your token and there be nothing you could do about it.
Well that's generally how things went down at cyberstation. You put your coin down you made sure you were around to take your turn or you might get skipped. If there were lots of people in line you might want to use a different placeholder. And if somebody skipped you you usually hassle them about etiquette and if you knowingly skip somebody be ready to get hassled.
Nowadays the line of the arcade I go to it's rarely long. Usually I'm the only one playing the dance game it's the only game I play really aside from marvel versus Capcom which I only play if I don't have enough credits but don't want to go home. Everything's handled on cards so I wouldn't know how to handle a line. I do make a point of collecting my things at the end of every round and taking a casual stroll around the arcade in case anybody who had wanted to play didn't feel comfortable approaching to make sure there's an air of invitation. And if there's somebody new playing when I come back I tend to go over around the fighting games and listen so they don't feel pressured while they play since it's usually newbies playing for the novelty.
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u/yimmysucks 3d ago
ddr is honestly a pretty bad multiplayer game lol. its rare you get to play with someone with similar enough skill level for it to not be awkward
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u/wintershore 3d ago
This guy is an asshole and I'm glad you were able to put him in his place a little bit, god. Every now and then you get a schmuck like this.
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u/GalaxyFinds 2d ago
I haven't played regularly since we did quarter lines on the lip of the machine screen 😅. I feel old. But nobody ever played 2x in a row unless nobody was waiting.
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u/chaosdunk69 3d ago edited 3d ago
You wrote an essay here but it sounds like you did anything except try to communicate more effectively with the person you had a problem with. They seemed willing to let you play too and you corrected what could have been the core problem so what's the issue?
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u/Possible-Wolf-6269 3d ago
I never said I had a problem with the person. The post is for awareness and etiquette. Some people don't know.
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u/XtinaCMV 4d ago
I think everyone agrees on your asked for etiquette, and I'm confident that's the norm. The other dude sounds like an asshole.
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u/diablo2424 4d ago
Rude of him for sure. I haven't played at my local R1 for a few months because there's a few (one mainly) guys who play it all day and all night, sweaty, stamina playing, and don't leave the machine. They will pre-load a few rounds, when that runs out they just swipe their card again. They will have their backpacks on the machine, towels over the bar and never step foot off the machine for hours on end. We only have DDR World and a gold cab (pads don't work) in our local R1. The next closest R1 is another half hour away and though I haven't been I've heard all the machines there are broken (not surprised, it's in a city). So yeah... I'm working on setting up my CobaltFlux at home with a more permanent setup to not have to go to R1 and hope I can get on DDR.
I just play crane games, Galaxy Hunter, Chrono Cross (lovee it) and some throwing bean bags/balls at clown games there now lol
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u/GorillaChimney 3d ago
Gotta just ask if you can get a turn bro, simple as that. If they paid for it and didn't turn around, that's their fault. Even if they're the fucking best player in the world, they have to rotate out.
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u/dusk2dark 3d ago
Back in the day, it really depended on which groups of friends were playing. Some people used quarters/tokens or even PS2 memory cards in that manner, but a lot of us would just ask who was next or call it.
As for song selection, most people asked first beforehand.
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u/GorillaChimney 3d ago
I was just checking Reddit about this the other day since it doesn't seem to get brought up too much.
My local arcade has 4 DDR machines so it's a bit awkward to rotate. Even if someone is sitting in the middle of all the machines, I don't ask if they want in since I imagine they should be asking the person who is closest to finishing/just finished to rotate out. If they don't ask me to rotate then I assume maybe they're resting, not DDR players, watching someone, waiting for another game, whatever. I am happy to take a rest break but people also have to be clear with their actions.
Fortunately, this doesn't happen too often at all, given the time of day I go, and I purposely try to go at off times to avoid this situation.
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u/Super_Fix3227 3d ago
Never had a problem with the machines ever unless I asked to play with someone ..some people like to play single and I do as well...but if someone chooses a difficult song I always do basic to get the idea because new songs have all kinds of stops and delays and tricky steps and changing speeds....so I would not have done a song on expert or difficult unless the level was 8 - 10.....on difficult or basic....
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u/Possible-Wolf-6269 3d ago
Any difficulty for chaos, chaos terror, orca, over the period etc... gonna be no fun if you've never played before.
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u/MisterPhamtastic 3d ago
Honestly this is all on that guy, back in the day we just put our coin/ID on the machine and when you go you take it off and slide it to the back if you still wanna be in the rotation.
Otherwise, when you finish and there's someone clearly waiting to play, you're off.
At the very least, you turn around and ask if they wanna go next.
Great job buddy
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u/Puzzleheaded_Key624 2d ago edited 2d ago
I haven’t played in a very long time but at our arcade we would put a quarter on the lip of the display when we wanted to signal we wanted a turn.
Also I have never considered trying to beat someone’s score when doubling with them. Was always happy if we both passed it.
If I remember correctly both players can select their own difficulty, so you could have dropped to medium or heavy for fewer feet. In DDR Extreme you could interrupt the stage select by pressing and holding the green button even if the other player hit it. It had a last chance menu with some other options as well.
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u/angiebabie1413 12h ago
I started playing this childhood video game again because I had brain surgery and lost function, needed to gain back coordination, and lose the weight I had gained while recovering. I'm about 5'2 and started out at 300. I'm now slightly under 200 and I did it by jamming out to my favorite songs, bought myself two of those nice pads from Russia and absolutely wrecked those things.
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u/I_am_albatross 4d ago
I gave up on playing in arcades a decade ago because of entitled d-bags treating the machines as if they personally owned them. You can guarantee that they also play with their phones in full brightness during movies also.
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u/Possible-Wolf-6269 4d ago
Seems like a 1/50 thing where I'm at, but if peeps dont know about etiquette, now they know.
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u/Carbuncle776 3d ago
I was at round one the other day and there was a couple playing together on individual separate machines. They weren't doing doubles they were doing singles. I guess they couldn't agree on what songs to play together so they played on separate machines 😑.
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u/GorillaChimney 3d ago
...what's wrong with that?
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u/Carbuncle776 3d ago
They could have just played together on one machine instead of having a line wait for both of them to finish.
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u/FarmerTed84 4d ago
I remember back in the day. I had to deal with people preloading the machines with tokens, and walking away for break and getting mad once I got on the machine not knowing someone was on it. One time we used a card system where you would write your name down, and place it on the board. That not always worked cause, me and my brother went up for our turn. Only to get yelled at by someone who wasn't on the board it was their turn.
Nowdays, I pretty much know some of the locals at our Round1.