Parkour Opinion

[Sean]

Ok, first off, I just want to say that I saw a post that inspired me to do something like this. Also, if anyone takes offense at this, I'm sorry in advance. Lastly, the reason I didn't post this anywhere else instead of the parkour forums is that this is just me kinda venting out.

Ok. I think the best place to start is the fact about map submissions. These days, most maps that get accepted have varied, thought out, and sometimes tricky jumps, and usually, there is nothing wrong about that. But, if you look at the old maps, lots of them have simple, repetitive jumps, but does that make them a bad map? No. Or at least I think so. Additionally, if maps get rejected because of repetitive jumps, why is Aquatic Adventure a thing? What about the hard maps, colors and layers? Easy line? Are they bad maps? While some people may say that repetitive, simple jumps can be boring, some people enjoy them. For example, they are usually fun to speedrun, as seen by all the low times in AA, and they can also be useful for learning how to use momentum. Not only this but why can't maps based around jumps be accepted? I spend a lot of time looking around in the map submissions, and while sometimes I can see that some maps definitely shouldn't be accepted, sometimes, it feels like I saw a map and it maybe had a good chance to get accepted. I mean whats the whole point of parkour? Isn't it to practice a jump, execute that jump, and then repeat until you finish the map? Why can't maps that are based on a jump be accepted? Ok fine, maybe it might be better to just let the moderators build it and then maybe have a separate section in the warp menu that says tutorial maps, and then they would have a good reason to reject maps surrounding a jump. I still don't know why maps surrounding a jump are accepted. Ok. Now, my last problem is why does a build matter so much in a parkour map? Maybe I'm just saying this because I've always been a function over fashion guy, but I don't see the point of making parkour appealing. For me, parkour is parkour, and I know people may disagree with me, and that is why I am not posting this under suggestions. And I may be saying this a little bit because I'm not a good builder. Remember, this is just my rant and opinion. Just sayin.

 

[IPattyI]

You make good points, Sean. I'll try to explain my view on them as best as I can as a map judge. Yes, there are loads of maps such as "Colors" that repeat the blocks/jumps they use. And, I don't doubt some people find these entertaining. But, the thing is, our standards have changed as years went on. These being influenced by the team and, most importantly, the community, since, after all, maps aren't for us but for all of you guys. It reached the point where we are now: where we expect an original theme, a good build (that does not have to be complex, just well-executed in its accuracy and attractiveness), and entertaining parkour (which, is not repeating the same jump over and over again; it's about utilizing different jumps and playing around with different blocks if you'd like). As we've said before, we're not going to enforce this criterion on our older submissions. They are remnants of the past that serve as reminders of what Parkour used to be on ManaCube and how it's evolved. They will never be removed. At this point in time, the previously submitted "speedrun" or "race" maps have all been rather poor. Which is why you haven't seen one be accepted lately. They just tend to not fit what we're expecting, but we always give them a fair shot. As you mentioned, our Champion maps are maps people love to speedrun. This is definitely due to their nature of being fairly straight-forward and simple. I see them in a different regard than normal map submissions, and more so the 3 champs we currently have (as they were built by the build team, which were evidently trying to make a very good looking/eye-catching build with pretty easy parkour). They fit their purpose, that type of map can and should exist but it will not influence our map submission expectations. They're old maps people love to do and it's thanks to their layout, it would not be the same experience if you did it all without their builds (it hides the fact that you're doing the same jumps well). To address your last two points, I'll start off with this: ManaCube Parkour is not like other Parkour servers, we value both the build and parkour equally. We want attractive builds that invite the player to do the fun parkour on them. Which is why we don't want solely-parkour jump maps. They're uninspired, ugly, and just like any other map. Trust me, people complain about these things. Although your parkour should separate your map from others, your build should as well. Your build acts as the face of your map, and your parkour compliments it by adding a layer of enjoyability to it. I hope you understand my point of view, I'm not here to invalidate your opinion or anything of the like.. I always appreciate community feedback.

 

[zzykrkv]

They're uninspired, ugly, and just like any other map. .

This is gonna sound nitpicky because it is.
Sky parkour can look appealing if done right. Obviously just having random blocks is bad, but it can be made good using a fitting palette. Not only this, but the jumps can also be decorated. Remember that elevation difficulty is measured in tiers, not pixels. So there are ranges of elevations that provide the same difficulty. This gives the opportunity to use various different blocks to fit the look. Decorating the bottom and top of a jump can also drastically change a parkour. Even something as simple as a slab on the bottom can do a lot to make a sky parkour more pretty.

This is a good example. On the first jump, the generic setup is from repeater to cocoa. However, her ub3r has used a slab instead. NOt only does this look much better than a repeater, it doesn't affect the difficulty, as a -0.375 is the same as a -0.75.
Nothing much about the 2nd jump, its pretty normal. Note the choice of blocks. It's a mix of bright blocks combined with a hint of red, and it makes for a very pretty looking map.
On the 3rd jump, instead of using echests and full water, which is the generic version, ub3r has used eggs and thin water. This doesnt affect the gameplay in any way, but makes it look unique and nice.
Ill use the 4th jump to point out how the jumps are also built well. See how the pillars are designed with various blocks to give a unique and nice looking jump, which does also act as a way of keeping the player from getting bored.
Now look at the central blockage on the 5th jump. Lok how well decorated it is. This looks much better than, say, just a rectangle wall.

Thats all.