Groovestats News

As ECS6.5 has drawn to its end, I'm pleased to announce to everyone that Stamina RPG 2 has begun! Like its predecessor, the original Stamina RPG for ECS6, Stamina RPG 2 involves playing songs from a large list that will gain you experience points and skill points. You level up as you gain EXP, and each BPM range (170s, 180s, etc.) has its own skill level that increases as you gain SP.

To try to make this event as inclusive as possible, I'm using A LOT of content in the 12-16 range that wasn't represented in the first Stamina RPG. There are also some major changes to the format and site for Stamina RPG 2, as well-- in addition to some quality of life improvements to the usability of the site for score entry, I've added a Quest Log that will give you some hints about how to unlock additional content, and there's also now a new point-type yielded for passing songs: Tournament Points. For each BPM range above 160, the three songs you've passed worth the highest TP will contribute to your TP total. This is to address complaints that a couple people had last year that qualifying for East Coast Stamina 6 was too much of a time commitment; this drastically reduces the amount of playing you have to do in order to qualify and puts the focus on the quality of the passes over the sheer volume of them.

That brings me to my next point: Stamina RPG 2 is actually a joint production between Rémi Guinier and myself that will-- beyond just being a competition in its own right-- also serve as the qualifiers for East Coast Stamina 7 and French Coast Stamina 3. Remi has prepared 16 brand new 20 minute mixes (ranging from 140 to 240 BPM, difficulties from 14 to 24) that are available as part of the initial qualifier pack. It's some of his finest work and I'm really excited to collaborate with him on this! I think we've both been working on this for over six months, and I think we've both said at separate points that it's the work we're most proud of to date.

But wait, there's more! This year, in addition to this acting as a qualifier, there are also prizes based off of the total EXP entrants gain. Here's the breakdown of how qualifying works and what those prizes are:

The 16 players WORLDWIDE who have earned the highest total TP by September 2nd at 11:59 PM EST are invited to compete in East Coast Stamina 7.

The top 12 FRENCH players and top 4 EUROPEAN players who have earned the highest total TP by July 31st at 11:59 PM CEST are invited to compete in French Coast Stamina 3.

Prizes will also be awarded to the top 4 players who have accrued the highest total EXP by September 2nd at 11:59 PM EST:

• 1st Place: $400 USD
• 2nd Place: $200 USD
• 3rd Place: $100 USD
• 4th Place: $50 USD

I encourage everyone who enjoys ITG to join in-- even if you've never been into stamina before, this could be the motivation you need to improve your game!

The following packs have been added to the Groovestats rankings:

• Scrapyard Kent
• Tachyon Zeta
• 3guys1pack
• N.E.O SiMS
• DVogans Tech Support 2
• Notice Me Benpai
• Barber Cuts
• Barely Playable
• Fraxtil's Monstercat Minipack
• Koreyja
• Holiday Hoedown
• Easy As Pie 5

Tachyon Zeta was also added to the Tachyon Series compilation ranking, and Easy As Pie was added to the Easy As Pie Series. I've also added two new compilation packs:

• Dark Psytrance Series (Cranked Pastry & Scrapyard Kent)
• Fraxtil's Series (Fraxtil's Beast Beats & Fraxtil's Monstercat Minipack

In other news, I'm happy to announce that East Coast Stamina 6.5 has started! This is a team-based fully online tournament in the same vein as ECS 4.5 and 5.5, and once again, in the interest of being as inclusive as possible, it's split into Lower (difficulty blocks 12 to 17) and Upper (difficulties from 16 to 24) divisions.

You can get more information about the tournament/sign up/download the packs here:

East Coast Stamina 6.5

--Ian