How come speedmaps are unpopular on the IDGames Archive?

So, after looking at one of the comments for this speedmapping session: http://www.doomworld.com/idgames/?file=levels/doom2/Ports/g-i/hdsped02.zip I seem to wonder why most of the commenters hate speedmaps. They just comment either "We don't need any more speedmaps." or "Why not just spending alot of time on a map?"

Any explanation?

There's two comments. You can't deduce a trend from two comments.

But playing along, for the sake of this topic: speedmaps are generally lower quality than normal maps by their very nature. Based on that, it's not unreasonable to dislike speedmaps.

There's the argument limitations should be considered, but I think it's missing the point. A player who has no interest in technical details may only care about actual quality in comparison to every other map, and he's entitled to judge the level that way if that is what matters to him.

Naive theory: Players want their fun, which (for them) means quality designed maps. Some of them take this approach to an extreme and demand all maps ever made to be as quality as possible, not understanding that sometimes the mappers just want their fun too (which means mapping sessions and challenges, limitation mapping, speedmaps etc.).

scifista42 said:

Naive theory: Players want their fun, which (for them) means quality designed maps. Some of them take this approach to an extreme and demand all maps ever made to be as quality as possible, not understanding that sometimes the mappers just want their fun too (which means mapping sessions and challenges, limitation mapping, speedmaps etc.).

No, it's not about understanding. As phml says, it's about not giving a damn about mappers having a great old time cranking the product out in an arbitrary time limit. As a player, I may relax my expectations somewhat, knowing there wasn't enough time to polish the maps properly, but I shouldn't be expected to. 2014 actually saw a great surge in speedmapping and it's starting to feel like mappers use it as an excuse to pump out undercooked crap at unreasonably fast rates. Like the stricter the limit, the more shield you get against criticism. Meh.

i wont go out of my way to shit on speedmaps purely for being speedmaps and theyre fun as quick blast-thru scenarios but i prefer a lot more meat on my maps and any review i write for one is probably going to be couched in "speedmaps arent my kind of thing" language

Speedmapping is an art; that's why it gets its own name. There are some people in the community who can make really fun and even attractive maps in just a couple of hours, but it requires a really intuitive sense of space and texturing and structure to make a map that's any good without tweaking and polishing it constantly throughout the process. It's certainly not something I think I could do.

How come quick and lazy works are unpopular? The answer lies in the question itself.

As a Speed Mapper myself, I think it is pretty fun to do. Usually in these wads you see a lot of neat ideas and simple concepts that are kinda cool. (Although most of the time, it sucks) Speed mapping also gives me ideas on how to make actual maps as well. For example, a map from one of my speedmap wads inspired a level I am currently working on, all because of an idea that I thought up in about five seconds out of nowhere.
Also, finally, it's pretty fun. I'm a very slow paced mapper in general, and speedmapping is like a completely different experience for me, which breaks up the monotony of mapping in general.

One thing I really do like about speed maps is when you download them, you know what you're getting. Which is a lot more than what you can say for most "normal" maps that aren't made tied to a certain gimmick, or made by an author that has a background of maps he's made in the past. One thing I know for sure about speedmaps is -- given the amount of time available to make it, the maps will be short, unless extended with monster density. I personally like short maps so speedmaps by nature are something I think I will like.

For that reason, why people don't like them represents a phenomenon where people tend to do things they know they are going to hate so that they can mentally prepare to spit out a list of complaints for attention while they're doing it.

The other thing I like about speedmaps is that sessions are often very accessible, and could encourage people who otherwise wouldn't be making maps to make something. Personally I like to see the work of everyone who posts here in Doomworld. There's a certain purity in the way speedmaps are made, when time is limited. It can expose what some people make instinctively if they don't have the time to scrap it and start over or heavily manipulate it.

I do see the issue with people mapping exclusively in speedmaps, but I feel it's important to keep your familiarity with the editor intact and your tools sharp in order to work on a bigger and better project without getting discouraged. So I appreciate it for it's constructive attributes to mappers and for examination by the players.

I agree with KMX and dew, speedmaps in general (and many of the identifying characteristics thereof--eyeblink length, simple scenes, highly condensed/simplistic progression, etc.) are not generally something that's to my taste; the casual/unpolished charm is not something that's terribly appealing to me. That being said, I don't go out of my way to assassinate speedmap ratings or anything like that, and indeed on occasion I'll partake of them in good faith when I feel like playing something new that won't represent a very large time investment--I just don't tend to have particularly high expectations going in, is all. Of course, once in a while one does encounter a speedmap that's really cool/fun/satisfying, and so those are kind of like pleasant/unexpected surprises, I suppose. Generally speaking, though, when I play a speedmap I find my main impression, even when the map itself is perfectly reasonable/palatable, is "I wonder what this person could've made if they'd had more time?" When the megaWAD club played "Countdown to Extinction", for instance, I spent most of that time wondering what Obsidian's very involved, Rube Goldberg-esque build style could produce if he gave himself enough time to make a map that was something other than a cutesy-wutesy little tech-demo sort of thing. Presumably, the answer will come in the form of Maskim Xul, and when I play that I'm sure I'll have the analytical enjoyment of having my questions answered, at the very least, something that wouldn't be possible if I'd never played his speedmaps, so there's that, I guess....they can be like an interesting preview of someone's 'proper' mapping.

That aside, and also discounting any common phenomena concerning Humans on the Internet, if it seems like there's some kind of widespread backlash against speedmapping in general, I suppose it could well be just the inevitable backswing of how popular speedmapping has been the last year or so (give or take). The same thing happened with, for example, the old 1024 craze--first it was the hot new thing, then it seemed like everyone was doing it (including a lot of poor/inexperienced/rushed efforts feeding off of the craze), then it eventually started seeming a bit oversaturated (at least in The Public Eye). It died off for a while, and now we just see 1024 projects here and there these days, its own little niche that lots of folks don't mind visiting once in a while.