"Master" difficulty, or something alike?

[Triple J]

We all probably think "Insane" is hard enough for a level, but I'm just thinking: sometimes a level could be more than insane, and maybe the designer never intends to make a level like that, but I bet there are players who may find certain levels to be harder than "insanity." If a level is generally way too hard for a player to rate, they why not give them the freedom to let the designer know that BY rating it? I mean, there are already a lot of levels that have been rated as "insane," but are they really?

So pretty much, if a level is hard enough, it could warrant something more than "insane." But this is just my opinion, that's all. I'm not trying to say that we should make some levels that require mastery, but others may find a level fitting for it and they have their opinions.

Do you think it's reasonable to add another difficulty choice to rate levels by, like something above "insane?"

[Supershroom]

Basically a fifth difficulty grade makes sense to match it with the star rating. It's just the question whether to add it on top or on bottom. I'd prefer the latter one, adding a "trivial" difficulty for levels where you can't do anything wrong, e.g. showcases like JRFD's "Calculator" or for minigames like Yuri's Legacy Bouncer.

[FrozenFire]

Um, I think generalizing these levels and putting them into a specific set apart from the rest is kinda... unfair? There can be "trivial" levels that are hard to accomplish, like Niicola's Gravity Bouncer thing. Also, just because you can't "die", doesn't mean the level has to be easy. Super Meat Boy is actually a perfect example for this.

[Karyete]

But people try to vary their levels in terms of difficulty. I mean, everyone wants to achieve 5 stars, but not everyone wants to get the same level of difficulty on their level.

[Niicola]

like Niicola's Gravity Bouncer thing.

Slightly offended internally

Seriously though, I agree with the idea of adding a new difficulty rank but with another name like Devil or Chaos or Hell or Pain

[ColdWater]

Levels like the Calculator could be "automatic"
And hardest levels should be "extreme" to fit with insane and the others

[FrozenFire]

Levels like the Calculator could be "automatic"

I think levels like Calculator or Trigger Experiment-like levels should not be judged into a Difficulty category if they give no challenge/goal for the player to accomplish, at least in my opinion.

Also, I'm sure many levels are rated "Insane" because of the way the ratings are dealt (check here), which is kinda confusing to be honest. But still, I'd rather have the Difficulty system improved so every level is not rated as Insane, than to add a brand new category, even because something past Insane sounds like impossible.

[Supershroom]

Shhh, don't tell anyone.

(It's a counter to voting bias. Every level in the SM63 portal was voted as "easy" on average even if it was really hard!)

Well, people have matured until today, haven't they?

[Triple J]

[...] something past Insane sounds like impossible.

It does indeed sound that way, and I also agree that the difficulty rating system should be improved a bit (that probably is why we see so many levels rated "Insane"), but even then the selection of difficulties feels a little tight. Maybe "Insane" could be shifted over as a "fifth difficulty" and have something else put in-between it and "Hard."
Doesn't it seem to you like "Hard" and "Insane" have a huge gap for interpretation? (For reference, I'd recommend you look up the word "Insane.")

[Supershroom]

At this rate I'm wondering why we're having the difficulty rating system at all since we don't have it on the SM63 portal. Especially since it's rigged deliberately.