I used to play DDR a lot, in fact I wrote on of the first (and best) FAQs on it. Once MAX came out, people's attitudes started changing (especially those in SoCal...sorry to single out a group but it's true) and what's more, more people knew me than I knew them. In other words, people came up to me in arcades, on the street, on trains and knew who I was but I had no idea who they were. Honest, this happened a lot! Ultimately, the attitude thing was what made me stop the FAQ. After that I started up a team which is very strong over here these days. I'm still one of the best known players in Australia, but I keep a low profile so those who I don't want to know me don't know me. It works quite well!
My main game these days is drummania...but on DDR I refuse to play the MAX's just on principle (that is, the principle that speed = l33t, not that I can't do 10 footers). If I do play them, it's on Extra stage, like they're supposed to be. I've AA'd Sakura and I'm pretty close to AAing bag on 1x speed (I play it on flat/shuffle usually though cos' I'm a nut) but that's about all people would care about...90% AA's probably...I mostly play on roulette and quite often I just muck about and bring in a crowd based on the philosophy "If I'm going to look like an idiot, I may as well be trying to".
The FAQ is still on GameFAQs if you wanna look at it...