If we find a vault skip the runs with the save would still be valid, it would just mean that the save would be pointless. The save is optional, so if vault skip exists you would have the option to do vault skip instead (and anyone who actually wanted a faster time would just do it)
The save doesn't remove the time, it just makes it so you don't have to sit through it. Vault skip would still save time if it existed.
For all the time I've played this game, the relaxation vault has been the biggest thorn in my side whenever it came to runs. It's an unpleasant and unnecessary aspect of the run that continues to be the source of constant frustration. I would like to put an end to this.
My idea is to create a save in which the player stands still during the first 53 seconds of the relaxation vault, make said save publicly available and exclusively allowed (having a community standard save would eliminate potential confusion, cheating, etc.).
The demo associated with the creation of the save would also be public, and would be used for timing purposes for runners that solely use demos to record their runs.
Use of the save would mean adding 53 seconds to your final time (or starting at 53 seconds in the case of livesplit). The run timing would still essentially start at you gaining control.
Use of the save would be completely optional, if you rather set something up during the 53 seconds that would be skipped you would be free to do so, but you would forfeit that opportunity if you decided to use the save.
This would not be applicable anywhere else, no other period of waiting would be potentially skipped as this only works because it is from the start of the game with no inputs.
By introducing this we would have to take into consideration how it would change the way runs are defined. Taken at face value, this would either be an incredibly long RTA run (days, months, or even years depending on how long your run took place after the save was initially made), or a very slow segmented run (POR and PDI would be rough competition to say the least.) Arguably it would become an arbitrary exception to these definitions.
Arbitrary doesn't matter though, otherwise we would have to call into question the entire basis of the rules. We have decided to allow and bar various commands based on our own perceptions of what would make the most sense for a speedrun (ent_fire, save deletion, toggle_duck, aliases, etc.) We don't use a simple logical system to define the rules because doing so would make for rules that end a poor user experience.
If we are to assume that the systems we have in place now ultimately exist to benefit the user experience, making an exception for the benefit of the user experience would be the only reasonable course of action.
The decision of whether or not to put this system into place should be made by those who would actively be affected by it. This would include any current runners and any runners that would return upon the implementation of the proposed system. In the interest of objectivity and fairness, all votes should be given equal value.
53 seconds of no inputs is the same whether you experience it or not, personally I would rather not.
//Edit// Link to the save and demo http://bit.ly/1hniIya >>START AT 53.01<<