I guess I just don't quite see the point? Is it just so people don't leave a game paused for long stretches of time?

Usually in other speedgames where they go by IGT they have a rule of "no excessive pausing". However, UNSIGHTED is in an unusual spot where more than just pausing will stop the in game time. Crafting, equipping (pretty much any menu), cutscenes and anytime there is dialogue on the screen are such cases.

Technically these are not "pausing", but it's incredibly hard to differentiate whether or not someone is deliberately going through these scenes slowly to give them a short rest versus someone who is just slow. This rule is to place a more concrete guideline than just "no excessive pausing" to address all this. This rule was talked with both devs and other moderators back in the demo days so it wasn't just me making this rule.

If you have more input on how to better handle this ruling feel free to suggest something!