BrazilAfter reading through what people have discussed both here on SRC and on the Discord these last few days, I have come to review my prior position.
I previously argued in favor of restricting the extra categories, in the interest of streamlining board structure and player experience. However, I am now of the opinion that such an approach would merely lead to arguments regarding how those categories should be restricted. It is likely that no agreement would be reached, leading into inevitable dissatisfaction.
Instead, I would like to echo a line of thought that has been presented on the Discord, in favor of enforcing no restrictions. Apply the simplest definition of "beat the category as fast as you can," and let each player decide where their knowledge and interests lie, and how far they are willing to push them.
Of course a meta would take form for each category, but isn't the nature of any category to have a meta? It comes down to each player to decide which strategies and time saves they wish to adopt in pursuit of said meta.
I believe this approach would be easy to accept for more direct extra categories, such as 0 Dreamstones and Granny%.
As for the duology, however, it seems to me like there are two ways out:
- Apply the "no restrictions" principle and let the meta naturally form. I would even submit that in this case players could run the games with different settings (for example, maybe Easy is faster for KPRS1 and Normal is faster for KPRS2, or whatever).
- Keep all possible parametrization, which would mean we could even add the duology into the main board, as it would fit into the current structure anyway. This method, in turn, implies that both games would be played with the exact same settings.
Personally, at this point I would vote for the unrestricted duology, not only for the sake of simplicity, but in the spirit of seeing how fast both games can be done in a row when no holds are barred.
As for timing the duology, I maintain that it should simply be the IGT sum of both games. Not only is it a straightforward procedure with which we are all familiar, it should also put different platforms on a level playing field. As a Switch player, the load times would automatically dash my hopes of competing in RTA timing.
Concerning game order: in my experience, communities that build such categories for their franchises seem to try and make the games chronological (and the runs done back-to-back, of course).
Lastly, an issue was raised regarding the name of the category I mentioned above as "Granny%". I have heard from people who both love and hate the usage of % to name categories that don't really have anything to do with completion percentage, and in the end the choice seems mostly inoffensive.
For myself, I think it's funny, and see no problem with some lighthearted fun when naming meme/side categories. For example, Mario Odyssey has a category called Nipple%, and that's just comedy gold. They could've just called it Boxer Shorts, but went with the joke instead.
In our particular case, I don't know if it was intentional but I'm a fan of how Granny% comes across as a play on Any%.
Posting in support of the category extension leaderboard.
Do we figure out how exactly the categories and their respective restrictions (or lack thereof) will look later, after the board has been created?
As for visibility, I'm sure we can let people know in the Discord somehow.
There is also the possibility of merely simplifying the duology down to "beat the two games as fast as you can, in a row, regardless of setting", which would most likely boil down to easy support runs of both games (maybe IGT abuse).
On one hand, it would make sense for the KPRS duology to be played with all the same configuration possibilities that we apply to the separate games. So long as both games are played with the same settings, of course.
What I mean, in practice, is that you'd be able to pick between all three difficulties and also between Standard/Support mode, and you'd need to apply your choice to both PRS1 and PRS2 for the run to be valid.
Caveat: it might be wise to restrict the duology to only Any%, unless there is a push for more. Seeing as it will be a side category, with less participation than the main ones, I see value in streamlining it in that sense. Keeps the competition more focused, and the runners closer.
Now, on the other hand, taking into account the subject of lower activity and streamlining: all this flexibility might simply still be too much. Too many categories, diluted, that no one will run.
An alternative would then be to make the duology a single well-defined category, like a specific challenge that we pose to the community. Locking it in step with what a duology run of the original games would look like, the KPRS duology could be limited to Normal difficulty, Standard mode, Any%. Beat both games as fast as possible in the way they were "intended" to be played. Right now, my personal opinion would be in favor of something closer to this option.
Regardless of which direction is chosen, it feels like timing should simply be the IGT sum of both games. While that is simple and direct, an addendum must be made that this has to be done in one sitting, otherwise you could add any two runs together.
As for the SRC leaderboard, given the restrictions Balneor described, it does seem like making a separate extended category board would be the better solution for handling not only this, but other smaller categories. There's PRS2 No Dreamstones, for example, and Neil also joked about making a Granny% category for PRS1 where timing ends when you hit Granny with a Moo in the Gelg Bolm fight. Oh, there could also be a Boss Rush category for each game, where you use time attack mode to fight all the bosses in a row and add the IGT times.
[Edit] Except you'd need to consider what to do with all the difficulties/modes for the Boss Rush, huh? Whoops.
