Not sure this ultimately matters all that much, but I had a random thought: for this category, time ends upon losing control at the end of Track 24... but there's nothing that says you have to not come in last on that race, right? So technically you could just sit there at the starting line and wait for an enraged yellow car to finish and you'd still be good.

I mean, it's more fun to actually race through the course while you're waiting for the yellow car, but it helps to pay close attention to when the yellow dot hits the finish line at the end of the ninth lap to make sure that you're stopping the timer at just the right time.

Honestly, I'm not sure how the original rules of the category were intended to be interpreted. As they stand now, you're correct, you don't have to get 3rd or better per the rules. I am ok with leaving the rules as-is, but personally, I would prefer to add language to the rule for the future, stating that you must finish 3rd or better. But I'd want to hear from others regarding this for sure...

If an official change is to be made requiring that you don't finish last on Track 24, then I would suggest making a corresponding change that time now ends upon seeing the trophy screen after completing Track 24 (as opposed to the Game Over you would see when finishing last).

I would very much prefer to see a 3rd or better condition for the last track. Part of the challenge in the run is keeping enough ammo to be able to survive track 24.

I agree with this, so I'm down with having the change officially made.

What do you think of changing the end timing as I suggested?

I concur. I'd like to give a few more days for folks to see this, but if no opposition occurs within the next day or two, I'll likely make a dialog change in the rules to make it official.

Yeah, the trophy screen is best since it requires the 3rd place to happen anyhow. Pretty elegant way of timing and then it mirrors the Nintendo% category as well

I've decided to change the language of the rules as follows: "Time ends when you cross the finish line or lose control after the 24th race is completed. As of 4-19-23, runners must complete the final race in 3rd place or better in order for your run to be validated. 4th place runs must retry the race or their run will be rejected."

I will look into changing the timing of the run later on. The reason I have decided not to at this time is two-fold: the historic timing of this category has always been the finish of the race, and also, that changing the timing of the category will require mods to retime every run on the board.

Since a simple adjustment to the language of the rules (aka don't finish 4th) fixes the issue, that should be adequate for now. If there's enough pressure to change the rules and retime every run I can look into that, but for now, I just don't have the time lol.

I have also decided to add this stipulation to Rageless% as well. If there is any opposition to this change, I would appreciate feedback.

Keeping the timing as is works for me, as my proposal for that change was just a minor adjustment. I felt much more strongly about the finishing of the 24th race, so I appreciate you for making this change to the rules.