As it stands now, you guys have convinced me via this evidence that z0d420 used the machine gun cheat. That being said though, it'd be irresponsible of me to act on it without discussing it with the other game mods; team effort and whatnot. I'll bring it up in the Twisted Metal discord server that we're all in and see what they think. You're all invited to participate in that discussion if you like. I'll put a link to the server on the left panel.

Edit: Via a unanimous vote among the four game mods, the decision was made to reject z0d420's two runs in the Tournament - Medium category based on the evidence provided. To those who contributed to this discussion, thank you for helping to keep the board clean and pure. Everyone here appreciates you. If you notice any other potential problems, don't hesitate to bring them to our attention.

Can you show us pictures or video of the two different machine guns side-by-side?

Edit: For clarity's sake, using that machine gun cheat would not be allowed in any category other than All Cheats, so if it turns out this run used the cheat, we'll have to reject it.

I've waited as long as two months for some game requests in 2020. I wouldn't be surprised if 2-3 weeks is not an accurate average.

This is the second person I've seen complain that his run of Mega Man: Maverick Hunter X wasn't being looked at on Speedrun.com. I'd like to see both of the current game moderators replaced as neither of them are doing the job.

The last two game requests that I put in took around two months each for people to get around to, IIRC. I assume that's probably the average wait time.

Where's that run?

@Pastordude356 There are leaderboards for Mega Man X5, Mega Man X6, and Mega Man X7 that will presumably accept your MMXLC runs if you were to submit them there. I'll link each one for you and you can check it out.

Mega Man X5 - https://www.speedrun.com/mmx5

Mega Man X6 - https://www.speedrun.com/mmx6

Mega Man X7 - https://www.speedrun.com/mmx7

Remind me: what does it mean to be an active player?

Shout out to @GamesDu and the lost Mega Man: Maverick Hunter X run. It would have been his first submitted run to this site but he was unable to get in touch with either of the mods for that game and hasn't had it verified even now, six months later. Special treatment for Mega Man boards should end so that it doesn't continue to ruin the experience for people like GamesDu and the rest of us who want to use this site.

The rules I'm familiar with give game moderators the option of rejecting runs that show lack of effort but I wouldn't go so far as to say those rules necessarily call for it.

"Runs that are clearly not making an effort to beat the game's category quickly may be rejected." - This rule that we're all familiar with says that a run may be rejected, sure. A reasonable person would infer that this also means that it may not be rejected. It's up to the game moderator. As far as I know, Speedrun.com staff aren't in the business of forcing us to reject runs. In this case, the rejection is not "called for."

"A minimum effort requirement is reasonable. It is recommended to at a minimum accept a first playthrough done in one sitting with an intention of playing the category quickly." - The other rule that mentions effort also mentions accepting first playthroughs. There's no standard set here for what constitutes "minimum effort" or any guidelines for determining how one would assess a runner's "intention" regarding how quickly they want to beat the game. Again, this is all left up to the game moderator and isn't "called for" by Speedrun.com.

You as a game moderator are empowered to reject runs on the basis that you're not personally satisfied with the effort put into them, but let's not pretend it's mandated by SR. The decision rests solely on your shoulders and you must bear the responsibility of that decision and answer to the community for it if it turns out they're unhappy with the board being run that way.

Rejecting a run because you're not comfortable with its speed or rejecting a run because you're not comfortable with the runner's intent; either way, I think it's uncalled for. Let people enjoy the site.

@Laxxus If you really believe verifying a slow run is a waste of your time, don't do it. Nobody's asking you to do something that makes you uncomfortable or irritated. There's no shortage of people on this site who are willing to take on the role of moderator in your place and you could always ask any of them to help you verify a run if you feel it's too much for one man. That's one avenue I feel isn't explored often enough: assisted verification. Split a three-hour run into thirds and have three people watch an hour each. Cut the work and you should theoretically no longer have a problem with the run in question, unless of course you were gatekeeping for gatekeeping's sake.

I'd suggest not going so far as to claim that it's a waste of every moderator's time; not all of us might share your outlook on the process. Some people enjoy watching runs, others like the idea of helping people discover the joys of our shared hobby by getting their first attempt verified in an expedient manner without complaining and making it seem like it pains us to do it. Personally, I like to be encouraging towards others and I'll occasionally message new runners to the games I moderate in DMs and express my pleasure at seeing them join me on the board. That's just me though. You'll do what you want and although I might disagree with it, I'm not in the mood to judge you for it. Do only what you're comfortable with and feel free to opt-out any time.

@Oreo321 I do think you're right about there being a difference between a slow speedrun and a casual run, but I don't believe that difference is relevant in terms of deciding whether or not the run in question merits inclusion on a board unless you're specifically looking at the site rule about giving game moderators the freedom to reject runs based how they personally felt about its speed.

Regarding your claim that having to verify a long run could potentially "hurt" one of the moderators, I'd suggest that if somebody feels hurt in any way from sitting on their butt and watching other people play video games, they might need to take a break, step aside, and let someone else moderate that board. Regarding the idea that there's "no reason" for the run's verification, I'd say that's patently false: this is a leaderboard site and the fact that the runner wants his/her run on the board is reason enough. That's why we're here. It's what we do.

I don't see the harm in accepting the run as long as it doesn't break any of the category's rules. Who would it hurt? Not any of the other runners, not the moderators, certainly not the people who have no idea what game you're talking about and won't ever see it. Keeping someone off the board because they're slow is silly. Better to let them participate and then encourage them to go faster rather than discourage them from the start with a rejection right off the bat. That's how you grow communities and make friends in my opinion.

My understanding is that Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 of X Challenge have a different set of bosses in each of their final rounds. Given that that's the case and those different stages surely affect how the runs play out, it may be a good idea to separate the "Challenge Mode" category into two separate categories: X Challenge Vol. 1 and X Challenge Vol. 2.

Also, the rules section could use updating. The game's been out for over two years now and it still says "Timing rules pending." I'd like to submit runs of X Challenge at some point and it'd be nice to know if I'm timing it correctly, so maybe we can get on that.

Did that guy delete his own posts or were they deleted by someone else?

Nothing wrong with people wanting to have their IL times displayed on Speedrun.com. That's why the site has the feature to begin with.

@MisterWolf Yes, the Mega Man situation. It's a lot to talk about, better left for discussion in a thread of its own. If you make one, I'll go over it all with you.

@XeroGoFast I think I probably could, but that's off-topic for this thread. If you make a new thread devoted to a conversation about Mega Man moderators abusing their authority here, I'd be happy to talk to you about it there and I bet a good amount of other people would as well.

@XeroGoFast No, he's right. There's definitely a dilemma and it's been brewing for years. You mentioned game mods setting game rules but that's not at all what SeValentine was discussing. The game mods in question have been abusing their privileges on this site for far too long and more than a few people are getting tired of it.