Hey I am long time enjoyer of LOD as a whole and I arrived here looking to partake in speedrunning and hopefully bring more attention to an absolutely criminally underrated game. I recognize that I may not be the voice of the majority but I figure its worth my attempt in injecting my input and my newcomer experience thus far.

I have drifted in and out of a couple speedrunning scenes and noticed that this one doesn't seem to have a posted discord or anywhere to have ongoing conversation besides this forum which is a bit unfortunate. I understand a discord can be a bit extra to manage especially for a really small community but it really impacts the accessibility and I think it would be a good thing to get started or if one is already available please post it somewhere it can be readily accessed in order to make entering the scene a bit easier.

As for run accessibility I think this extensive testing of a specific emulator to best mimic hardware is a bit far. I understand wanting to preserve the dedication and achievements that the current runners have put into the game but restricting access so much makes it a burden to even attempt to join in any fun and serves only as a way of gatekeeping IMO. That being said credit where it is due allowing emu access at all is leagues ahead of a lot of games and I appreciate it providing an option besides original hardware since that is a big restriction but there are so few people running this game to begin with I feel like it should be as accessible as possible at least in it's own category if needed.

I won't pretend I know what is absolutely best for this scene as a whole be it competition or longevity in awareness so take these opinions with your own lense of understanding as needed but I personally (someone who loves this game and really has interest in running it) don't really want to enter under heavy restrictions, I don't want to have to sweat my emulation settings to such a degree I have to download a specific version of a specific emulator to even begin considering my practice or runs legitimate.

Hoping to see a discord where more active conversation can take place. Best to you all and thank you for reading.