Hey all,
I’d like to propose a new rule applicable to every category, but particularly NG runs. To prohibit the use of ultrawide monitors.
I’ve been running this for a while and it’s clear my 21:9 screen is a distinct advantage over the a standard 16:9 aspect ratio screen. I know it’s probably a very small pool this will impact, but the additional vision the wider screen provides is unfair to have locked behind owning a particular monitor or setup.
Appreciate I am probably making things harder for myself as I’m now used to 21:9 but it’s a clear advantage that should be ruled out for submitted runs.
Happy to show comparisons if needed.
I would like to see some comparisons, especially for the cases where you believe the advantage is significant.
Uploaded two shots below:
1st Comparison is just the starting position, you can see with the 21:9 you can clearly see the waypoint in town.
2nd Comparson shows and example of the advantage it provides. In this situation, walking through the sewers, the 21:9 ratio can see the chest & grates marking the end of the path, thus you don't need to stick your head in. The 16:9 has nothing of that on screen. On occasion you can see shrines before they appear on the minimap as well.
Disclaimer: I'm using a 16:9 aspect ratio screen and have never tried playing Diablo 3 with a 21:9 screen.
I see your point but I vote against such a ban. There are many types of hardware that will give the runner an advantage including using a PS4 instead of a Switch/Xbox or using a PC with SSD. These benefits however are not unobtainable for other runners compared to e.g. legacy gear that can no longer be found in the current patches of the game (and even legacy gear is currently not banned either).
Another aspect to consider is that a hardware ban might become irrelevant at some point and it would just be another rule to maintain/update. If 21:9 is the common aspect ratio in 1-2 years, it seems silly to force runners to reduce their screen ratio in the same way that we don't require those with 16:9 monitors to use 4:3 today.
Instead of a ban, I suggest that we add the ratio to the leaderboard columns similar to the the console category's 'platform' column or co-op's 'player count'. That would mean that those without 21:9 monitors can filter out these runs but still compete with them if they want to. I don't know what is possible to do on speedrun.com but I think it would be optimal if the field wasn't mandatory and if left blank, it would just state 'unknown'. Moderators/verifiers should be able to fill out the missing ratios in existing runs (if they want to) and new runners should not be forced to know whether they are running 16:9, 16:10 or something else.
Although I only run on console I agree with Pokeytoes points. If a game supports different screen ratios it should be allowed as it is part of the game.
I'd rather see it as another way to play the game more efficient so one could get better times with it.
