I want to get some opinions from the community here. This is regarding the "All Characters" runs (Which are currently found on the Category Extensions board), I have received requests to modify the rules for this run to allow pausing the timer during the run. The reasons that have been asked for:

• The run is exhausting, and sometimes they might want to use the bathroom during a 3 hour run, you should be allowed to pause to use the bathroom
• The run is reaching a point of optimization in which that getting the exact tower for a certain character affects the run significantly, you should be allowed to pause, so you can re-roll the tower for a given character to get the correct one before continuing

Personally, I am strongly against pausing in general and these reasoning's are not sufficient for me. My counter reasoning is this:

1. 3 Hours is not long enough to warrant needing to use the bathroom as a safety concern, there are runs out there far longer than 3 hours that do not allow pausing.
2. The tower you get for each character is RNG, RNG factors are a part of the run. Dealing with this RNG or simply grinding to get the best RNG is a matter of your persistence and resolve and part of the challenge. Yes, if someone gets lucky, someone gets lucky, I don't think that's an excuse to change the run rules.

I am bringing this forward in the interest of fairness and transparency and I would like people to give their opinion on the matter. If there is indeed a consensus that pausing the timer should be allowed, I am willing to proceed with those rules. It is up to the community ultimately, I just feel that this flies in the face of what Speedrunning is traditionally and what the run should entail. Please let me know your thoughts. Thank you.

What about a timer? I know some runs you can pause but only for a minute or 2, so it should be enough for a quick irl break without wasting too much time right?

Yes but then you get to refresh mentally, which takes away from the challenge of the run.

Also, what twighlight zone did I walk into where people are saying 3 hours is "too long" for a run. People have been doing 6 hour+ runs for decades and they don't need breaks.

Simply put, needing a break for a mere 3 hour run is an absurd claim. And using that break to refresh mentally, or to "reroll towers for RNG", is cheating. The intention of the run is meant to be an endurance factor. The top runs have already succeeded in proving that they are capable of doing it multiple times. It is possible, they don't need a break.