Hey team! Sorry for the late reply. I'll take the points from Omega's TLDR and work from there:

"Bonus day for Odysseys -> keep it? Allow increase?"

Something to consider, is that even if you specifically set your Bonus Day as a day that you currently aren't on, the game can still give you some form of bonus on that day. So are we going to start resetting runs over "oh no the GAME decided to give me extra Gil". I myself see the Bonus Day as a non issue purely based on this. It basically works as another form of RNG and in trying to keep everything as consistant as possible. We might as well let it stand as it is. I'll talk about the PP Catelog while I'm here. I feel that you start to cross the line of what should and should not be a "timed" menu. What I mean is unlike the calender bonuses (which we dont have full control over), we do have control over using the PP catelog. So we would need to talk about including it as a menu that would need to be included in the run. To which I would offer 2 options (when discussion the idea of letting it in):

1. It has to be included as a timed menu as part of the run
2. We agree some form of reasoning similar to the calender bonus that we just let it be a pre-run setup that does not need to be timed Now in some cases allowing PP Catelog additions can change up runs. Having more EXP might make it worthwhile to include a later menu for certain characters, which then might include routing trading out EXP for AP/Gil. Final opinion: I'm not completely sure if I do or don't like the idea of allowing the PP Catelog upgrades. Considering how short the runs are we might be letting an element through that begins to cause more issues than it is worth, especially for new runners who can use DO% as a starting point to get into running the game as a whole.

"WoL -> enforce a level 1 rule?"

This was actually a conversation that Omega and myself had a while ago and I believe we agreed that this is a positive and simple solution to this problem. While yes you could potentially route more EXP to be closer to level 2 while in the Prologue, in my opinion I say good on you for doing so. As long as you keep yourself at level 1 I feel that allowing runners to get creative with their save file preparation is welcome.

"Chcobo abuse -> 5% chance at the start of the run?"

Simple fix. Prologue sets you to 5%, which is an easy thing to check due to menuing at the start of runs being literally the fastest option for any character. Add in a rule section regarding the banning of "Chocobo Abuse" to clear things up and simple watch for any equipping of Chocobo Accessories during runs to prevent any form of cheating.

"Precustom -> Allow it?"

While I understand there was "drama" around this rule as a whole. Like I said in the discussion thread not too long ago, I feel that the rule as a whole is a positive change. I personally regard menuing as a key element of speedrunning and if you have ever seen my talk about FFIX, I see mashing ability as a skill and as such should not be eliminated from the run. We should also consider that allowing precustomisation would take away our ability to easily check runs for certain abusable factors i.e. Chocobo. As allowing precustomisation would mean not requiring an early menu within runs.

"Start -> Start from new game or keep the rule as it is?"

Now I'm going to speak as a runner who has basically the most experience in these categories. Like in a lot of other games, there are "sections" of a game that we like to speedrun on their own. DO% is DFF's version of that idea, and I genuinely think that adding the Prologue as a requirement could completely kill these categories. We should consider a couple of things. First of all that Prologue is a story of its own and as such actually has its own category. In regards to Battlegems, forcing a runner to sit through Prologue over and over due to an RNG element not allowing them access to the shop, which we should regard as a basic necessity for DO%'s would only serve to frustrate runners. Is it really fair for ANOTHER story section to effect each character's stories? With how limiting Prologue is in regards to what you can actually effect a DO run with, when we consider how easy it is to set up a save with each runner having an equal Prologue outcome, will it really have that much of an effect on the run that is positive.

I believe that the DO%'s are a great entry level run for Dissidia, which we should take advantage of and keep as simple as possible for not only newer runners, but potentially returning runners looking to kick off with something lighter. Don't get me wrong. With some of the points raised I have no issue going back and reclaiming my runs, especially with some of the options this discussion could provide. But again I believe that we should be keeping these smaller "bite sized" categories for DFF as simple as possible. Not everyone has previous experience with DFF, the last thing we want to do is turn people away from the game because we added in more frustrating elements.

I'll apologise for the garbage layout of my post. At the time of posting I'm struggling to get down exactly what I'm trying to say in my usual manner, brain is isnt in the right gear but I held off for long enough trying to get it kick started again.

Cheers team!

I'll follow up to your point with an analysis from my perspective. As a new runner, I see an unexplained confliction on the Leaderboards. I query this with another runner. Who then brings it to the attention of the Discord, to which it is immediately shut down with a ban on the discussion. Combine this with the Discord rules (specifically 7 & 8 ), there was no opening for me to bring this to the table. Which again refers back to my point about communication. The image was that if it was brought up, you'd get banned, and as such I was not able to voice a solution. Not a friendly community environment at all.

Hello team.

Couple of things. While I was not around for this "precustomisation" rule discussion. I will say a few things in regards to it.

1. It seems that from every angle, there is an agreement that this was handled poorly. While yes I cannot comment specifically on it (due to not being around at the time), I would rather see everyone coming forward with how to RESOLVE this kind of thing happening again rather than just constantly bringing it up.

2. Regarding this rule in general, purely looking at the effect it had on actually RUNNING the game, I will say that I do agree with the final decision.

3. However, and I will stress this quite a bit. (Story time) When I was new to Dissidia speedrunning, I started with Zidane, but I was interested in running other characters, hence I watched the top 2 runs at the time for Cloud. I genuinely was confused at the absence of the menu help popups and that the characters were already pre-equipped with their alternative costumes. I could clearly see in the rules that "precustomisation" was not allowed so you can see why this was an issue for me as a new runner. At the time I was in talks with Leo (due to him being the one who introduced me to this), who kindy brought it up in the Discord on my behalf (I believe I was in work at the time), and I believe even mentioned me by name as to who was asking. Now this is were I'm going to bring up a very important point in all of this. The following communication in the discussion, was ridiculous. Regardless of who is asking, whether they were there for a change or even part of the actual discussion. A response and following conversation (if needed) should always be handled with patience and care from both parties. But this highlights the main issue I'm bringing up, communication. Yes while it was in the rules that precustomisation is not allowed, it conflicted with the visable runs on the Leaderboard, with at least the top 2 times being from before this rule change and hence showing the confliction. Now while I'm all fair for the arguement of "there are not many times on the board and we really don't want to get rid of them to further reduce numbers", or "literally 99% of the run that is legitimate should not be punished", or something similar. There was genuinely no information to convey this to a new runner (or returning one). Now I'm going to suggest a very simple fix to this: Within the rules, have a link to an explaination of this rule and the reasons behind its change, along with the description of now "invalid" runs referncing back to this specific rule change. At the time of posting, these specific videos in question, the first by Shin states "Mod edit: Retimed due to different timing method". Now lets be honest, this tells us nothing. What different method was used? In what way does this change the time? (yes I can clearly see there is a 3 second difference between the split timing and LB timing but that doesnt TELL me anything). How much time does this change the run by? Also on the second video in question (I've only ever checked the top 2 at the time), there is literally nothing at all! Just a 3 second variance again between the Split timing and the LB timing. This was incredibly confusing for myself as a new runner, to which after witnessing the way the query was handled in the Discord, completely turned me away from ever wanting to be a part of it. As a side note, lets not even pretend that the time difference from this rule change is 2-3 seconds. I've timed that menu myself being at least a 4 seconds on emulator, and I have fantastic mashing speed.

In regards to Discord, I believe that we would be better cutting our losses and starting fresh. Like I've said in my previous post, I'm personally having a great time within the new one. Which might be exactly what we ALL need to just come around to, the idea of just starting anew and working up from there. But thats just up opinion.

To finish up, if we are going to resort to petty pot shots then it would seem it is time to wrap things up here. Quite frankly I'm bored of the drama and just want to run the damn game.

Hello team. I'm going to keep things short as to not just repeat what has been said already.

I just want to play the damn game. I felt like I found a right wee gem when I was introduced to Dissidia Speedrunning (around September 2017). But honestly the atomosphere within the community was pretty "us and them", would be the best way to put it. It generally just wasn't a place that made me want to put in any input or effort, so I just got on with runs. Since then I've had interactions in my chat with other runners who were always very welcoming and helpful, which kinda made me rethink why the discord community was pretty "dead", which for the most part has been covered above.

Something I want everyone here to keep in mind. Regardless of the size of a community. It will move on. Whether you are a viewer, a runner or a community leader, at some point those exact people are going to change. Nothing is ever set in stone, which is the way things should be. Viewers will move on. A runner today might be a viewer tomorrow. A community leader might move to another game or whatever, at which point that place will be taken by another. That doesn't make you irrelevant or unwelcome to that community anymore. Just ask Mash who has been in this exact situation with Nier.

We should always be open to the idea of change. It is the only way anything will ever move forward. Whether it be a change of leadership or a rule change to a category, or even a new category being introduced, but that is up to each of us to come to these decisions. Hopefully for the better.

Something I will say though. The game is not going to get any bigger or more popular with the way it is now. As much as recently there was an "attempt" at some form of community day, it should be an eye opener at how and more importantly "why" that fell through. I for one hope to bring Dissidia to a bigger stage, either personally with some marathon submittions or help other runners improve their game so they might feel more comfortable with doing it themselves.

This split in the community has not been all bad though, and we should not be seeing it that way. Quite frankly, I've had great fun within the new Discord. It is such a fresh atomosphere where everyone is on an even playing field. Topics and opinions are discussed as easily as a casual conversation with your mates is, and this is the way we should ALL be with each other. For christ team we are adults at the end of the day. Pull yourselves together.

As a final note, I will refer back to my opening statement, I just want to run the damn game. But if anyone has an idea, or wants me involved, you just need to ask. In the meantime though, I'm gonna keep doing what I've been doing, playing the damn video game.

Hey team! Going to throw in my 2 cents here. FFIX is very up in the air with what is defined as "All Bosses". I in no way mean to discourage or discredit anyones work at an All Bosses run because I am someone who is very grateful to Runners of Ozma% and All Bosses% since it is something I love working on but unfortunately never have a chance to run.

FFIX is a cluster of fights that can be debated whether or not they are a boss fight (I have plenty of notes on this as it would be WAY too much to list here). But we as a community would need to sit down and discuss what IS and what ISN'T a requirement for this category.

I would like to welcome anyone interested in this run or the general mechanics behind it to come together and set out an offical set of requirements for All Bosses.

If you would not mind sharing what you have on this run Serge as I would love to compare it against what I have routed (which is an modification of my Ozma% to fit All Bosses mainly in the optimsation of Frogs).