Just got the clear of the Level 1-50 Main Story in 15 hours, 45 minutes, 39 seconds. That's beats my previous record by nearly 12 minutes. This is despite the fact that I had a really bad party at Brayflox's Longstop. So there is room to lower the record more. We will see how I do next time I try this but for now, enjoy my new World Record!

Awesome, man! GG! I'm gonna try and watch a good chunk of this for some inspiration eventually once I get working internet in a couple weeks. I'm curious about how you handle non-controllable things (like wait times) - I look forward to checking it out.

Is there a category for this on the leaderboard? Also, do you have splits? I was thinking of getting some friends together and running ARR MSQ Premade Any% for Extra Life this year.

I had made the request for the category to be added 3 months ago but the Admins have done nothing. Their "Full Game" leaderboard for whatever reason, doesn't cover actually playing a "full game". But it is obvious that running Any % runs of the game is something that people want to do. I just wish the Admins would take our requests more seriously.

2 things i dont really agree on with your run atm(dont take it wrong), but you make use of the x2 exp which shouldnt be a thing really. Also i wouldnt really agree on using equips that you get from the delivery moogle no matter what it is.

I get what you are saying but these are things that the developers give you. They aren't glitches or cheat codes or anything like that.

But on the other hand, there are other games that offer Any % speedruns with few or no advantages as a separate category. Perhaps that could be an option to have an Any % category like what I have done without restrictions on buffs and a separate category where runs could be done without any buffs or equipment that gives them.

I was about to start a run myself, but it includes the Road to 60 buff, 2 delivery moogle items and some unsync'd dungeon runs (no friends, just PF). I'm not used to long speedruns and am unsure how to handle food/bathroom/sleep patterns, so I thought they'd really help with time.

If it's an MMO with extensive time needed to level, is it really that big of a deal to go faster like this? If the category was established with some rules, it would make it easier to route this sort of thing at least.

in the end, i dont do the rules, community does, as for the road to 60 i can understand the need for that, but any delivery moogle item should not be used imo

But do you speak for the other admins? Do they agree with you?

If you have Armory bonus or any recruit a friend items, it would make it harder for others to be able to do an any% run. Someone who hasnt played to that point could not get the armory bonus needed to do any%.

@Novaura TheNannerpuss12 hasnt been active with this board in forever(also has been inactive from the website in months).
Also MLSTRM hasnt done anything to this board(he was added by the old supermod Token who removed himself last year)

Now, i dont speak for no one, but i have been moderating this board ever since i was added since no one else was keeping it in order(also this board was still set to HW when SB came out so it was not up to date at all).

Anything else you want me to answer?

@kamaheroes the x2 exp is fine, anything else shouldnt be since not everyone will have them.

What about the Brand New Ring from the Hall of the Novice? It is something that the game encourages you to get because the quest line requires you to at the very least visit the Hall.

As well, getting into an FC that gives the Heat of Battle EXP buff also gives 10% more EXP as well as any food you eat is an additional 3% when consumed.

FC shouldnt be allowed tbh, i know everyone can join one, but some people can get added right at the start if they already have someone else ready to add them. As for the ring, if everyone can get it, then i dont see a point in not allowing it.
Food will be allowed if received from quests/vendors.

I am also interested in this category, i was thinking of doing a run this weekend if i had the time.

as for the rules themself,
i will suggest this: - No FC(even if you get spammed)(this rule is still a gray zone)
- No Delivery Moogle
- No premade group(if Coop would be a thing, all characters will have to be brand new and will need to be
recorded. Also no high level will be allowed to join the party outside of the fresh characters)
- No Marketboard

Thoughts on this?

I think those are good rule sets, as I did a run myself the other day I think it would be nice to have a better rule set for runs if a leaderboard will be added. Since I was basically doing the run for fun and not expecting to actually to another one day I did end up using the marketboard near the end of the run, now that I decided to run it more often I'd love to see a better rule set on this.

I could see this is a viable Any% category. It would be important to keep in mind though that since everyone as far as we can tell, who are speedrunning this game have Stormblood, the Ala Mhigan earrings are a bonus for buying the game and people would be inclined to want to use them. I did suggest earlier in the thread that there should be options for variations of running Any % in the game. What you are setting as a series of rules could be the default Any % category. What I ran in my previous Any % runs with the use of the bonus equipment, could be its own category. Many games have variations of Any % speed runs so it would be important for anyone who is interested in doing so that they have an option for the style that they want to run.

If i allow the use of delivery moogle then i would have to allow the use of the Tales of adventure.

Oh, the skip book. Well there could be people as well who want to run through using too and that could be its own category, starting from Level 60. It shows that there is a lot of potential and a lot of variation for running Any%..

Those rules seem fair. I can understand not using buffs that aren't available to all players, I didn't really consider that. I'll figure out my routing again to accommodate.

Here's my take on this sort of Leaderboard being created, and an explanation to rules that should be added to accommodate. I'm new to speedrunning, so correct me on any terminology.

Golden Mission
:::The goal of a run like this is to be a run that can be done "by anyone" from character creation and buying the game for 20$:::
Thus the start and goal of the run should be as follows.

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Timer start would probably be on character creation finish, as soon as you hit the button to confirm the character in which the first cutscene would start. (I think the first cutscene might be unskippable, but they might have changed that.)

And the end of the run would be in the last 2.0 patch where the transition to the new expansion (Heavensward) would happen and the credits roll. This means no expansions are needed, and it would help with pacing among other things. Timer would stop in the start of last cutscene where the 2.5 (Or whichever is the last patch for vanilla) MSQ finishes (Transitioning to credits into Heavensward) before you regain control of character. When you regain control of your character is when the 2.0 MSQ is 100% done and Heavensward quests should come online.
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Considering rules, it should follow the above "mission" for the leaderboard. Here's a list that has already been said, but I'd like to explain a bit on.

Delivery Moogle
Considering I make a new character and, immediately, 12 mails appear in my inventory granting me free gear from chocobo feathers, EXP Boosting Gear which one isn't available now due to a preorder bonus, and some other knick nacks that definitely give me an advantage over others, I agree with not using the Delivery Moogle at all. It's purpose in this case is trading with other players or getting gifts from the developers. Anything in game isn't sent there, and the gifts are dependant on events playing the game after. The goal of a speedrun in this case is to play from scratch, so I'd think to remove it even if it's an intended developer feature. This also prevents the use of bought "skip" items that allows you to immediately level to 60 as well.

Preferred Server 2x EXP Bonus
Players are able to join a "preferred" server to reap the benefit of a global 2x EXP boost which also affects EXP boost items. While this is entirely part of the game, I suggest disallowing this because Square Enix might decide to remove this sort of thing later on and essentially break the leaderboard from there. Rules should abide to the game's "Vanilla" as much as it can, and the bonus is possibly an ongoing campaign that isn't permanent to the game.

Free Company (Guilds)
Free Company (FC), essentially a "Guild" in the MMO allowing multiple players to get together in a singular community, should not be allowed for consistency purposes. FC's have the ability to give FC wide buffs which can affect a run, but while any player can simply pre-plan this and get an invite from a guild which would allow them to reap the benefits, other players without this benefit (From other players mind you) will have to rely on a random FC inviting them and hopefully giving them the proper buffs. It's best to disallow this to keep the core of a speedrun alive and "solo" in the sense.

Marketboard and Trading
An obvious reason, using the marketboard is an in game feature, as well as trading, but this, sadly, is dependent 100% on other players and can possibly "boost" the runner heavily. Even simple items and materials are affected by this, but the run won't be heavily impacted. The main story quests rarely need anything from there, and in the beginning one of the quests require you to gear up with armor that is "Item Level" 5, which the cheapest and fastest way to get is by buying it from a vendor. The Marketboard adds possibly needless inconsistencies to this sort of thing.

Premade Parties
Parties, or "Groups" would pretty much be disallowed depending on the run itself. A "Coop" run would allow this if everyone followed the rules which would allow everyone to be in a party, but this would be in a separate leaderboard. Parties allow players who have already played the game join in and affect the run drastically that can potentially make the run require another player. So these sort of things should be separated and disallowed entirely.

Other
One thing I want to mention is that during the main story, there are many parts in the game where you are required to "queue" up in a dungeon to join in a part of 4-8 to clear the dungeon and move past that point. However, players here are "Level Synced" and are mostly in a set "power" if they're above a certain level for the dungeon. With Duty Roulettes, they gain a bonus to experience for helping out lower level players get through these dungeons. This feels balanced enough to allow and makes the run have actual IRL timing (The run would optimally start at a certain time to play the game through the most populated time of the game to ensure little queue times) and is pretty much the only acceptable "RNG" and "Outside Player Influence" I can see.

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Let me know if I got anything wrong, however. I'd love to do a speedrun for this game in this sort of category.

I also want to add that this can be a category specifically to a run designed for a "Fresh no prior help" thing. There can be a separate category similar to "Any" where it abolishes most of the rules save for specific rules (Preferred Bonus to prevent the breaking of the leaderboard, Book Skip due to possibility of costing money every run) and lets the runner do whatever it takes to get to that last cutscene. This comes at a cost where not everyone will be able to do said run proper since as said, some items are unable to be retrieved that helps now.

The rules i see from TheGandalf i can agree on.
I'm concidering to do one when i get my new pc.
I also strongly agree on the no 2x exp from being on a preffered server and i fail to see the difference between allowing preffered server and letting us use exp gear from pre-orders or recruit a friend.
These rules obviously would also apply to 1-60 (heavensward) or 1-70 (stormblood)
Although how would stormblood currently work since ARR and HW are done while SB is still ongoing and 4.4 is set to release mid september.