I assume it means an external Timer? Way to isolate Steam Deck users from submitting runs here, especially those who don't have an HDMI capture setup for it.

You can add a timer before you upload. It's the standard.

Problem is, I would have to add a timer to the video through a video editor.

Do not require a timer on a video unless there is a good reason to do so. A good reason might be a game that uses an auto-splitter to track time without loads.

https://www.speedrun.com/support/learn/moderation-rules

(1) All other runs have the timer. (2) Another good reason is that a timer has been the standard for these runs. Upload your runs without a timer but provide a start and end time to make the verification process a smooth operation.

Those are some good reasons to need a timer in the video of these runs.

And if you provide a video without a timer, please provide the information that requires verification in the description or title of the video.

(1) All other runs have the timer.

Because something has always been done wrong is not a "good reason" to continue doing it wrong

(2) Another good reason is that a timer has been the standard for these runs.

Same argument, same response

In contrast, there are many reasons to not require a timer (besides the obvious "it's what every other RTA game does and it's literally in site rules")

(1) Not everyone can add a timer.

It requires a relatively complex setup. Need OBS or a desktop capturing device. Need a timer, such as googling "timer" and having it always on screen, or having to add it as a new capture source. Set up livesplit or flitter.

While you may be familiar with how to set up one of these, it's not reasonable to expect everyone to be. It is much easier to capture just the game. There are many programs out there that let you only capture one program at a time, because really you might not want to have your whole computer on video. Video capture cards also work like this, where they only capture the game / console, and no timer since consoles generally do not have timers

(2) As a verifier you should not trust, rely, or even use a runner provided timer

There are innocent reasons as to not do so. First of all, runners are not frame perfect as to when they start and stop, leading to inaccurate time measurements

But more importantly, a malicious runner may employ techniques to fake a given timer subtly. The most obvious way is probably just slowing it down a bit. In the short term it may not make a difference, but over the course of a full run it does

Likewise with the description provided timer information. That's just easier to straight up lie

In conclusion, there are good reasons why every RTA game operates this way, and no real reason I can see to not do so for MvC2