There seems to be quite a few runs on this site - including WRs - where speedrunners:

1. Have "verified" their own runs
2. Are mods of forum for the game they have run
3. Are expected to "verify" competing runs against theirs

To have the same runner(s) control the rules, forums, submissions and verifications (their own and competing) for a game they hold the record(s) for is a blatant conflict of interest.

Runs being verified and modded by the same tight cliques raises the same problems.

Life has many unexpected turns as twists, doesn't it? Certainly didn't expect all of this! Anyway, it's all a storm in a teacup. DrTChops was kind enough to create the category despite his reservations, and if no-one else is interested in running glitchless for DE:MD, then there really is no need or point to keep it. My plan was just to get in there first before members of the PC master race came along, anyway.

@Floubz: As much as it gladdens my heart to encounter rare individuals willing to stand their ground and take the on the rest of the world "gangsta style" (and believe me, it does), it's probably better to save that time and energy for real life!

@ Matse007: OK, I think I see what's going here. The point of the run I did has nothing to do with cloaking, dashing, particular tactics, etc - just "Foxiest of Hounds" criteria as fast as possible. Over-use of the cloak is nowhere near as interesting as AI manipulation - true - but the idea was to at least start with something and improve on that (i.e. less cloak, more dashing and risky strats, etc.). Early runs are usually less than impressive.

@Cookieforu: The same could be argued for exploiting glitches and OoB; viewers moan all the time about these tactics not constituting "proper runs". I don't feel that way, but (again) I do enjoy watching runners go through games "properly" as fast as possible (it is hard to follow what is going on with some any% runs). Still, am new to the speedrunning "community" so if glitches are what it's all about, so be it.

@DrTChops: Well, after trying to contribute what I can here to help others (not much I know), submitting my own run according to the rules, and asking for a very common category, I didn't expect to have a mod move the goal posts based on his own personal feelings about what boring crap the run is with the obvious intention of trying to publicly embarrass me about it. If you think it's "just using cloak more" then let's see you do it, especially without changing strats and routes for power management. And show me how this applies to knocking out a dozen guards quickly in the last mission.

@Heinki: Appreciate the better way you handled this. Glitchless may be boring to you, but not everyone else. I prefer watching these runs personally (e.g. The Last of Us). Absolute Zero% is possible, but spending more time in vents would be even more boring, I suspect. Wasn't aware two categories (any% and glitchless) could so easily add up to 10.

Still, you are both right - it is meant to be just for fun. Since panties are getting twisted, go ahead and remove the "glitchless" category from the boards and my run with it. I am sure I can cope just fine without formal verification to slap "WORLD RECORD!!!!!!!" on my videos (which will easily be smashed by PC players, anyway) :P

@DrTChops: Not quite sure why you're trying to act like a patronising dick, but I'm sure you have your reasons. You don't seem to have a problem with slapping "world record" on your videos when you can either; I don't think any speed runner does given that's kind of the point. Do you? :)

Keyboard warriors.

Glitchless yes, but also meeting the "foxiest of hounds" criteria on the "give me deus ex" difficulty. I wouldn't say it is any%. Saying that, it seems a few seconds of footage are missing from the stream, so I'll have to do it again, anyway.

Hi mods,

Thanks for accepting my run, although it is not any%. Any way to create a new category?

Full ghost in 02:55, thanks to extra door code from the google doc.

New strats (using two boxes) by "Some Chemical Load" to retrieve the DSD quickly:

Full ghost in 03:07 and saved a gas grenade thanks to new strats at the end. Using the Icarus Strike essentially teleports Jensen closer to the ground and knocks out the PITA shooter. Using cloak at the top of the escalator seems to consistently avoid detection, but still a risky strat due to NPCs getting in the way and stray bullets. 03:05 is possible, but it's time to move on.

Mission 11 OoB Level Skip video by BenevolentLife (doesn't seem to be already posted):

@ your_name_here: Thanks - run time is now 03:16. Missed the deactivation of the cloak at the end (landed right in front of a shooter), but saved by the gas grenade (a distraction as much as to subdue). Will link once uploaded.

Edit:

Am thinking we could have a thread per level to help compare strats, routes, etc.

Here's a glitchless (and pacificist) run of the prologue in 03:32:

Run starts at 0:25. Ghost sub 03:30 is definitely possible (did it in an earlier 04:25 attempt). Especially - no doubt - with PC controls.

Pretty straightforward run using the same AI tricks from Human Revolution (e.g. getting them to turn the wrong way). Unfortunately missed out on ghost xp bonus.