Why Do People Speedrun?
3 years ago

The Title Sums It Up Well :)

Vermont, USA
Ivory
He/Him, She/Her, They/Them
3 years ago

funny

Walgrey and TheSecondTry like this
French Southern Territories

fun, challenge, stuff like that

storster and summoning salt both made videos on the subject

Ivory, Granolant and 3 others like this
Argentina

Personally, I started speedrunning because it adds a lot of replayability to old games I loved playing as a kid.

With single player games, I normally don't revisit them unless I never actually finished them or a long time has passed since the last time I played them, so really speedrunning was the perfect excuse to start playing them again.

After a while I also found out that speedrunning the game changed my outlook on it, and it was generally an entirely new experience. Playing a game casually is one thing, but mastering a game's movement and speed techs to reach new heights in your play feels really rewarding, and while I may not be the best in any of the games I've ran in the past, I can certainly feel proud of how far I've come from my nooby self back when I started attempting runs for all of them (that's not to say I'm not still a noob though, just marking some progression LUL ).

Also, being bored and having a little challenge for yourself is always a good motivation. :)

Edited by the author 3 years ago
Sandstorm187, Ivory and 8 others like this
European Union

I speedrun to get girls (I get lots of girls 😎)

Baldic, Sandstorm187 and 10 others like this
Texas, USA

There's a whole spectrum of reasons people do the thing, but some of the more common I've seen are:

  • I played this game a lot when times were better. Playing it reminds me of those times and I like having an excuse to play it. (Though one is not required)
  • Wait, there are other people who feel this way? Yay new friends!
  • Dang, this person is good at this. But I know everything about this game, and I think I can do better!
  • I want to showcase my favorite game, but I've already played through it or it's really short.
  • Racking up internet points makes me feel good. Look at all the games I've played!
  • Racking up internet points makes me feel good. Look at all the games I've spliced together!
  • Idk I was bored and y'all looked like you were enjoying yourselves.
  • Ok I'm gonna be late for work if I don't leave in the next 5 minutes. (Not a reason, but the truth)

I do the thing bc I want to, ha! Some people watch TV or build models or other hobbies, and this one's mine. Broadcasting is my way of punching social anxiety in the face. The SR community is full of great people who are not afraid to be themselves, and they accept everyone for who they are. Honestly, I feel at home here. I went to GDQ one time before the world ended, and the people who are dedicated enough to hold the event and attend it are the best kinds of people.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk

Edited by the author 3 years ago
Sandstorm187, ckellyspeedruns and 9 others like this
Glamorganshire, Wales

hate myself

Ivory, TheSecondTry and 3 others like this
United States

Can't speak for anyone else, but I do it for a good number of the reasons already listed here.

Sometimes I do runs when I'm creatively blocked on other projects. That way, it's kinda procrastination, and kinda not, and doing some routing can often get me back to working again.

That, and few things do beat that feeling you get when you really start mastering the mechanics of a game.

Washington, USA

People speedrun like if they are to good at the game they can speedrun its fun and the feeling how good you feel after you get a pb or world record

Valhalla

cause we're degenerates

TheSecondTry and Ivory like this
United Kingdom

The challenge, the community, the competitiveness, the love, and the glory

Edited by the author 3 years ago
Brazil

had to try after watching so many GoldenEye youtube vids

james likes this
Ontario, Canada

I like to speedrun because I have a competitive personality, and racing against / challenging myself is very satisfying. I get to be competitive without worrying about other people or things outside of my control, while talking about games I love with like minded people. I also find the repetition of runs to be relaxing and almost meditative which allows me to focus my brain on the task at hand instead of thinking about a thousand different things at once.

United States

I was in and out of hospitals a lot as a kid and some kind soul donated an incredible amount of NES stuff to the hospital I was in a lot. There wasn't much variety of games, so eventually the kids in the ward started keeping track of times and competing for fastest times to certain levels and things. Made for a ton of replayability. It kinda became a natural part of the way I played games after that, weirdly enough.

I was very excited to see with the advent of SDA back in 2004 that it was a thing! Took 15 years, but I finally decided to give it a real try and record stuff for some of my favorites.

TheSecondTry, MrMonsh and 3 others like this
Los Angeles, CA, USA

Personnaly, I mainly speedrun to -Challenge myself -Find an excuse to beat deltarune and give up after the king kills me a billion times despite once acctually being GOOD at it -Try to get better at games and the list goes on and on i could talk about it for hours but honestly those are the main reasons i do it The reasons honestly depend on the person though

MrMonsh likes this
United Kingdom

I speedrun cos I love to push the games I enjoy and my skill at such games to their absolute limits.

United States

For competition and to add more fun/skill to somewhat boring games.