The % categories
3 years ago
French Southern Territories

These really annoy me, things that the site says is ok such as any%, low% and 100% are fine but things like death% and lots of others are annoying, especially when the site moderation rules specifically go against it. Is there anything that can be done about categories like this. For some of the games that have them I have tried contacting the mods but they just say no or don’t respond.

MinecraftGaming likes this
Pays de la Loire, France

It's not against rules actually. It's not recommended. Not the same thing.

Nordanix, Symystery and 3 others like this
Canada

Yeah, the moderation rules are worded very specifically:

[quote=Moderation Rules]The site discourages usage of a % sign after an arbitrary category name...[/quote]

Edited by the author 3 years ago
Symystery, 1 and 2 others like this
French Southern Territories

Ok but I think I see to many with an arbitrary name with a % sign

MinecraftGaming likes this
Netherlands

I agree. You can start by changing it on the games you mod yourself:

https://www.speedrun.com/hcr - Misc category called "Death%" https://www.speedrun.com/ninjaroy3 - Hacked% https://www.speedrun.com/nr_ninja_steve - Softlock% and Custom% and a Misc category called Slowrun%

Edited by the author 3 years ago
SpikyLlama, Reverse and 12 others like this
French Southern Territories

Done for https://www.speedrun.com/nr_ninja_steve did not know about those, sorry.

MinecraftGaming likes this
Italy

In my opition putting % to certain categories adds some flair to them, and works really well with meme categories. But that's just my opinion%

Edited by the author 3 years ago
SpikyLlama, Nordanix and 6 others like this
Texas, USA

I don't prefer it, but if it's there, I read it as "The percentage it takes to complete (a tangible achievement) and optionally finish the game." If it couldn't easily fit into this sentence, then it should be renamed.

For instance, Softlock% makes sense to me. Dual Lasers Radio in Hole%, without judging the merit of the category, also makes sense. It's the percentage of the game completed to get the radio in the hole.

Singleplayer Noclip% does not make sense because there is no tangible achievement aside from completing regular Any% with the "noclip" command.

Quivico likes this
Finland

when i see the % sign i think of a value in some form like any% is just beat the game the % you get at the end doesnt matter, but then the softlock% doesnt make sense to me as in how much is softlock% out of 100%(or what ever the game has as its max completion %)?:P

but yes it might work for some meme categories

Edited by the author 3 years ago
Quivico likes this
European Union

% means a numerical value. 100% is a number, Any% signifies any number. Softlock% isnt a number, unless you want to call it 5.294% or something.

Symystery, Hako and 4 others like this
Scotland

Maybe showing my age, but the "%" is just a speedrunning tradition and I love it personally.

Like any good joke, it can be overdone, but I simply can't imagine getting annoyed at seeing "Softlock%" for instance as it's just speedrunning lingo and adds a bit of flair.

Nordanix, Hako and 3 others like this
United States

I'm a purist; using percentages comes from numerical percentage categories, so that defines the tradition for me. I'm only half comfortable with using it to indicate specific goals, but it's better than attaching% a% percent% symbol% to% any noun%. This habit may come from the outside-in "global speedrunner culture" defined by popular content creators and their young fans. Credit where it's due, but to me it feels immature, as if these speedrun fans are more interested in "feeling like a speedrunner" than the reality of being a speedrunner. (Not that I don't do the same...) Meme categories get free passes because their names are designed to be funny, so juxtaposing nouns with percent symbols works.

On the topic of category names, thoughts on lowercase categories (any% as opposed to Any%)? I'm not a fan.

Edited by the author 3 years ago
SioN, Walgrey, and Pear like this
Washington, USA
EmeraldAly
She/Her, They/Them
3 years ago

I prefer lower-case and have been bullied into capitalizing it in the past :D

Washington, USA
EmeraldAly
She/Her, They/Them
3 years ago

But as for the original topic, % should only go after a number or a word describing a completion percentage (any, low, max). Some games have a 200% or something like that, obviously that's fine too. But no "all bosses%" or "hard mode%" or such, that's just dumber than a bag of rocks.

Bob-chicken likes this
French Southern Territories

My main problem is things like this https://www.speedrun.com/brawl_stars It just has too many.

MinecraftGaming likes this
Ohio, USA

you can feel free to become a crusader against the overuse of percent signs, as i and many others choose to do. however, just because the site recommends not using % doesn't mean it's against the rules- it just makes it bad practice.

it's not against the rules to have category names that are abhorrent.

ckellyspeedruns and Quivico like this
Scotland

If I ever find a suitable game, I'm making an abhorrent% category one day ;)

SpikyLlama likes this

https://i.redd.it/sar67dbzf5h51.png

Leelo, Pear and 5 others like this