Set bounties on WR!
4 years ago

Hey Speedrunners, I am not a Speedrunner my self (lacking patience).. But I really enjoy watching you guys destroy childhood memories :D

A couple of days ago I released my challenge platform called BET-CHA.

BET-CHA is a challenge platform which centers around creating challenges and funding video content.

This concept can be perfectly used to create challenges and beat records. Gather an audience and fundings (bounties) for speedrunning-challenges and create even more motivation to beat records.

Here is a challenge for sm64 120 star run: https://bet-cha.com/challenge/5ce14d57af7b11375b9f04c1

Here is a quick explainer video:

I really would like to know what you guys think and if you could see BET-CHA as an tool/addition to the usual procedure of speedrunning. We just started and have many ideas to develop the platform further. But to push it in the right direction we need your help and feedback.

So pound out your keyboard! <3

  • PAGO
Valhalla

The first thing that comes to mind is "what's in it for you?" How much of a cut do you take? The fake as hell solo comment on that vid is cute, but I'll ignore it.

Bounties are a very odd thing in speedrunning. They're typically set by other runners, not by viewers. The goal of whatever your site is seems to be to "crowdfund" money to throw at a challenge. Fair enough, but the number of people actually funding it couldn't ever possibly get that high. If it did, and someone beats a challenge, well, is the payout guaranteed? Once again, what's your cut?

There's a much more troublesome issue that occurs with this sort of thing, also. Especially if the money pool actually got large...

What's to stop someone from cheating? People already do it without a financial guarantee (though some do in fact profit) it's never certain. By creating an incentive, what's to stop some nobody from creating an impossible-to-disprove run and taking off with the money?

Ultimately I'd say if you want to support a runner financially on their quest for WR, do it to them directly instead.

ShikenNuggets and DarQ like this
New Brunswick, Canada

I agree with Komrade, I personally have thought about looking for bounties on games before, high scores or speedruns, but I never found much because I dont feel like it is a very big thing.

people will cheat for the money if they can, and like Komrade said people do cheat now anyway so with money on the line they will just do it more.Now I'm not saying that bounties are bad, but I just dont think there should be a full site dedicated to crowdfunding bounties.

Another thing is what if someone doesnt know about the site? Say I run SM64 120 star and didnt know this bounty was a thing, and got the world record, would you notify me that I won it? Or would it go to the next person to beat it and reach out to you saying they did?

all in all, I don't think many people will be doing much with this site, but still all the power to you to try and get it going.

Canada

In addition to the points @Komrade brought up.. if the pot gets ridiculously large on some of these challenges, what's to stop you, the platform owner, from just taking the money and running? Having a third-party hold onto the money to guarantee that whoever's putting up the money actually pays up is a nice idea, but all I really see this doing is introducing an unreliable middle-man into an already somewhat-tricky situation.

ShadowFlare7799 likes this
Pennsylvania, USA

I support this site and the admin as well. I think it is a great idea and we speedrunners/pro gamers such as ourselves me included should be getting paid for our time. If competitive players that play street fighter or cs:go are getting paid a lot of money or even sc2 which generates millions of dollars, why can't speedrunning? You would need companies footing the bill along with sponsors to front the cash the same way instead of just viewers but this is a great idea to start with. Pro Gaming as stated in articles does generate more money than even the NFL so I can see this taking off in the near future with speedrunning. People cheat in pro leagues but there are few people that do but they eventually get caught same as in speedrunning/pro gaming. I don't see this as an obstacle to be honest. If SDA can generate multi million dollars in their charity speedruns than companies can foot the bill for it to pay the players, I can't see the issue except maybe with game selection and social politics being the only real obstacle but I'm sure with managers in the scene and referees they can help branch out all genres of gaming so that it isn't a problem plus the speedrunning community is already spread in modern and classic games as well as many different platforms so this would work.

Pennsylvania, USA

I dont think he'd rip people off nugget but I'm sure a lot of people are not without skepticism or the fear of losing money but I think this is a bankable site until something higher up gets going.

Canada

[quote=ShadowFlare7799]I dont think he'd rip people off nugget[/quote]

I'm not saying they would (I have no idea who this person is or what they would or wouldn't do), I'm saying they can and there's not really anything to stop them. That on its own is a pretty damn good reason not put any money into that site, even if you trust the owner for whatever reason.

Edited by the author 4 years ago
Iowa, USA

I wonder what the IRS thinks.

ShikenNuggets likes this
Iowa, USA

Also, not to double post but I am also curious if you would require a gaming commission license. Which even if you don't, if there are large enough sums of money I can't see this flying pass IRS with flying colors and looking at the Legal Notice terms and Code of Conduct is a literal joke that not much has been thought about.

Edit: Actually it's even worst, the entire operation is in Germany. The entire thing seems uneasy to me in a lot of ways already, the user also only has a single post and joined hours ago. I feel this is nothing more than a way to scam users, I'm locking this thread for the safety of others.

Edited by the author 4 years ago