Is there any particular reason for why turbo is banned?

I definitely would like to get into learning how to run it, but I have no interest in mashing a button for 2-3 hours. (hats off to those of you who can)

Because turbo is banned by default in the western communities. JP categories allow turbo because that's their custom.

Just because it's banned by default in Western communities, doesn't make it a bad idea to adopt for certain categories. Even more so with games where mashing takes up a large part of the game play. Doesn't make sense and restricts people who may want to start speedrunning this game.

There's been some discussion about creating a turbo category for psx any% run before, and I don't think even that is a good idea. Allowing turbo straight up for boosters runs is even worse of an idea IMO, and creating a turbo category of a niche category makes even less sense to me. Not to mention that boosters run only lasts a couple hours compared to the 7h+ that any% runs last for.

Turbo may be allowed in FF9 PC, but that doesnt mean it should also be allowed for FF8. If you're serious about sparking a discussion on the matter, you probably are going to need to come up with a better justification than not wanting to mash x for 3 hours, especially when regular runs already do that for 2.5x the length.

That being said, you are still more than welcome to run the category with turbo and not submit your time to the leaderboards. Just because turbo is banned from ranking in this game, doesnt mean you arent allowed to use it at all. There are several speedruns where my time on the leaderboards is massively slower and outdated compared to my "actual PB" and skill level simply because I felt like using turbo and not submitting the time.

Remember, at the end of the day, the most important thing you get out of speedrunning is not a number ranking next to your name, its the enjoyment you feel when doing a run. Do whatever you find fun.

Turbo would be great for PSX runs as well, the only reason I understand why it isn't allowed in non-JP is because that's what the rules have been. I do not think that is a good reason. It's really just as simple as creating a new category, which I can't imagine being that difficult. This is the main leaderboard for the Final Fantasy series now, and I think each category should have representation for times.

I would agree that there would have to be a community consensus as to what to allow on the leaderboard, and I see that the support for that just is not there yet. However, I don't see the harm in having the option for those categories to be there for people who choose to run that category.

Tradition is not the only reason turbo is not allowed. FF9 PSX leaderboards is one of the biggest reasons I don't think a turbo category is a good idea. It will end up being a pointless category where you can try to do normal any% runs and if you don't think you can PB anymore, switch to a turbo controller for the last X minutes and get a PB/WR in turbo category.

Another big reason for not allowing turbo is that it increases the cost of entry to be competitive. Turbo controllers are not super easy to come by, either.

If you want to run with turbo and be included in the leaderboards, you always have the option of running JP version.