This has most likely been suggested before but would it be feasible to have Beginner, Intermediate, and Expert categories for speed runners, and their speed runs?
Wherein if you're a beginner, you can hold the best run in the Beginner category of a game in comparison to other beginners, and the same for the Intermediate and Expert categories. And when you surpass the time of someone in a higher category, you would then go from Beginner to Intermediate, and the same for those doing so in Intermediate, to then go through to Expert.
It might be a pain to manage though, and to figure out what time would indicate which category a speed runner is ranked under, among some other things I probably haven't thought of.
What does everyone think about this concept?
So basically a Ranking-System based on your Speedruns? The question hereby is: How do you balance it?
People can submit their own games on the Site, some games have little to no runners and "easy"/un-optimized runs which can give you WR without big effords. Also, some Games are way more technical and require more practice and knowledege. For example: Is a WR in a newly released Game as much worth as a SMW-WR? You'd also have to check the category for each game then so yea.
Including to these difficulties, what about runs on out-sourced leaderboards such as for the MegaMan Leaderboards which don't show up here? Another thing is, that people only get points by speedrunning. But what about the people who are active in the Forums or in the community in general? Don't they deserve Points as well?
Bringing up an Idea should also come with some thoughts and at least a basic System/Implementation/Example how and why something should be done like you describe it. At least that's my opinion. Which doesn't mean your Idea is bad, just maybe not thought through yet.
Thanks for your feedback! You are definitely right, it isn't thought through yet. I am new to how the Leaderboards on this site work, and wasn't aware of the points system either. I guess this idea would be something to do if you were coming up with your own site for speed runs and built that in from the beginning as to how the site works. At least in the way this idea is currently.
If you wanted to specifically execute your idea, then it would be possible on any individual leaderboard by a game mod. Simply create three categories, and state in the rules what time ranges should be submitted to which category.
I don't think it would be feasible, site-wide. Further more, the issue is already resolved in various other ways, depending on the games. Some examples of categories that account for different levels of difficulty are glitch/glitch less, skip/skipless, or any X/X-less, where X equals a difficult element of a game. There are also games like some Mario games that have a category progression that presents a nice learning curve. That said, the runs within those categories are not ranked by difficulty.
Personally, I think it would be nice if more games made clear what a reasonable time looks like, so that I know about how long a game might be at a beginner level. But, I can always make a good guess or contact a runner. I don't think an entirely new system would be necessary for that.
By the way, there is no points system. Either I read something incorrectly, or PreFiXAUT misinterpreted your idea.
Yea I think I got it wrong :O I was thinking about a Ranking-System on this Site which shows you how "good" of a speedrunner you are or how active you are on the site similar to ranks on most forums.
If I get the idea right, it's to group runs in leaderboards in "skill-groups" to give an easier overview of the runs/quality. If it is that, then I gotta say: Great Idea and I really like it.
I guess an implementation/setting to do it would either be manual by picking the groups by hand or by saying something similar to everything under X min and Y sec is grade Z.
A concept like this is just completely arbitrary, is the thing. There's no way to judge this in a fair manner, and time/skill does not necessarily relate to experience with the game. I don't really see how this would be an improvement on the current system of leaderboards, where the better players are simply further up the rankings, that really tells you whatever you need to know about where people lie in a game on a percentile scale. Standards of measurement would also be entirely different across different games, also.
"Standards of measurement would also be entirely different across different games, also."
I agree with your sentiment, though I will say that the idea could feasibly be implemented on a game-by-game basis, just as any category currently is.
That's just to comment on the technicality of your final statement.
I don't really see the point. Sorry.
Honestly it makes me think of this (though this leaderboard has been cleaned up since this screenshot was taken) 
Thanks for more feedback on this. I'm just learning about all the different terminology, and concepts related to speed running, so this is all helping me gain a better understanding. The only thing I was thinking of with this concept was making it so that if you were new to speed running, if you wanted to, your goal could be to get the best time in the Beginner category, knowing that you're not yet ready to get a much better outcome on the same level as those runners who have achieved great runs that are way beyond your current skill level. But I didn't think of any of the other things that were brought up by people who replied in this thread.
"if you were new to speed running, if you wanted to, your goal could be to get the best time in the Beginner category, knowing that you're not yet ready to get a much better outcome on the same level as those runners who have achieved great runs that are way beyond your current skill level."
Nah, see I don't like any of this and frankly I think it belies an unhealthy approach to speedrunning in general. It seems to treat "speedrunning" as one skillset that some people have and some people don't and you hone this "speedrun" skill as you go, when in reality it's all about practice and familiarity with the individual game. While I'm certain there's a certain mindset that does better in speedrunning, some people have that mindset from the outset, it's something you can learn but not something everyone needs to learn. Some people are just driven as fuck when they first start out.
If you want to set a reasonable goal for yourself when you're not as familiar with the game as others, just...set a reasonable goal for yourself? I dunno why you need a divisional breakdown to accomplish this.
This system sounds bad to me purely because it creates an additional layer, maybe even just psychologically, between a new runner and the perceived "elite". Let me hit you with some real talk, the "elite" of your favourite speedgame? Random chucklefucks who've practiced a lot and gotten good with basically just raw determination and willpower. That's not to downplay the accomplishments of anyone at all, but rather to point out that you too are such a random chucklefuck and you need not concern yourself with the distinction between a "Beginner" and an "Expert", simply aim to be as good as you can and you too may find yourself among your game's top players.
I'm sure people have stated it above, but it ultimately comes down to the fact of balancing. When i see Expert, I see someone that one would have a great amount of time and knowledge with a game to the point that they know how all the skips or steps in a specific speedrun. So if such a thing existed, it would be that you would have reset your name off a leaderboard if you move up or down the difficulty. In the end though, people would end up stating with Beginner just to stay high on the leaderboards. Not many people would specifically go out of their way to learn the route for the Expert leaderboards.