So I've recently gotten into speedrunning because it has always interested me watching things like gdq and stuff. I haven't really been trying to get world records, so much as I want to challenge myself.
So my question is, do you guys speedrun to try and get world records (because hey, who wouldn't want one?), or do you guys speedrun for the fun/challenge?
Also, can I safely say this site is proof of world record runs?
Depends on if I think I'm good enough at the game to get a world record.
And yes, usually the world records are kept up to date on this site. If in doubt (i.e. it's an unpopular game with not-so-active mods) you can do some googling and see if you find any runs that are better.
WR's are not a motivating factor for me. For me to speedrun a game, I must love the game, love the run (these are NOT the same thing -- one of my favourite games ever has a horrifically boring speedrun), and be willing to grind it. The only person I care about time-wise is myself. If I get a rekky, that's super, but it'll never be what motivates me.
If you run a game to get WR and you are the only one running it, it's kind of dumb. A WR isn't a goal. The Goal is to get a decent time, having a time you are happy with.
Just to add a different voice, I will say that speed running in an attempt to get a world record is perfectly fine and worthwhile, if that's the type of competitor you are. I am personally motivated to at least match the world records in any game that I run. There are many steps and goals between picking up a game and the possibility of achieving the record, and it will likely serve a runner well to focus on the steps in between, rather than the record--but that's not to say that any step is more important than another. Running a game with the goal of reaching the world record can be fun, as long as you recognize that it isn't a guarantee. You have to put aside your ego. You can strive for records without coveting records.
I run for a mix of everything. The replay value, competition, thrill to perfection and to climb the WR ladder
@FurryWulfz
"chances are it is gonna hurt even more when someone better at that game than you comes and takes that title away."
Or it will become even more fun, knowing that you can do even better. That's the way I see it.
Also, do you know of any other examples like niconico? Besides sites like Mega Man and Donkey Kong, do you know of any other communities out there?
making an edit...pending...(done) That's how I see "trying to get a WR". It's not about holding the title. It's about all of the things that everyone keeps mentioning: trying to do your best, enjoying the game, etc. WR isn't a title, it's a threshold that can be achieved. If one person has done it, then it can be repeated, and therein lies the challenge and fun. The fun is in trying to do better, and that comes with the inevitability of someone having done the best, so far. The presence of a WR is a result of a community of people playing the game, not of an individual accomplishment. The presence of a personal record is the result of an individual playing a game. It's not about bragging and being the best. It's about the realization that recording times makes it inevitable that someone will be the fastest, that someone else may do it even faster, and that a "WR" is a symptom of that process. In that sense, I believe WRs matter, no matter how many other people are in a community, so long as there is one person trying to better themselves. In the same way, that's why personal records matter on an individual basis, for all of the reasons mentioned by everyone in this thread. One of my favorite runners to watch is Aquas. He holds the record in Ultimate Ghouls n Ghosts, where he is the only runner. His one goal is to match the time of a segmented run from Speed Demos Archive. Even though I don't even play that game, I still hold his accomplishments with that game in high regard, because of how motivated he is to better his time, even though no one else plays the game. His personal record matters to me, and there are many other people who enjoy watching him play the game. Despite the small scale on which it might matter (there are many more important things in my life, let alone the games I run myself), it does still matter.
I do agree that WRs are redundant, and it is especially apparent in games where the top ten players all have the exact same time, or only a few seconds off. Games like that especially illustrate my thoughts. For games like that, WR doesn't exist as a title. It simply exists as the fastest that most people are able to do, give-or-take. And since most runners likely start by watching the better runs, then it becomes a cyclical process where, essentially, the community as a whole is trying to reach the same goal. Wouldn't it be fun if every Mario 64 player had the exact same WR time? It would literally (sorry, I'm officially in rambling mode) It would literally be a "world record"--a record held by the world (i.e., community), which is how I already see every WR.
"just because one person can obtain something doesn't mean you are able to do the same"
I agree. When I say something like "If one person has done it, then it can be repeated", I don't mean by everyone, by every individual. I mean in general. It can be repeated by someone, and there are elements that can be repeated by anyone, which are the smaller goals that an individual can set for themselves.
Also, you won't necessarily end up hating the game. That will only happen if you have the wrong mindset. Part of setting goals is finding out what you are capable of. At that point, you have created your own world with your own record to achieve. Part of understanding what you're capable of is also understanding how much disappointment you are capable of handling. If you don't tilt, then you can set your goals as high as you want and never get frustrated. Your goals don't need to be small. They just need to be manageable for whatever your mindset might be.
When I say "Or it will become even more fun, knowing that you can do even better", maybe I mean "knowing that a better time is possible by someone, anyone (since it has been done)". If there is a better time, then I will see what I need to improve in my own runs to try achieving that time. I'm personally more likely to get bored and stop playing than to start hating the game and give up. It all depends on your mindset. "Can do", for me, doesn't equate to "will do". I "can do" anything. Anything is possible, but that doesn't mean that it is possible for me to do anything. But, that won't stop me from doing the things that I actually can and will do, and it won't stop me from attempting to do things that I may end up being unable to do. Part of my mindset is that I don't get upset if something is out of reach. I either keep pushing forward, or I move on to something more engaging. I've never completed a 100-mile run, but I would like to eventually. Even if I'm an old man and still haven't been able to do it, I'm not going to stop running.
That's what I was attempting to illustrate :D
WR is a byproduct of having a leaderboard.
@furrywulfz
Also, do you have any more examples like niconico or other communities of runners, other than mega man, donkey Kong, and (I think) Zelda?
Edit: Also, if there is no community surrounding a game, then it very well can be an individual effort, but your point still stands for speed running on the whole. I'd also say that the goal of any runner that isn't ego-driven is to ultimately increase a game's publicity and build a community, however small.
Aiming for WR is always a good ambition to have. Even in uncontested games, the only time in which having WR is nothing special is when a runner is content to just set ANY 1st place time, then they sit on their laurels and don't improve it any further. I got the record for Sparkster - Easy a while ago now and have since pushed it further than I originally thought possible, and I'm still trying to further optimise the category. Waiting for my newest PB to be verified as we speak, actually.
As far as games with multiple runners goes, someone new aiming for WR is often the best thing that can happen for the game. Take a look at the WR history graph for QuackShot to see what I mean: http://www.speedrun.com/quackshot/gamestats
Months of relative inactivity, then a new runner comes along and challenges what we all thought was a very optimised time, the result being that the WR is now over 40 seconds faster than what it previously was.
Yeah, a huge motivator for me is when I see the following, amongst other things: a comment on a WR such as "this game is dead" or "I'm done here", implying that the run will never be surmounted; boards with a single, blind or otherwise lazily unoptimized run; and games where the record was smashed, so the community seems to have given up trying. On the flip side, I also enjoy getting into games with a single, motivated runner, or a small community.
I may be full of crap. I got bopped for my only contested WR yesterday, and I instantly fired up my stream when I heard (got it back in 2 hours). I actually felt a liiiiiiittle tiny bit bad about how fast I bopped my rival back. Might have been nice to give him 1 day on top at least :P
^ It's easy to say WRs don't mean anything to you when you don't actually hold any. It's very unlikely that people wouldn't care about their records being taken when they've put time and effort into it, specifically if they were the ONLY people to do so prior to that.
The competition is unequivocally a good thing. I was at 27:34 yesterday, fully aware that there was gobs of time still to save. I figured I'd whittle it down little by little over the days and weeks. Then a 27:04 went up, and by the end of the day I had a 26:49. Fire, meet ass.