Before we start making any rules for Spyro 2 100% we want to get it clarified what we should do with FDS in said category. Therefore I've made a survey that we'd like for you guys to answer. Whatever get's the most votes, is what we will use as the rule for the Spyro 2 100% leaderboard.
We want respectful and mature answers, we will NOT take them into account if there's hurtful or disrespectful comments.
I've added a suggestions answer, if you have a suggestion for what else could be done.
Link to the survey: https://da.surveymonkey.com/s/6C9SYM8
Once you have voted (or written a suggestion) press the "færdig" button, and your vote will be saved.
Feel free to discuss the topic in the comments, but as I said before, in a mature and respectful way.
We hope to hear from you.
~KJ
I'll give some of the major arguments:
Ty made a very good point about this earlier: using FDS has not improved the degree to which you have played the game, it has just given you an advantage that some people can't compare to. There can be some really skilled players out there, why should they lose the chance of a WR if they don't have the necessary hardware to run FDS of a category? ¤cough¤ Shaw ¤cough¤
Perhaps FDS should be used in PAL to make it more comparable to NTSC SDS (gotta love that European hardware), but there should not be a difference so large in loading times such that it would need to be a factor considering when deciding on the best run of a game. Jumpy's time in this category is considered the WR, but is actually the third best run people have achieved.
The other side of the argument is that the PS2 is official hardware, so there should be no reason to not be able to use it. A speedrun is based on the idea of running a game as fast as possible within the limitations of a category's description. This would demonstrate that FDS should be used - it is an official strategy to speed up the game.
Just some food for thought. There is a lot more depth that could be gotten into, should ePSXe 1.8 be legal, for example. But I'll leave it at that for now OpieOP
~ Hero
I think that the point about respect between runners is the main one here. If there are highly skilled "active" runners that can't access FDS then it seems fair to not use it, but in the situation at the moment where all active runners are on PS2 (Expect Saboom but idk why) then FDS is completely fine, since there are no unfair advantages.
Fair point. I'll just offer a counter argument, for the sake of balance.
Speedruns should be about fun. That's why we do them, right? But human instinct means we have made it competitive, with the "ultimate goal" being getting the WR. So, the way they should be ranked is by skill, right?
The speedrunning community should encourage people to join and treat them all equally: giving them equal chances to do well in these rankings.
The run with the most skill was by Shaw, who is a runner who has been denied a WR because he does not have the funds/access to an American console. It seems apparent then that the leaderboards are not ranking players by skill, but by a combination of skill and "luck", luck denoting ability to access hardware.
FDS not being used for the sake of one person is somewhat "special treatment". There are, and will be in the future, runners who do not have access to FDS, and this respect should surely outreach to those people as well. It goes back to the idea of equality within the community, as much as it may seem like a child's response (in fact, it is), it is still valid that runners should be given equal opportunities.
Let me know what you think.
~ Hero
I understand your points Xenova and totally agree with equality in the community, since it's something that is lacking for both Spyro and Crash. Looking at the loading differences in this game and spyro 1, I think that it would be the best to base what is acceptable around what the game was originally made for, which is PS1.
Then you look at the difference between PAL and NTSC, where NTSC is quite a lot faster than PAL, so basing this around NTSC PS1/PS2 sds means that PAL runners have the option to use fds to get as close as they can to NTSC runners. Then you look at emulators and ePSXe 1.9 specifically, since it is known as being the most accurate to PS1, with all games played on NTSC. This means that this would be the fairest emulator to run the game on.
In conclusion I think that this category will always be the most equal with:
- NTSC PS1 or NTSC PS2 sds
- PAL PS2 fds
- ePSXe 1.9
I understand that Spyro 3 is harder to do this for, since fds crashes for almost everyone. This means that PAL console runners have no way to be equal with NTSC which can't be avoided or changed unfortunately. Even then as long as emulator runners play on ePSXe 1.9 then there is no problems here.
There is always the argument that runs can be timed without the loads in competitive circumstances (like WR's), but i'll leave that for another day B) One thing I will say is that if rules are going to be marked down they should be consistent over the whole PS1 Spyro series, or at least as much as possible.
I think aiming for consistency between the games is pretty futile. Spyro 1 runs use FDS, banning it here will just mean no-one will bother with these boards for Spruno. Spyro 3 uses SDS for obvious reasons. The three games are different - I think it makes more sense to be consistent across categories in the same game.
As annoying as it is for someone to get WR because of loading times, the alternative is to arbitrarily ban something which is completely accepted in all the other categories.
Just put an asterisk next to FDS times and have a note somewhere saying that it saves roughly X amount of time over SDS/PS1/emu.
I've now concluded the poll, which shows that FDS will be allowed on SRR, and it seems that most people want the loading times removed. What are your guys opinion on it?
~KJ
Poll results: 
(Will not post what people answered for suggestions, as most were remove load times.)
Not one to post on this kind of discussion but just a couple of things
Removing the load times means the run doesn't exactly become RTA in the same sense. Just keeping a note on what the differences are, NTSC-U/J and PAL, SDS and FDS, will let people compare their runs to others. That way runners can see what their run could have been. I like Dactyly's suggestion, and keep all the information on the boards for those looking up times.
I'm not a fan of the idea of someone getting a free WR just by having faster load times, but it's allowed on everything else, and with FDS, newer and more optimised WRs are set, and people can still see how their time compares if they run on an inferior version or on SDS.
