About speedrunning

Started by SBR*, February 15, 2013, 08:34:50 am

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SBR*

One month ago, I mentioned something in the Skype chat about an awesome event going on at the time called AGDQ or Awesome Games Done Quick. After that, I began to get more into speedrunning and right now, I often watch OoT speedruns by a guy who goes by the name of ZFG1. But, of course apart from the love speedrunning gets from the speedrunning community, I've seen lots of hate for it. It would be repetitive and boring, but most of all, it would be killing videogames. Apparently, it removes the magic from awesome games like OoT if you watch/play it too often. I've even seen someone say it leaves the speedrunner a little bit dead on the inside. This got me thinking: what exactly about this all is true?

My first fear was that the magic of every videogame would be gone, because I watched too many speedruns. Perhaps I could never enjoy videogames and take my time for them anymore! Luckily, I soon realized that this is an irrational fear. The prototype speedrunner says: "I gotta go fast." The prototype casual gamer says: "I want to take my time for it." I say: "Why not have both?"

However unarguably, a bit of the magic is gone, though. On the other hand, let's take a closer look at the definition of this magic; what exactly is it? First of all, when playing through a game for the first time, you will have the feeling of being on this epic adventure. Maybe this feeling will persist in a second and third playthrough, but when you play it for the fourth time, you pretty much know the game by hard. Personally, I've had this with Ocarina of Time. What the magic now mainly consists of is nostalgia. Obviously, when you watch a certain game being played through every evening, little nostalgia is present. However, I'm confident that if I don't watch and/or play it for a few years, nostalgia will be back in action.

Secondly, a lot of people mention the 'childhoodruining' glitches: glitches in your games from your childhood that would ruin your fond memories of them. Personally, I've never had any problems with those. In fact, whenever I see a totally gamebreaking glitch in Ocarina of Time, I laugh my ass of. Maybe that is just me, but I enjoy that sort of thing.

Lastly, I think you just shouldn't think too much about it. What fun are you gonna have anyway if you always consider whether what you're doing right now might someday potenetially ruin some videogames for you. If you enjoy watching speedruns, just watch them and have fun.

What do you guys think about speedruns? Do you enjoy them or do you think they leave the speedrunner dead inside (lol, yeah right)? Or perhaps you're completely indifferent towards them. I would love to discuss this topic with you guys.

TL;DR: Speedrunners: "Gotta go fast."
Casual gamers: "I need to take my time."
Me: "Why not have both?"