Can someone explain to me why people speed run games?

I have only tried speedrunning in a few games (Braid, Mirror's Edge, and a few others). I like that they become even more of a puzzle to be solved. So it becomes this meta thing where you no longer play by the rules, but examine the rules and try to find loopholes. And then, execute. It's also becomes quite relaxing, in the sense that you repeat the same task over and over.

I get that it's not for everyone. But it is for me.

I like to watch speed runs, but not those where they break the rules with fucked-up glitches and shit. This isn't a speed-run to me.

But modern games do not get that kidn of attention from the really good speedrunners. Look at the games done quick marathon for example. If a new game is featured almost everyone leaves the room because they are not interested. Instead they are watching the same old and even awful games all the time which is quite sad.

Why do compete in anything? It's all for silly trophies and fame that don't matter when you're dead. Nothing matters, life is a waste of time.

Well that is fun for some gamers, or if it's not fun it's fulfilling or satisfying or whatever else. People like a challenge and having something to show at the end of it.

Thinking about this question is going to take me into some existential questions that I do not have the energy to sufficiently contemplate right now. So instead I'll just respond thus: I understand why speedruns exist, but I'm not into them, watching or attempting.

It took years and years to get the OoT speedrun to where it is, old games get more play in speedrunning because they are generally more buggy, a lot of them are harder (which speedrunners love), and they are much more figured out. Pretty much every game that has ever existed is speedrunned by someone, but games like Quake and Megaman are speedrunning classics that have been popular for years. Bad games are speedran on purpose because they aren't fun to play but are fun to watch people play competently, they are a great show of skill because you are battling both the game itself and the controls, and it allows for gimmicks like "Bad games done quick". People speedrun Halo and the new Half-Life games and shit, but the classics of speedrunning will never die.

@driveuplife said:

Well, there's your problem.

I speedrun RE3 on a regular basis. I know I probably won't beat the WR, but it doesn't mean I can't play the game over and over to beat my own record. It's like achievements, but it's actually worth something to ME. I mean, I love RE3 to death, but I probably have seen all there is to see in this game. So you gotta find ways to keep playing it. So you add personal challenges. It's like people who play Final Fantasy with insane restrictions. They just love that game that much.

No, I cannot explain it. Speed runs are completely uninteresting to me.

You're reading way too deep into finding a glitch. "I found out how to kung fu flip in Gears of War, and that makes me feel like one of Epic's beloved."

And here is where i do not agree. Modern games are way more complex which means that they are way buggier than old games. And stuff like the Skyrim or Dark Souls Speed run last time were really cool and excellent executed but of these whole people no one stayed to watch or support these guys. It is really sad to see all this. Some shitty castlevania run for the 100th time and the room was full of spectators. some new and interesting game like dark souls and no one stayed to even watch it. But after that was the same old shitty game there and the room again was full.

These guys really should at least show some respect to these newer speed runners which actually also do new games but no instead they are sticking with the same old shit. And I am not talking about a Zelda or FF because these are classics. I am talking about all the other crap that is being shown during the whole week.

I don't understand forums, a guy posts then about 20 people give him the same exact response but the op never returns or replies.

Was a care ever had? did it fall in the woods?

Troll thread, right? Nobody would be this dumb.

Probably for fun.

@driveuplife: ...Because it's fun and challenging. Did you're elementary school forget to teach you that some people have different preferences than you do? I also find if humorous that you think speed running is a waste of time when video games themselves are complete wastes of time already. We do the things we do because they are either entertaining or required in our society and culture.

I thought this too but I guess it's real. Sounds like something a 6 year old would ask to be honest.

Here's NES Batman: The Video Game run in 10m19s: http://speeddemosarchive.com/BatmanNES.html

He speedruns because it feels good. When he made that record he yelled something like "FUCK YEAH" in the middle of the Swedish night, threw his pad, punched his chair, sat on his bed and had a hella winding-down from the climax of getting a more-than-perfect better-than-believed-possible run that lasted quite some time. This was the result of months of practice and friendly "yo just beat your record"/"neener" competition with another fine speedrunner.

This is an extension of what makes us human. When a human lacks the desire for self-improval, taking on a challenge or even improving ones abilities, that's something for another thread.

TL;DR "feels good man"

Yes, speed running community has come to a consensus on how to categorize the various versions of runs through any particular game. As bugs and glitches are an incredibly broad category, it was impossible to make any sort of broad ruleset that disallowed them. And, the fact of the matter is that bugs do play a large role in the fundamental speed run approach for most games. So, what everybody sort of mutually agreed to do, over a period of time, is to allow everything that you can do in a game with only the standard controls (glitches and bugs and exploits all included). However, to break it up a bit more, categories are used such as:

Any% - beat the game as fast as possible (this usually refers to getting to the ending credits). For example, Any% Super Meat Boy is to defeat light world Dr. Fetus.

100% - complete every objective and gather every collectable/do everything there is to do in the game as fast as possible. In Super Meat Boy, people do 106%. That is every level light and dark, and every warp zone, every bandage, every character unlocked, every glitch level beaten.

Some games have their own specific categories. Like Super Mario World 96 exit. Battletoads any% warpless or with warp. Dark Souls runs are traditionally either Any% or Any% all bosses. etc.

Speed runs are cool, as they show an insane level of mastery of a particular game. Though I will never understand why some consider tool-assisted speedruns to be of the same level.

Tool assisted speed runs are more looked at as an accomplishment of research into the tiny little details of a given game and the work put in to program the whole sequence. Speed runners mostly use them as a gauge of what is technically possible in a game they are trying to run manually. Creating a TAS is sometimes just part of the process of routing the fastest feasible path through a new game.

Take a gander at how many people sat in for the Meatboy speed run during the last AGDQ marathon.

You speak as if finding those glitches and knowing how to utilize them is easy. Here's the reality: it's not. Pulling them off is often quite a feat as well.

@turambar: Skill and glitches are definitely not mutually exclusive. The two most popular games for speedrunning are probably OoT and Super Mario 64. Both of them require incredible skill, using techniques intended, and techniques not intended. The whole point of speedrunning is competition, if a game could be beaten in 5 minutes by an easy to pull off glitch, no one would bother.

Why do people grind their characters till max level? Why do people explore everywhere and collect every single item in a game? For fun folks, fun.

Why does anyone get out of bed in the morning?

To speed run video games.

Or, if the any% is five minutes or so, most of the competition will be on 100% or whatever is appropriate for the game. OoT is a good example of that; any% is mostly just a comical demonstration of how busted that game is; record for this category is just under 20 minutes. 100% is a much lengthier run at a bit under 5 hours to complete.

If you're new to watching speed runs and would like to see something a bit more current, I highly recommend youtubing Mirror's Edge runs. Lots of crazy tricks and high flying hijinks. And also some weirdo glitchiness too. Dark Souls as well, just make sure to check out runs made after the Kiln glitch was patched. If the completion time is 20 minutes, that means it was done before From released a patch to fix that exploit. Current any% record is about 50 minutes. And about 1 hour 30 minutes for all bosses (including DLC) defeated.

Yeah fuck speedrunners. Who do they think they are? Playing a game they like over and over again for enjoyment? They should spend more time on the internet being irrationally angry like the rest of us.

Flagging the response for bringing back up this necro thread. :/

Needs to be locked.