Hello, I was discussing with Producks about the any% category and the timing method we're currently using (stopping the time on the 1st frame the chamber is visible). We both agree that we (as in the smb3 community) need to have a discussion about that and possibly change it, or at least come to a definite decision so the rules are clear for the future. Because as it stands, we might run into some big issues eventually. Here's why:

As you probably know if you've played the category, when you do your last input to activate the warp, the duration to the credits is not fixed (contrarily to when you enter Bowser's door in other categories). Sometimes the princess chamber comes up quite fast and sometimes it seems frozen for a bit until it finally goes through. It seems there are actually 3 possibilities (according to Producks) and he was kind enough to make a video showing them so you can see what it is about if you're unsure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bxe6sxkkrgA . You can clearly see the time difference between them (it's not huge but it matters). The thing is it's basically RNG which one you'll get when you activate the warp, so it's unfortunately out of our control. Knowing that, there's 3 points at which we can end the run:

1/ We can end on the last input (the A press).
2/ We can end on the 1st frame the chamber is visible (which is what we do currently).
3/ We can end on the 1st frame Mario is visible.

So, why does it matter? You may have realised already there's a big problem we might run into in the future: if a run gets its last input earlier than every other run out there, but then gets the slowest warp possible, the chamber sequence & credits could happen quicker in runs that had a slightly slower last input. To put it simply, a run could be considered WR and yet trigger the credits later than other runs. So with that in mind, let's weigh the 3 options:

1/ If we end on the last input, we remove the warp RNG entirely but we can run into the problem described above: a WR run reaching the credits slower than another one.
2/ If we keep ending on the 1st chamber frame, we don't remove the RNG and we don't remove the slower WR issue. It clearly seems to be the worst option of the 3.
3/ If we end on Mario, the WR run is the run that triggers the ending sequence and credits first. The downside is there's a RNG component AFTER the last input, which obviously is lame to deal with (then again considering the game can crash with the correct values, there's already RNG after the last input).

For what it's worth, my personal opinion is that the 3rd option (1st Mario frame) seems to be the better one. Yes it adds RNG (although any seasoned SMB3 is more than accustomed to this side of the game already) and it's a bit sad to finally nail the setup and get rewarded with a slow warp, but it ensures that the WR run will have the credits first and that generally speaking, the full ranking makes sense in regard to actually beating the game. The only viable alternative imo is to end on the last input. The "1st chamber frame" option that we currently use solves neither problem so I don't think we can reasonably keep it.

Luckily this is not an issue at the moment, which is precisely why I think we should decide now. Because we don't want to have to make that sort of call in the future when it could decide which run gets to be the WR. So I encourage you to speak up and tell what you think about it. I didn't mean to influence the discussions by giving my opinion but I was gonna give it anyway so I already included it.