Breath of the Wild at SGDQ17

Just gonna say a few things to preface. Yes, GDQ is a charity event. More popularity for a game leads to more viewership and hence more donation dollars. And ultimately, the GDQ games committee can do what they want with their event.

But at the same time, GDQ is a platform which many runners use to advertise themselves and their community, gives them more exposure. A runner in GDQ is given a lot of credence on Twitch by viewers. For a game as popular as Zelda, one can be sure that whoever gets the limelight will see a gargantuan boost in popularity for their personal stream.

Since this is inherently a speedrunning event, it makes the most sense to ME to meet the following goals: give the BOTW community enough time to develop a good speedgame, and give the limelight of GDQ to the best runner of the game who can attend the event.

Option A: Give BOTW the same submission deadline as every other game.

This only gives the game a week to develop. By SGDQ the game will probably be a decent run, but choosing a runner so early is unfair to the game. By the time GDQ rolls around, someone other than the accepted runner may have put in more work, gotten a better time, yet still be sidelined. Hell, by July, the most fun/competitive/interesting category might not even be the one they submit in March.

Option B: Extend the submission deadline specifically for BOTW.

This makes it a competition. Whoever has the best time before the arbitrary new deadline will get in. This gives an advantage to any runner with more free time to grind their submission, more funds to make the trip to GDQ on shorter notice. Not to mention this still runs into the same issues from Option A, though to a lesser extent. Also, there are popular, hyped games also coming out between now and SGDQ that, simply because they're not a Zelda game, will not be getting the same special treatment. Namely, Yooka Laylee, Splatoon 2, Sonic Mania.

Option C: Accept that BOTW will have a time slot now, but accept a runner much later

Again, this runs into the same issues as Option B. Whoever happens to have the best time when they choose their deadline will get in. The earlier they choose a runner, the less-developed of a speedgame it is and their choice of runner is likely less than optimal. The later they make the deadline, whoever has flexibility in funds and scheduling to go to GDQ gets an advantage.

Option D: Skip BOTW at SGDQ17, have it at AGDQ18 instead.

This seems like the most balanced option. SGDQ17 will lose some viewership and donation dollars. However, consider that a lot of people will have trouble getting a Switch to play the game themselves between now and July. Many viewers don't want the game spoiled for them and simply won't watch at SGDQ17. Holiday 2017 will likely see many folks finally get ahold of a Switch, due to increased production, and by AGDQ18 people will want to watch and donate even more. Also consider that all the issues from Options A, B, and C are solved with this approach. It gives plenty of time for the game to develop, for people to get really good times, and for people to save money to go to the event in the first place, as well as avoiding the special treatment case. When (not if) BOTW gets into AGDQ18, it will be a better speedgame, by a better runner, with more donating viewership.