Arguments in favor of RTA

Echoes Speedrunning: RTA vs IGT

At some point, it was discovered in Metroid Prime 2 that you can abuse the disc ejecting function to load rooms while no IGT passes. The origin of who found this is unclear, but LivingCircuitry tested this idea on multiple rooms and it was proven to be correct. This would have a significant effect on final IGT, likely saving at least a minute of IGT for major categories. This was near universally recognized as degenerate and was immediately banned.

This discovery prompted a discussion, and while disc eject is ultimately no longer relevant to it, the reasons listed below should demonstrate that RTA would be an overall superior timing method for Metroid Prime 2:

• RTA would eliminate full-minute ties.
• RTA would be more accessible to new runners since deaths aren’t banned.
• IGT optimizations are more limited than RTA, because they can be only shown/done to the minute, vs seconds and below. (This makes IGT PB's much harder at top-level)
• Aiming for RTA requires that the actual game end much faster. There can be a wide time variance for when the game actually ends due to how the IGT works. Eg: Two runs that end in 00:54 IGT can have an RTA of 1:09:39 and 1:10:39. A full RTA minute difference, but the exact same ending time.

Conclusion:
Overall, running the game for RTA would have almost no impact on current routes while allowing for “normal” gameplay to be the most enjoyable AND most optimal method. There are many additional benefits like less ties, more accessibility, and increased simplicity to the ruleset.
Would accept a switch to RTA as of 12/10/19:
• LivingCircuitry
• Draconif
• Dyceron
• HeadshotTAS
• Darkszero
• Thk
• MrMiguel
• Pan