SGDQ thoughts

SGDQ thoughts:

Well, my submission was rejected! I'm a little bit disappointed, but honestly a little relieved. Disappointed, because I would have liked to have the opportunity to play on that stage. More than that, there are a lot of people I would have loved to see/meet. It's a bit of a bummer to think about all the fun people will be having without me - but that's life! I'll have a lot of good stuff going on at home.

There's something of a temptation to view this as a rejection of me, not just a rejection of my submission. But that really wouldn't be fair to either myself or the committee - it simply means there are better options out there! A lot of people are going to get rejected for these things, and if I were to get in, then someone else would be out. It's just the nature of having limited time. It's not personal by any stretch. It's also tempting to think that I need to be able to do a GDQ run to somehow validate all the work I put into speed running - that if I don't get in, then I'm just wasting my time. But if that's why I'm streaming or speedrunning, then I'm not doing it for the right reasons. Fortunately, I don't think that's how I view things - but it's important to take the time to reflect on one's heart in such things.

I'm a bit relieved, though, because it really works out better for my life to not be travelling to SGDQ this summer. My wife is about to have a baby (in the next few days? weeks?), and she'll only be a few months old when SGDQ rolls around. Also, we're going to be moving at some point this summer as well. So it really doesn't make a lot of sense for me to be travelling to Minnseota for a few days in July. Had I gotten in, we would've worked around it, but this is for the best.

Now, I'm not surprised that they went with the DKC block that they did. In fact, if you look at my previous pastebins, you'll see that I predicted this exact lineup several weeks ago. Firstly, the Tropical Freeze 3v3 race is just way too good a submission to leave out. That's a great speedrun, and has a great community of people backing it up. But because that's such a long run, I feel it really didn't leave any room for the 2+ hour 103% run. I think the only way 103% ever gets in is if there's no other DKC submission worth showing - ie, all the other submissions were just in the previous GDQ or something. I figured DKC was out because it's been in the last two marathons, and 102% a no go for a similar reason.

So that brings it down to the DKC2 any% race vs the DKC3 any% race. I thought there was a possibility that they could go with both, but didn't think that to be terribly likely. DKC2 was in a GDQ more recently - but that was 102%. DKC3 any% was in more recently than DKC2 any%. However, there isn't really anything new to show off with DKC2, whereas DKC3 has had a ton of attention and new tech developed. Ultimately, I just think that the quality of a race with v0oid, Blunt, and N0cturne is better than Kanis vs myself.  Kanis is definitely part of the top tier of active DKC2 runners, but I'm a step behind him. I think I could have made up some of that ground, but the DKC3 race is just a stronger submission overall. Those three guys are all some of the best at DKC3, and have times that are very competitive with each other. I considered the possibility that they might do a Kanis solo DKC2 run, but since there's nothing new to show off, I didn't think it likely.

All that said, there's a lot that I'm very excited to see this SGDQ! Both of the aforementioned DKC races are going to be GREAT! Very worthy games with very worthy runners - I'm excited for them and in no way harbor any grudges that those games got in instead of mine. I'm also very much looking forward to the Mega Man block, Diablo II druid run, LADX 100%, glitchless any% for OoT, the Mario Maker blind race (featuring KRONICSAUCE!!!!), and a lot more. I'll definitely be rooting for all of you from home (both those in front of and behind the camera)!

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Stream plans:

I'd still like to get a 42 in DKC2, but I'm not sure where my motivation will be. I'll likely still work towards it, because I know I'm already capable of that time and it bothers me that I don't have the run to show it, yet.

However, now I'll have time to do a DKC 306% run - probably sometime in May! I expect this will be a race with some people, but either way I'll start doing some (much needed) de-rust on 101% and 103% early that Month.

I really enjoyed the Diablo II run from last week, but it was pretty draining to sit there that long and do the whole thing. I will likely try more attempts of this, but probably more like once a month than weekly.

I also anticipate getting more seriously into the Mega Man games. I'd like to get good enough times at all 6 that it's reasonable for me to do a run of 1-6 (of similar length to a 306%).

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Anyways, thanks for reading! I'd appreciate hearing your feedback on Twitter!

Tom