Small Mario Only

The "Low%" Debate
The "Low%" category of SMW was traditionally named Small Mario Only.
I cannot find when the switch was made, but the legend says it was made by AndrewG, and it must've been AT LEAST some time after mid 2014. I don't understand the reasoning, but most people like the argument that "it matches other games."

First, let's step back to 2014. The categories were Any% based (besides 96 exit). Does Low% make sense with these other %s? Let's take a look. It seems to mostly be determined by what you consider "100%" in SMW. Is it 96 exit? Is it 96 exit PLUS dragon coins? These seem to be the 2 most "argued" versions of "100%", so let's stick with those.

If 96 exit was to be 100%, Low% would therefore be what was already the Any% (now 0 exit) category.

If Lunar dragon was to be 100%, the same applies but you just make sure no dragon coins are collected? I have no idea how far this would go but I don't think anyone really cares so I'll move on

Here is where the powerup argument comes into play. Many believe that Low% in smw would just be no powerups. This includes no mushroom, fire, cape, Yoshi, and star. Pballoon is not considered because first of all it's not even a problem here, but also because you still die in one hit when you have one. This argument throws out the idea of exits being %, and instead makes powerups dictate your percentage. (This is also backed by the fact that switch palaces are allowed and sometimes used by runners to make star world 4 easier) If the argument is made that switch palaces are banned, this invalidates early and new runs, including Jim's friends original run, which would seem to make "Small Mario Only" and "Low%" 2 different things, although very similar. In super Metroid, where I believe the term Low% was borrowed, the category's rules state that the lowest % achievable in the game is 14, and it can be achieved (by humans) with 7 different routes, each using several items, "powerups". If % in SMW was to be exit count, 0 exit (or 11, I guess) would be SMW's equivalent to SM's 14%, where you could use a couple powerups to finish the game with 0 exits, or if you'd rather use 11 exit as an example, finish the game using 1 mushroom (or yoshi, to get Cloud in Yoshi's Island 2) to complete star world 1 and end with 11 exits. I believe both of these to make more sense for the argument of "It's what other games use"

Now in modern day SMW, "we no longer use percentages" claim some people now and then. Any% is now 11 exit, and the "true any%" is 0 exit. % is dropped from anything else it was on (like nsw), except for Low%. I can't explain this

Leaderboard organization/standardization alone could be enough reasoning to completely drop the "Low%" from the name of the category, or revert it back to Small Mario Only as it was previously named, but this isn't a valid argument to what seems to be everyone.

In the midst of lots of shitposting, arguing, and some real debate here and there, a compromise was made and the category was renamed to "Low% (small only)" This name makes sense for the most part, but again brings up the problem of banning switch palaces because you are gathering more exits to access them, and the thing is, they're still allowed. So, if we just banned them now, even though they're slower anyways, the name would make sense, but then again is different from "small Mario only"

Another note, "Low% (small only)" was called by many a stupid, useless rename. If you take a minute to go look at the super Metroid leaderboard, which many like to point to as a line of defense ("it's what other games call it!"), You'll see that Low% in super Metroid is only an umbrella term for 7 different categories, such as Low% (Ice) or Low% (Chargeless). So, in theory, this name should be perfect for those who like that argument. Yet another problem this brings up though, still related to what I just mentioned, is that if this is "Low% small Only", is there a Low% cape? low% mushroom? Low% (insert modifier here?). My answer here would be yes, but they'd all be abitrary, no one really cares, and this is only being caused by the use of "Low%"

One more note about Low% (small only) If you disregard switch palaces, we find ourselves yet again with another problem. The category makes some sense, but if it's Low% (small only), and the route used is the smallest amount of exits possible small only, why not call it any% small only? We're already using a %, why not that one?

This every argument I could think of, and each ends up making "Low%" somewhat misleading, incorrect, or unnecessary. Small Mario Only would eliminate all of these problems and also make the leaderboards seem cleaner. If you really wanted to standardize things further, something involving 15 Exit could also work (not a big fan, but it still makes more sense)

For those who say "you can use Yoshi as small Mario" I don't know what to tell you. The word ONLY has a meaning and you seem to be missing it, also, this didn't seem to be a problem for the several years the name was already used.

Have a nice day.