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Should 3x3x3 With Feet Remain an Official WCA Event?

Which option describes you best?


  • Total voters
    484

Sa967St

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The goal of this thread is to gather a variety of opinions about removing 3x3x3 With Feet, and to build a solid list of pros and cons for its potential removal, to take into consideration for future Regulations.


Questions for everyone:

Do you believe 3x3x3 With Feet should remain an official event? Why or why not?

Would you support the removal of 3x3x3 With Feet? Why or why not?



Here is a list of pros and cons for the what happens if Feet is removed, mostly from discussions in this thread and other threads.

Note: They are not meant to be interpreted as solid reasons on their own to remove/keep Feet. They are merely pros and cons that would come out of its removal. They are positive and negative statements about what would happen if Feet is removed. They are not the same thing as "reasons to remove Feet" and "reasons to keep Feet".


Positive outcomes of removing Feet:

  • Feet is arguably the most unsanitary event, since feet can be much less clean than hands, especially when clean socks/footwear are not worn. Additionally, even when one's feet are actually clean, watching them being used can still be very uncomfortable and repulsive. Feet solving (both official solves and practice solves at competitions) can contribute to an unpleasant atmosphere to spectators and non-Feet competitors, so its removal would give more pleasant experiences at competitions.
  • Fewer people are willing to judge and/or scramble for Feet relative to other events, and it's not so great to have to force people to do either at a competition (organizers are allowed to do this according to Regulation 1e2). Judging for Feet solves can be humiliating since judges have crouch to lift the cover and watch the solve, and may have to take a close look at the puzzle to inspect misalignments. It would also be more pleasant for scramblers and judges for other 3x3x3 events to know that competitors don't use the same cube for other 3x3x3 events right after using it for Feet solves.
  • If Feet Solving is removed as an event, then it would make organizing large competitions (ones that hold all events) less of a hassle for the organizers. Feet Solving required additional floorspace (some organizers even prefer a separate room), and additional equipment such as plastic gloves, saran wrap, wipes, and sometimes new timers and mats (e.g. At Worlds 2013 and previous US Nationals, the organization team got new timing equipment just for Feet then sold them afterwards). Setting up and taking down the timing stations for Feet can also take some additional time if the event is held in a different area than where the main timing stations are.
  • A common "abuse" of the +2 misalignment penalty is to not perform the last move in a Feet solve if it would take more than 2 seconds. Removing Feet would resolve this problem. [Note: This is a relatively minor pro, but it's not obvious and it's included in this list for the sake of making it complete as possible. This is a positive outcome from the removal of Feet, since it helps reduce the number of ways the +2 penalty can be used to one's advantage.]
  • The Sum of Ranks, the most common and well-known way to measure the overall rankings of competitors, would be more credible without Feet Solving since it would compensate for the many competitors who refuse to compete in Feet Solving for personal reasons.

Negative outcomes of removing Feet:

  • Removing the event would make all past Feet solves unofficial. It would take away Feet records that took a lot of effort to accomplish.
  • Removing the event would allow no more official Feet solves, and all Feet Solves in future competitions would be unofficial and less likely to he held. This would disappoint those who enjoy participating in the event and those who enjoy watching it at competitions.

Neutral outcomes of removing Feet:

  • The popularity and appeal of Feet Solving is not the same in all countries. There are communities that love the event, and others that despise it. Its removal would satisfy some communities, but dissatisfy others.
  • Media at competitions often covers Feet solves if it is held. Depending on how they portray Feet Solving and what they say about it, it can give different positive or negative impressions to the viewers about WCA competitions and the cubing community. It can both hurt and help the image of cubing, depending on what the viewers take from it.
  • How much 3x3x3 With Feet added as an event is controversial. As a 3x3x3 variant, it added another twist to solving a 3x3x3 using a regular speed method, but it also added the factor of not using hands, which made it require a new kind of skill. Its removal would be a loss in variety of events, however how large the loss is is debatable. Any additional knowledge (e.g. algorithms) that cubers have leaned for Feet Solving has not gone to waste since it can be reapplied to other events, but the techniques (e.g. tricks for performing moves fast with one's feet) used for Feet Solving may not be able applicable to other events.
 
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LucidCuber

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I think that it is the best candidate for an event to be removed. Although I'm not too fussed for now. I would agree that it's the least professional event.
 

arcio1

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  • Much of the media attention towards Feet is negative and makes competitions look unprofessional. Its removal would reduce the negative media attention and have it more focused on more widely respectable events.
I haven't noticed that. People and media are even more amazed when they find out that we (speedcubers) can solve it even with feet.

  • Feet is arguably the most unsanitary event, since feet are often much less clean than hands. Feet solving (both official solves and practice solves at competitions) can contribute to an unpleasant atmosphere to spectators and non-Feet competitors, so its removal would give a more pleasant experience at competitions.
I believe that most people clean their feet at least once a day and I think that it is enough to keep them clean. I haven't seen anyone solving competiting with dirty feet. Of course, sometimes socks stink because of sweat. The same sweat that you have all over your body. Yuk, why do you solve with that sweaty hands?

  • Fewer people are willing to judge and/or scramble for Feet relative to other events, and it's not so great to have to force people to do either at a competition. It would also be more pleasant for scramblers and judges for other 3x3x3 events to know that competitors don't use the same cube for other 3x3x3 events right after using it for Feet solves.
There are always people who feel like judging feet, there is no need to force anybody.

  • A common "abuse" of the +2 misalignment penalty is to not perform the last move in a Feet solve if it would take more than 2 seconds. Removing Feet would resolve this problem.
All fast feet solvers do the last move because it's faster than 2 seconds for them. Also, most of the time people who do that aren't even capable of making podium, so why do you think it's bad? I know a person who sometimes deliberately do +2 in semifinal of 3x3 so that he wouldn't have to race certain person in final and I don't think it's a reason to remove 3x3.

I am opposed to removing 3x3 With Feet from an official events list.
 

kcl

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While it is an unpopular event, and I do not care for it myself, I do not believe it should be removed. I guarantee removing it will **** a lot of people off who have worked hard at it. If we were to remove skewb because it's different and it were considered "unpopular" you and I would both be rather pissed. The same goes for those who work hard for feet. I usually scramble a LOT at competitions, by the end of the day, my hands are sweaty anyway. Let's be real here. Hands touch all sorts of disgusting objects. Feet are simply in our shoes, never really touching much of anything. Overall I feel that it isn't broken, don't try to fix it. People enjoy the event, so just leave it. It isn't hurting anyone.
 

Lazy Einstein

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I don't practice feet YET and I think it should NOT be an official event.

My reason:
- Most WCA comps do not have every event at every comp. So if you live in a place where few comps happen every year than you only have the chance to participate in so many official events a year. It would suck if you couldn't do sq-1 or 5x5x5 BLD because feet was given a spot over them.
- It seems that the majority of people who participate in feet are big on Sum of rank standings. Removing feet would give people big on Sum of Rank standings more time to practice for other official events.
- In regards to feet being popular, if people like feet they will keep on doing it even if it isn't an official event. Big blind 6x6x6+ isn't official, yet many people seem to really enjoy it.
 

qqwref

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I'd just like to point out that, personally, I usually wash my hands several times during a competition (a few times from bathroom visits, plus occasionally washing them to improve my grip on the cube). I have never washed my feet during a competition.
 

arcio1

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- Most WCA comps do not have every event at every comp. So if you live in a place where few comps happen every year than you only have the chance to participate in so many official events a year. It would suck if you couldn't do sq-1 or 5x5x5 BLD because feet was given a spot over them.
It would suck if you couldn't do feet because sq-1 or 5x5x5 BLD was given a spot over it.
 

rowehessler

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Feet is a joke. Like kirjava said, I also heard it was originally started just as a joke anyway, not sure how it even stayed as an event this long. Also, no, people's feet aren't clean. One time at nationals, feet was held in a side room for hours because there were so many people, and the entire room smelt like ass when you walk in. However, I have noticed over the past few years that it only seems to be the US cubers that have such a problem with it.
 
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BrianJ

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I personally hate feet, as I can't solve a couple F2L pairs without the stackmat turning off. I don't think it should be removed, actually. People have put hard work into getting world class at feet, so removing it would probably enrage them. I haven't been to a comp where there was feet, and I probably won't be for a while. I don't feel I really have a say in this, but as stated before, I think it should stay.
 

Tim Major

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Why do you see that as positive? Quirky acts often get through on these shows, see http://youtube.com/watch?v=B8k59sBhh6Y&feature=kp

The judges' and audience's facial expressions in Simon's audition don't come off as "wow that's cool I wish I could do that". Every conversation about cubing I've had with noncubers about feet goes like;

"Wow you can solve it in 15 seconds? That's crazy. Wait... people solve it with feet? Gross, weird" etc.

It gives attention to cubing, but not positive, let's face it, feet is weird as *******.

I think poll should say "keep feet, remove feet and don't care as the options". I doubt anyone who actively practices would vote remove it. Or change practices to "has previously/currently practiced" so then people who practiced to get records/lower sum of ranks would be able to show they dislike feet even though they're fast
 

Skullush

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When you say "people put a lot of time and effort" as a con, I'd just like to make a small point and say that people put a lot of time and effort into getting fast at magics too, and certainly invested a lot in new strings. And then magics were removed.

And that was a con for removing magics. and the pros and cons were considered and the decision was to remove magics, because the pros outweighed the cons
 

Coolster01

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Before I get started, let me note that I am NOT just saying that I like the event because I hold feet records. I obviously liked the event before holding records; that's what got me practicing to get where I am. Also, I could very well still say that I was the best in north america for feet solving until it was removed for hygiene reasons, and non-cubers wouldn't care. This isn't really why I'd like to keep feet, it's because it's simply fun for me. Of course, I'd be a little disappointed about losing my feet records, but I could very well lose them from other people anyway. I just have other reasons, too.

I seriously think that feet should remain an official event. It's so much fun and I feel kind of... athletic. It makes me get off my butt when I've been sitting at a desk for so long and start doing something else. My friends from school are actually more impressed by my feet NAR than my 2x2 WR. This is because feet literally looks so complex and anybody could grab a standard cube at home and start turning it with their feet and admire how I can do about 2 turns a second when it takes them a whole minute to turn one. WHO CARES if it is a slow turning event. At the Indiana competitions, around 3 events would be held at once. When feet is held, the audience is waayyyyyyy more leaned towards watching feet. Why? Because it's special. My family LOVES watching feet. What kind of non-cuber wants to go to a competition and watch the same thing over and over -- people solving cubes over and over, in the same area. Feet just has a completely different setup, which gives the audience something DIFFERENT. NEW. INTERESTING.

As for the whole hygiene argument, I personally wash my feet well before every feet event. At home and at comps; it helps my times, actually. I'm pretty confident that feet are cleaner than hands, especially at competitions where hands are touching tons of cubes the entire day. In fact, I got a skin infection that we are sure was from my MIT competition. It lasted 8 months. Even if I didn't get it from a competition, I'm sure that I spread that thing to many cubers at the two competition I went to with it (Hillsdale Winter + Toronto Spring 2012). I don't think that kind of stuff will spread with feet. In all of my feet competitions, it has never smelled bad in the event. Also, at my last feet competition, Holy Toledo, feet was in a completely separate room and anybody could choose to watch OR not watch it. Yes, I'm aware that not all competitions have the ability to do this, but if possible, I'd encourage this to get rid of people saying "It's a distraction/annoying" at the competition (although I've never heard this quote).

I definitely don't support the removal of the event. My family will be sooo disappointed, as I said, because it brings fun and action. Did I not mention how the event is THE PHYSICAL REASON that I got onto America's Got Talent? Did I not mention that some of the best producers in the world that literally know exactly what an audience likes TOLD ME TO DO FEET ON THE SHOW?! Amazing, right? If the event was removed, I wouldn't be uploading videos of it, knowing that I wouldn't practice a non-WCA event (similar to how I was pretty darn good at magic and I stopped practicing as soon as it was removed), and this would mean that I simply wouldn't have been scouted to the show. Simon Westlund also did feet and got much attention on Britain's Got Talent. I'm pretty sure he doesn't do non-WCA events either.

By the way, who wants a pleasant experience at comps? I LIKE ACTION!

Lastly, that whole +2 penalty thing doesn't do much... Are you really going to freak out because the audience will ask you a question "Did you even solve it?" and you just have to say "Per WCA Regulations, 1 move away is a +2 second penalty; faster than the time it takes for me to do the actual move". If this bothers you, you are certainly anti-social and don't want to interact with your audience.

EDIT:

Feet actually started out as a joke. Not making this up.

Your point is...? Surprising an audience with a funny event is pretty hilarious. JOKES are GOOD! FUNNY = ENJOYABLE = GOOD COMPETITION EXPERIENCE! :D
 
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Ninja Storm

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Magic was removed because of judging difficulties.

People want feet removed because they think it really hurts the image of the speedcuber to others. And why should that matter? Why should the opinion of others influence the community? Why should Russia's view on capitalism change the way the US government works?

Other reasons seem valid, but "feet doesn't make us look good" is the stupidest reason to consider removing the event.
 
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