PhillipEspinoza
Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2009
- Messages
- 463
- Location
- San Diego, California
- WCA ID
- 2007ESPI01
- YouTube
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Hello all,
I am making this thread to hear what you all think about allowing people to do official solves outside of the competition setting. I have been thinking seriously about this issue for a while and decided that it is at least worth proposing the general community. Let me explain in greater detail what I mean.
As it stands right now, the only places World Records (or any records for that matter) can be set are in WCA competitions. In part, the reason for this is because anyone can fabricate things at home and in order to make it legit, there needs to be WCA regulations followed as well as a judge and a WCA delegate present to witness and make sure all regulations are observed. However, I don't see a reason in limiting these circumstances to competitions only. If all the above is followed, WCA regulations, a judge, and a WCA Delegate is present, then shouldn't one allowed to do official solves *outside* of a standard competition? Competitions are useful for the general public who want to make their Rubik's Cube solves official, but for the dedicated speedcuber, competitions can be few and out of the way therefore limiting the true efficacy of the WCA in representing the best times and world records of people who can solve the cube.
What I'm saying is that some top cuber should be able to meet up with a WCA delegate in a public place and do solves that would be considered official. If Feliks wants to do a WR attempt under the supervision of Dene or some other WCA delegate in a public place, then he should be allowed to, as long as all regulations and rules are followed. This would allow for a more accurate sense of what the world records are instead of having to wait for the next 6 months for the cuber to do his/her 5 solves. On second though, I'm actually scared that this would dramatically lower WR's to completely unattainable. But hey, if the person is capable of it, and all rules and procedures are followed, then why should it not be considered official?
Competitions have served as a fun way to meet other cubers and challenge yourself and each other in a friendly way. I know for me recently though, they have come to be known as the only chance in the near future I will get to setting a personal record. I could care less about winning the *competition* as much as I care about improving my personal rankings. So this means if there's a small competition somewhere in AZ that a kid really hopes to be his first competition win, I will be forced to go and compete and probably beat the kid just to improve my personal rankings. Whereas for me winning the competition matters very little, for the kid it may have mattered the world for them to win their first competition. And imagine if I had to do this for every local competition in that kids area? Allowing the ability to set records outside of competition would make it less necessary for me to go to competitions, therefore making kids across southwestern US happy. It would also take pressure off of competitions for a lot of people and allow it to be less *competitive* environment.
You might say "Solving the cube under pressure of a lot of people is part of the competition". To which I agree. It is part of the *competition* but since when did solving a Rubik's Cube only count when you did it in front of a bunch of people? How is having an audience part of the challenge of actually *solving* the cube, which is what the WCA is and should really be trying to measure.
Up to now we have been taught that a solve doesn't count as official until you do it in competition. But why? Because you have a delegate and a judge and all WCA regulations are followed in competition. But why do *competitions* (where the objective is to be faster than everyone else present) have to be the only place where solves are considered official? To me, it would be like only counting WCA solves that were done in a head-to-head event as official. Please tell me what you think. Please, no ad hominem arguments.
I am making this thread to hear what you all think about allowing people to do official solves outside of the competition setting. I have been thinking seriously about this issue for a while and decided that it is at least worth proposing the general community. Let me explain in greater detail what I mean.
As it stands right now, the only places World Records (or any records for that matter) can be set are in WCA competitions. In part, the reason for this is because anyone can fabricate things at home and in order to make it legit, there needs to be WCA regulations followed as well as a judge and a WCA delegate present to witness and make sure all regulations are observed. However, I don't see a reason in limiting these circumstances to competitions only. If all the above is followed, WCA regulations, a judge, and a WCA Delegate is present, then shouldn't one allowed to do official solves *outside* of a standard competition? Competitions are useful for the general public who want to make their Rubik's Cube solves official, but for the dedicated speedcuber, competitions can be few and out of the way therefore limiting the true efficacy of the WCA in representing the best times and world records of people who can solve the cube.
What I'm saying is that some top cuber should be able to meet up with a WCA delegate in a public place and do solves that would be considered official. If Feliks wants to do a WR attempt under the supervision of Dene or some other WCA delegate in a public place, then he should be allowed to, as long as all regulations and rules are followed. This would allow for a more accurate sense of what the world records are instead of having to wait for the next 6 months for the cuber to do his/her 5 solves. On second though, I'm actually scared that this would dramatically lower WR's to completely unattainable. But hey, if the person is capable of it, and all rules and procedures are followed, then why should it not be considered official?
Competitions have served as a fun way to meet other cubers and challenge yourself and each other in a friendly way. I know for me recently though, they have come to be known as the only chance in the near future I will get to setting a personal record. I could care less about winning the *competition* as much as I care about improving my personal rankings. So this means if there's a small competition somewhere in AZ that a kid really hopes to be his first competition win, I will be forced to go and compete and probably beat the kid just to improve my personal rankings. Whereas for me winning the competition matters very little, for the kid it may have mattered the world for them to win their first competition. And imagine if I had to do this for every local competition in that kids area? Allowing the ability to set records outside of competition would make it less necessary for me to go to competitions, therefore making kids across southwestern US happy. It would also take pressure off of competitions for a lot of people and allow it to be less *competitive* environment.
You might say "Solving the cube under pressure of a lot of people is part of the competition". To which I agree. It is part of the *competition* but since when did solving a Rubik's Cube only count when you did it in front of a bunch of people? How is having an audience part of the challenge of actually *solving* the cube, which is what the WCA is and should really be trying to measure.
Up to now we have been taught that a solve doesn't count as official until you do it in competition. But why? Because you have a delegate and a judge and all WCA regulations are followed in competition. But why do *competitions* (where the objective is to be faster than everyone else present) have to be the only place where solves are considered official? To me, it would be like only counting WCA solves that were done in a head-to-head event as official. Please tell me what you think. Please, no ad hominem arguments.
