Red Bull Rubik's Cube World Championships

[Sajwo]

The plot thickens...

So how exactly a 18 years girl that is not yet a candidate can change anything?

 

[One Wheel]

This event is 100% to show off speedcubing. Fmc and bld aren’t super spectator friendly events and therefore they will not have them.

I agree on FMC, and BLD at my level too. But high-level BLD can be very entertaining. I was at the post office the other day mailing a couple of cubes and the guy behind the counter started telling me how when he was in school he thought he was hot stuff because he could solve one side. Now his kids play with them, and he saw a crazy youtube video recently: some kid had a scrambled cube and he was looking at it, getting ready to solve it, then they put a blindfold on him . . . The poor guys mind was absolutely blown.

So how exactly a 18 years girl that is not yet a candidate can change anything?

She's got the fastest 3x3 single by a female in the WCA database by over a second and fastest average by over 1/3 of a second. They're interested in single times, and they've announced that they'll have a female division. The fastest female (3x3) speedcuber in the world has tremendous leverage.

 

[RicardoRix]

I can't see how this can be a bad thing. The Rubiks-RedBull event is purely targeted to the elite competitors and will if anything raise the profile of cubing in general. The events don't really cross-over with the WCA events, and the rescramble actually looks very cool, this will hopefully throw up a new side of cubing, much like BLD to sighted solving.
The WCA in no way will be badly affected. They ARE the everything of the general community and this is not under threat, anyone can join in, the records will still stand, there events will still go ahead and welcome everyone, noobs, and oldies to compete and solve alongside the best cubers.

About the money thing, RedBull just throw money away on Advertising, it's just a big advert, unlikely to be seen as a money spinner.

And the no inspection thing, I'm all for it.

 

[JustinTimeCuber]

#handsoffourcubes

 

[Sajwo]

She's got the fastest 3x3 single by a female in the WCA database by over a second and fastest average by over 1/3 of a second. They're interested in single times, and they've announced that they'll have a female division. The fastest female (3x3) speedcuber in the world has tremendous leverage.

Just a competitor like me or you. Your speed doesn't determine anything. Feliks is even a better example, yet he has no influence in WCA or RSCA at all.

 

[One Wheel]

Just a competitor like me or you. Your speed doesn't determine anything. Feliks is even a better example, yet he has no influence in WCA or RSCA at all.

I don't know how much influence Feliks has, but considering the general dearth of world class female (or any female) speedcubers they need every one they can get and any given one (especially the best) will have outsized weight. Feliks' influence is also greatly reduced by the fact that he does not currently hold the WR single.

 

[DGCubes]

#handsoffourcubes

I first read that as "hands of four cubes," lol.

Interesting discussion though. I'm definitely not as against it as I originally was, especially now that there's potential for the WCA to get involved, according to Dana. I'll refrain from stating a definite opinion until we get more information though.

 

[CLL Smooth]

This is just fine. Everything is going to be OK.

 

[Nestor]

After I resigned as a delegate I had no idea how things with the RSA had been proggressing and I was shocked to see this. Initially I was excited about the news: I saw it as an opportunity to grow cubing and provide a well deserved spotlight and cash for top cubers and asumed that the WCA had finally reached an agreement with Rubiks. Then I learned what happened behind doors and I was irritated to say the least.

Already made my rant on facebook:

This is frustrating. For years thousands of people have put great effort and work to promote cubing, advance cube designs and popularize the mental sport. Then comes Rubiks trying to rip a profit out of the popularity created by the community, suing stores and trying to replace the WCA, doing so in secret behind the back of those they claim to support.

Shame on Red Bull for not approaching or getting informed about the community.

 

[pglewis]

I dont think we should completely boycott it but educate the public that Rubik's cubes are rubbish and that the WCA is better, that way we can grow speedubing without letting Rubik's mess it up

My cynicism creeps dives in at this point. Educate the public. The same public that more than three and half decades later thinks it's spelled "Rubix", that you solve one side at a time, and solving methods involve math. I don't see it.

 

[pglewis]

After I resigned as a delegate I had no idea how things with the RSA had been proggressing and I was shocked to see this. Initially I was excited about the news: I saw it as an opportunity to grow cubing and provide a well deserved spotlight and cash for top cubers and asumed that the WCA had finally reached an agreement with Rubiks. Then I learned what happened behind doors and I was irritated to say the least.

Already made my rant on facebook:

This is frustrating. For years thousands of people have put great effort and work to promote cubing, advance cube designs and popularize the mental sport. Then comes Rubiks trying to rip a profit out of the popularity created by the community, suing stores and trying to replace the WCA, doing so in secret behind the back of those they claim to support.

Shame on Red Bull for not approaching or getting informed about the community.

Matches a lot of my sentiments.

The problem I'm having is Seven Towns/Rubik's Brands have shown me zero evidence that they're out to improve the sport. Other hardware manufacturers have put in hard work to iterate design improvements while Seven Towns repeatedly uses their resources to attempt to shut them down crying "inferior knock offs" and "unfair competition". The WCA has nurtured this hobby into a bone fide sport, codifying regulations and legitimizing competitions. Then Rubik's Brands steps in, again, trying to push a "Rubik's Brand only" ultimatum.

In their capable hands Rubik's has languished as a long-expired viral fad for over 40 years. They could be making amazing hardware right now. So far they've used their name recognition and resources for corporate bullying instead of working to be a best of breed company. At no point have they shown any evidence that they're out to do anything more than line their own pockets from a reborn popularity they have little to do with.

 

[Rama]

Dis... I like.

 

[obelisk477]

inb4 they use hand scrambles or random move sequences for the scrambling algorithms...

 

[bgcatfan]

My turn to chime in (also, similarly to RedJack, I've never been to a competition. But I've lurked since 2003).

I've long thought that the commercial and entertainment aspects of cubing have huge potential and have been largely untapped. One idea that I've contemplated, more seriously since watching highlight videos of this year's World Championships, is to create a "Made for TV" YouTube broadcast of a cubing competition. Create the storyline, edit the video footage, add some interviews and commentary (afterwards, not during) and I think it will be a huge success. Live broadcasting is not interesting, imho, it has to be a special-made show.

In addition, although the current WCA competition format is ok, head to head format is more interesting from an entertainment standpoint. See the guanlong/sail tournaments + nations cup for examples. I really like watching these competitions. However, these competitions don't count for anything (which probably contributes to it's relaxed and fun atmosphere). The complication is in the fact that it's difficult to keep any sort of records based on these events, with the current WCA regulations. I'd like to see more of these events, but not in place of the current WCA events. Perhaps some new categories of world records could be created, if these were to become official events. No one would worry, though, about not being able to compete their normal amount at a competition (i.e., lose and be out after 3 solves).

Also thoughts on the Rubik's World Championship. This is only one tournament [and it actually models the 1982 world championship]. The desire to compete more will lead to involvement with the WCA, as there are not many RSCA tournaments at this point in time.

Having the manufacturer of the equipment running comps is a conflict of interest.

Definitely agree with this, especially in the case that Rubik's loses the lawsuit. If they don't, then it will be complicated internationally.

If Rubik's continues to enforce only their brand of cube, and the sanctioning bodies start to battle, then I think the standard tournament structure with all brands (i.e. WCA) could win out by finding a bigger sponsor than Rubik's does.

Sorry, long post. My thoughts on inspection: Rubik's set the precedent for inspection at the original World Championship in 82, so inspection is nothing new. What I find odd is the inconsistency. The Red Bull championship, with inspection for speedsolving, but not the other two events. And WCA, for no inspection for Blind, but for everything else.

 

[sqAree]

This might seem obvious but the fact that Rubik's isn't able to make good hardware might distract:

In my opinion Rubik's ability to build good cubes should in no way be related to the choice of cubes in competitions (whether that be WCA or Red Bull or whatever comes in the future). It seems very important that competitors are allowed to use the cubes they're the most comfortable with, no matter who manufactured them. This should remain true even if Rubik's starts making good cubes in the future.

 

[pglewis]

This might seem obvious but the fact that Rubik's isn't able to make good hardware might distract:

In my opinion Rubik's ability to build good cubes should in no way be related to the choice of cubes in competitions (whether that be WCA or Red Bull or whatever comes in the future). It seems very important that competitors are allowed to use the cubes they're the most comfortable with, no matter who manufactured them. This should remain true even if Rubik's starts making good cubes in the future.

Agreed, though if the hardware is good enough people are happily willing to accept tighter control. I won't name names but maybe a computer company named after a fruit that rhymes with zapple.

 

[AlphaSheep]

I've seen some comments on Facebook and on the Youtube video that are basically attacking Dana, Alexandre, and the Weyer brothers for appearing in the video. I have to say, I'm incredibly disappointed in the people who would hold something like this against those cubers.

For the record, in this post when I refer to Rubik's, I should make it explicitly clear that I mean both Rubik's Brand Limited (RBL) and the Rubik's Cube Speedsolving Association (RCSA) because I don't see any evidence that they are independent organisations with independent interests. Every action that RCSA has taken appears to be with the intention of promoting or increasing profits of RBL. And we all know that RBL's recent actions have not been in the best interest of speedcubing in general. But lets put that aside for now, because it clouds our judgement of the current situation.

I think people are being pretty stupid and emotional here. There are a lot of people angry about this competition, hoping that it will fail, etc, and that's not really the right attitude. With clouded emotions, it's actually difficult to see that this is actually really good for the community. Imagine, if you can, that this event did not have the Rubik's name attached. Imagine Rubik's and GAN had no connection whatsoever, and that this competition had been organised by Red Bull and GAN only (or perhaps even Qiyi or Moyu, if you really don't like GAN). Even if it falls outside the WCA, is that really an issue? How is this different from any other unofficial competition with unofficial events. People are slamming the 1v1 format, claiming that's not what cubing is about, but then why do people at competitions so often race each other, and why do a number of big competitions have head to head finals?

Also, I feel people are assuming that Rubik's started this. I don't know if that's really a safe assumption to make. I get the impression and think it's more likely that Red Bull had the idea first, and approached Rubik's. There's an awful lot of Red Bull logos, and other than on the cubes, there's actually no Rubik's logo anywhere and RCSA isn't mentioned at all.

I think a lot of angry people are making a big noise and calling for boycotts, which will only hurt the WCA, and more importantly the cubing community in the long run. This is very different to a WCA competition, and even if it does turn out bad, I'm sure that the organisers will learn and improve for the next time. I have every confidence that this type of competition can work out well in the future. I even don't have a problem with only one brand of cube being allowed, as long as they provide the cubes and actually set them up properly (no one wants a repeat of the 1982 mess).

So, before I go on, I'd like to make it clear that the competition itself is a good thing, and I strongly believe that the cubing community should respect the decisions of anyone who decides to compete, just as they should respect the decisions of anyone who chooses not to. Don't attack people for their choices. I always believed our community was better than that, and it's incredibly disappointing to read insults, even one call for Dana's delegate status to be revoked. If that sort of thing did actually happen, I'd resign as a delegate on the spot, because that's not the sort of organisation that I want to be a part of.

So now here's the stuff that should people should actually be worried about:

• The name. They use the words "World Championship 2018". The World Championship has been organised by the WCA every 2 years since 2003. To use the same name as an existing well established competition is completely hypocritical. This is especially true as Rubik's has always made such a big deal about intellectual property infringement. Intellectual property, I should add, that European courts ruled they have no legitimate claim to due the fact that they irresponsibly let the patent expire in 2000, so they have to try abuse trademark law to protect it. It's a completely different competition format. Are they trying to cause confusion by using the same name? You'd think they'd respect that the World Championship already has a meaning in the cubing community and come up with a different name for this.
• The countries involved. They call it a "world" championship, but there are only 17 countries with qualifier events. For reference, the actual World Championship in 2017 had cubers from 64 different countries. What about the rest of us. Ignoring the fact that the continent I live on has been completely ignored as usual (I guess it's kind of justifiable, but then they include Turkey which is actually slower than Algeria), but what about those countries which actually do have really fast competitors? South Korea, Taiwan, Canada, Poland, UK? South America is also horribly underrepresented. Argentina and Peru both have really strong cubing communities. Where are their qualifiers?
• Finally, I think I must emphasis that unlike the other two points, this point is pure speculation. Rubik's must have had some input in the organisation of this (why else would they be using Rubik's Speed Cubes instead of the GAN cubes that all those appearing in the video normally use). Rubik's is well aware of the WCA, and knows that the WCA has a lot of expertise in running competitions. The fact that this happened behind the scenes without input from the WCA is very suspicious. Is this Rubik's hinting to the WCA that they can run competitions without the WCA? This is the one point that I'm seeing crop up in almost every comment, but I really do think that it is the smallest of the real issues.

TL;DR: Don't attack people for their choices; this competition is probably a good thing although the "World Championship" part of the name is in bad faith; and the world is more than just 17 countries.

 

[pglewis]

So, before I go on, I'd like to make it clear that the competition itself is a good thing [...]

If this were isolated I would agree. I could probably even get past the fact that they're doing a complete end-run around the WCA, who has spent the past decade and a half refining regulations, event organization, expanding participation, and collecting statistics that have become the defacto standard in the sport. But it's not an isolated thing and in context with other factors over the past couple years it feels like another salvo fired over the bow of the only community that actually knows how to correctly spell their brand name.

Will good things come out of it? Almost certainly, if from the exposure alone, but I'm not sure about the ends justifying the means. I'm obviously in the group that is very uncomfortable with the directions RBL have been trying to steer things and it's not completely just resistance to change.

[...] and I strongly believe that the cubing community should respect the decisions of anyone who decides to compete [...]

Agreed and I can't stress it enough: do not demonize anyone regardless of where they stand. In-fighting is ugliest possible outcome.

 

[kbrune]

This event is 100% to show off speedcubing. Fmc and bld aren’t super spectator friendly events and therefore they will not have them.

Fast BLDers are awesome to watch!

the rescramble actually looks very cool, this will hopefully throw up a new side of cubing, much like BLD to sighted solving.

Yeah watching someone scramble is exhilarating! It's "match the scramble" from the weekly comp. Most ppl who have participated will say similarly. It's fun to do a few times but pretty boring to watch. Bad event considering their aim is to offer spectator friendly "WOW he's fast" stuff.

 

[Max Cruz]

One good thing about this is there are now tiers of competition. Only the fastest get to compete. Unlike WCA competitions where 90% of competitors are whiny ten-year-olds (no offense to whiny ten-year-olds).

Think about the WCA as a training ground for the Rubik's competitions and the Olympics.