Should 3x3x3 With Feet Remain an Official WCA Event?

[AlexMaass]

I think the WCA should have opinions from people who don't really go on the speedsolving.com forums before the WCA decides on whether to remove this event or not, like people from Brazil, Asia etc. its a way too big decision to remove an event with just a section of the speedcubing community.

 

[Dane man]

I voted to keep it because it is a funny joke. Foot solving has been and still is a side-show type of joke for the cubing community to enjoy (though, some people do get all srs biznus about it, because it is after all a competition with world records). Why not let people enjoy it?

 

[sneaklyfox]

it's because it's simply fun for me.

...

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)

Seems like conflicting statements. You said feet is just fun for you, but also that you wouldn't practice it if it weren't an official event? If it were really fun for you, you'd practice it whether it were official or not, no?

 

[Coolster01]

Seems like conflicting statements. You said feet is just fun for you, but also that you wouldn't practice it if it weren't an official event? If it were really fun for you, you'd practice it whether it were official or not, no?

I know I said I was done, but just to clear up, I enjoyed magics but stopped after WCA removal. I dont know why but a lot of the fun is taken out when events are unofficial, it's just less competitive to get fast and makes me feel unproductive.

 

[Bob]

Seems like conflicting statements. You said feet is just fun for you, but also that you wouldn't practice it if it weren't an official event? If it were really fun for you, you'd practice it whether it were official or not, no?

I think that's really a good way to think about it:

"Would you still solve with feet if it was not an official event?"

Plenty of people practiced Skewb even before it became official (of course since becoming official I'm sure lots more practice it now). I'm curious to know if people would still solve this way if it was no longer an official WCA event.

 

[BaMiao]

"Would you still solve with feet if it was not an official event?"

Plenty of people practiced Skewb even before it became official (of course since becoming official I'm sure lots more practice it now). I'm curious to know if people would still solve this way if it was no longer an official WCA event.

I think it's also interesting that more people have competed in skewb than feet, despite skewb being official for only half a year.

I think if feet solving was never official, no one would do it seriously. It would come up from time to time on the "what event should we add next" thread, but very few would take it seriously.

On the other hand, saying "it shouldn't be an event" is very different from saying "we should remove it". I firmly agree with the first opinion, but the second is a grey area for me, given the number of hours that have been spent by many in the name of getting records and such. I don't like watching it, and I don't like it getting so much attention, but I guess I can just close my eyes whenever it comes up.

 

[kcl]

Very few people who are fast nowadays practiced it before it was official.

 

[DavidCip86]

I don't like feet, but I think it should remain a WCA event. People enjoy this event, and I wouldn't like it if they took away an event that I liked.

 

[CiaranBeahan]

I practiced feet yesterday just for fun, but before that it was my last comp, a month and a half ago. And before that it was months. If the WCA wants to add an event but only will do so by removing an event first,I think that feet should be taking out.

 

[sneaklyfox]

Also, I don't see why the feet records that already exist should be removed if the event is removed. I mean, aren't magic records archived somewhere? So record holders can keep their records. It just means the event will no longer be held in official competition. Also, anyone can still go on talent shows and impress people with their feet solving skills.

 

[Bob]

Also, I don't see why the feet records that already exist should be removed if the event is removed. I mean, aren't magic records archived somewhere? So record holders can keep their records. It just means the event will no longer be held in official competition. Also, anyone can still go on talent shows and impress people with their feet solving skills.

Yes. I do not believe removed events have become unofficial. Those results are still listed in WCA profiles.

Examples:
Magic
Master Magic
Multi BLD (old style)

 

[tx789]

In my opinion the only reason against removing feet is hygiene. Which is much easier to deal with than judging for magics. You could make people use their own timer mat.

 

[elrog]

I think if feet solving was never official, no one would do it seriously. It would come up from time to time on the "what event should we add next" thread, but very few would take it seriously.

On the other hand, saying "it shouldn't be an event" is very different from saying "we should remove it". I firmly agree with the first opinion, but the second is a grey area for me, given the number of hours that have been spent by many in the name of getting records and such. I don't like watching it, and I don't like it getting so much attention, but I guess I can just close my eyes whenever it comes up.

^ This is how I feel about feet. I would also like to add that there are some out there who can't compete in other events, and that even though they are a small few, they should be valued as part of the community.

Pros for removing Feet:

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 3x3x3 With Feet did not add much as an event in the first place, compared to other events. As a 3x3x3 variant, all it added was another twist to solving a 3x3x3 using a regular speed method, which One-Handed already did, and did better. Its removal would be a small loss in variety of events.

• 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.

Cons for removing Feet:

• Removing the event would make all Feet solves unofficial. It would take away Feet records that took a lot of effort to accomplish.

• Feet solving is popular and well-liked overall in several countries. This also can result in very positive media appearances that just make cubing look more interesting and fascinating.

• As a removal of an event with no immediate replacement, it's simply a loss of an event.

The first pro and second con are contradictory.

Regarding sanitation, the second pro, I think there are to many factors to accurately tell if feet is really any more unclean than other events. I could go on about this but I won't.

The last con doesn't really mean anything.

The first con should be there because you can just archive the statistics.

The last pro should not be there because anyone who is near WR times won't gain an advantage from purposely +2ing because they have decent TPS.

Concerning the third pro, I personally feel that a system should be made where you are only obligated to scramble for a particular event if you compete in it. This does not mean others can't help out if they want to.

The fourth pro isn't really true. I think most would agree that CFOP is better for 2-handed solving than ZZ, but ZZ is better at 1-handwed solving. Therefor OH does add something and is valuable. Feet has not been explored enough to say that it adds nothing new.

PS: I voted for the second option.

 

[Thaynara]

I believe that feet must stay as an official event. It adds so much more in all ways as previously said in many posts.
If you have any problem with hygiene, just wear gloves. Problem solved. But i think that it is unfair to delete WF from official competitions as it is a much more difficult event to get along and it needs much more determination to become fast. It is such a complex event!
Also correct me if im wrong, but there is some old school guy (can`t remember his name sorry) that used to solve 2 OH but due to some illness decided to start practicing WF, and he would still be able to be part of the community. Deleting feet is just like ignoring those who cant solve with hands etc. And excluiding someone from his\her hobby is just so rude.
For me the hygiene discussion is more than over by now. Seriously everyone here at this exact moment is in touch with millions of bacterias just by typing on your keyboard. You may look at it and see no dust but there is millions of bacteria all over you. So if your problem is with basic hygiene you may as well stop typing. This is so irrational in pov.

Just keep feet as an official event, please.

 

[XTowncuber]

But i think that it is unfair to delete WF from official competitions as it is a much more difficult event to get along and it needs much more determination to become fast. It is such a complex event!

I don't practice feet, so I may be wrong, but I'm under the impression that this isn't true. Again, from what I've heard, it's relatively easy to get fast at feet. If you're half decent at 3x3, it really doesn't take much other than doing a lot of solves to get used to turning it with your feet. It's not like everyone learns a ton of new algs and techniques for it, in fact with so much of the element of fingertricks taken away, it is a much less complex event than 3x3.

To me, feet is just a mundane copy of 3x3.

And it's gross

 

[antoineccantin]

I don't practice feet, so I may be wrong, but I'm under the impression that this isn't true. Again, from what I've heard, it's relatively easy to get fast at feet. If you're half decent at 3x3, it really doesn't take much other than doing a lot of solves to get used to turning it with your feet. It's not like everyone learns a ton of new algs and techniques for it, in fact with so much of the element of fingertricks taken away, it is a much less complex event than 3x3.

Yeah.

 

[BillyRain]

Why do we even have to remove events really... to add new ones?

You don't have to hold all events at a competition.. so why not just keep a pool of events no matter how many, that organisers can choose from.

It's sad that an event has to be sacrificed for a new event to be added (or so it seems) ((magic>skewb))

 

[Parity Case]

At the risk of making myself incredibly unpopular here...

Ask 10 random people in the street to name a famous sprinter/football player/tennis player/etc., one month after the Olympics/World Cup/etc. At least one will be able to give you an answer (even if the competitor wasn't in the global event)... now try the same a week after videos from Worlds in cubing (or just WR videos) get passed around on social media... 10/10 randomly asked people will not remember the name of a record holder they saw on a Facebook post.

So all this stuff about "feet makes cubing look silly" is silly in itself. It a game, kids - a puzzle. A damn fun one, and one you can get really, really skilled at in various ways. I love it. But a serious sport? Not really. It's way too friendly and community-based to be a serious sport. And there's no drug testing. Dexies? You can bet some people come along with their prescription meds in tow (or their friend's meds).

I think the average person who is not a cuber is likely (nb. I have no data, just opinion) to be even more impressed by feet-solves than hand solves. People love weird stuff, and feet-solving might get cubing coverage in situations where media otherwise thinks "Oh, it's just another boring cubing event" when they have other stories to run on the news that evening.

That all said, I have no opinion either way on whether it *should* be kept as an event. Rather than being worried about foot-related disease/pollution, I'm more concerned about noise pollution caused by a bunch of people standing right behind me all talking at the same time in loud voices while I'm competing. I'm not that fast anyway, so not being able to hear myself think is far more off-putting than the possibility that someone is going to touch a timer with their feet.

 

[szalejot]

For me feet do not add anything to cubing specially. One just use different tool (feet instead of hands) to solve cube, but it's still the same cube solved with the same set of algorithms.
I think that solving with feet should be allowed for people who do not have hands (accident or birth defect) but not as separate event.

 

[kinch2002]

For me feet do not add anything to cubing specially. One just use different tool (feet instead of hands) to solve cube, but it's still the same cube solved with the same set of algorithms.
I think that solving with feet should be allowed for people who do not have hands (accident or birth defect) but not as separate event.

So you want to remove One-handed as well?
Different algorithms are used. Many people learn algs for feet solving.
People who do not have hands are already allowed to solve with their feet during the 3x3 event - not sure what you're getting at there.