WCA has now banned stickerless cubes for BLD. Thoughts?

[Noahaha]

There really could be a rule about, you know, since you can't make turns on the cube during BLD memo, the being able to see more sides thing is NULL.

No it's not. In fact, if you're not turning the cube it is even easier to see on more sides than you should since everything isn't all blurry and fast.

 

[Kirjava]

Glad to see that the rules are now uniform

As for them being allowed, I don't think it matters too much either way. However, this is a nice direction for the WCA to take as far as allowing stuff goes.

 

[brandbest1]

I don't really mind this rule, it's just that now I have to take extra good care of my cubes and put my mini zhanchi in its box when i'm not using it. Plus, I have to resticker my cubes constantly because of the damage I do to them.

 

[Fire Cuber]

Umm, The MBLD WR Holder Quits. Not good

http://www.speedsolving.com/forum/showthread.php?39100-Bye-)

 

[Godmil]

many MBLDers may have to re-sticker 20 or 30 cubes very often, which I think is a PITA.

How many MBLD attempts must you do to require restickering 20-30 cubes 'very often'? O_o

 

[sneaklyfox]

Just wait until they manufacture a stickerless cube that has only black on the inside surfaces...

Edit: I meant "black" as in any uniform colour. I just think black because I prefer black cubes...

 

[pjk]

Good decision, it's really weird they would be allowed for some events but not allowed for others. Theoretically you could still get an advantage if you just do a small turn that disaligns the layers but not counts as a full move: you could see the colour of the piece from the side then. Of course this is negligible. As a matter of fact I'd like to have them legal for ALL events, but it's better to ban them for all events than only for some.

For those with many of them and doing multiblind: if you have 6 you can just rebuild to 6 legal cubes of just 1 colour of plastic.

But in BLD you're not allowed to turn the puzzle while you can still see it, so that shouldn't be an issue unless that rule is violated. I see no reason for banning stickerless puzzles in BLD.

And the "for consistency" from the WCA doesn't make sense either. What exactly does the WCA mean by this?

 

[Henrik]

Just wait until they manufacture a stickerless cube that has only black on the inside surfaces...

Edit: I meant "black" as in any uniform colour. I just think black because I prefer black cubes...

Has been done !

By two manufactures: C4U and Gans-cube

http://cube4you.com/cube4you-interchangeble-bright-tile-cube-nib-black-p-224.html?cPath=26_33
and
http://lightake.com/detail.do/sku.3x3x3_PVC_Type_A_Gans_Puzzle_Magic_Cube_Black-37517

 

[SirWaffle]

I want to know how did they come to a conclusion that stickerless cubes give a faster memo time. If anything I thing stickerless cubes should be encouraged in blind solving because I have stickered cubes that have damage on the sticker that can just barely be felt but not seen and of course that can't happen with a stickerless cube.

Edit:I think that a stickered cube vs a stickerless cube is like a marked and unmarked deck of cards. There are ways that you can easily make a deck of cards look brand new but there are markings all over it, that only a single magician can see. Tha same goes for a stickered cube. A cuber can mark a stickered cube in such a way that only they know and use to cheat in blind solving.

 

[BlueDevil]

But in BLD you're not allowed to turn the puzzle while you can still see it, so that shouldn't be an issue unless that rule is violated. I see no reason for banning stickerless puzzles in BLD.

You can see the orange, but on a stickered cube you would not be able to. Stickerless helps in bld because the color of a piece can be viewed better, and without as much of a rotation of the cube.

 

[cubernya]

Spoiler: image

You can see the orange, but on a stickered cube you would not be able to. Stickerless helps in bld because the color of a piece can be viewed better, and without as much of a rotation of the cube.

But I can still use 1.5mm thick tiles, which IMO is much worse than stickerless cubes

I could care less if the WCA allows stickerless cubes

 

[izovire]

WCA's fault for allowing them in the first place... oooops!

I can agree with this decision because mistakes are made at competitions sometimes. Some people might get away with solving a stickerless on normal solves by accident. Last comp. I went to I had to remind 3 people that they could not use their stickerless for normal solving. Even though I think there's no advantage or it's very negligible.

What if circular stickers help people memo better than square stickers? Would this be a problem? hehe

 

[musicninja17]

No it's not. In fact, if you're not turning the cube it is even easier to see on more sides than you should since everything isn't all blurry and fast.

I really don't see your point. I see the other people's points about being able to see the colors through the gaps between the centres and edges, but I was talking about making turns (like URLFBD type) not cube rotations. There's not much difference in color area on a face between stickerless and stickered, not enough to make a huge difference imo. I don't believe that was the reasoning behind the ban.

 

[Noahaha]

I really don't see your point. I see the other people's points about being able to see the colors through the gaps between the centres and edges, but I was talking about making turns (like URLFBD type) not cube rotations. There's not much difference in color area on a face between stickerless and stickered, not enough to make a huge difference imo. I don't believe that was the reasoning behind the ban.

I was talking about the fact that you can see back colors without seeing the back.

 

[HEART]

Also, if stickerless are banned because they help memo faster, ( meaning eventually solving faster ) shoudn't the edge grips on the dayan minx be banned to? They help solve/grip easier, to me there is almost no difference.

 

[Sebastien]

But in BLD you're not allowed to turn the puzzle while you can still see it, so that shouldn't be an issue unless that rule is violated.

Of cause you are allowed to turn faces during memorization. You are just not allowed to make moves.

And the "for consistency" from the WCA doesn't make sense either. What exactly does the WCA mean by this?

Please use a dictionary if you don't know what consistency means. If you do, then I can't see how you could not know why that decision is consistent in the given context.

I want to know how did they come to a conclusion that stickerless cubes give a faster memo time.

No one ever claimed that. Just stop reading official statements wrong.

 

[ducttapecuber]

Also, if stickerless are banned because they help memo faster, ( meaning eventually solving faster ) shoudn't the edge grips on the dayan minx be banned to? They help solve/grip easier, to me there is almost no difference.

I see your point, but a dayan mexaminx's ridges help to grip, in a way its like having textured tiles that help you grip better. While on stickerless cubes it is easier to see the colors. Easier to see and easier to grip are separate things.

 

[samchoochiu]

While consistency is nice, the reason for banning them in other events besides BLD becomes void when it enters BLD. They're banned also because when a layer is turned, you can see the other color of pieces because the way the pieces are molded and colored. But if you're bindfolded, it doesn't matter.

True, however another problem is that you can see certain colors that you should not be able to see with a stickerless cube. For example in this picture you can clearly see the blue side of the cube http://farm9.static.flickr.com/8020/7536546668_e190072a57.jpg
I hope you now understand why the problems with stickerless cubes are applicable to BLD events.

 

[HEART]

Yeah that would indeed be a problem, now what agitates me more so is how they let this go for so long? If it was really that obvious you'd think they'd just go ahead and ban it as soon as possible.

 

[SirWaffle]

No one ever claimed that. Just stop reading official statements wrong

If it wasn't conclusive then why did they pass the rule? They should not have passed it if they didn't have a conclusive reason to.