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What makes an event good and which one is the best

sascholeks

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Jun 11, 2019
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Gerpeopley
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Hi guys,

I posted a member introduction and made the statement that skewb is the best WCA event as a joke. I saw that many people disagreed and shared their oppinions with each other. Tony Fisher then asked what makes an event good and gave his opinion about it. I really rate this question but it did not get a lot of attention in the discussion and that is why I made this thread. I want you to share your opinion about what makes an event good/the best in your response and say which one is the best using your argument.

Give a valid reason why the event is the best in your opinion but it shouldn't be because it's your favourite.

Have fun!
 

Hazel

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What makes an event good? In my opinion, there are only a few things to consider:
- How much fun is it to participate in?
- How much room for improvement is there?

One of these criteria is very subjective, while the other is more objective but also more unknown.
Let's take 6x6x6 for example: How much fun is it? Everybody has their own opinion, but I personally think it's a lot of fun. The sub-par hardware compared to other puzzles makes it less fun, but it isn't absolutely awful. How much room for improvement is there? I think a ton. I can definitely see new methods for big cubes being developed over time, and drastically cutting times down.
Now let's look at 2x2x2. How much fun is it? To me, it really depends on the method you're using. HD, for example, is an interesting, unique, and fun method, while full EG + TCLL is much less fun because of the sheer number of algorithms there are to learn. Alg learning isn't too fun. How much room for improvement is there in this event? I don't think much. The single time is completely down to luck and how fast you can do those 4 turns. The average time is beginning to be more and more luck-based, so it isn't likely to improve much either, until someone does very well on a ridiculously easy set of scrambles.
 

bubbagrub

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2013COPP01
It's a good question! Much more interesting than just asking what the best event is. Different people will have their own criteria, but I notice that a very common pattern is that people like the events they do well in, I think think they have a chance of doing well in. This makes sense...

My perspective, as an oldie, is that the best events are the ones that are most accessible to a wide range of competitors. This is what I like about FMC. It requires effort, and patience but has no particular physical dexterity requirements like other events. There's a similar argument to be made for blindfolded events, although perhaps less so for 3BLD than big blind events.
 

aerocube

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Feb 19, 2019
Messages
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i think stuff that makes an event good is
-not luck based (2x2)
-not very hard to learn and get into (any form of BLD)
-a decent variety of hardware that doesn't suck (clock)
-not heavily algorithm based (2x2 again)
-not trivial (these aren't wca events,but stuff like 2x2x1 and 2x2 sometimes)

3x3 is usually a solid event,but imo the event i like the most would probably be a bigcube that only has edge parity (5x5,7x7) or megaminx
 

jronge94

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2014RONG01
-not very hard to learn and get into (any form of BLD)

Tbf bld isn't hard to learn, most people just don't take the time to get a success.
Imagine all the non-cubers that told you that it's soooo difficult to solve a rubik's cube or sooooo hard to learn, it basically isn't as long as you pull through.
Getting good at bld is another story, but that's true for every event.
 

aerocube

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Tbf bld isn't hard to learn, most people just don't take the time to get a success.
Imagine all the non-cubers that told you that it's soooo difficult to solve a rubik's cube or sooooo hard to learn, it basically isn't as long as you pull through.
Getting good at bld is another story, but that's true for every event.
BLD is significantly harder to learn then other events though,and the concept is a bit harder to understand than stuff like 3x3
i can understand BLD,but memo + exec is a different story
 

jronge94

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BLD is significantly harder to learn then other events though,and the concept is a bit harder to understand than stuff like 3x3
i can understand BLD,but memo + exec is a different story

I've personally learned from Noah's videos back in 2014 and over the span of 3 10 minute videos I completely understood how it worked (getting a first success being another story). And I find that his explanation concerning teory made me really understand the concept fairly easily. It took me about the same amount of time to get a first success than it did for me to learn to solve and succesfully be able to solve a cube without looking something up (used Dan's video back in 2009) and personally found grasping blind easier (given that I already knew how to solve a 3x3.
 

sqAree

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Yeah lol, learning BLD (and also getting a first success) was significantly faster for me than learning 3x3.

Also I feel like the basic concept of BLD is supposed to be more easily understood than sighted 3x3, as it's really just the braindead "we solve one piece at a time, nothing else moves".
 

GenTheSnail

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(Except every event is better than Feet.)
So, I won't take any argument, but I think that at least some form of an explanation from your point of view is in order. OP asked that people say why events are better than others and that it shouldn't just be because it's your favourite.



For me, my favorite events are 3x3, OH, Feet, and Megaminx. I enjoy FMC and BLD events, but I don't practice them much, nor am I very good at them.

I use ZZ for 3x3 and I'm able to use ZZ for OH, Feet, and Megaminx (for better or worse. I'm willing to admit that ZZ Mega probably isn't as good as Westlund, but I can't be bothered to switch, and I'm not going to be too bothered if I flatline at 33 instead of 31)
Rotationless F2L is ultimately the reason that I switched from CFOP to ZZ, but a lot of the overturning and regrips counter that. Still, being able to identify corners pieces and knowing exactly where they go is a fun feeling, and the way that F2L flows is great.
With 2H, I can spam TPS and throw together a solution on the fly.
With OH, I can still spam TPS but it's inherently slower that 2H so I have more time to process everything and can come up with shorter solutions. Look ahead is easier and I'll have more pauseless solves.
With Feet, I can get pretty crazy with solutions because I have so long to think about things. Optimal 4-gen LL algs are possible and frequently advised. The slower pace means that you can recover from a mistake and still get a reasonably time if you can keep the rest of the solve together.
With Megaminx, it's everything thats great about 3x3 but more. The way that I solve, I'll get at least 9 ZZF2L pairs and while preserving blocks can often lead so slower times, being able to take advantage of that is really fun. Like feet, it's a longer event so a mistake doesn't always mean that you've screwed yourself over. It's not so long and there the different lengths of each stage don't drag on like on Big Cubes.

Okay, I guess that these are my criteria. I tried writing out an answer to OP, but can't really come up with anything right now.
 
Last edited:

Silky

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Apr 5, 2020
Messages
873
This is a great question, thanks for asking!
So for me there are a few things that make an event great and a lot of it falls into what makes a great puzzle. I usually break down what makes a great puzzle into 4 categories: (1) Uniqueness, (2) Cleverness, (3) Tediousness, and (4) Depth. These categories are going to be in comparison to 3x3 as I think everyone would agree that 3x3 is one of the best events/puzzles.

(1) Uniqueness: for most good puzzles there needs to be a degree a uniqueness as, when lacking, it doesn't provide a reason to solve it outside of other similar puzzles. An obviously example would be something like the super sticker mods where you have to solve center orientation with solving the rest of the cube. This puzzle is nearly identical to a regular 3x3 and doesn't add anything to the puzzle/event. I don't really see any reason to solve this over a regular 3x3. Conversely, something like Square-1 is a puzzle with a high level of uniqueness. Its the only puzzle in the WCA that shapeshifts as well as having a unique, precise, and satisfying turning style. In addition to this, the design of the shapeshifting never hinders ergonomics so its rarely awkward to turn ( as opposed to something like the ghost cube ).

(2) Cleverness: cleverness is a bit more difficult to define but I'll do my best. I think the best way to explain it would to be to compare the uniqueness of the puzzle to the uniqueness of the solving experience. Again the super sticker mod would be an example of a non unique puzzle as well as a non clever puzzle. As stated above the approach to solving the cube doesn't vary at all compared to a regular 3x3. An example of a unique puzzle that lacks cleverness would be ghost cube. The shapeshifting aspect adds a lot of novelty to the puzzle, however, just like super sticker mod, the puzzle is solved exactly the same as a 3x3. A good example of a clever puzzle would be something like the latch cube or constrained cube. The puzzles don't differ from any way to 3x3, however, add a single new mechanism which completely changes how you solve the puzzle.. here being limited movement. They looks like a 3x3, they turn like a 3x3, but they are solved it a completely unique way. Although there are some shared ideas between 3x3 and latch/constrained cube they aren't particularly useful in solving these cubes. Because of the constraint you must solve the cube completely differently.

(3) Tediousness: something that makes for a poorly designed puzzle are those which difficulty arises due to tediousness (as opposed to cleverness ). Most tedious puzzle also lack uniqueness. Some clear examples would be ghost cube and higher order nxn events. Again ghost cubes difficulty does not come down to the cleverness of the puzzle but rather the obfuscation of the pieces. This ends up meaning that the puzzle just ends up being a pain to solve because the pieces are hard to identify. Solving the puzzle really comes down to a bunch of trial and error. In addition, once you are good a solving the cube it again just turns into 3x3. For higher order nxn events its a similar effect. Moving from 3x3 to 4x4 and from 4x4 to 5x5 each subsequent puzzle adds new concepts/mechanisms to the puzzle. For 4x4 you have to solve centers and pair edges for 5x5 you are introduced to things like freesilce which adds a new dimension to the puzzle. However, once we get to 8x8+, the challenge really just comes down to doing more of the same thing that you'd do on 5x5 or 6x6. There ends up being little variety in the puzzle and comes down to a test of endurance.

(4) Depth: this is a pretty straight forward metric.. how much depth there is to the puzzle? This is probably the most subjective metric. A classic example is going to be 3x3. There are tons of different ways to solve the cube in both forms of methods and in forms of advanced techniques. The WCA event with the greatest 'depth' would probably be FMC given the laundry list of approaches to optimize efficiency. An event that lacks depth would be something like magic/master magic. The solution is literally the same every time, zero thinking involved, just an execution test. Something like PLL times attack could be another example. 2x2, however, is a unique case that muddies the waters. Some people will characterize the event as 'just spamming algs' and 'requiring zero thinking' thus lacking any significant depth. However, for others ( myself included ), the depth of the event comes in the form of one looking the solve, considering multiple roots through the same scramble and choosing the best solution ( all in 15 seconds ). The characterization of the event is pretty contested so is mostly going to come down to someones experience with the event. As said above HD is a really cool method that challenges the former characterization of the event.

For me the best events will have high uniqueness, high cleverness, low tediousness, and high depth. Given that, heres the list:

3x3: A classic, the OG, doesn't need much of an explanation. Almost everyone loves this event, truly goated
2x2: See explanation under (4) Depth
4x4: The perfect balance of big cube stuff and 3x3 stuff.
Square-1: Most unique event with the most satisfying turning.
3BLD: One of the most impressive events. Amazing mix of challenge and speed.
Megaminx: 5x5 but with more 3x3 conceppts or just a better version of 5x5.
FTO: Perfectly meets all of the requirements above. Also super fun. #FTO for WCA

Oh yeah and the events should be fun ,duh. My favorites overall are 3x3 and Square-1.
anyway, I think that's it.

Cheers!
 
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