Where is fairness?

[one_ace_of_cubes]

Honestly, I am vehemently against mandating 4-pad in competition, seeing as only SpeedStacks has made a 4-pad timer, and I know the WCA is trying to break their reliance on SpeedStacks.

Mandating 4-pad is the absolute last thing I want the WCA to do... But if Yiheng continues sliding, it might be the only option...

 

[ErmAcshuelly27]

Honestly, I am vehemently against mandating 4-pad in competition, seeing as only SpeedStacks has made a 4-pad timer, and I know the WCA is trying to break their reliance on SpeedStacks.

Mandating 4-pad is the absolute last thing I want the WCA to do... But if Yiheng continues sliding, it might be the only option...

The only issues with 4-pad are that some people don't put their thumbs on the timer when they stop and it would erase all previous WRs.

 

[MrCubert]

seeing as only SpeedStacks has made a 4-pad timer, and I know the WCA is trying to break their reliance on SpeedStacks.

I hope that more companies start to make 4pad timers so they can be used while not being overly reliant on stackmat

The only issues with 4-pad are that some people don't put their thumbs on the timer when they stop and it would erase all previous WRs.

My guess is that it would be like the new 3bld regulations where all old records still stand until new ones are achieved

 

[one_ace_of_cubes]

I hope that more companies start to make 4pad timers so they can be used while not being overly reliant on stackmat

If 4-pad is mandated in the WCA, I can only hope that more companies make 4-pad timers...

My guess is that it would be like the new 3bld regulations where all old records still stand until new ones are achieved

I can't see it any other way. It would be stupid to erase the history of speedcubing records.

 

[OtaMota]

The only issues with 4-pad are that some people don't put their thumbs on the timer when they stop and it would erase all previous WRs.

Antonie Paterakis believes a result reset with 4-pad is not necessary

 

[SpeedCubingLord]

Honestly, I am vehemently against mandating 4-pad in competition, seeing as only SpeedStacks has made a 4-pad timer, and I know the WCA is trying to break their reliance on SpeedStacks.

Mandating 4-pad is the absolute last thing I want the WCA to do... But if Yiheng continues sliding, it might be the only option...

4-pad should only be for finals and HTH. When it's mandatory, other timers will start using 4-pad as well. I hope there's no patent.

 

[Kami]

Honestly, I am vehemently against mandating 4-pad in competition, seeing as only SpeedStacks has made a 4-pad timer, and I know the WCA is trying to break their reliance on SpeedStacks.

Mandating 4-pad is the absolute last thing I want the WCA to do... But if Yiheng continues sliding, it might be the only option...

I think four pad mode should be a penalty for being caught sliding. That solves the issue of being locked in to speedstacks, because only people caught sliding would have to use their timers.

 

[Caleb Valenzuela]

We saw how 4-pad was in Monkey League and the PSL
Top-cubers still got good results
Could a temporary switch to 4-pad work? And then once the WCA has another timer they can use aside from speedstacks, they can replace 4-pad with that timer. Or we could just ban Yiheng for a few months (a few months of no competing isn’t that bad, a fellow member here who has NR potential didn’t compete for a year iirc)

 

[ErmAcshuelly27]

I sometimes use 4- pad on my timer and I always forget to put my thumbs on the timer and get slower times.

 

[Cubing_Grandson]

Honestly, I am vehemently against mandating 4-pad in competition, seeing as only SpeedStacks has made a 4-pad timer, and I know the WCA is trying to break their reliance on SpeedStacks.

Mandating 4-pad is the absolute last thing I want the WCA to do... But if Yiheng continues sliding, it might be the only option...

Just ban Yiheng

 

[Tabe]

If 4-pad is mandated in the WCA, I can only hope that more companies make 4-pad timers...

Speedstacks apparently has a patent on 4-pad mode. So we'd be stuck with them.

 

[Tabe]

There are other options besides 4-pad. The placement of the cube, the placement of the timer, physical barriers, etc., all could be used instead.

 

[Kami]

Just ban Yiheng

Idea: if 4 pad mode isn't an option whatsoever, why don't we simply ban yiheng until he turns 18? He clearly doesn't want to do any of the cheating, and people have told stories of how his mom yells at him and scolds him for not sliding or even just getting 2nd place.

 

[GodCubing]

Bruh...why ban him??? What if there can be a 60 second penalty for sliding??? Gives us a chance to beat him...and to fix sliding for everyone, why not make a pressure plate for the cube???That makes it fair for everyone, and a bit more accurate...considering that we lose 0.1-2 seconds without the thingy idea I said...

The idea of timing the solve with a scale would be amazing. It prevents early starts and makes early stops really obvious as you would have to push your hand down on the scale instead of placing the cube on it.

Theoretically, a pressure plate would do well but you’d have to figure out how to actually tell if the pressure plate has been lifted, also what about during inspection? The pressure plate would be moved way too much and you would still need video review anyway because of how many times the pressure plat gets pressed and lifted.

It would not be hard to program the "timer" to ignore lifting the cube the first time for the inspection and begin timing the solve on the second lift of the cube. The only issue I foresee is calibrating the scale with the cube cover over it. If the scale had a smaller footprint than the cube cover then it wouldn't be too hard for the judge to press a calibrate button linked to the scale, but with how many different cube covers there are for events like squan it might be a bit of a hurdle, but nothing insurmountable (maybe tough for a massive global organization).

Finally, I think the idea of calibrating the scale once the cube is placed initially would work for detecting even the slightest amount of lifting it from the table. The question is how possible this is to implement across the WCA, not whether it would work. It would likely avoid the speedstacks patent and increase the professional perception of speedsolving by having our own timers. It would certainly take a lot of money and effort to replace all the stackmats being used globally by the WCA and the question of response time from lifting the cube is also a fair question.

Overall, it is a really good idea but would be equally as hard to implement as any other alternative timer sliding prevention approach. And I really like the idea of speedcubing having its own timers. I think the best way to make any slide-proof timer happen in the WCA is to have someone come to them with a complete approach (and hopefully they take it)

 

[Kami]

The idea of timing the solve with a scale would be amazing. It prevents early starts and makes early stops really obvious as you would have to push your hand down on the scale instead of placing the cube on it.


It would not be hard to program the "timer" to ignore lifting the cube the first time for the inspection and begin timing the solve on the second lift of the cube. The only issue I foresee is calibrating the scale with the cube cover over it. If the scale had a smaller footprint than the cube cover then it wouldn't be too hard for the judge to press a calibrate button linked to the scale, but with how many different cube covers there are for events like squan it might be a bit of a hurdle, but nothing insurmountable (maybe tough for a massive global organization).

Finally, I think the idea of calibrating the scale once the cube is placed initially would work for detecting even the slightest amount of lifting it from the table. The question is how possible this is to implement across the WCA, not whether it would work. It would likely avoid the speedstacks patent and increase the professional perception of speedsolving by having our own timers. It would certainly take a lot of money and effort to replace all the stackmats being used globally by the WCA and the question of response time from lifting the cube is also a fair question.

Overall, it is a really good idea but would be equally as hard to implement as any other alternative timer sliding prevention approach. And I really like the idea of speedcubing having its own timers. I think the best way to make any slide-proof timer happen in the WCA is to have someone come to them with a complete approach (and hopefully they take it)

I highly doubt this would work. This would require someone to custom design and manufacture a new timer and would every delegate/organizer to buy new timers and nobody has the money to afford them.

 

[John Williams]

why not make a pressure plate for the cube???

Or like the Rubik's Timer: "A built-in photo detector starts timing when you pick up the puzzle, and stops timing when you put the solved puzzle down-- no cumbersome hand pads!". Füll description under the screenshot.

Accurately time yourself solving your Rubik's cube puzzles with this new electronic timer designed specifically for Rubik's cube puzzles. A built-in photo detector starts timing when you pick up the puzzle, and stops timing when you put the solved puzzle down-- no cumbersome hand pads! The Rubik's timer has its own internal processor-- it manages hundreds of solve times in it's internal database, auto-calculates rolling averages, generates random 3x3 4x4 and 5x5 scramble sequences. The large graphical LCD display provides you complete access to your solve times, averaging information, and other data. The Rubik's timer is your complete timing management tool for solving Rubik's cube puzzles.

Rubik's Timer Features * Accurately times solutions without cumbersome handpads * Auto-calculates rolling averages * Stores and manages a database of hundreds of solve times * Generates random 3x3, 4x4, 5x5 scramble sequences * Optionally times the pre-inspection phase * Connects to your PC computer via supplied software (optional accessory) * Connects to SpeedStacks large tournament display * 4 AA batteries NOT included

Was mentioned a few days ago on r/Cubers.

 

[Puzzle Maniac]

What if I like gambling tho

Wait that's a good point, I'm opening the first ever WCA official casino, 347Bet (copyright pending).

 

[boko_]

i didnt cube for a month and now we have yiheng and xuanyi beefing

 

[Puzzle Maniac]

I found fairness. Problem solved.

 

[0rcoraCuber21]

My wife has an interesting theory: what if Yiheng has enough of cubing and getting sick of it, but there are sooo much pressure from everywhere (parents, companies, etc), that continuing sliding is a deliberate act, a silent rebel; basically asking for a ban.
I mean, what would you do if you were forced to play piano for 10 hours each day (just because you became good at it some years ago), instead of I don't know, go out and play with your friends?
Don't know enough details if this is true, but it's a food for thoughts.

That is an interesting theory and might not be to far from the truth.

You felt correct.

I think this video is pretty accurate he mentions how yiheng one worlds without sliding and is good enough to win and I think his idea that there might be stuff going on behind the scenes and its more the parents then xuanyi and yiheng beefing also seems accurate.