I don't mind it being run but perhaps we should ask the runners if they've made it clear to the AGDQ-crew that the game is in Early Access! I don't know what their stance is on doing speedruns on incomplete games.
And if it is fine by the organizers, as Own said we'd want the runners to mention the game's unfinished state and Arcade Mode's relation to Story Mode so the viewers don't get confused!
One of them already contacted Fred to ask some questions so getting these things across shouldn't be hard.
Hi, Teddy. Big fan of the game so far!
I'm glad that you're as excited as I am to see this at a GDQ! I'm hoping that some of the people who see the run will be persuaded to support the game.
Just wanted to voice my opinion of running arcade mode since it seems to be muddled with some concerns from other fans of the game. I did runs and races with Weables and Ivan in every way possible (solo, 2p co-op, 3p co-op, etc) and have had a blast learning different things and routing different strategies! Arcade is ridiculously intense when you die in 3-4 hits from certain things.
There might be people who dislike running a game that is in Early Access, but I'm positive GDQ has nothing against it (though it might sway some of the Games Committee to put something in over it). For instance, A Hat in Time beta was in AGDQ 2016, so they are fine with it. I'm sure Weables, Ivan, or the couch commentators will mention that the game isn't finished yet, and will explain the difference between Arcade and Story mode.
Don't get me wrong, free publicity is great - but not now.
Just to address your first point:
Yeah, the Hot Hands (Flame Thrower) and Buff Guy (Frosty Friend) strategy allowed us to push times lower and lower. It is ridiculously efficient to use those skills in combination with some good passives. I think Ivan and Weables and I all have times around 20-25 minute Solo run with this, it's crazy.
Now, it seems that the general opinion is that running the story is better than the arcade? Sure it's a completely different playstyle, as Arcade mode is pretty much a rouguelike, but surely people will know there is a Story mode when it is presented to them in the main menu. I doubt that people will be so harsh on a game instantly after they "ragequit".
Adding 20 minutes of cutscenes and text that will be skipped and mashed through is no different than skipping it entirely by running Arcade mode, so your concerns of only seeing "this little of the game" shouldn't be that extreme really. It seems somewhat silly to say that "free publicity just isn't good right now" doesn't it? The devs have put TONS of time into this game, so showing hundreds of thousands of people the game will only create interest in what Secrets of Grindea has to offer. Seems like a good thing to me :>
Hope you enjoy the run at AGDQ!
