My take on Speedrun Breakdown

What is Speedrun Breakdown all about? Is it a response to a problem in the speedrun community? Is it providing resources that are currently inaccessible? Is it catering to the demands and needs of the speedrunning community?

No, it is none of these things. It's not a solution. It's not necessarily any information that you can't already find. In fact, it's not even something that people have explicitly asked for.

So what the hell is the point of this whole thing?

The answer lies within a much broader perspective of where we feel the direction of the speedrun community can be taken, and what we feel is necessary to sustain growth.

Let's talk a little bit about the Smash community, which, in the past couple years, has grown exponentially to its current peak and shows no signs of stagnation. Here are what I feel were the most important contributors to this:
-  Professional streams and video content. VGBootCamp, Clash Tournaments, 8wayrun, and others have brought us not just high production quality, but an emphasis on quality commentary that keeps everyone entertained and in the mental loop of the players.
-  EVO 2013. Melee returned to the main stage, putting it back on the map of the FGC and gamers in general - those not already intimate with the scene. Killer combination with the above point.
-  Social networking. Players with a common passion connect with each other, practice together, give advice, hold meetups, and build lasting friendships.
-  Documentary. The medium through which the limitless passion of Smash players was represented to the rest of the world through a series both thrilling and relatable.

How does this have to do with the speedrun community? Well, it's simple. Both are grassroots, player-driven communities who can depend only on themselves for content, innovation, and growth of the scene. Because of this, I feel that we can use the growth of the Smash community to help understand where the speedrun community needs to improve if we want bigger and better things to happen year after year.

Let's finally relate this to Speedrun Breakdown:

-  A professional, high-production video series that provides entertaining overviews/tutorials with great commentary. A GDQ run can suck hard but still turn out the most entertaining recording of that run, because the dedication and passion of the player base is represented through commentary, recognized achievement, and fun. That is the kind of attitude that deserves to be all over YouTube, which is the very first place any non-runner will go to find more info about a game.
-  An emphasis on the *journey*, not the *destination*. When each individual detail of a run is explored, the viewer can appreciate the run in bits and pieces, and understand that every little step is an accomplishment worth being proud of. "World Record" should ultimately be meaningless for most games with the exception of those who are already intimate with the scene and game, and have an appreciation for the improvements over the previous run.
-  A door to discovery! It's hard to fully appreciate a run without a good idea of everything behind it. Maybe you'll find that a Speedrun Breakdown video of some random game opens your eyes to some really awesome stuff that gets you interested in watching live runs, or perhaps picking up the game yourself.

And, what this hopes to accomplish:

-  Bringing in new players with the right mindset.
-  Setting a precedent for more professional content in general.
-  Encouraging new discoveries.
-  Transforming the ten-foot wall of entry into a welcoming staircase.
-  Opening the door to continued innovation in content, ideas, and player interaction.

The last one is important. Again, Speedrun Breakdown is not a solution, but perhaps a step in the right direction. Speedrunning doesn't need to be a daunting grind that only those with the highest ambition can sustain. It should be fun from the start with a welcoming community whose passion is apparent and can be shared.

I would argue that this is most exciting for would-be runners who won't even know of it until it's out there. Those already well-integrated into the scene are not as prominently impacted, but I hope that you can understand, from a broader perspective, what this tries to accomplish for the scene's growth.

And if it fails? Well, that's too bad. But hey, we are some of the most ambitious and passionate people on Earth. The next big thing could be right around the corner, and who knows, it could come from you.

-dansalvato