Lisa forgive me
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Jun 22, 2024
Probably because most people that aren't actually runners themselves or genuinely invested into these games ended up losing interest. GDQ, and speedrunning as a whole, basically ended up becoming a social clique where it no longer mattered how good you were at your game but rather which people you knew, which is a pretty big departure from how it used to be considering most speedrunners were autistic nerds (endearing) back in high school and used the hobby as a way to have fun and socialize with people like themselves without having to worry about all the nonsense that normally comes along with social groups. Pretty much everyone is in agreeance that Protomagicalgirl (who seemingly went into DFE mode) was basically the one who killed speedrunning for good. I met (or rather, saw and desperately attempted to avoid) him at a Nando's at a GDQ many years ago. Seemed like nobody actually likes him but stuck around for social status.
Everyone I know personally (myself included) has just stopped attending. I still speedrun myself and keep up with the communities for a couple games but the hobby as a whole isn't what it used to be. ESA could have changed things for the better but constantly being swamped in controversies (especially when half of the community is trans now) is not a great look, and it's a very American hobby anyways, making it largely inaccessible to the biggest audience.
