It's time for me to reveal my ideas for the 2011 time trials. We really haven't had a real time trial since 2004... that's seven years ago. I'd like to bring it back this year, and here's what I plan to do:
1a. This is going to be a five game, five week tournament. There will be no breaks in between games. The first game will be January 9th, and the tournament will end on February 13th.
1b. Each game will begin on Sunday at or around 2359GMT, and will end at the next Sunday at 23:59:59 GMT. Because only the coordinator will know the games in advance, he will be ineligible to participate in the contest. (But he's going to play the games just to see how well he would have done
)1c. Each game will be revealed as they begin or slightly before, depending on RL issues.
1d. Each game will come from a different genre. That means five games, five genres.
2a. Each game is going to be "get as far as you can in the least time possible"... but I may place a "maximum distance" in each game. Like your game could be over when you complete a certain number of stages.
2b. Each game will be submitted to the main site. Submitting to the forums will not count. I will be respectfully requesting that games are set up in this format: *tt2-gamex, where x is the game number.
3. The exception to rule 2a will be the final game, where you will have a 4 minute time limit to go as far as you can within that time limit. Whoever gets the farthest in the final game wins the time trials.
Well gee, you wonder, why should I participate until the last game? Well...
4. (1st reason) The first four games will have a minimum requirement. They're probably going to be quite easy to your standards, considering how badly I play these days...
but you'll have to accomplish those minimums to play another day, so to speak.5a. (2nd reason) You can earn up to 6 minutes of extra time in the final game based on your performance of the first four games. Basically, if you win a game in the first four rounds, you will add 90 seconds to your time limit in the final game. The rest of the schedule is this: 60-45-30-25-20-15-12-10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1-0-0... so yeah, at least placing in the top three is paramount here.
5b. If you earn no extra time, but you still pass the minimum requirement, you WILL live to play another day. In fact, you could earn no bonus time throughout all four rounds and pass the minimum requirements in all four. This means you still would have the opportunity to win the time trails... but, of course, your chances of winning will be much less than somebody who ranked high in all four games...
5c. In the rare event of a tie, the bonus time will be averaged between the two places contended. (so a two-way tie for first = (90+60)/2 = 75 second time bonus, and a three way tie for third = (45+30+25)/3 = 31.67 second time bonus)
5d. If there's a tie in the final game, whoever had more bonus time after the first four games will be given the higher position. If there's still a tie after that and it's not for first place, then it will be declared a tie. If there's a tie for first place, then a seven-day "overtime" period will be run in the same fifth game which will be explained if that happens.
And now the mundane rules:
6a. For four of the games selected, WolfMAME 99 or 106 will be required. For the other game selected, WolfMAME 140 will be required. Those requirements will be made clear as the games are announced.
6b. All recordings must average 99%-101% in speed. No exceptions.
6c. The "24 hour rule" is dropped. It really can't be enforced. But I do expect file dates to be within the time limit of each game.
7a. Sportsmanship is an expectation in all MARP tournaments. In this tournament, I will caution you that any poor sportsmanship may (and probably will) result in penalties up to and including reduction in the time limit of the final game or even expulsion from the tournament.
7b. "Sniping", i.e. doing the following within the last 24 hours: submitting only one recording in the week, or submitting a horrendous recording early(i.e. close to last place) then submitting a spectacular recording(i.e. close to first place) late, is considered poor sportsmanship. This will be allowed once within the four games (and you better have a darn good reason for it)... after that, the player will be penalized according to rule 7a, depending on the severity of the violation. (if you "snipe" a 5th place recording, you won't be penalized as harshly than you "sniping" a 1st place recording) Any "sniping" done in the final game will result in the recording being invalidated.
7c. At the end of the tournament, the coordinator will select a "fair play award" recipient. (or two or three or whatever
) Best sportsmanship will receive the honor.8. These rules may change without notice, but don't expect them to change during the tournament.
9. Most importantly, have fun! And try something new! Try the time trials this year! </cheesy advertisement>
I like one click and ready to play. 
).