In that particular post, the reason I did it was out of spite. I used it because you didn't.
In general, though, I use whatever other people are using, because, as I said before, I don't think it really matters.
That said, what was the point in your latest reply to my post? Before that post, I had already stated that I hadn't read this thread as thoroughly as I could have. I didn't present any arguments against your summarization of this thread because I agree with your point, in general - that a space hardly makes a difference, and that, although it may not be as common as the term "time attack", that the term "tool-assisted speedrun" is more accurate.
So really, I think the only thing we disagree on is how frequently the term "time attack" is used synonymously with the term "tool-assisted speedrun". Unfortunately, I don't really see how one can provide non-antedotal evidence, either way, and as that isn't the main issue that this thread is attempting to address, I'm content with dropping this. Are you?
I will grant that as far as evidence goes, the slashdot.org article isn't very great. Unfortunately, finding solid evidence on this subject is kinda hard. Although that said, to defend the evidence, no one refered to anything as a "tool-assis..." speedrun. So, in that slashdot.org article, the term "time attack" is more prevalent, regardless of whether or not the people who said it post here.
Hmmmm. I actually only quickly skimmed through it... I guess I did so a little to quickly...
Whether or not time attack is more frequently used to describe something else doesn't change the fact that a majority of people refering to "tool-assisted speedruns" do so using the term "time attack". The slashdot.org link I provided demonstrated this.
Really? So let me get this straight - you think that "because people frequently use term x to describe y, z is a valid term" is a good argument? Wow. If this is the kind of quality reasoning I can expect from you, then I'm going to do my best to avoid reading any of your other posts.
I'm not really interested in reading your other posts to find out what your argument is, but you've drawn the conclusions I intended you to draw from the evidence.
You said it, yourself - that "people think of timeattacks and time attacks as the same thing". So do I. As such, what does it matter if I use one term or another?
Further, near as I can tell, ommitting the space to distinguish between the alternate definition of time attack is a practice that was adopted in this thread. Given this, it seems rather hypocritical to say that I'm the one "muddying the waters" when you're the one trying to break from convention (which has, above, been established to be a convention).
First of all, I don't think any definition is any more real than any other. Second, I think that context will tell you all you need to know about what meaning of a word someone is intending to invoke.
As an example, consider the word "baby". It can refer to the following three things:
1. an infant
2. someone who is childesh
3. someone to whom your attracted
Since you apparently don't think that humans have the capacity to chose definitions based on context, I suppose you think that someone who says "hey, baby, let's me and you [insert sexual action here]" is a pedaphile?
I really hate to break it to you, but neither definition of "time attack" is standard knowledge. Neither is the term "speedrun". Don't believe me? Then explain this.
That's a very good argument. Unfortunately, it also applies to time attacks. After all, the term time attack is a standard, too. If it wasn't a standard, why would so many people be using it?
Perhapes you remember the slashdot.org article about the "'Perfect' Zelda NES Speed Record Beaten"? It's probably the most publicity time attacks ever got. Anyway, take a look at the article. Hit Ctrl+F, and search for "assi" (which should be a substring of the correct spelling and common misspellings). You won't get any hits, whereas you will with "time attack"? Why do you think this is? If the standard is tool-assisted speedrun, then why does everyone there refer to it as "time attack"?
In short, it may not be a standard you like, but that doesn't mean it's not a standard.
Right back at you.
No, no. Let me ask you: Why are you so obsessed precisely with the term "tool assisted speedrun"? Why precisely that and not something else? Is it simply because you're preferences trump everyone else's?
All in all, this debate is rather similar to the whole "American Indian" vs. "Native American" debate. One term may be more appropriate than the other, but that doesn't mean that you should pretend as if only one term existed nor does it mean wikipedia articles should only reflect one point of view.
Despite the fact that the term time attack may be misleading, the fact remains that a substantional number of people call tool-assisted speedruns time attacks. As such, I don't believe editing out all references to time attacks in the wikipedia entry for tool-assisted speedruns is appropriate. Just because you don't like something doesn't mean you can pretend it doesn't exist or doesn't happen.
On that note, the recent history of wikipedia's entry for tool-assisted speedruns is interesting. It's pretty much been deleted and merged with the speedrun article, where it has had the following statement made about it:
I don't know about you folks, but I think that statement is biased against tool-assisted speedruns.
Further, it's been my observation that the speedrun community generally does not see eye to eye with the tool-assisted speedrun community. Merging the two articles is only going to make wikipedia's discussion of time attacks progressively more biased, IMHO.