Interest in Actual Online Scrimmages

[Cheynem]

This is probably the wrong place for this, but I have no idea where to put it.

Okay, here's the thing. I think the IRC can be a neat place to learn about quizbowl and play packets, but it comes off as aesthetically frustrating sometimes, especially when there's a lot of people and you just get so many vulch buzzes and people potentially cheating, etcetera.

I have an idea for running like an online version of a quizbowl tennis court--this would be like a "better" version of Scobowl, which isn't at the mercy of a bot and doesn't feature ridiculous mem-bowl cheating. My comparison to a tennis court would be that people would make reservations as teams and then get a moderator to read a blind to all packet to them. The moderator would rule with an iron fist and stamp out all signs of cheating, mem bowl, stupidity, etcetera. The packet would be played with normal quizbowl rules (one buzz per team, score kept, bonuses for the team that gets it, etc.) as much as possible in an online setting. In this way, I think some satisfying online practices could be had for people who do not get a chance to practice in person very much or who want to play with/play against others.

I'd be willing to take the initiative for this project because I don't have a lot going on this summer. Until mid-July (July 15), I would be willing to moderate a number of matches if there are any interested parties, and from that point on, I could also do a few matches in the evening. Maybe this is a good idea, maybe it isn't. But if you would like to give it a try, e-mail me or post in this thread and maybe we can try to set up some times.

[Nine-Tenths Ideas]

I thought of doing something similar to this for a while. One possibility is also that moderators could potentially write their own questions, although I admit that's ridiculously time-consuming.

[Adventure Temple Trail]

I thought of doing something similar to this for a while. One possibility is also that moderators could potentially write their own questions, although I admit that's ridiculously time-consuming.

There's always the possibility of "freestyling" tossups...

In all seriousness, though, this sounds like a good idea that would work best in a separate channel dedicated to it.

[Tanay]

I would be interested in this.

[Cheynem]

There's probably plenty of material out there that we don't need to write our own stuff.

Let's start getting some open times down that work for people.

[Cheynem]

All I'm doing today is a bit of grad school work, so if any groups wish to try it today, hit me up in this thread or in the IRC.

[kayli]

All I'm doing today is a bit of grad school work, so if any groups wish to try it today, hit me up in this thread or in the IRC.

Hit.

[Cheynem]

If you can get a group together, I'll stake out #scrimmage in the IRC.

[dtaylor4]

I'll join, and help in some capacity.

[Cheynem]

It's now about 7 PM Central time and having returned home from grocery shopping/dinner, I can similarly host a few more scrimmage matches tonight in #scrimmage.

[Skepticism and Animal Feed]

I doubt that quizbowlers are organized enough to sign up and show up on time in an orderly fashion, but if you set it up I'm sure you will find that every once in a while, two bands of 3-4 people will challenge each other. Perhaps to settle some bar-room style #quizbowl brawl over LaTeX or Chris Ray or some other recurrent topic of discussion.

[Tanay]

I doubt that quizbowlers are organized enough to sign up and show up on time in an orderly fashion, but if you set it up I'm sure you will find that every once in a while, two bands of 3-4 people will challenge each other. Perhaps to settle some bar-room style #quizbowl brawl over LaTeX or Chris Ray or some other recurrent topic of discussion.

This idea worked pretty well today. There were at least six to eight people there for the games I was there for, and there weren't any obvious problems.

[Geringer]

Is there any way people could use ventrilo for this instead of the IRC?

[Rufous-capped Thornbill]

May I suggest Skype instead of IRC? It's about as close to real quizbowl as an online game can get, as it relies on auditory, not reading, skills.

[Cheynem]

Skype might be worth experimenting with sometime--my initial guess would be that it would be really difficult to tell who buzzed first if EVERYONE was skyping from a different place. But Team 1 skyping against Team 2 (i.e., all members of each team are in the same room) should be okay. I'll leave it to someone else to orchestrate that.

EDIT: Let's celebrate America's birthday with some matches later.

[Unicolored Jay]

Skype might be worth experimenting with sometime--my initial guess would be that it would be really difficult to tell who buzzed first if EVERYONE was skyping from a different place. But Team 1 skyping against Team 2 (i.e., all members of each team are in the same room) should be okay. I'll leave it to someone else to orchestrate that.

I've done plenty of Skype practices before (Ohio's All-Star team used it). When this happens, we usually refer to whoever is reading to see who buzzes in first. It might slightly disadvantage those with slower internet and all that, but that's not much different from an IRC.

[Pilgrim]

I think it's easiest for skype practices if you just have the reader use skype and have everyone else buzz and give their answers in a messenging client of your choice. That way people don't even need microphones to do it.

[i never see pigeons in wheeling]

Yeah, I would be interested in doing this.

[Cheynem]

There were some suspicions of cheating in last night's scrimmage, which is regretful. While I do not want to jump to conclusions, I will again warn all players that it is stupid, dishonest, and pathetic to cheat anywhere, especially an online game. In future games I moderate, I will not hesitate in handing out temp-bans (banned from a game or for the evening) if there is reasonable suspicion.

Also, we played online quizbowl baseball yesterday and I found it fun, so we should do that again.

EDIT: Online quizbowl baseball proved to be awesome. It should be done as much as possible.

[OctagonJoe]

Also, we played online quizbowl baseball yesterday and I found it fun, so we should do that again.

EDIT: Online quizbowl baseball proved to be awesome. It should be done as much as possible.

More people should join in on the format-oddity fun. I have been keeping baseball-like stats for games, too, although no defensive stats for the closers like Trygve.

[Cheynem]

As the self-declared generalissimo of quizbowl baseball, I'm strongly pushing for some game (s) to be played tonight as well.

[AKKOLADE]

If I'm home, I'd be more than happy to be some team's "oh man we had to call someone up from AAA but that team was ravaged with food poisoning welp here you go" #9 hitter.

[Frater Taciturnus]

If I'm home, I'd be more than happy to be some team's "oh man we had to call someone up from AAA but that team was ravaged with food poisoning welp here you go" #9 hitter.

this has given me the idea to see like a summer rec league type deal with like a 4-6 team league playing in #scrimmage or if really necessary (hint it probably isnt) #qbbaseball.

[Cheynem]

Hey, we'd like to get a quizbowl baseball game going in the next few hours or so--please drop by #scrimmage if you're interested. It's pretty fun, everyone gets a chance to do something, and you don't have to be active at all times.

[Cheynem]

I'm moving back home for a month this week so my appearances in #scrimmage will be far more limited for a while. I'm sure other people can pick up the ball. Let me just stress yet again that it is really, really stupid to cheat in an online setting. You may think you're impressing players with your knowledge, but here's the deal: people don't drastically change their knowledge base and overall talent from what they do at real tournaments to what happens online. I don't want to accuse some people, but if some people put up as good numbers in #scrimmage as they did in real life, they'd be winning ACF Nats solo. Consider it a fair warning.