Search found 507 matches

by Magister Ludi
Fri May 08, 2015 7:19 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ACF Nationals 2015 Discussion
Replies: 227
Views: 110451

Re: ACF Nationals 2015 Discussion

Sorry to belabor the point; I've reached heretofore unseen levels of pontification in this thread. But I think Shan's and Matt's posts above illustrate what's great about using hard numbers to make arguments about sets: you can actually argue against them! When someone says that they felt the arts ...
by Magister Ludi
Fri May 08, 2015 6:51 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ACF Nationals 2015 Discussion
Replies: 227
Views: 110451

Re: ACF Nationals 2015 Discussion

Here's my second observation. I think this thread represents the culmination of a certain show-no-weakness style of tournament discussion where editors defend their work in such absolutist terms that they refuse to admit even obvious issues that could be easily fixed. We’ve all been guilty of this p...
by Magister Ludi
Fri May 08, 2015 3:56 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ACF Nationals 2015 Discussion
Replies: 227
Views: 110451

Re: ACF Nationals 2015 Discussion

I've spent time thinking about the discussion in this thread and have two points to make. This post is the first. I'd like to offer the following argument: claims about how hard a tournament was are empirical, and depend on hard data about how many questions were answered and when the buzzes occurre...
by Magister Ludi
Mon Apr 27, 2015 4:31 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ACF Nationals 2015 Discussion
Replies: 227
Views: 110451

Re: ACF Nationals 2015 Discussion

This is probably the last I'll say on the matter too before making long posts in separate threads about topics because you guys are starting to get ridiculous. In editor's 6, I wrote two of the tossups: Candida - which was chosen as an answer by Rob and Baudolino which was chosen as an answer by Ro...
by Magister Ludi
Wed Apr 22, 2015 6:22 pm
Forum: Quizbowl History Forum
Topic: Praise Song Part II
Replies: 23
Views: 24396

Re: Praise Song Part II

I say with absolute certainty: Matt Weiner is the most important person in the history of modern quizbowl. The breadth of his influence is impossible to chart, and his sudden departure from the game is—at least to me—truly tragic. But like all great leaders, he leaves a mixed legacy. While his accom...
by Magister Ludi
Tue Mar 10, 2015 8:21 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: George Oppen: An Apology, and General Discussion
Replies: 47
Views: 17812

Re: An Apology, and General Discussion

Honestly, the biggest problem for me was (as Cody, Matt Jackson, and I think Matt Bollinger have pointed out) the excessive length of the questions. It's great that you found lots and lots of clues, but you really bashed the players over the head with them, and it wore me down. (I think I scored ab...
by Magister Ludi
Fri Feb 20, 2015 5:37 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: RILKE: Chicago Open Literature Singles 2015
Replies: 95
Views: 54226

Re: RILKE: Chicago Open Literature Singles 2015

I will tentatively sign up for this tournament, but I'm not absolutely certain I will be at CO this year.
by Magister Ludi
Sat Feb 07, 2015 10:46 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Annotated Review of Packets
Replies: 10
Views: 5033

Re: Annotated Review of Packets

I would like to do this
by Magister Ludi
Mon Oct 06, 2014 3:33 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: George Oppen - 2/21/15
Replies: 39
Views: 37683

Re: George Oppen - 2/21/15

I'd be interested in playing this tournament if it were hosted in Northern California (and I suspect several other Bay Area quizbowl retirees might feel the same).
by Magister Ludi
Sun Sep 07, 2014 3:10 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Painting questions
Replies: 8
Views: 7279

Re: Painting questions

working against the problem that Ike outlines might be why Ted's painting questions at nationals were so well-received this year.. Discounting the ones that were just super-hard...\ . I've been meaning to write a guide/manifesto on writing painting questions, but I do want to respond to this dismis...
by Magister Ludi
Sat Apr 26, 2014 10:07 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: VCU Open/second summer open this year
Replies: 44
Views: 22684

Re: VCU Open/second summer open this year

I'd be interested in playing a Bay Area mirror of this tournament.

And if people were flying out for a West Coast tournament I've always wanted to have a big quizbowl party at my dad's house on a hill in the wine country if people wanted to come out a day early.
by Magister Ludi
Wed Apr 23, 2014 12:21 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Literature paradigms
Replies: 9
Views: 4477

Re: Literature paradigms

Finally, as to my categories (3) and (4)--i.e., tossups where a significant number of early/middle clues are drawn from "extrinsic" sources. I would have thought, following recent post-ICT discussions, that this is where I am held in greatest opprobrium; still, I like and would defend suc...
by Magister Ludi
Mon Apr 21, 2014 4:47 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ACF Nationals congratulations, thanks, and discussion
Replies: 169
Views: 57282

Re: ACF Nationals congratulations, thanks, and discussion

In general, I think this is how the game should work. People should try new things, and if other people find those things interesting and worthwhile, then they will emulate them; if not, not. I think it's fine and good to help people emulate you by posting useful tips about how to write questions t...
by Magister Ludi
Sat Apr 19, 2014 8:26 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ACF Nationals congratulations, thanks, and discussion
Replies: 169
Views: 57282

Re: ACF Nationals congratulations, thanks, and discussion

I’m working two jobs, so I didn’t have a chance to respond to this thread until now. I want to start out with some boring thank yous—skip ahead to the next paragraph if such things bore you. First of all, I want to express my gratitude to all the other editors. I was a real asshole the last three mo...
by Magister Ludi
Sun Mar 09, 2014 5:53 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ACF Nationals 2014: April 12 & 13 at Columbia University NYC
Replies: 102
Views: 88086

Re: ACF Nationals 2014: April 12 & 13 at Columbia University

I just want to remind everyone that today is the last for +$50 deadline. If you don't submit your packets tonight there will be a $10 penalty per day every additional day you are late.
by Magister Ludi
Mon Mar 03, 2014 2:00 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Suggestions for a new ACF distribution
Replies: 98
Views: 34108

Re: Suggestions for a new ACF distribution

I don't think that any of the "other arts" should be merged with painting or music. I think that editors who believe that there should be more film should solicit more film in the other arts portion of in their packet submission guidelines. All distributional divisions are obviously just ...
by Magister Ludi
Sun Feb 23, 2014 6:11 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Playtesting and revealing information about editing
Replies: 17
Views: 6808

Re: Playtesting and revealing information about editing

This is about as bad a post as Andrew's initial post was a good one. I'm not sure if I should chastise you for discouraging people from having others look over questions to see if they could spot anything you initially missed, or tell you to get over yourself in respond to your pearl clutching beca...
by Magister Ludi
Sun Feb 23, 2014 6:02 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Playtesting and revealing information about editing
Replies: 17
Views: 6808

Re: Playtesting and revealing information about editing

I strongly agree with Andrew's post. I was recently horrified to discover that some of my questions for ACF Nationals were playtested without my consent or knowledge, and will say there will be no more publicly open playtesting forums for this year's Nats. On a personal note, I've always violently ...
by Magister Ludi
Thu Feb 13, 2014 2:59 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Playtesting and revealing information about editing
Replies: 17
Views: 6808

Re: Playtesting and revealing information about editing

I strongly agree with Andrew's post. I was recently horrified to discover that some of my questions for ACF Nationals were playtested without my consent or knowledge, and will say there will be no more publicly open playtesting forums for this year's Nats. On a personal note, I've always violently d...
by Magister Ludi
Thu Feb 13, 2014 1:40 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Quizbowl Roundtable: Call for Topics/Participants
Replies: 38
Views: 16429

Re: Quizbowl Roundtable: Call for Topics/Participants

I have neither the time nor the patience to navigate such a belabored sign-up process, but if I'm happy to lead or participate in any of the discussions i mentioned earlier in this thread.
by Magister Ludi
Fri Jan 17, 2014 3:53 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ACF Nationals 2014: April 12 & 13 at Columbia University NYC
Replies: 102
Views: 88086

Re: ACF Nationals 2014: April 12 & 13 at Columbia University

We received the following packets by the -$100 discount deadline:
Penn
Chicago A
UVA
Truman State
Harvard A
Berkeley A
Dartmouth A
MSU
Hunter College

If you think we missed your packet email me at tedgioia[at]starpower.net
by Magister Ludi
Sat Nov 23, 2013 2:40 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Fernando Arrabal Online Mirror?
Replies: 23
Views: 6721

Re: Fernando Arrabal Online Mirror?

The restaurant where I'm working has for some reason called a restaurant-wide meeting tomorrow morning from 8 am to 10 am, so I will miss registration and the first round of the tournament but hopefully will be back in time for the second game.
by Magister Ludi
Thu Nov 21, 2013 9:39 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Fernando Arrabal Online Mirror?
Replies: 23
Views: 6721

Re: Fernando Arrabal Online Mirror?

Cool. I'll shoot you an email to coordinate.
by Magister Ludi
Thu Nov 21, 2013 5:09 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Fernando Arrabal Online Mirror?
Replies: 23
Views: 6721

Re: Fernando Arrabal Online Mirror?

I'd prefer to play with people I've never played with before such as Alberta or Dartmouth if they're looking for extra teammates.
by Magister Ludi
Thu Nov 21, 2013 2:33 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Fernando Arrabal Online Mirror?
Replies: 23
Views: 6721

Re: Fernando Arrabal Online Mirror?

I'd like to play this tournament if it's still possible for a free agent to join a pre-existing team. Does any teams have open slots?
by Magister Ludi
Wed Oct 30, 2013 6:28 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Quizbowl Roundtable: Call for Topics/Participants
Replies: 38
Views: 16429

Re: Quizbowl Roundtable: Call for Topics/Participants

Thank god someone finally started this thread. While I don't have the time nowadays for long theory posts between my own writing and ACF Nats, I would love to participate in a few panel discussions over Skype or the IRC. (Personally, I like Skype because in my experience these large, multi-person di...
by Magister Ludi
Wed Oct 09, 2013 5:13 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: State of the board discussion thread
Replies: 39
Views: 19227

Re: State of the board discussion thread

Why is the anime ban in place? Because people like me (who come to the quizbowl forum to discuss, you know, quizbowl) open a thread like this one in the mood to engage in an intelligent conversation about the game and see ten straight posts about anime that immediately suffocates any possible intere...
by Magister Ludi
Tue Jul 30, 2013 11:27 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: VCU Open Playtesting
Replies: 14
Views: 4734

Re: VCU Open Playtesting

I'm not playing this thing and would be happy to playtest the arts, lit, and SS/random intellectual books.
by Magister Ludi
Tue May 07, 2013 8:18 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Player Poll 2011-2012 Season
Replies: 63
Views: 32094

Re: Player Poll 2011-2012 Season

You never finished your incomplete sentence from point 3! Yeah, sorry to accidentally resurrect this thread. I was rereading it to see if there would be any point for me to make a few observations in the current player poll thread, or if any attempt on my part to convince the poll's voters to consi...
by Magister Ludi
Tue May 07, 2013 9:51 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Player Poll 2011-2012 Season
Replies: 63
Views: 32094

Re: Player Poll 2011-2012 Season

I think there are a few common fallacies that people fall into when ranking individual players in this poll, which people should be aware of: 1. Ignoring the regular season in rankings. One should remember that the poll is meant to determine who played the best over the entire year. If you ranked p...
by Magister Ludi
Fri Apr 26, 2013 2:13 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Welcome to the 2013 ICT Discussion
Replies: 4
Views: 1902

Re: Welcome to the 2013 ICT Discussion

I'm not sure whether to be gratified at or frightened by the lack of discussion thus far--I'm told a lot of people have signed up for this forum. Perhaps people are still recuperating from traveling, or dealing with taxes, or struggling to come to grips with a world in which Ninurta can be a tossup...
by Magister Ludi
Fri Apr 05, 2013 8:30 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Side Event: Schindler's Lit
Replies: 143
Views: 49091

Re: Side Event: Schindler's Lit

Matt Jackson and I may or may not have formed a shadowy alliance which plans to play this tournament. Is this event really intended for seasoned veterans? I might play if the field is strong enough (and the questions are appropriate), but worry that this could easily devolve into grad students beat...
by Magister Ludi
Mon Apr 01, 2013 2:26 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: CO matchmaking
Replies: 24
Views: 9387

Re: CO matchmaking

I will be playing this tournament. As always I'm hoping to find teammates who know science, but would also like to play with people who I've played with before. Shoot me an email if you're interested.
by Magister Ludi
Sun Mar 24, 2013 12:58 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Watkins-gate news media link collection - 19 Total
Replies: 112
Views: 183389

Re: Watkins-gate news media link collection - 19 Total

I posted a correction about the lack of culpability from the rest of the Harvard players on the Atlantic article as soon as I saw it (it's under my real name so you can verify it, despite my apparent "hatred" of Harvard or whatever). You can all make sure people know the real story by com...
by Magister Ludi
Sun Mar 03, 2013 6:51 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ACF Regionals 2013 General Discussion
Replies: 56
Views: 16173

Re: ACF Regionals 2013 General Discussion

I agree with Andrew that this set was hampered by the lack of a consistent vision—one editor was writing ten-line tossups on Alvar Aalto and another was sending out seven-line questions on The Brothers Karamazov . It seemed like the editors focused on their individual questions, and put no thought i...
by Magister Ludi
Sun Dec 30, 2012 12:48 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Question-specific discussion
Replies: 84
Views: 13486

Re: Question-specific discussion

I was reading through this thread, and I wanted to comment on this post because I think it represents a couple common misconceptions about social science and how quizbowl should reward academic expertise (i.e. "real knowledge"). "Social Science" is a loosely defined category tha...
by Magister Ludi
Wed Dec 12, 2012 1:33 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Question-specific discussion
Replies: 84
Views: 13486

Re: Question-specific discussion

I'm not sure I really get this critique about asking about "dead" anthropologists (it's a young discipline! some of the people you're talking about did their work in the latter half of the 20th century!). Referring less to Turner (who Wikipedia says died in 1983) than to Tylor and Fortune...
by Magister Ludi
Mon Dec 10, 2012 10:32 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: WIT planning
Replies: 6
Views: 2327

Re: Western Invitational Tournament (March 2013)

I don't see any announcement for the Berkeley site, so I'll just post here to say I'll be going to the Berkeley mirror of this tournament. Randomly, I'll be living in San Francisco at the beginning of next year, so contact me if you want to collaborate on a packet and can write science questions.
by Magister Ludi
Sat Dec 08, 2012 8:52 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Question-specific discussion
Replies: 116
Views: 44733

Re: Question-specific discussion

People do not have the same level of exposure to all disciplines, so the most famous term from Brazilian sociology is not necessarily just as well known as the most famous term from Thomas Hobbes. I 30ed the Leviathan bonus from the four-minute lecture I heard on Hobbes in AP Euro. The issue with th...
by Magister Ludi
Sat Dec 08, 2012 2:14 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Question-specific discussion
Replies: 116
Views: 44733

Re: Question-specific discussion

I’m sorry to resurrect the discussion, but I just got around to reading this thread and want to highlight a couple points that Jerry has made. It’s important to stress these points not simply because they address recurring problems in tournaments written by Michigan (i.e. Kurtis), but because I worr...
by Magister Ludi
Mon Aug 13, 2012 7:39 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Seeking a Collaborator for a Literature Tournament
Replies: 0
Views: 1237

Seeking a Collaborator for a Literature Tournament

I'm looking for someone who knows ancient/classical literature to collaborate with me on a literature side tournament I'm writing for next summer. I would only need 12-15 questions, so it wouldn't be a huge time commitment. If you're interested post here or email me at tedgioia [at] starpower.net.
by Magister Ludi
Sun Aug 12, 2012 10:45 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: WELD discussion
Replies: 28
Views: 12408

Re: WELD discussion

Your criticism of the extra-textual clues seems to be predicated on the assumption that a tossup with the answerline "X" has to be (primarily) a tossup about "X." I didn't set out to write tossups on Looking Backward and "Kaddish," I set out to write tossups on the res...
by Magister Ludi
Sat Aug 11, 2012 12:24 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: WELD discussion
Replies: 28
Views: 12408

Re: WELD discussion

Looking over the set, I came across a few small stylistic tics that I think Will should work to improve in the future. 1) Lack of Context. There were a lot of clues that were phrased in opaque ways that lacked the proper amount of context to help players buzz. Truly great clues should jog a player’s...
by Magister Ludi
Sat Aug 11, 2012 11:01 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: WELD discussion
Replies: 28
Views: 12408

Re: WELD discussion

Sorry to resurrect this thread, but I’ve finally gotten around to writing these long overdue comments. I think the Bartleby the Scrivener tossup highlights the most problematic recurring issues that hurt this tournament. Lets take a look: (1) This character inspired a 2001 book about writers who giv...
by Magister Ludi
Tue Aug 07, 2012 12:34 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Chicago Open Discussion
Replies: 85
Views: 35574

Re: Chicago Open Discussion

I suspect that I am the only one who has read Pictures From an Institution and I couldn't get that question until the penultimate line. I think that's a really weird thing to write on, and the way that it was written made the question very hard to answer. I got the sense that, at least in terms of ...
by Magister Ludi
Mon Aug 06, 2012 5:33 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: KABO General Discussion
Replies: 18
Views: 2535

Re: KABO General Discussion

I felt this was probably the worst open tournament that I've played in a few years. I made a long post in the MOO thread about Kurtis's seeming aversion to middle clues and this set was a confirmation that those problems not only persist, but have grown worse. There were far too many questions with ...
by Magister Ludi
Wed Jul 25, 2012 1:28 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: UMD mirror of KABO: Kurtis and Ashvin's Backyard Open (8/4)
Replies: 75
Views: 27541

Re: UMD mirror of KABO: Kurtis and Ashvin's Backyard Open (8/4)

I am playing this tournament with Matt Weiner and Cody Voight. We are looking for a fourth, so if you're interested shoot us an email.
by Magister Ludi
Tue Jul 24, 2012 10:35 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: WELD discussion
Replies: 28
Views: 12408

Re: WELD discussion

I greatly enjoyed playing this tournament and want to thank Will for writing it. I especially enjoyed the A Visit from the Goon Squad question and I would rate it a solid 8.25/10 and hope to play more of Will's tournaments in the future. Needless to say I have vastly different writing aesthetics tha...
by Magister Ludi
Fri Jul 20, 2012 1:01 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: PRELIM: WELD (Wildly Experimental Literature Doubles)
Replies: 65
Views: 22134

Re: PRELIM: WELD (Wildly Experimental Literature Doubles)

Pilgrim wrote:I'm interested in playing this tournament (and am seeking a teammate). I am also more than happy to staff if needed.
Want to team up?
by Magister Ludi
Thu Jul 19, 2012 10:32 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: CO Lit and History Scheduling Compromise
Replies: 44
Views: 9394

Re: CO Lit and History Scheduling Compromise

If the only real argument against adjusting the schedule is the fact you "want" to play all the rounds then that strikes me as disappointingly selfish. This is a stupid conversation. No this is a crucial conversation because we haven't gotten a definite answer yet. I'm asking the history ...