Search found 557 matches
- Sun Dec 27, 2020 11:10 pm
- Forum: Practices, Scrimmages, Online Packets, and Playtesting
- Topic: Guaging Interest: PHIL reading (12/23)
- Replies: 1
- Views: 368
Re: Guaging Interest: PHIL reading (12/23)
I sent this off to Em to be uploaded with the rest of the Festivus packets. Given some recent events, I will not be reading it in the Discord. In the revised PHIL packet, there is a bonus tossup I ran out of time to assemble for the original reading. I hope people enjoy this packet and get something...
- Sat Dec 26, 2020 4:31 pm
- Forum: Collegiate Announcements & Results
- Topic: Southeast-Midwest Housewrite @ West, 2/20/21
- Replies: 11
- Views: 2221
Re: Southeast-Midwest Housewrite @ West, 2/20/21
This is a really bad idea. Having objective eligibility restrictions, as I did for SUN, is good. Just because ACF tournaments do not have them, does not mean that this tournament should not utilize them. In the past, players have repeatedly failed to show sound judgement when determining whether th...
- Wed Dec 23, 2020 4:51 pm
- Forum: Collegiate Announcements & Results
- Topic: Southeast-Midwest Housewrite @ West, 2/20/21
- Replies: 11
- Views: 2221
Re: Southeast-Midwest Housewrite @ West, 2/20/21
Why is it that "if you played ACF Winter, you can probably play this tournament" when Winter, like recent EFTs, had no formal or informal eligibility restrictions and was played by a lot of very good players, while the stated difficulty comparisons, PACE NSC and ILLIAC, are respectively a...
- Tue Dec 22, 2020 3:30 pm
- Forum: Practices, Scrimmages, Online Packets, and Playtesting
- Topic: Guaging Interest: PHIL reading (12/23)
- Replies: 1
- Views: 368
Guaging Interest: PHIL reading (12/23)
Hi all. I am wondering if anymore people want to hear the philosophy packet I wrote for Festivus. The difficulty ranges from like Regs+ to CO level or so. It was read on 12/20, but a couple of people have told me they would be down to hear it. If people are interested, I'll read it in the main Disco...
- Thu Dec 10, 2020 12:00 am
- Forum: Miscellaneous Quizbowl
- Topic: QBWiki Addition Suggestions
- Replies: 42
- Views: 4678
Re: QBWiki Addition Suggestions
Thank you for the info on the Reddit Emily and Chris. Many of the bizarre decisions regarding what is and isn't currently on the wiki would be solved by writing more articles and doing more editing (and besides, the effort required to create a single player's page is far less than that needed to upd...
- Wed Dec 09, 2020 9:43 pm
- Forum: Miscellaneous Quizbowl
- Topic: QBWiki Addition Suggestions
- Replies: 42
- Views: 4678
Re: QBWiki Addition Suggestions
I certainly agree with what Chris says above. If I may use myself as an illustrative example, it's patently ridiculous that I have a QBwiki page but the school I attend, UCSD, has a preposterously outdated page that was last meaningfully updated in 2014. (Coincidentally, Chris updated the page then....
- Fri Nov 13, 2020 5:33 pm
- Forum: Collegiate Discussion
- Topic: 2020 WORKSHOP: A Retrospective
- Replies: 7
- Views: 1899
Re: 2020 WORKSHOP: A Retrospective
I'd like to thank Kevin for making this thread. I firmly believe more sets should have retrospective open discussion spaces for people to think and discuss them. Looking back, 2020 WORKSHOP was a solid set that had some good ideas. It's certainly been better and more interesting to play than a lot o...
- Tue Oct 20, 2020 1:25 am
- Forum: Collegiate Discussion
- Topic: Packet Submission discussion
- Replies: 28
- Views: 4268
Re: Packet Submission discussion
My opinions on packet submission are well-known. I authored a thread on why it should be abolished for ACF Fall last year and I am extremely grateful ACF decided to make that tournament packet optional. The issues with mandatory packet submission are, in my estimation, that it enforces a workload on...
- Mon Aug 24, 2020 8:57 pm
- Forum: Practices, Scrimmages, Online Packets, and Playtesting
- Topic: DITCH 2020 (A Packet about Hungary)
- Replies: 7
- Views: 981
- Mon Aug 03, 2020 4:50 pm
- Forum: Regular Season Tournaments
- Topic: INTRODUCING THE AMERICAN QUIZBOWL LEAGUE
- Replies: 23
- Views: 5710
Re: INTRODUCING THE AMERICAN QUIZBOWL LEAGUE
Sadie and Billy posted a lot of extremely valid concerns. I'll go a step further than Sadie. So far, this seems like an unmitigated disaster that will permanently turn off new teams from pyramidal online quizbowl. This slapshod "company" seems like a complete joke to anyone who has thought...
- Mon Aug 03, 2020 1:27 pm
- Forum: Regular Season Tournaments
- Topic: INTRODUCING THE AMERICAN QUIZBOWL LEAGUE
- Replies: 23
- Views: 5710
Re: INTRODUCING THE AMERICAN QUIZBOWL LEAGUE
According to conversations in the Quizbowl Discord, the editing team for this has refused to let Joe reveal their identities, which is an extremely concerning sign regarding the likely quality of these sets. Strongly agreed. Is there a reason this new quizbowl organization is flouting many of the e...
- Fri Jul 31, 2020 12:23 am
- Forum: Miscellaneous Quizbowl
- Topic: QQBC is looking for staffers!
- Replies: 3
- Views: 666
Re: QQBC is looking for staffers!
I'm glad you added some additional transparency. I actually did mow yards for three summers in high school and found that experience far more rewarding than anything I've done in quizbowl. If anyone wants to talk about old Lawn Boys from the 70s-90s, hit me up. I don't believe there is a perfect iso...
- Thu Jul 30, 2020 3:21 pm
- Forum: Miscellaneous Quizbowl
- Topic: QQBC is looking for staffers!
- Replies: 3
- Views: 666
Re: QQBC is looking for staffers!
In the interest of transparency, you should have this payment detail higher on the page if you are advertising a full time job. Yes! You will be paid a proportion of however much money QQBC makes based on how much you work. The better job that everyone does, the more money everyone can make. For ref...
- Wed Jul 29, 2020 2:35 pm
- Forum: Collegiate Announcements & Results
- Topic: SUN 2020 is Available for Mirrors in Fall 2020
- Replies: 1
- Views: 717
- Wed Jul 29, 2020 2:34 pm
- Forum: Collegiate Announcements & Results
- Topic: SUN 2020 is Available for Mirrors in Fall 2020
- Replies: 1
- Views: 717
SUN 2020 is Available for Mirrors in Fall 2020
Hello quizbowl, I am making a new forum post to announce that my collegiate novice set SUN is available for online mirrors in Fall 2020. This set is ideal for new and less experienced players. See the set announcement here for more details. The set will be mostly unchanged from what it was in the Fa...
- Fri Jul 24, 2020 7:59 pm
- Forum: Theory
- Topic: Best Way to learn PSS?
- Replies: 5
- Views: 1407
Re: Best Way to learn PSS?
I also vehemently disagree with not engaging with philosophical primary texts. It's especially strange to hear a comment like that from someone who is editing PSS for an upcoming tournament. I think it's pretty uncontroversial to say that reading primary texts will not help you get very many points...
- Fri Jul 24, 2020 2:37 pm
- Forum: Theory
- Topic: Best Way to learn PSS?
- Replies: 5
- Views: 1407
Re: Best Way to learn PSS?
I'm sure the rest of Ethan's post is good, but Malcolm Gladwell is not an academic sociologist and I'm sure anyone who included him in a sociology question would be (rightly) ridiculed. [he is a compelling speaker though] Gladwell is a complete joke and should stop showing up in easy tournaments. H...
- Fri Jul 17, 2020 2:18 am
- Forum: Community Discussion
- Topic: On HS Teams Without Coaches
- Replies: 68
- Views: 8257
Re: On HS Teams Without Coaches
I've moderated many times both Michigan and Southern California. The times where I felt most uncomfortable as a moderator were with teams with no adult supervision who would say rude or inappropriate things. Frankly, sometimes I would call out misogynistic things but there were times I failed to con...
- Fri Jul 10, 2020 12:02 am
- Forum: Miscellaneous Quizbowl
- Topic: Playtesting for Wolfie Bowl
- Replies: 3
- Views: 603
Re: Playtesting for Wolfie Bowl
Traditionally, I think it's best to playtest high school questions only with players who are ineligible (i.e. graduated from high school.) Else, you create weird incentives and it's harder to reveal answers because there isn't as much contact between current potential players of this set and colleg...
- Thu Jul 09, 2020 9:14 pm
- Forum: Miscellaneous Quizbowl
- Topic: Playtesting for Wolfie Bowl
- Replies: 3
- Views: 603
Re: Playtesting for Wolfie Bowl
Traditionally, I think it's best to playtest high school questions only with players who are ineligible (i.e. graduated from high school.) Else, you create weird incentives and it's harder to reveal answers because there isn't as much contact between current potential players of this set and collegi...
- Sat Jun 27, 2020 11:49 pm
- Forum: Collegiate Discussion
- Topic: Running Zoom Tournaments
- Replies: 67
- Views: 11762
Re: Running Zoom Tournaments
The fact that some features on Zoom require a premium / academic account is not ideal. Our bracket got a late start because I think the person who created the initial meeting didn't have permissions to create breakout rooms. Yes, a lot of people playing are going to have academic Zoom accounts. But...
- Thu Jun 25, 2020 12:54 pm
- Forum: Practices, Scrimmages, Online Packets, and Playtesting
- Topic: G2G FASTER
- Replies: 4
- Views: 638
- Wed Jun 24, 2020 11:23 am
- Forum: Practices, Scrimmages, Online Packets, and Playtesting
- Topic: G2G FASTER
- Replies: 4
- Views: 638
Re: G2G FASTER
My inner 12-year-old is very interested in this. Where can I find the original packet? Will this be read in the main QB Discord?
- Sun Jun 14, 2020 9:44 pm
- Forum: Collegiate Discussion
- Topic: The Online Quizbowl in the West
- Replies: 12
- Views: 2970
Re: The Online Quizbowl in the West
Well if that's the case, great! Let's run some summer discord tournaments with video and see if any issues arise. If not, maybe we can start implementing discord's video feature more often. We are tentatively thinking of running summer online practices for anyone in the Pacific Time zone. Details w...
- Mon Jun 08, 2020 8:53 pm
- Forum: Trash
- Topic: Announcement: Forward-Thinking Trash Tournament Seeking Writers
- Replies: 15
- Views: 2118
Re: Announcement: Forward-Thinking Trash Tournament Seeking Writers
100% of the video games questions will be on broadly popular games since 2010 (there will be no "classic gaming" or niche JRPG content in this tournament). Why are culturally-significant video games from before 2010 unworthy of being asked about in the same way as culturally significant T...
- Sat Jun 06, 2020 8:14 pm
- Forum: Collegiate Discussion
- Topic: Trash Questions in College Sets
- Replies: 19
- Views: 2739
Re: Trash Questions in College Sets
Trash can be historically important, but can pop culture not be important in the present? Can a 2020 regionals bonus on the WNBA not reflect a growing recognition of that league, its players, their advocacy? Isn't a question on Megan Rapinoe (as a player) be just as much a comment on her broader ex...
- Fri Jun 05, 2020 8:42 pm
- Forum: Collegiate Discussion
- Topic: Trash Questions in College Sets
- Replies: 19
- Views: 2739
Re: Miscellaneous Distribution and Community
I think that IS true about how a lot of trash questions are written, but not all, and it's entirely possible not to write them that way. You could write a very fine De Niro tossup just cluing, say, Taxi Driver and Goodfellas. In fact, that's probably going to be better than a catch-all De Niro toss...
- Fri Jun 05, 2020 7:40 pm
- Forum: Collegiate Discussion
- Topic: Trash Questions in College Sets
- Replies: 19
- Views: 2739
Re: Miscellaneous Distribution and Community
I'm not sure what is meant by "trivial clues" in this context. I wouldn't toss Troll 2 up at like ACF Fall or SCT because I doubt many in the target audience have seen it or know about it in a non-meme context, but you could take, I don't know, any number of "trash" films (off t...
- Fri Jun 05, 2020 6:54 pm
- Forum: Collegiate Discussion
- Topic: Trash Questions in College Sets
- Replies: 19
- Views: 2739
Trash Questions in College Sets
I remain unconvinced why we need trash in collegiate quizbowl. ACF should eliminate it from its distribution like many tournaments have already done. I think having a few pop culture-adjacent questions is fine per tournament. For sports, it seems perfectly reasonable to ask about historically import...
- Mon Jun 01, 2020 6:16 pm
- Forum: Trash
- Topic: ACRONYM League - May/June 2020
- Replies: 16
- Views: 3723
Re: ACRONYM League - May/June 2020
Is there a way we can like scrimmage on some of the later packets? Paying for sevens games(assuming elimination in first round of single elim playoffs) is a poor deal in terms of $/hour. My team and I would be happy to play other squads if/when we get eliminated in the playoffs provided we qualify....
- Mon Jun 01, 2020 4:35 pm
- Forum: Trash
- Topic: ACRONYM League - May/June 2020
- Replies: 16
- Views: 3723
Re: ACRONYM League - May/June 2020
Is there a way we can like scrimmage on some of the later packets? Paying for sevens games(assuming elimination in first round of single elim playoffs) is a poor deal in terms of $/hour. My team and I would be happy to play other squads if/when we get eliminated in the playoffs provided we qualify. ...
- Thu May 28, 2020 11:18 pm
- Forum: Community Discussion
- Topic: Miscellaneous Distribution and Community
- Replies: 19
- Views: 3307
Re: Miscellaneous Distribution and Community
While I don't agree with its main prescription, Harris's post has another issue with trash writing that I'd like to highlight: the disconnect between the age of trash writers and the age of their audiences. For other categories this isn't much of an issue, but pop-cultural tastes evolve dramaticall...
- Thu May 28, 2020 10:41 pm
- Forum: Community Discussion
- Topic: Miscellaneous Distribution and Community
- Replies: 19
- Views: 3307
Re: Miscellaneous Distribution and Community
As someone who has written literally hundreds of trash tossups and bonuses over the years (see FTP), I think trash does not balance the intercollegiate game of quizbowl very well. I would like to see it removed from the already incredibly crowded distribution at events harder than ACF Fall. Events s...
- Wed May 27, 2020 3:17 am
- Forum: Collegiate Discussion
- Topic: Running Zoom Tournaments
- Replies: 67
- Views: 11762
Re: Running Zoom Tournaments
The Main room in each zoom call needs to have one person active there at all times to troubleshoot people who cut out during games, replace moderators who cut out, etc. This increases staffing demand, but for a tournament like ACF fall there would be excess club members around anyways. Nothing ment...
- Tue May 26, 2020 6:11 pm
- Forum: Collegiate Discussion
- Topic: Running Zoom Tournaments
- Replies: 67
- Views: 11762
Re: Running Zoom Tournaments
Yes, and for IRL tournaments, lots of people get home well past 9, so playing into the late evening is not that big a deal. It goes both ways. My point is that forcing West Coast players to accommodate East Coast players every single time is not a fair solution. Yes, but that usually includes a pos...
- Mon May 25, 2020 8:01 pm
- Forum: Collegiate Discussion
- Topic: Running Zoom Tournaments
- Replies: 67
- Views: 11762
Re: Running Zoom Tournaments
I more or less agree with everything Mike said above. None of the UCSD players particularly enjoyed the Zoom tournament experience. The waiting time was obnoxious and sometimes my Zoom would freeze up or audio would echo or whatever. Moderators still not using a headset might have contributed to thi...
- Fri May 22, 2020 6:38 pm
- Forum: Miscellaneous Quizbowl
- Topic: Join the LIQBA as a Contact Finder!
- Replies: 9
- Views: 2192
Re: Join the LIQBA as a Contact Finder!
10 cents per entry is a ripoff and I hope people who do this hope they know they are probably making hourly wages far below minimum wages. If you really need the money, I'm sure surveys and mturk are better options. At 10 cents per entry, a person from California would have to find 130 quizbowl team...
- Wed May 20, 2020 1:48 am
- Forum: Miscellaneous Quizbowl
- Topic: NAQT's initial precautionary measures for NCT's
- Replies: 8
- Views: 1179
Re: NAQT's initial precautionary measures for NCT's
Thanks for posting! Yes, a lot has changed and we have a lot more information about COVID-19 now. I do believe that the quizbowl community will come up with feasible solutions, if it is possible to hold in person events in the fall. I know some of us coaches are about to end school for the year and...
- Thu May 07, 2020 12:28 am
- Forum: Trash
- Topic: ACRONYM League - May/June 2020
- Replies: 16
- Views: 3723
Re: ACRONYM League - May/June 2020
Here you go! Of note - there are currently just five teams who have specified that they'd like to play in a high school-only division. If you're a high school team who'd like to play in such a division, please sign up soon to ensure we have enough teams! EDIT: I took a look at the free agent sheet ...
- Wed May 06, 2020 1:07 pm
- Forum: Trash
- Topic: ACRONYM League - May/June 2020
- Replies: 16
- Views: 3723
Re: ACRONYM League - May/June 2020
It appears the free agent sheet is out of date and there is no way of knowing who is in the field or what. I am still looking for a team and teammates. Please email me. I'd prefer to play this set than not but remain confused why details on this have been so scant.
- Wed Apr 22, 2020 8:23 pm
- Forum: Collegiate Announcements & Results
- Topic: Spring Undergraduate Novice 2020 (Easy Difficulty)
- Replies: 10
- Views: 5569
Re: Spring Undergraduate Novice 2020 (Easy Difficulty)
For a variety of reasons, I've decided to more or less leave the national quizbowl community active immediately with no foreseeable date of return. I'd ask you respect this and not discuss this here or frankly anywhere. However, I still want to at least recoup some of the lost money for this set so ...
- Sun Apr 19, 2020 3:47 pm
- Forum: Collegiate Announcements & Results
- Topic: SUN Open on Discord (April 19, 2020)
- Replies: 36
- Views: 5839
Re: SUN Open on Discord (April 19, 2020)
This tournament happened . I think much fun was had by all. Teams should feel free to join the discussion forum for SUN 2020 to get a .zip file with the packets. I gotta make the initial posts in the subforum but this should happen later today. Avinash has graciously decided to convert the stats to...
- Sat Apr 18, 2020 10:09 pm
- Forum: Collegiate Announcements & Results
- Topic: SUN Open on Discord (April 19, 2020)
- Replies: 36
- Views: 5839
Re: SUN Open on Discord (April 19, 2020)
I sent out a brief final logistics email for this with the link to the Discord server. Please let me know if you anticipated this and did not receive it. Stats will be uploaded on Neg5 throughout the day. A schedule can be found here . I look forward to seeing teams compete bright and early tomorrow...
- Sat Apr 18, 2020 9:26 pm
- Forum: Miscellaneous Quizbowl
- Topic: Online Tournament Honor Pledge
- Replies: 5
- Views: 1373
Re: Online Tournament Honor Pledge
Out of respect for my competitors, the writers and editors of the question set, the organizers and staff of this event, and the spirit of the game, I [STATE YOUR NAME] promise that I will not attempt to gain any unfair advantage during this event. I recognize that attempts to gain an unfair advanta...
- Sat Apr 18, 2020 1:59 am
- Forum: Collegiate Discussion
- Topic: Statistics Questions
- Replies: 14
- Views: 2616
Re: Statistics Questions
This thread makes me think about how I write questions. When I think of topics for a math question, I usually default to picking one of the major subfields: analysis, algebra, topology, geometry, combinatorics/discrete, or something like that. For some reason, "statistical theory" (e.g., ...
- Fri Apr 17, 2020 8:52 pm
- Forum: Collegiate Announcements & Results
- Topic: SUN Open on Discord (April 19, 2020)
- Replies: 36
- Views: 5839
Re: SUN Open on Discord (April 19, 2020)
I have sent out a preliminary logistics email to the 14 teams I had from the waitlist and the formal team list after accounting for drops, etc. Please let me know if you anticipated the email but did not receive it. I will send out more information after teams confirm their attendance via email tomo...
- Fri Apr 17, 2020 2:31 pm
- Forum: Collegiate Announcements & Results
- Topic: SUN Open on Discord (April 19, 2020)
- Replies: 36
- Views: 5839
Re: SUN Open on Discord (April 19, 2020)
We are doing 14 teams RR tossups only. Basically, everyone on the team list is in the field unless you have told me you are going to drop. I will try to send something out later this afternoon.
- Tue Apr 14, 2020 6:22 pm
- Forum: Collegiate Announcements & Results
- Topic: SUN Open on Discord (April 19, 2020)
- Replies: 36
- Views: 5839
Re: SUN Open on Discord (April 19, 2020)
Yeah, frankly I don't really want to play this tournament unless the mods are paid at least $40 for their work for the day - that's what I've paid for the last several tournaments I've organized. It's well below minimum wage, but it's still something, and has been very successful at recruiting mods...
- Tue Apr 14, 2020 12:58 am
- Forum: Collegiate Announcements & Results
- Topic: SUN Open on Discord (April 19, 2020)
- Replies: 36
- Views: 5839
Re: SUN Open on Discord (April 19, 2020)
Has there been a decision made as to whether this tournament will be tossup-only or not? Also, has there been any consideration given to adjusting the tournament price if we just play tossups, in light of the fact that people presumably signed up under the impression that it would be run with bonus...
- Tue Apr 14, 2020 12:02 am
- Forum: Collegiate Announcements & Results
- Topic: SUN Open on Discord (April 19, 2020)
- Replies: 36
- Views: 5839
Re: SUN Open on Discord (April 19, 2020)
I'm looking for at least two more experienced mods so I can make the field 14 teams and use Conor's idea. Please DM me for further information. If I can't get the moderation staff together by 9 pm Pacific tomorrow, I will decide to run a 10 team round robin but will still be tossups only. I apologiz...