Starting Up Again

[hoosier]

People have volunteered to do the things necessary to help run the trivia game. We hope to start it up again, either later this month or early in November.

We haven't yet decided on all the details, such as how often questions would be posted or how long a game would last, but we can work those things out.

What we need to know, at this point, is how many people would be interested in actually playing the game if we do start it up again.

If you think you would be interested in playing, please post a reply in this thread. If you have any questions or suggestions regarding how the game should be run, feel free to include them in your post so we can take them into consideration while we're deciding about the details.

 

[sockknitter]

Here's one person who would be interested, and here's an idea for coming up with questions: the price of admission to the quiz would be to have emailed in at least 5 questions and answers, citing the sources for your answers too, and meeting a submission deadline to be announced. Proctors to adjust required number of questions to submit as needed.

 

[rivrrat]

I will play.

 

[snoopy]

I look forward to participating again. I have missed the game. In many ways, I liked providing all of the questions at the same time and then allowing a week to solve them. Then if you are busy and miss a day, you don't have to go looking for the questions.
John

 

[felinelady]

I look forward to the start up.
Kat

 

[dawna]

I'll play...or help...or do both!

Dawna

 

[bill_torrens]

Yes, I'd like to play.

Bill

 

[hoosier]

Sock Knitter, thanks for your suggestion. Mike and Thea have both volunteered to supply questions, so I don't think we're going to need to charge anybody the "price of admission" you suggested. Interesting idea, though. I'll keep it in mind for the future.

Dawna, thanks for volunteering to help. Right now, I think we have all the help we need to run the game, so we're looking for players. It's good to know that there is someone like yourself who's willing to help run the game in case we ever need more help along those lines.

Glad to see that we have some people interested. Hope to hear from some more in the coming days.

 

[traveller]

I should be able to participate. I tend to have a bit more free time while in winter camp.

Traveller

 

[jackbluelight]

Is there a place where you can receive the full details of this game?

 

[hoosier]

Casey, we have not yet worked out the full details. The game has operated under more than one format in the past, and Mike and I will have to work out which format we want to use this time.

Essentially, what happens is that the moderator (me) will post a question or a set of questions on this message board. Everyone will be given a certain amount of time to post a response. (The response will not appear when you first post it, because that way people could read everybody else's responses before submitting their own.) After the time limit has expired, I'll post the correct answers, look at everybody's responses, grade them, and then push the magic buttons so that everybody's responses will appear and you can see how you did.

If you want to see what kind of questions have been asked and what sort of formats have been used in the past, you can look at the WBtS Trivia Game Archives. For a long time, the game involved one question being posted every day and everyone getting 24 hours to respond. In the most recent games, five questions were posted at a time and everyone got a week to respond. I tend to favor the latter approach, but, as I say, it hasn't yet been decided.


I'll be sure to post the full details before we actually start the game.

 

[aphillbilly]

George
Sorry I have not responded but naturally I'd play if you get the game going. I understand though that we need more people.

So come on folks...speak up. Lets have some energy.

 

[thea_447]

George,
I'd still be happy to help out with questions if and when we get enough people to play, unless Mike wants to do this.

 

[caller]

While I would love to participate in this, I don't have nearly enough knowledge at this point in time on the minutia that makes up the questions. I'm still a beginner of the utmost amateur status.

 

[dawna]

JGM:

Please don't let lack of knowledge stop you...what better way to gain awareness than through a trivia game such as this? I'm very much a beginner as well, and it's the process that is so much fun!

Dawna

 

[jackbluelight]

I'll be playing, so chalk one more up.

 

[hoosier]

Thanks to everyone who has expressed interest in the game.

I wouldn't want to try to start the game myself without Mike's OK. The last word from Mike was that, before the game starts up again, he wants to have at least 15 people signed up to play.

At the moment, we have nine: Sock Knitter, Rivrrat, Snoopy, Felinelady, Dawna, Bill_torrens, Traveller, Aphillbilly, and Jackbluelight.

Thea_447, I thank you again for your kind offer of assistance in preparing questions.

I would like to issue a special appeal to Caller.

I know how you feel. When I first looked at the game, it didn't take me long to realize that there were other players who knew a whole lot more about Civil War trivia than I did.

But I decided to try playing it anyway, and I was glad that I did.

I never won a game. I never came close to winning. But I had fun trying, I learned a lot of new facts, and I really sharpened up my Internet searching skills in a hurry.

If any of that makes you feel more positive about participating in the game, I hope you'll post again and let us know you're willing to give it a shot.

 

[caller]

As long as the use of research material is allowable, I would be interested. In fact, that would make the game very enticing, as I LOVE doing research. You have convinced me. You have recruited me.

 

[hoosier]

Mike has given his OK to start the game. The first questions will be posted this Saturday, Nov. 6. Look for the thread labeled "Trivia Game #27, Week 1."

The rules are fairly simple. Each week, I will post five questions. Players are allowed one week to answer all five. You are free to use any available resources to help you find the answers.

Responses should be posted no later than 6 PM Eastern Time on the Saturday of the weekend following the weekend when the questions are posted. So, for example, responses to the questions posted on Nov. 6 should be made by 6 PM Nov. 13. Responses posted after the deadline will not receive credit.

To make it easier for me, I would ask that players put the responses to all five questions in a single post, rather than making separate posts to answer each question individually.

Correct responses to most questions will be worth one point each. Some questions will be worth two points because they have been judged to be more difficult. When I post the questions each week, I will indicate which, if any, are the two-pointers. I will post a weekly scoreboard update, showing everybody's scores to date, after each week's responses have been graded.

We will run this first game for six weeks. The sixth set of questions will be posted the weekend of Dec. 11 and responses will be due by 6 PM Dec. 18. The person with the most points at the end of the sixth week will be the winner of the game. I may decide to lengthen or shorten the length of the game in future, depending on how things work out.

A word about the logistics. Right now, I believe this board is set up so that, whenever anyone posts, that post will show up immediately. Obviously, once the game starts, we don't want that to happen, or players will be able to read other players' answers before posting their own.

So, sometime before the game starts, Mike will make the necessary adjustments so that any posts I make will appear immediately, but everybody else's posts will appear on the message board only after I have reviewed and graded everybody's responses for the week. You will not be able to edit your post after it has been submitted.

If anybody has any questions before the game starts, feel free to ask. If Mike has made the adjustment already and your post does not appear immediately on this board, please make the post again on the Campfire Chat board. That way, everybody will be able to see both your question and my answer, and I won't have several different people asking me the same question.

Best of luck to all players!

 

[cindyscoops]

Looking forward to it!


Hey, will we ever get the answers to game #26?
One of those questions really had me stumped and I've
been wondering ever since...