But I ramble.
Here are the standings from yesterday, followed by some plans that Thornton, Lillian, and I already have for the June game. We had ten teams and 39 players this month, which I believe is our biggest game since the first one in January.
First Place: The Triviators (Lotus Ceriano, Starla Gurbux, Mako Kungfu, Nelly Swindlehurst)
Second Place: Frivolous Corsairs (Rain Ninetails, Lebn Bucyk, Lou Netizen, Sinnamon Sands)
Third Place: Jeopardy Rejects (Amaranth Magic, Darren Berithos, Trin McMinnar, Trebor Shelman)
Fourth Place: Boomfirecirceschism (Chaddington Boomhauer, Circe Falta, Shale Nightfire, JoshuaStephen Schism)
Fifth Place: Voracious Viridians (Leyna Brandenburg, Cygnoir Blanc, Rach Borkotron, Browman Griffith)
Sixth Place: Trumpton Trivials (Cully Andel, Maelstrom Janus, Stiggs McMinnar, AnaMaria Quintessa)
Seventh Place: Shi-Razor's Edge (Rekeorb Wezzog, Olmstead Fanshaw, Honey Potez, Cinna Xaris)
Eighth Place: St. Michael's Gallery (EppieBlack Wheatcliffe, Coyle Easterwood, Martin Galoso, Socrates Sautereau)
Honorable Mention: Blind Date (Clynt Easterwood, Kay Darkwatch, Cinnamon Honi)
Honorable Mention: SLexxecutioners (Billy2Times Krams, Bloot Burnstein, Vandy Spargel, Devin Velinov)
And as for next month, the crew has been brainstorming new ways to make your Bucc Bowl experience even more enjoyable, and we came up with two that we're planning to put into action:
1) In case anyone didn't notice (lol), we got started pretty late this time. I haven't heard any grumbling about it, but it's frustrating enough for the crew, and it would be pretty nifty to be able to end at an earlier time than we have been. Now that the Quartermasters have gotten their scoring system down to the efficiency of a well-oiled machine, there's no reason we can't as long as teams are already recorded and registered correctly by the time the event kicks off. That clearly wasn't the case this time around, and I don't believe that experienced (and new but responsible) teams should have to wait while new ones get set up.
So here's our plan. We're going to open the ship up an hour early for people who need to find teams. At 10:00am sharp (or when we have 40 participants, whichever comes first), access to the ship will be closed off much like it was at the February Bowl, and those who have not yet registered a team will not be able to come aboard. If you're registered and have to join your team late, you can, but if you don't have a team yet, you're SOL. We're also talking about creating a "designated spectator" status for a very small number of people each game. If anyone has an opinion about this plan of action, please post a comment.
2) Part of the problem of rangling teams at the beginning comes when brand new players turn up, not just people who've never done a Bucc Bowl before, but people who've never played SL trivia before. The Bowl is a really, really bad initiation zone. The bulk of the people know each other way too intimidatingly well, the game moves far too quickly, and the first-timers usually end up on teams with each other, which means they aren't likely to do well, and the whole thing ends up being a big, frightening disappointment. In addition, the crew doesn't have time to explain ARC to newbies who don't yet have their Advanced menu active when there are so many other things going on, which means they might miss out on their one opportunity not to leave empty-handed.
The plan here is to mention in the events listing that the Bucc Bowl is recommended for intermediate and experienced SL trivia players and that the organizers will be happy to direct beginning players to games that are better suited to them (i.e., pretty much any other game... or at least any other game that doesn't have an entrance fee).
Please feel free to respond if you have strong (or weak) opinions about either of these plans. We're still discussing the date for the next game. Once we figure out which date is best for all three of us, we'll keep you posted. Thanks so much for your support and enthusiasm for the Buccaneer Bowl!
Now posting (well, writing anyway) from:
MaryAnn, Sweejen, and Mydree grooving at [MonoChrome]Trivia at [MonoChrome] takes place Sundays from 1:00 to 3:00pm, http://slurl.com/secondlife/Dysis%20Isle/118/28/757
I think the spectator idea is ok -- people have definitely asked if they can come watch -- as long as they aren't spitting out particles or wearing laggy scripts or generally holding things up (I'm thinking specifically of the dancing, heart-emitting, bling-dripping staff of the club that was on the ship a few bowls back, who hung out to observe and do generally obnoxious things like send out group invites during the game, etc.). You might also consider having a fourth staffer... a non-player/non-organizer who could wrangle noobs and explain things like ARC in IM. Like a Bucc Bowl cruise director, to free the Big Three up to do their thing. This person could also wrangle spectators, if necessary (like tell them not to gesturbate and stuff)...
ReplyDeleteHi, Luci Dollinger here, I agree with Mako, and like the idea of a designated "spectator area" with maybe a person in charge of the spectators. This 4th staffer could be given the Julie McCoy title (since we're on a boat afterall) and direct people to the Lido deck for the days activities.
ReplyDeleteI think Mako's idea of having someone look after noobs and people who may not have a team is a good one. This can hold things up for everyone else.
ReplyDeleteAs for spectators, there is another thing worth considering. A few teams couldn't get their pre-registered team members in to the Bowl because the area was full. I noticed a couple of people on the boat at the start who simply had nothing to do with trivia, and these were taking up spaces 'reserved' for registered players.
Spectators are great (especially Ethel Merman dressed as Ether Williams:)) but priority should surely be given to registered players. It's very hard to concentrate when you're frantically trying to tp a 4th member on to the boat. Maybe restrict it to Bucc Bowl group members for example? I'm not sure what the best solution to this one is to be honest.
And yes, anyone who arrives with particles and ARC's over 5000 should be made to walk the plank:)
@Cully:
ReplyDeleteAs soon as I was informed that there was trouble getting people to the ship, I contacted Fluffy, who told me how to increase the avatar capacity. I did so, and teammates were able to come aboard. The reason she'd underestimated how many avs to set the agent limit at was that she's used to a pretty tranquil Tranquility. Now that it's used as a combat sim, there are more people there on a regular basis who aren't part of our event. But it's a quick fix as long as you all communicate to us that it needs to be done, and she gave me the ability to do it myself, so I don't have to contact her for it. Still, turning up the number of avs permitted makes the sim more likely to crash, so it's best to find ways to limit the number of people permitted. And I've always given ARC bonuses to low-ARC spectators because otherwise they have no incentive to dial down. The dilemma was always that if people knew that, they might come to the bowl just to get a free L$100. With a spectator cap (and priority to people like Preston and Luci who have been engaged spectators), that problem is solved.
I actually raised the idea of a 4th crew member with Lillian yesterday, but when we came up with the other ideas, the subject was dropped. We can certainly revisit it with Thorn's input as well.
@All:
However, I am still determined to discourage brand new noobs from coming to the Bowl. People who are new to BB but have been playing trivia even just for the week leading up to it are perfectly fine. But for instance, we had one person in April who came to BB for her first SL trivia experience. We placed her on an existing team, and I don't know how things went within the team, but when I IMed her in the middle of the game, she was completely overwhelmed. To my knowledge, she hasn't been back to any SL trivia games since then. Even experienced BB players say that the game is tension-raising for them. For newbies, it must be downright stressful, and I don't want to scare them off. The social atmosphere at DS, Sharon's, Lilly's, Shiraz, etc... are all more welcoming to complete newcomers.
Lette- thanks for the info re raising the avatar limit. The last thing I'd want to do is stop spectators, and it's nice to know that everyone should be accommodated at future events:)
ReplyDeleteWhen Lette and I discussed the "Julie McCoy" position, as Luci so wonderfully put it (love that), it was decided that if we had the one hour pre-opening as well as the 10 am firm limit, it would allow the three of us to fairly well attend to any wandering non-attached team folk. Since the Quartermasters are filling in both physical and electronic based tracking systems for the game, we can slot those folks in fairly efficiently. There may just be a bit of a need to pull out the teacher voice and make some assignments when there are large numbers of unnattached players. The issue this time seemed to be getting the losties in communication with the other team members we were striving to hook them up with. Perhaps a partial solution (only partial, mind you) is for the Quartermasters to construct a Bucc Bowl welcome folder for Buccy noobs, with an explaination of ARC bonuses, how to check one's ARC, game rules, Bucc etiquette or lack there of :),and team communication suggestions, and distribute it on registration or arrival at the Lido Deck. Just a thought... Sharpie Bearing Quartermaster Out. :)
ReplyDeleteLuci again, I really like the idea of a folder or a NC being sent to the participants of the Bucc Bowl as they register and again as they arrive. However, because this is such a popular and high intensity event, it still might be beneficial to put at the end of the folder or NC the name of a contact person who can either be a Quartermaster or just someone devoted to trivia. Before the event, this person can act as a SME (Subject Matter Expert) on the other trivia events, to help them navigate through our little world and making them a part of it rather than scaring them off. During the event this person can also help kick the noobs out of the arena along with helping direct the players to the events of the day. Maybe Julie McCoy meets a Jerry Springer bouncer.
ReplyDelete