Typos of the Week, June 21 through June 27

Small change to the format here this week. I've included the original questions for the ones I was there for. When you send me typos, if you send me the questions as well, I'll be happy to include them.

10. [17:36] Lette Ponnier: et to berute

9. [13:13] AnaMaria Quintessa: lisetine

8. [19:28] Cully Andel: firs id insturvoit

7. [20:04] Mongoose Chemistry: odillias

6. [20:06] Olmstead Fanshaw: clyudesda;e

5. [12:29] Gingo Gumbo: em porere

4. [12:35] Laertes Parx: ultrarioelt

3. [13:55] Trebor Shelman: bocyvle]

2. [20:22] Josie Hammand: bratkes

1. [18:28] Karmel Kips: lithe ampliufiacation dfeom stimulated emisstion of ratioatn

Laertes, me, and Ruth: Shakeys at Sharon's. (I'm trying to figure out why my photos get cut off on the right side, though... this framing is not meant in any way as a slight to Ruth!)

10. [17:36] Cully Andel: WHAT WERE THE ALLEGED LAST WORDS OF JULIUS CAESAR?
ET TU BRUTE (or as I apparently would have it, "and to Beirut!")

9. [13:12] Lebn Bucyk: The Great Pyramid is made of this sedimentary stone
LIMESTONE (but wouldn't it have been fun if it were made of Listerine?)

8. FIRST AID INSTRUCTOR

7. ILIAD & ODYSSEY (the producers are trying to save money by making one epic instead of two)

6. CLYDESDALE

5. [12:29] Lebn Bucyk: Amaterasu, the goddess of the sun, is said to be the ancestor of what modern personage?
EMPEROR

4. ULTRAVIOLET (as spoken by Scooby Doo)

3. BICYCLE

2. BEATLES (don't try to answer while craving potato pancakes)

1. [18:27] Cinna Xaris: 16 - WHAT DOES LASER STAND FOR?
LIGHT AMPLIFICATION BY STIMULATED EMISSION OF RADIATION (well, she spelled "stimulated" right anyway.. we know where her mind is)

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Announcements - Seeking Contributors

So y'all might have noticed (or maybe not) that my productivity has fallen in the past couple of weeks. I've also been cutting back on trivia time a little, so if you miss me at events that I used to come to religiously, it's because I have a dissertation that needs attention sometimes, too. :)

I've been meaning to ask this for a couple of weeks now, but I'm interested in getting additional contributors to this blog for two main reasons. First, because keeping up a regular posting schedule is time-consuming, and I kind of knew I wouldn't sustain the energy forever; and second, so my opinion doesn't get presented as quite so monolithic on those topics that are opinion-focused. My views are merely that, and it might be good to bring in some point-counterpoint.

If you're interested in blogging on this page, please contact me in-world, and we'll chat about what kind of stuff you want to write and how often you think you can contribute. If you even have just one article you want to post, I'm happy to talk with you about it. If I don't hear from anyone (or possibly even if I do), I'll probably begin asking different people around the trivia circuit to interview each other or something of the sort, just to get things mixed up around here a little bit more.

Thank ya much, and I'll see y'all around!

Typos of the Week, June 14 through June 20

10. [10:14] Maelstrom Janus: morrooocop

9. [10:19] Claudia Mefusula: napoliena

8. [9:51] Cully Andel: ni moisrute

7. [22:32] Biker Galthie: kaadggikoo

6. [19:35] Rekeorb Wezzog: got a machinehead begtter than ther ereatst

5. [20:01] Olmstead Fanshaw: what isd emopire statrtbj;ls
[19:42] Olmstead Fanshaw: whati staeche\

4. [10:31] Weniki Oh: beetlel baileuy
[10:31] Karmel Kips: bettel bnalit

3. [12:31] Lette Ponnier: kzahstan
[12:31] Lotus Ceriano: kaxzaksatn

2. [19:45] Rach Borkotron: shoiuld i give up or should i just keeseine pavementsp cha

1. [11:41] Starla Gurbux: clho0rlophil



10. Morocco
9. Napoleon
8. no moisture
7. kangaroo
6. Got a machinehead better than the rest
5. What is Empire Strikes Back/What is teacher
4. Beetle Bailey
3. Kazakhstan
2. Should I give up or should I just keep chasing pavements
1. chlorophyll

Up For Discussion: Timing

I observed not too long ago that most trivia games run at a pace of ten to twenty questions per hour, usually filling two-hour event blocks. There's a huge difference between these extremes in terms of how the rest of the time gets used. A good host can make a game enjoyable regardless of the amount of time between questions, and some games seem to drag regardless of actual pacing. And of course a critical factor is whether trivia is the only thing taking place at the event or if there are other activities keeping players occupied, like sploders and dancing.

I've occasionally heard people complain about the pace of slow games, whether it's about starting too late, waiting too long between questions, or sitting through a forty-minute intermission that was supposed to be fifteen. These complaints are rare among trivia regulars (besides the one about the forty-minute intermission, which is an ongoing joke), and pretty much only trivia newbies lack the tact to do it privately. But I've never heard anyone complain about a game moving too quickly, which makes me wonder why most hosts tend to opt for games with sparser question formats.

When I started doing impromptu trivias, I made it a point to try wrapping up the twenty questions within an hour (though bonus questions extend past that) because they take place in my garden, not at a club, and there's pretty much nothing else going on there except the trivia and watching the turtle walk around when I happen to have it rezzed. Also, the concept behind them recommends it: I'm asking people to come over at the last minute for trivia; I'm not going to make them wait for it.

There are reasons for slower pacing, though, and one of my other games -- Chaos Trivia/Truth or Dare -- falls at the other end of the spectrum for that, and a lot of effort goes into managing the pacing of this game for exactly that reason. There's much more going on at Chaos than trivia: when a player gets a question right, he or she wins the opportunity to challenge another player to a truth or dare. Some of these are quick (such as the dare to shout across the sim that you want to have sex with a chosen person), while some are much longer (those who put the most effort into the dare to IM something erotic to three people in the group tend to spend a lengthy chunk of time composing their messages).

My cohost Reke Wezzog and I try to move things along by paying attention to how much time is elapsing and by allowing people to complete longer dares while we continue asking questions, but much of the pacing depends on the players, the truths and dares involved, whether people are afk when they're challenged, whether a person completing a truth is a slow or a fast typist, the time it takes to find props for certain dares, etc. As a result, it's not unusual for ten or more minutes to go by between questions, though we try to keep it closer to five. In addition, I've recently begun turning my typing animation on while hosting Chaos specifically so that I don't appear to be silent or absent when I'm typing in between the times when something is more clearly taking place or when I'm answering a truth question. I started doing this when I noticed that players who use typing animation make it easier for us to gauge timing because we can tell if they're finished completing a truth or a chatty dare.

The point, though, is that the best pacing for a game is relative and hinges on a number of factors, at least when there are factors other than the trivia to take into account. Nonetheless, the questions remain: What's your pacing preference, both as players and as hosts? Does timing affect which games you choose to go to? If you host, are you conscious of pacing and/or did you use it as a factor in designing your game? If you prefer a more relaxed pace as a player, why?

Jasmina Kline hosting trivia at Charitable Bliss

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Event Profile: Destiny's Lounge

Yesterday, my efforts to attend new games brought me to a little place called Destiny's for a DJed event with dancing, sploding, and trivia hosted by Loraine Alter. What made the strongest impression on me there was the warmth and friendliness of the group. There were few familiar faces there and none who stayed from beginning to end, but the club's staff and regulars were very inviting and amiable. I had a nice time dancing and talking and will probably return sometime for that reason alone.

The event took place on a little "pirate bar" pier (if you've been to an event on Marine Park's Big Sky Bay sim -- the northern sim -- it's the same structure). DJ Mudge Ashbourne fed the stream, guests fed the sploder, we all clicked the dance kitty to boogie, and eventually the trivia kicked in. There were twenty questions with no particular theme, and for a correct answer, you had your choice of either L$20 or the opportunity to ask a staff member to remove one item of clothing. Since I didn't know any of the staff, it was an easy choice.

As for the questions... here's where I confess that I felt a little overexperienced there. There are some trivia events that attract a lot of very good players, and since we're a social group, too, we sort of gravitate toward each other and to those games. There are other events that seem to be more "grassroots," in a sense. A host at a club or a cafe decides to incorporate some trivia into the normal event. The regulars have fun with it, maybe one or two stand out and have a knack for it, but there's still a big difference between what this type of game is like compared to one in which a number of the players rely on trivia winnings as their primary (or only) source of income in SL.

When I go to those sorts of events, I find myself sitting on my hands a lot (to borrow a friend's favorite phrase). At this one, most of the trivia were questions I'd heard before, probably a couple of times each, a few of them word-for-word. I made it a point not to answer two in a row, and still I took enough of the questions that others at the event began commenting (though not enough to attract serious plinking). But like I said, they were very friendly people, and several invited me to come back and bring friends. Earlier today, I received a notecard from the host about the next event because it was to be at a different location and I didn't join the group for announcements. That kind of effort to reach out is impressive.

Sample questions:

[2009/06/15 13:25] Loraine Alter: What organization elects the 15 judges of the World Court?

[2009/06/15 13:35] Loraine Alter: What socialist writer's last words were: "Last words are for fools who haven't said enough"?

[2009/06/15 13:43] Loraine Alter: Who did Henry VIII have beheaded for witchcraft and adultery, along with her wolfhound?


The club was filled not with trivia sharks answering these questions but with people who just wanted to have a good time and one guy who evidently located Loraine's resource on the web and was copy/pasting the answers (correct spelling, everything capitalized, just the right amount of time between the question and his answer). I would be curious as to how the place would change if more hardcore trivia players came to take advantage of the friendly atmosphere and familiar question topics. Most of the regulars would likely get shut out of the running on the questions as the competition picked up, but I'm not certain whether the increase in attendance would make up for that, where the club is concerned. Are more people always a good thing if they change the whole vibe?

Of course, my profiling the event makes that more likely, though I'm not expecting a mass exodus, since other trivia events take place at that time of day. But if you're looking for a new crowd or a new setting, even just for a day, or if you would rather have a staff member (males and females were present) remove an article of clothing over taking lindens, check in with Loraine and all of Destiny's babes. You probably won't be humming the Jeopardy! theme song in your head on any of the questions, but the social atmosphere is as friendly as could be.

The Specs:
=> Time/Day: Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, 12:00 to 2:00pm, though the trivia didn't start until nearly 40 minutes after the hour when I attended.
=> Location: Destiny's Lounge, http://slurl.com/secondlife/Darling/114/79/22 ... different events take place in different parts of the sim, so check your mini-map when you arrive and follow the green dots
=> Host: Loraine Alter
=> Prizes: L$20 per question for 20 questions, though you can elect to have a staff member remove an article of his or her clothing instead of the money

Answers to questions in the article:
=> United Nations
=> Karl Marx
=> Anne Boleyn

What's your question-writing process?

I've asked this question in each of the profiles I've done so far and plan to continue so that readers and I can get an idea of the huge range of ways people develop to put together their games, all in the interest of sharing helpful knowledge and learning from each other so we can put on the best trivia that we can. So that it doesn't seem like I'm culling people for their secrets without sharing my own, though, I thought I'd describe a new question-writing method I've recently started that has made the whole process of finding new topics and speaking to a range of difficulty levels much faster and easier than it previously had been for me.

It's pretty basic, really, and I'm probably not the only one who does it, but I call it Wiki-hopping: I use Wikipedia's "Random Article" option, clicking from page to page until I find something that would make good trivia. That's pretty much it. It brings me to subject matter I wouldn't have thought to write about before, and it's educational for me, too. Of course, the drawback is that if it's a topic I don't know very well myself, I might have trouble gauging the difficulty level, but for Bucc Bowl, we started triple-checking each other's questions before the May game so that each of us with our very different areas of expertise has the chance to make recommendations before the questions "go live."

I end up clicking through a lot of useless sludge, but I also learn a lot in the process. All of the questions I wrote for the June Bucc Bowl except for the bonuses I produced this way, and it took me less time than usual. Some people question Wikipedia's accuracy, so I pay attention to the website's own cautions at the top of the articles and don't use entries that need brushing up. Even on articles without cautions, I'll sometimes seek corroborating information from other sources. And of course, there is always our triple-checking system. If Thorn or Lillian spots a problem, we revise and try again.

Here are a few I put together today by Wiki-hopping for your trivial pleasure:

1. Oscar-winning film and radio star Mercedes "Mercy" McCambridge was once called "the world's greatest living radio actress" by what filmmaker?

2. What country scored the most medals in cross-country skiing at the 2006 Winter Olympics?

3. What TV show was the first- and second-season character Janice Licalsi written off of because producers didn't want to have a murderous police officer as a central figure?

4. Mohammed Ali Hammadi is a Lebanese member of Hezbollah who was convicted for his role in the hijacking of an airplane from what airline in 1985?

5. Messali Hadj was a politician and activist who worked for his country's independence from France in the 1940s and 1950s. What country was he from?

Lotus, Orianne, Lette, Cerys at Lebn's trivia

1. Orson Welles. McCambridge won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her work in All the King's Men. She has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She worked with Welles on the film Touch of Evil.

2. Russia, with two golds, two silvers, and three bronzes.

3. NYPD Blue. The character, played by Amy Brenneman, killed a mob boss and his driver because the mob boss wanted her to murder her lover, played by David Caruso.

4. TWA. Flight 847 from Athens to Rome was rerouted and its passengers held hostage for two weeks before being released.

5. Algeria. Ironically, after Algeria won their independence in 1962, Hadj went into exile in France because an opposing party had taken Algeria over as a one-party state.

Of course, any of these answers could be found via google pretty easily; most likely, people will find the Wiki page I used right at the top of their searches. But first, even if one question were googled, the googler wouldn't then find all the others along with it, and second, I try to write questions in a way that will make it possible to guess if no one knows the answer right away. Even if you've never heard of McCambridge, Hammadi, and Hadj, you've probably heard of Welles, TWA, and Algeria, which means spamming filmmakers, airlines, and former French colonies will eventually lead to the correct answer.

Anyone who likes to is welcome to borrow or adapt this method. Yes, I know there are flaws in it, but pretty much any method has flaws. Methods that are based on the trivia writer's knowledge or access to specific sources will be biased in favor of players with the same general area of knowledge as the writer. This obviously does not make bad trivia, but unbiased trivia would be preferable. Just ask anyone who isn't from the U.S. how it is to sit through yet another game speckled with questions about states, presidents, and baseball. There will always be a balancing of strengths and weaknesses.

So if you like, please comment on your own methods or recommendations or what have you.

Also, sorry I've been so quiet in the blog this past week. I'll try to pick things back up for y'all soon!

Typos of the Week, June 7 through June 13

10. [13:05] Ailin Triellis: mastrihcs
[13:05] AnaMaria Quintessa: mastricty
[13:05] Gareth8 Albatros: maastricght]

9. [20:43] Browman Griffith: big diiopepr
[20:43] Jude Constantine: big didppper

8. [21:21] Lette Ponnier: aurtlsia

7. [16:23] Chaddington Boomhauer: beatite obut

6. [20:22] Trebor Shelman: ap[dua

5. [15:48] Cully Andel: epoeropepenguin

4. [19:17] Olmstead Fanshaw: giragfefe

3. [10:59] Cully Andel: bohemioan rahspdostd
[10:59] Cully Andel: erm
[10:59] Karmel Kips: bohenmina rhapshotdy

2. [18:31] Rekeorb Wezzog: fiar and ablandance

1. [14:52] Sweejen Stourmead: belguiuk,
[14:52] Lotus Ceriano: belfijmn

Rain and Ruth at Double Standards

10. Maastricht
9. Big Dipper
8. Australia
7. Beastie Boys
6. Padua
5. Emperor Penguin
4. giraffe
3. Potemkin
2. Fair and Balanced
1. Belgium

Announcements - Bucc Stuff

The June Buccaneer Bowl is this Saturday, June 13, at 10am, at the same location as last time, at the ship's new home in the sky in Tranquility. So far we have five teams signed up, with room for five more.

As discussed after the last one, we've gone ahead and scheduled a one-hour team-finding period before the game begins at 10 so that we'll be able to dive straight into team check and rules and start at a reasonable time. This period between 9 and 10 will be for anyone who doesn't have a team by Saturday morning, as well as for people who are coming for their first Buccaneer Bowl, but anyone is welcome to be there; most of you will just be bored. However, if we end up with downtime during that hour, I'll be asking some warmup questions for anyone who's around. (Performance on the warmup questions will not have any bearing on the Bucc Bowl scoring!) Teams with an opening can also come to scout for a third or fourth player at this time.

ARC bonuses continue to apply. For new players: this refers to avatar rendering cost, the number that shows up over people's heads when you select Advanced >> Rendering >> Info Displays >> Avatar Rendering Cost in your screen's menu. This number reflects how hard SL works to make your avatar visible. If the number is high, you're probably contributing to the lag in your area (there are some HUDs and other attachments that drive up the number without increasing lag, but there's no reason you'd need them at Bucc Bowl). At Bucc Bowl, we give players L$100 for keeping their ARC under 500 and L$50 to be between 500 and 1000. This way, we reduce the lag as much as possible, and you don't need to leave empty-handed, no matter how your team does. To bring your lag down, use low-prim hair and clothing, and go easy on the accessories. The complexity of prims seems to be more important than the number of prims: prims that are complex, like fur or lace, tend to be high-ARC. We'll go over ARC again during the pre-game session on Saturday morning.

Here are the teams we have so far:

Trumpton Trivs: Cully Andel (C), AnaMaria Quintessa, Maelstrom Janus, Stiggs McMinnar

Shi-Razor's Edge: Rekeorb Wezzog (C), Honey Potez, Olmstead Fanshaw, Kay Darkwatch

Voracious Veridians: Browman Griffith (C), Cygnoir Blanc, Leyna Brandenburg, Billy2x Krams

Boomfirecirceschism: Chaddington Boomhauer (C), Shale Nightfire, Circe Falta, Josh Schism

Triviators: Lotus Ceriano (C), Alanna Robbiani, Mako Kingfu, Starla Gurbux

Sometimes we play things other than trivia...

Typos of the Week, May 31 through June 6

10. [20:49] Lou Netizen: Snow white naa d th e7 swaves

9. [19:39] Chaddington Boomhauer: cumbauwnab

8. [19:49] Mani Bellic: pampame
[19:49] Handy Handsohn: ppomplaea
[19:49] Mani Bellic: loona

7. [21:14] Devin Velinov: sleeping beauthyafw
[21:14] Devin Velinov: omg
[21:14] Devin Velinov: x

6. [14:39] Lotus Ceriano: shepehersxds
[14:39] Lucinda Dollinger: hepeards

5. [18:19] Trebor Shelman: diet urrte[]

4. [10:13] JoshuaStephen Schism: dtayce

3. [18:49] Rach Borkotron: shake speasiss
[18:49] JoshuaStephen Schism: loed
[18:49] Mako Kungfu: shakespeare's sister
[18:49] Rach Borkotron: ter

2. [14:27] AnaMaria Quintessa: lkock sotkc and tow snomninig barrels

1. [19:49] Mako Kungfu: n=bend holds vies

Now posting from Zoo La La

10. Snow White and the Seven Dwarves
9. Chumbawamba
8. Pamplona
7. Sleeping Beauty
6. shepherd's
5. Diet Rite
4. Stacey
3. Shakespear's Sister
2. Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels
1. Ben Folds Five

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Event Profile: ScatterBraiN'd

AnaMalene Yokosuka and her kittens

The trivia calendar is positively crowded these days, so new games need to find a new niche in order to attract a crowd. Of course, no trivia event is a money-making venture, so it's not a matter of competing in a financial market, but traffic is a commodity in SL, and many locations have stores attached to them. Plus, having a good number of people there just makes the game more fun.

The niche that AnaMalene Yokosuka and Giddeon Oh are trying to fill is the international one. AnaMalene is from Denmark, and she seeks to provide a wider variety of questions than we usually see in trivia hosted by North Americans. Those who attended the debut of this event on Sunday got a glimpse of this variety in questions such as:

[2009/05/31 16:11] AnaMalene Yokosuka: HOORAY FOR NORWAY

QST 16: The narcissistic character, Marve Fleksnes was aired on Norwegian TV from 1972 to 2002 and it gained cultic status in especially Finland and Denmark. The show in which Fleksnes appeared was known as "The Fatalities of Fleksnes" [Fleksnes Fataliteter], but who was the actor behind this role?

This question was met with a bit of surprise from the players, none of whom, I believe, were from a country where this program actually aired. But never fear, googling is not only permitted but encouraged at ScatterBraiN'd. On some questions, it was not only encouraged but practically pushed. In addition, the questions about Scandinavia came with higher prizes and are mixed in with some less intimidating ones:


[2009/05/31 15:54] AnaMalene Yokosuka: A BIT MORE HISTORY

QST 13: She is one of three patron saints of France and was beatified in 1909 and later canonized in 1920...

[2009/05/31 15:57] AnaMalene Yokosuka: THE MOVIES

QST 14: In 1997, half way through a screening for this movie, Kenpachiro Satsuma who from 1985 to 1995 had played the "character" of which the previous movies aswell as the new one got their names from, uttered his opinion and said "This is not - - - - - - - -, it doesn't have the spirit..." and left. Fill in the blanks.


After all, the idea behind ScatterBraiN'd is that it's meant to be a little scattered. There was no theme to the trivia, and the payouts varied from L$15 to L$50 each. Not even the time and day of the event is likely to remain consistent. The first one was held on May 31, starting at 2:00, but most of the people there arrived after the game at [MonoChrome] finished at 3:00, and it ended up running almost until 5:00. This is not a set time, however, as AnaMalene plans to move it around according to where the gaps seem to fall in the calendar. These days, nearly every time period conflicts with something, but she's realistic about the scheduling. "We are going to try to put it at times where people can make one half of ours and then scoot onto the next trivia, the more well-known ones," she says. "People can stay for a bit and then move on. We will, however, always check schedules to see if anyone of the regular trivias are up and let them have their time and try to find our own."

There is a group you can join if you want to make sure not to miss these irregular events. AnaMalene and Giddeon are also planning larger events, such as those with DJs and contests. The trivia takes place in the courtyard outside of their store. Living room-type couches were rezzed for a cozy hangout feel. In the store, they sell motorcycles created by Giddeon and clothing from a variety of vendors. Some of these products might turn up as prizes in future events. In honor of AnaMalene's cat's new kittens, there was a contest for best in neko/feline look during the trivia.

Giddeon Oh makes the motorcycles, owns the land, and occasionally interjects a bonus question.

Coming out of the game, I had a few thoughts. Of course, I'm not the authority on how things must be run; gotta disclaim that these are just some ideas, not demands. If there are countering points of view, feel free to include them in comments.

Although they have a lot of plans for where the event is going, and there's no doubt they'll be able to accomplish their goals, there are a few wrinkles to iron out, most notably the pacing of the questions. There were twenty-seven questions, which ought to be a workable number for a two-hour event, but the gaps in between them varied from two minutes up to eleven, with a "five-minute" break in the middle that actually lasted about twenty. It's possible that this sort of timing is all part of the scatterbrained approach, but the pacing of an event is more integral to the overall feel than question topics and payouts. The latter two can be switched up to make the game unpredictable, but ten-minute gaps shouldn't happen unless you tell your players, "Sit tight, I have to take a phone call," or what have you. I assume it was because most of the players showed up an hour into it that the event lasted as long as it did (she was on #4 when I arrived shortly before 3:00), but it would have been more enjoyable if she had kept it moving at a brisk pace for the remainder of the game once there were people.

I expect she'll be fine-tuning her question-writing over time, as well. As I mentioned in a previous event profile, lengthy questions are hard to read quickly and give the advantage not to those who know the answer but to those who can get through several lines of text the fastest and can rattle off a few guesses. I really like the idea of having a few questions about a part of the world that few people in English-speaking countries know particularly well and making them hard enough that they must be researched (i.e., googled), since this is the sort of instance in which the process of finding the answer might lead to additional knowledge, so big props to AnaMalene for bringing those types of questions into the mix. In fact, if she were to focus these questions on broad themes in culture, politics, and geography of Scandinavia, rather than on specific and highly detailed points of information, it could turn out to be a very educational format. That is, I doubt if any of the players who were at the game on Sunday retained the information about "The Fatalities of Fleksnes" after the question was (mercifully) resolved, but having people look up the Norwegian equivalent of the U.S.'s Emmy Awards has more potential for long term knowledge. Even if we don't remember the name of the awards, we'd certainly remember that they exist. If the game evolves in this direction, I'll surely be back frequently.

On that note: What is the name of Norway's annual television award?

Still, I'd like to emphasize that Sunday's game was a very good first event, and the hosts are not lacking in the energy and ambition that could make future games even better. I look forward to seeing how ScatterBraiN'd develops.

Chadd, sitting with Lou, goes neko for the contest.

Specs:
=> Time/Day: Check the events listings or join the ScatterBraiN'd group, as this will change
=> Location: ScatterBrain'd, http://slurl.com/secondlife/Bleston/131/119/30
=> Host: AnaMalene Yokosuka
=> Prizes: Cash prizes in varying amounts, from L$15 to L$50 per question; number of questions will probably vary, but there were 27 at the first game; merchandise from AnaMalene and Giddeon's store will be offered as prizes in the future.

Answers to questions in this post:
=> [2009/05/31 16:12] AnaMalene Yokosuka: A: Rolv Helge Wesenlund.
Born September 17th, 1936. Before turning to TV he worked through the 60s as a jazz musician (playing the clarinet he won the Norwegian Jazz Championship two years in a row) and later as the daily jazz reviewer in the Norwegian news paper Dagbladet. A decade later, despite having had his hands in many a theatrical production within Norway and having appeared in numerous Danish movies, his fame was undeniably only known by his character of Marve Fleksnes.

=> [2009/05/31 15:56] AnaMalene Yokosuka: A: Jeanne d'Arc (Joan of Arc).
Joan asserted that she had visions from God that told her to recover her homeland from English domination late in the Hundred Years' War. The uncrowned King Charles VII sent her to the siege at Orléans as part of a relief mission. She gained prominence when she overcame the dismissive attitude of veteran commanders and lifted the siege in only nine days. Several more swift victories led to Charles VII's coronation at Reims and settled the disputed succession to the throne. She was however still captured by the Burgundians, sold to the English, tried by an ecclesiastical court, and burned at the stake when she was just nineteen years old.

=> [2009/05/31 15:58] AnaMalene Yokosuka: A: Godzilla.
Satsuma acted out the role of Japan's favorite monster, Gojira, for the first time in 1985 in "Godzilla - The Legend Is Reborn". In 1997 he refused to continue his work on the American production of Gojira, because Tristar didn't fulfill the agreement made with Toho by ignoring several guidelines set by before mentioned aswell as Tomoyuki Tanaka. Tanaka, the producer of all Gojira movies before this one, died a month before the 1997 production started and Satsuma felt they disrespected all his previous work by blatantly ignoring the terms on which they were allowed to make an American Godzilla.

=> The Gullruten awards are Norway's annual awards for television. They have been around since 1998.

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Up For Discussion: The Plink

plink \plink\ vb : plinked ; plinking : to taunt a trivia player who is playing well and standing out in a game

plinker \`plink-ər\ n : one who plinks

This is a word that a friend and I made up because we wanted an easy way to describe this phenomenon, to be able to say, "Hey, I just got plinked." The taunting involved in plinking can take many forms, but here are some examples from one time that I was plinked:

[2009/02/24 18:52] Plinky Plinklesworth: damn .. someone pls break Lette's keyboard

[2009/02/24 18:56] Plinky Plinklesworth: ok, time to slip Lette a computer virus

[2009/02/24 18:59] Plinky Plinklesworth: wow ... did Lette get that? there's a surprise

This person is a serial plinker. Two days later, he'd moved on from plinking me and was hitting that night's standout:

[2009/02/26 18:15] Plinky Plinklesworth: someone break Olm's keyboard

When I was brand new to SL trivia, I actually saw it as a compliment to get this sort of attention. Over time, though, it became more and more trite. There aren't too many people for whom every single game is a stunner, which means that for most of us, when we do have a good one, it can be an exciting moment. There's a minor high involved. And for someone to call attention to your performance in such a way that isn't about "Hey, great job tonight," but rather implies something less supportive, it can be a let-down at best and seriously aggravating at worst.

Sure, it's just teasing and is therefore theoretically harmless, but this is one of those instances where it's important to remember there are people with feelings behind the avs, and although many people are able to brush off the plink, I also know others who get so self-conscious that they essentially stop playing for the remainder of the game. In that first example, the plinker in question was pretty benign. I responded to him with friendly banter, and eventually we became friends. Others, however, don't really know when to stop:

[2009/01/08 19:54] Plinkelle Plinklewood: lette needs to share their lindens...hmm

[2009/01/08 19:54] Plinkelle Plinklewood: ahh we can just put a hit on ya

[2009/01/12 18:12] Plinkelle Plinklewood: someone put handcuffs on her so she cant type

[2009/01/29 18:22] Plinkelle Plinklewood: someone blow her off the sim pls

Over time, this person got more and more aggressive with the plinking. The night of that last comment, she and I had a falling out about where the line is between tolerable and intolerable plinking. For me, when it veered toward threats to bodily harm, that's when it stopped being ordinary teasing and became misplaced aggression.

Mythology night at Blaizing Inferno

Plinkers are often, but not always, people new to the game or people who aren't very strong players and would be plinking anyone at all who stood out. When I get teased by someone who consistently answers in second place to me, it has an entirely different feel. The vibe to that tends to be more of competition mixed with mutual admiration. However, this type of teasing might constitute plinking to someone else. There is no black-or-white when it comes to what is plinking and what is not, because different people may interpret different scenarios differently. But there do tend to be some things that get me more than others.

Plinking becomes irritating when the people who do it seem to think that their comments are somehow funny or original, not realizing that the veterans among us have been hearing the same lines ad nauseum since we started playing. When it happens to me, I usually respond by saying, "If _____ were here, I probably wouldn't be your target." And it's true. Although I seldom fail miserably in a game, I'm also not usually the standout player, so when I am, I don't generally appreciate a response that implies that I shouldn't be, even if it's delivered in fun. When I give the "If _____ were here" response, I'm trying to point out to the plinker that I'm not that amazing, I'm just convenient. That strategy hasn't been effective yet, though, so I'm looking for other ways to respond that don't sound like an over-reaction.

It's annoying also because when new people do it, they're missing the broader context that these games take place in, and when more regular people do it, it just gets old. For instance, in the last Plinkelle example, I had only answered two questions correctly that night before she asked for someone to blow me out of the sim. Who wants to play under those conditions? Do they think it's still funny the eleventh time they say it? Apparently at least some do. I asked Pinkelle to cool it once her comments headed into violent territory, and she thought that was a joke, too. She seemed to have no perception that even the mild comments could be annoying. In my guide to people new to SL trivia, I suggested that if you plink (though I didn't use the word in that post), be cognizant of how your target responds, and if they don't seem to be playing along, then don't push.

I have my own theories about where the tendency to plink comes from, but I'll stop here and let others comment. Why do people plink? How do you feel when they plink? Do you respond when they do it to you? when you see them do it to others? Are there some types that are annoying to you and others that aren't? Or do you even find it complimentary, like I did when I was new? If you've ever been a plinker, why have you done it? What are some good strategies to responding to plinking that don't make you look like you have no sense of humor?

Fairy tale night at Blaizing Inferno, with some people arriving from Shiraz's sports night

Credit goes to Lou Netizen for coining the term "plink."
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Personal Profile: Chaddington Boomhauer and Shale Nightfire, Part 2/2

Here's the continuation of my chat with Chadd and Shale. Enjoy!


Lette Ponnier: Is there any trivia writing process either or both of you follow in deciding on questions for events?
Shale Nightfire: Both of us have played trivia a lot pre-SL, so we have a bit of a trivia collection mentality, I think? Usually, we aim for variety. Anything can trigger a trivia question: a conversation with a friend or colleague, a current event that triggers some deep-hidden knowledge. I retain it til I can enter into a wiki we use for collaboration (typed into my laptop if I have that with me or jotted on a napkin at a café). We always strive for primary sources when we do our fact checking.
Chaddington Boomhauer: There's a balance to get between hard and easy. Sometimes I will try to get very far away from a current news story or the "on this day" news to get hard decent variety. I search the web and use ones I make up, like "who will get this first" kind of thing.
SN: We have a lot of fun writing the questions – I've even pulled up articles in newspapers from other centuries at the library. I think sometimes a bit too much of our humour comes through. Usually one of us will say something to the other if something seems a bit too off/difficult/etc., but we give each other a lot of leeway. The ordering we do at the end, putting together what we've both come up with and seeing if there are any natural segues.

CB: There's only one version of them even if one of us wrote most of them that week.
SN: One feature of wikis that is very overlooked is the ability to view history and discussion of previous versions. So if you are looking up an issue that you suspect is "contentious" on Wikipedia, it's good to read the previous discussion and history. True, a few "griefers" might post there, but a lot of experts also provide their opinions with backup links to authoritative, primary sources.
CB: It amazes me times when we think it's varied and someone gets more than half of them at an event. If anyone has complaints we would love to hear them :)

LP: That's everything I had planned. Is there anything that the two of you wanted to talk about?
CB: There aren't enough early trivias. I wish there were some between 2-7AM. Sure that means people actually in SLT will be drunk or asleep. Lotus has been having one but it's a little too early.
SN: We really do try to do questions from every perspective. We have tried very hard to include European and Australian questions, for example. We tried hosting that time period too, but the scheduling was ad hoc, so no chance to build-up regulars. We still play Gogomodo Trivia; some people don't see the point of it, but I find it really helps my memory. Always learning (or re-learning) new things. It can be quite fun when you get a competitive group together, too.


CB: The adult regions opened. Heh, well, one! There's a new test adult area. It's not the "real" place. You can test how many of your friends won't be able to get in.
LP: Do you think that trivia games that move to adult regions will take a hit?
CB: I get the impression the large number of unverified users would be an issue. I did one quick poll once and it was more than half the people I asked. The grief-free part is somewhat appealing, but I think many of them don't have a credit card they can use.
SN: Or are leery to? But isn't that changing? What's the current percentage of online shoppers? The comfort level has definitely risen.
CB: It seems higher in there, though. In the circles where this is a secret life for them, they don't want to get ID'd.
SN: Identity is a fascinating topic and ties in with the use of alts.
CB: Some days I pretend everyone is an alt.
SN: When I was new, Chadd told me there were really only 10 people on SL; everyone else is an alt.
CB: It mostly freaks me out when I meet a new person who is not new and knows everyone around me well, i.e. acting chummy. It's confusing. Friends who "leave" due to bad relationship drama, then you make a great new friend a few days later who likes all the same places. Gets you paranoid.
SN: Yes, but you don't want to make assumptions either. Each new person needs to be treated as an individual, not an alt or "reincarnation." I did find SL was better for this though. On IRC, there were quite a few different networks, channels and bots, but often a big chunk of the questions all came from one initial source. You could become an expert in one place, then show up in a new place and you already knew all the questions. People suspecting you of being an oldbie in disguise could be quite nasty. Here on SL, however you personally feel about using one, alts are a fact of SL life. We've only done one "trivia redux," where we did an actual replay. And no one swept it.
CB: It was on a different day though. I recycled some questions for Sharon's BYOT.
SN: We do love to reuse questions though that weren't answered on previous weeks. We thought everyone would catch on to that quickly, but there have been questions that went 5 or 6 weeks I think. It surprises me when there is headline news on NASCAR, for example, and no one comes prepared with an answer. We also like to make sure new people are welcome and that everyone has a chance at winning something. That's one reason our random prizes came about. Plus, we just like to have fun! We've given out some crazy ones.
CB: The first few times we just made them up.

SN: We did a "guess the theme" trivia, where the answer had to be specific to fit the theme. We asked 20+ questions and they all related to a theme. Knowing us though, there was a bit of quirkiness involved. At the end, you could guess the theme for 1000 or 2000 Lindens. No one got that one. We might try it again with an easier theme.
CB: I don't think anyone got the first one, it was impossible
LP: What was the theme?
SN: Well, I don't think we should tell... In case we want to use it again.
LP: Haha, ok.

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