September Buccaneer Bowl results

Thanks as always to everyone who showed up, and I hope you had a great time! MonoChrome was nice and relatively lag-free. Here are your results:

First Place: The Triviators (Lotus Ceriano, Starla Gurbux, Mako Kungfu, Alanna Robbiani)

Second Place: Trumpton Trivials (Cully Andel, Liriel Garnet, Maelstrom Janus, AnaMaria Quintessa)

Third Place: Zen & The Koans (Rhea Neiro, Juke Badger, Hilda Static, Sal Zulaman)

Fourth Place (tie): Oh, Boomcirceschism (Chaddington Boomhauer, Circe Falta, Honey Potez, JoshuaStephen Schism)

Fourth Place (tie): Frivolous Corsairs (Rain Ninetails, Olmstead Fanshaw, Lou Netizen)

Sixth Place: Schadenfreude (Billy2Times Krams, Luce Portland, Devin Velinov, Becki Verne)

Seventh Place: Voracious Viridians (Leyna Brandenburg, Cygnoir Blanc, Rach Borkotron, Browman Griffith)

There were a few surprises in addition to the last-minute change of venue. The third place team, Zen & the Koans, are a brand new team (though a couple of their members have played on other teams in previous months) and won one of the five rounds. The Triviators' margin of victory was slimmer than during their other winning games, and the Trumpton Trivials attained their highest spot in the standings since their victory last January.

There was an eighth team, a pickup team, but one of the members (someone I had not seen previously at any trivia events and who said at the beginning that it was late for her in her time zone) disappeared in the middle of the game. Unfortunately, it seems that pickup teams are often fragile like that, lacking the team spirit and cohesion that a lot of the consistent teams have. Occasionally, they do end up with a strong roster and do well, but those seem to be more the exception than the rule.

One of the reasons we put the pre-game hour into effect was so that new teams would have time to get settled, get to know each other, pick a team name, friend each other so they can have a conference IM active, and so forth, but this doesn't work when new people are still only arriving or only deciding to play at 9:59. Of course, some people do leave because something comes up or because they get frustrated by the level of competition (apparently even when I warn new players that it is very competitive, they don't realize exactly what that means and think I think they're not smart or something). The former can't always be anticipated, but what I want to curb is abandonments that could have been helped. I don't want people to continue getting left in a lurch.

Beginning next month, team formation is going to have to close at 9:45am and rosters announced at 10:00am on the dot. Teams that preregistered, of course, can still get there at 10, but if your team is incomplete or if you don't have one, you must. come. early. (Thank you to Vandy Spargel, who, even though she ended up not being able to stay anyway, came early enough that we were about to place her on an incomplete team.) I have to emphasize, this doesn't mean arriving at 9:45 if you don't have a team, since it takes more than 59 seconds to form one. It means coming early enough so you know exactly who you're playing with by 9:45 and you can use the next fifteen minutes to find out your teammates' strengths and weaknesses, come up with a team name and identity, choose a captain, and get a group IM working.

This is also so that Thorn and Lillian can get their spreadsheets organized and printed out before the game begins. They start asking me two nights before the game for team lists: there is no such thing as too early to preregister. Even if you don't want to come early for yourselves, please come early for the sake of our awesome scorekeepers.

I'll announce the date of the October game as soon as we've decided on one.

P.S. I love all of you who come month after month. Thanks for continuing to make this a successful event!

I'm gonna try something kind of fun today. I hope. It's meta-trivia, folks, the kind that you won't know if you're strolling onto this blog from some random corner of the internet. And it's audience participation time.

As most Buccaneer Bowl regulars know, writing trivia for the game is a collaborative effort. Lillian, Thorn, and I all write a portion of the questions and give each other copies a few days before the event so that we can look them over and suggest any changes necessary. The three of us have very different areas of expertise, so we can see each other's questions from different angles to make sure they're tight and solid. Other games can make up for faulty questions by simply paying more than one player, but with Bucc Bowl's system of points and accumulated scores, there's more than cash riding on each one, and as we found out the hard way in the first couple of months, a problem question can create much more havoc than usual.

The matter of who writes each question comes up occasionally. Lillian has said that Josh guesses whose they are after they've been asked and has a fairly good record. Yesterday, I quizzed Lotus when she said she believed she was usually able to tell, and I believe she met with a few surprises. So now I'm curious. First, I'm curious if this is something the players generally think about, and second, I'm curious if they know us as well as they think.

Below is the full list of non-bonus questions from the July game. Even further below is the list of answers. As an added benefit, publishing this list can help some people who haven't yet decided to join us get a feel for what goes on there, and it gives people who don't know me, Thorn, and Lillian a reason for reading this post. If you haven't figured it out yet, your job is to guess which Bucc Bowl host wrote which of the questions. Although other members of the crew might have helped revise or rewrite a question, you're looking for the particular person who originally contributed it to the game.

I'm also going to borrow a practice from Lotus and offer prizes for the most correct guesses. Since I don't do this regularly, I am happy to give out healthy prizes for it. For first, second, and third place: L$100, L$50, and L$25. The contest will be over 24 hours after I publish the post. Please submit your answers in the blog comments.

Now, don't forget... you're not guessing the answers to the questions, you're guessing who wrote which: Lette Ponnier, Lillian Shippe, or Thornton Writer. I mean, you can answer the questions; I just won't be paying you for it.

Anyone who already knows the answers (that means you, Josh; Lotus can play because I only went through the June game with her) obviously can't participate. But if people enjoy this, we can do it following future Bucc Bowls, and anyone who does not learn the answers ahead of time will be welcome to compete for this little extra somethin' then. Here we go....

Maggie, Rain, and NonSmokerGirl alongside Maggie's trivia Wheel of Death.

In the comments section of the blog, list which Buccaneer Bowl host you believe contributed each question to the game. This contest will run from 11:00am SLT Thursday, August 20, to 11:00am SLT Friday, August 21.

Edited to add:

Oh... let me add one thing... and Circe can revise her answer if she wants to... but the total number of questions written by each of us in this list was:

Thorn - 6
Lillian - 9
Lette - 10

because Thorn had not been feeling well and Lil and I picked up the slack.

July 2009 Buccaneer Bowl Questions:

1. Field Marshal Paulus surrendered the German Sixth Army to the Russians in what battle of World War II?

2. Which of the main categories of cloud, with a name meaning "curl of hair," forms at the highest altitudes?

3. What is the only Great Lake to be completely within the borders of the USA?

4. In The Odyssey, a minor character and weapons thief named Melanthius ends up with his nose, ears, hands, and feet chopped off, but what additional body part was not only removed but fed to the dogs?

5. A cracked Tinamou egg at Cambridge University is the last of what naturalist's collection of specimens acquired during his research in this bird's native continent?

6. Omar Fierro is the former host of the Mexican version of what game show that is called "Svoya Igra" in Russia, "Riesgo!" in Spain, and "Waagstuk!" in the Netherlands?

7. What opera written by Guiseppe Verdi ended with Violetta dead in Alfredo's arms from tuberculosis?

8. What is the name of a series of comic books released in 2001 based on a fictional comic referenced in two Kevin Smith movies?

9. Tribology is the study of what?

10. To be classified as a "true" mineral, a substance must be solid, arising from geological processes, and have what kind of structure?

11. In the 1971 song "Hocus Pocus" by Dutch band focus, lead singer Thijs van Leer whistled, sang operatic falsetto, and practiced what other vocal technique?

12. What musical instrument does Jack steal from the beanstalk giant?

13. What was the nickname of the Bell X-1 plane that was the first to break the speed barrier?

14. Who is the Greek Muse of History?

15. In 2006, the Egyptian government voted not to recognize members of what religion on identification cards?

16. Thimphu is the capital of what Asian country?

17. Oddly, nineteenth century English actor Nutcombe Gould pursued his theatrical career after leaving the clergy due to what condition?

18. What metal was first discovered by amateur geologist William Gregor in Cornwall in 1791 and named for a race of powerful Greek deities?

19. What fuel powered the internal combustion engine patented by Samuel Morey in 1826?

20. What was the American horse Sir Barton the first to do in 1919?

21. The American Medical Association was founded in 1847 in what city?

22. What color is the ring furthest to the left on the Olympic Flag?

23. What Canadian province capital is located in the Red River Valley, in the south central portion of its province?

24. What sport did J.M. Barrie's amateur team the Allahakbarries play?

25. What instrument did vanished bandleader Glenn Miller play?

Sharon, proprietress of Sharon's, with Carrie, right, and the less-elusive-than-previously Nelly in the background.

July 2009 Buccaneer Bowl Answers:

1. Stalingrad

2. cirrus

3. Michigan

4. his genitals

5. Charles Darwin

6. Jeopardy!

7. La Traviata

8. Bluntman and Chronic

9. lubricants, lubrication, and/or friction

10. crystal

11. yodeling

12. harp

13. Glamorous Glennis

14. Clio/Kleio

15. Baha'i

16. Bhutan

17. stammer/stutter

18. titanium

19. turpentine

20. win the Triple Crown

21. Philadelphia

22. blue

23. Winnipeg

24. cricket

25. trombone

********

Money, money, money, money... Money.

This is the first of what I hope will be more joint topic posts that I make with Lotus Ceriano at her awesome blog, Lotus-Pocus. We were chatting about topics and discovered we were both thinking of posting about money, and after a brief spell of, "You go ahead," "No, you go ahead," we found we were going to be addressing pretty different aspects of the same general theme. So I'm taking on the players' side, and she's going to be discussing the club owners' side. Hopefully we'll be finishing up near enough in time that these can be read together.

Front: Hacob Hollwood and Hilda Static. Back: Niina Jenvieve, me, and Sinnamon Sands. "Win Thorn's Money" trivia at Double Standards

From the Ground Up

Not all trivia in SL is played for money. Gogomodo proliferates in many nooks and crannies, and... well, I can't really think of any other common examples. So I guess it won't be off the mark to say that nearly all trivia in SL is played for money. When I was a poor noob, my first friend and mentor took me to a dance club with a trivia orb running, and I pretty much swept the game, L$5 at a time. Since the noob wardrobe is typically substandard, and the "Best in..." contests this friend pretty much thrived on were beyond my reach, trivia quickly became my primary source of income, and that remains the case today.

The amount of money a game pays off matters, but how much does it matter? Who does it matter to, and why? Does it stand on its own as a factor or does it interact with others in building the sense of a game?

It might be because club Shiraz is the place I've been attending the longest and still the most often, or it might be because of the whole range of payouts across the trivia landscape, but I sort of see L$20 per question as a baseline, and before I began spreading out in order to write up new games for this blog, any game that paid less than L$20 didn't really capture my attention. It wasn't just that the money wasn't worth my time but that I almost didn't take such games seriously. Money attracts competition, and it's a lot more fun to win money when you're beating out speed demons and brainiacs than when you're beating out folks who aren't really either. One might say I grew out of the L$5-per-question stage.

I'm not so much of a snob these days; there are some games paying out L$10 or L$15 that are a lot of fun and worth going to, and there are some (well, one, really) that pays out well but, frankly, isn't that high on the joy scale. Obviously, every game is a balance of factors: quality of the questions, effectiveness of the format, personality of the host(s), atmosphere of the location, friendliness of the crowd, and -- last but not least -- money. If a place is strong enough where all those other factors are concerned, then you can have a bunch of friends kvetching around a gogomodo board (or several), earning no money but running up a location's team score. But those scenarios are rare, and winnings, I'd suggest, aren't just a draw because people like money but because the presence of money changes the balance of all of those factors.

I pretty much stuck to Shiraz over my first summer in SL, only branching out gradually. Come fall, though, I was starting to discover that elsewhere, I could win enough not just for a couple of cute dresses a week but to rent a home. AllieKatt Knipper's games, with their healthy bonuses, Thorn's with the first three-winner format I'd played, and eventually Chadd and Shale's first Shotgun games (at which I won only one question at the first game, but it was for something like L$800 and was about sashimi [you don't forget your first L$800 question]), gave me a new perspective on how cash can alter the fabric of a game. By December, I'd begun going to Marine Park and had reached trivia winnings nirvana.

Marine Park Mardi Gras, February 27, where players got paid not only for trivia but for telling ghost stories, flashing their boobs, and dressing for the Bests contest. (Sorry, too long ago for me to remember who is pictured here.)

No Post on Winnings is Complete Without Talking About...

I was winning too much to spend, actually, and that's one of the reasons I collaborated with Thorn to develop the Buccaneer Bowl, began paying for questions at Chaos (the truth or dare challenge was the only prize offered there for the first five or six months it was running), and eventually started conducting spontaneous trivia games in Impromptu Garden.

For those who are still unfamiliar with the enigma that is Marine Park, it is a long-running, three-winner trivia venue where the prizes are a minimum of L$300/200/100 per question and sometimes more. There is an entrance fee (L$100 lately), and you can't always find it by searching for "trivia"; you need to type in "Marine Park," and events are added and deleted regularly. People have mostly discovered it by word of mouth, and many go only once and decide the money isn't worth it to return, or that the stress over trying to make their entrance fee back isn't worth it. Others become addicted. (/me raises hand)

When people hear about MP and its winnings for the first time, they often ask, "How can money like that not be worth it? Worth what?" Well. Let me try being diplomatic about this. They're strict. They have very rigid rules of conduct that drain the game of any kind of social element it might otherwise have, and -- I'd say this is an even stronger aspect -- they create a nerve-wracking (for some) atmosphere with a patently hierarchical and socially segregated host/guest structure and an infamous tendency to ban people arbitrarily, with no explanation, and with no opportunity for recourse. And they seem to be completely oblivious that there's anything odd or questionable about that.

The funny thing is, all of this added to the excitement of the game there for me. The winnings raised the stakes and made the competition feel more fierce, even when I found myself scrambling to answer questions like, "What is your favorite animal?" Even the rules (speaking during the trivia is discouraged, for instance) and the owner's tendency to spring the next question without warning contributed to a more thrilling game. You frequently hear people say they attend Marine Park games "just for the money," but I believe the money element operates not only directly but indirectly, and that it is the indirect impact that is or was stronger for some of us. It draws in some of SL's best players, which makes a successful game that much more exciting, and although it makes the atmosphere tense, it also makes the atmosphere serious. I've never had qualms with the silence rule (though I have major qualms with their means of enforcing it) and think it contributes positively to MP's MP-ness, even as it becomes something people "put up with" because they want the cash.

Lillian Shippe, Bucc Bowl banker

Such a Thing As Too Much?

I certainly hope that there aren't equivalent aspects of Bucc Bowl that people put up with because they simply want the cash. I can't do a similar kind of analysis about the effects of money on Bucc Bowl because I don't experience it as a player, but there are a few things that were important to me in designing the format. First, we decided to make it high-paying because unlike most games, players need to make the full two-hour time commitment -- they can't just pop in and out as they wish -- and we wanted to make that time commitment worth their while. There is also some pre-game organization required of not only planners but players as well, and so it seemed appropriate to reward that effort. Second, after the extremely laggy first game and the institution of ARC bonuses, we were pleased to find that it relieves a concern we originally had: that it would be possible for people to make that entire time commitment and work to put a team together and still leave empty-handed. Now, if anyone does leave with nothing, it's only because they decided to prioritize appearance (at a game where many people turn their rendering off anyway) over sim performance.

But there is another side of giving away a lot of money that I've framed positively in this post but that not everyone necessarily sees as a good thing: money, as I've noted several times, draws competition. And although I love the adrenaline rush that increased competition gives me, I recognize that for some people, there is such a thing as too much. Although we get a lot of positive accolades for Bucc Bowl, as well as some constructive criticism, the one recurring complaint is that it's very stressful. Teams invest a lot of work and strategy in choosing players, and they don't want to make a poor showing, more for the sake of their teams than for themselves. Many people want to attend for the first time without playing, in order to see what the big deal is before committing to a team, but the sim's avatar capacity makes it difficult to grant every request. I believe that the fact that your performance affects not only yourself but your teammates, as well, is probably the most significant factor in the stress level, but the money once again plays both a direct and an indirect part. It shapes the game's atmosphere, for better or for worse, and I honestly can't see Bucc Bowl functioning for less than L$10,000 per game (the minimum total payout if there are no ties and no one complies with the ARC bonus).

We've created something that I acknowledge might be just as nerve-wracking as Marine Park, but for entirely different reasons (I, for instance, am capable of scrolling through chat to find the three winners out of 35 players while people are socializing). With games like these, I'll be the first to admit that it's kind of nice sometimes just to go to a 20-question, L$20 game, relax, and hang out when there's nothing on the line but your own pride in getting an answer in first. Nonetheless, in my case, the only reason I'm able to relax in this way is that I saved up enough money before being banned from MP that I now see the winnings elsewhere as merely symbolic, and I usually tip most or all of it back.

But I can only speak for myself. Here are the questions I asked at the beginning of this post, once more: The amount of money a game pays off matters, but how much does it matter? Who does it matter to, and why? Does it stand on its own as a factor or does it interact with others in building the sense of a game?

What do you think?

Lemmings: the official mascot of SL trivia. Cinna "The Lemming" Xaris in foreground; AnaMaria "every day is Thorn day" Quintessa and Chaddington "I like to watch lemmings" Boomhauer in background.

********

Typos of the Week, July 12 through July 18

The list is going to be a little different for this week because I've been organizing the bowl, writing trivia, and planning for the trip I'm about to take pretty much as soon as I finish this post. I'll be back next Monday. There are three parts to this one: First are all of the typos nominated by other people in the past week. Second are the top ten from the first day, Sunday, July 12, but not ranked. Since I wasn't keeping track continuously throughout the week this time, I had to sift through logs, and it took so long just to get through Sunday that that's all you're gonna get. Third are the Bucc Bowl top nine (because that's how many pass my rigid standards of what makes a good typo :P).

In addition, I'd like you all to post your nominations for the coming week directly to the comments section in this post, since I won't be around to see any of them or to collect nominations by IM. Since this week's list heavily favors the weekend crowd, I hope someone's keeping close track of the weekday typos in particular. Just add them when something good comes up.

This is also a bit of a rush job, so no rankings... but the bunch of them from Sunday the 12th should give you an idea of just how much I end up paring the actual list down to get it to ten, at least during the weeks when I'm at a lot of trivia.

I. Nominated typos:

a. [10:57] Catherine Resch: fproemgert
[10:57] Karmel Kips: foreingier
[10:57] Quarters Bailey: foriegner
[10:57] Weniki Oh: oforreninger

b. [8:52] Rach Borkotron: amerghger

c. [13:31] JoshuaStephen Schism: s[poielberg
[13:31] Billy2Times Krams: steben sopeilbyerg

d. Mindy Moe shouts: Jodie Foster won an Oscar for which film?
[14:29] Cully Andel: silenc of the lamcs

e. [11:02] Hilda Static: rush sundicixion'ss

f. [18:35] Honey Potez: AD SLOGAN: "A little dab'll do ya."
[18:35] Sal Zulaman: Bryklscerq
[18:36] Olmstead Fanshaw: brylcleer'
[18:36] Edmond Oconnell: brycream

g. [07:31 PM] [ BILLY2TIMES KRAMS ] 17. DEBUTING ON MAY 1, 1999, WHAT ANIMATED CHARACTER WAS CREATED BY FORMER MARINE BIOLOGY TEACHER STEPHEN HILLENBURG?
[07:31 PM] Lou Netizen: Spongebob sauarpants


II. From Sunday, July 12:

h. [2009/07/12 11:29] Cully Andel: WHO IS BOO BOO'S BEST FRIEND?
[2009/07/12 11:29] WavingMarcel Floresby: yogiuj
[2009/07/12 11:29] Hilda Static: yogi b erar

i. [2009/07/12 11:37] Cully Andel: WHAT DOES 'SCUBA' STAND FOR?
[2009/07/12 11:37] Lette Ponnier: self conteained underwater bretehin apapatus
[2009/07/12 11:37] Rain Ninetails: self contained underwater brathing appoaratus
[2009/07/12 11:37] Rekeorb Wezzog: self contatine dufneradwatere breathing apapratus
[2009/07/12 11:37] Honey Potez: self contantined underwater breathing apparatica

j. [2009/07/12 11:54] Cully Andel: WHAT WAS THE 'EMPRESS' IN PG WODEHOUSE'S 'THE EMPRESS OF BLANDINGS'?
[2009/07/12 11:54] Chaddington Boomhauer: a====a ig

k. [2009/07/12 14:03] Sinnamon Sands: 11). ONCE KNOWN AS FAIRY FLOSS IN THE U.S., WHAT FOODSTUFF IS KNOWN AS "papa's beard" IN FRANCE AND "sugar wool" IN GERMANY?
[2009/07/12 14:04] Hilda Static: cotton vandu\

l. [2009/07/12 14:36] Sinnamon Sands: 18). WHAT COUNTRY'S DELEGATION WAS ALLOWED TO BE SEATED IN THE U.N. GENERAL ASSEMBLY IN 1994, AFTER A 20-YEAR ABSENCE?
[2009/07/12 14:36] Lette Ponnier: south afficer
[2009/07/12 14:36] Sweejen Stourmead: couth afrcia

m. [2009/07/12 14:57] Sinnamon Sands: 22). WHAT IS THE LARGEST NATION IN AREA WHERE ALL CARS LEGALLY DRIVE ON THE LEFT?
[2009/07/12 14:57] Lette Ponnier: austrlaia
[2009/07/12 14:58] AnaMaria Quintessa: austrial
[2009/07/12 14:58] Catherine Resch: austreaial
[2009/07/12 14:58] Rain Ninetails: authstroiala

n. [2009/07/12 19:05] Honey Potez: AD SLOGAN: "It keeps going, and going, and going...."
[2009/07/12 19:05] Clancy Huckleberry: engereiesr

o. [2009/07/12 19:39] Honey Potez: TV SHOW: "Who could take a nothing day and suddenly make it all seem worthwhile"
[2009/07/12 19:39] Sal Zulaman: mary tylelmorre

p. [2009/07/12 20:28] Lette Ponnier: What word describes both an incentive to save aluminum cans for recycling and the return of this money paid as security?
[2009/07/12 20:28] Hilda Static: de[osti

q. [2009/07/12 20:37] Lette Ponnier: "Draw one in the dark" is diner shorthand for serving what?
[2009/07/12 20:37] Lillian Shippe: b;ack vcoffer


III. Bucc Bowl top nine:

r. [2009/07/18 10:33] Lette Ponnier: Omar Fierro is the former host of the Mexican version of what game show that is called "Svoya Igra" in Russia, "Riesgo!" in Spain, and "Waagstuk!" in the Netherlands?
[2009/07/18 10:33] AnaMaria Quintessa: jeparfdy
[2009/07/18 10:33] JoshuaStephen Schism: jeapodfr
[2009/07/18 10:33] Chaddington Boomhauer: jeiprady
[2009/07/18 10:33] Rain Ninetails: heoipardy

s. [2009/07/18 10:38] Lette Ponnier: What is the name of a series of comic books released in 2001 based on a fictional comic referenced in two Kevin Smith movies?
[2009/07/18 10:38] Rekeorb Wezzog: bluntama nchrimomnic

t. [2009/07/18 10:43] Lette Ponnier: To be classified as a "true" mineral, a substance must be solid, arising from geological processes, and have what kind of structure?
[2009/07/18 10:44] Alanna Robbiani: crysat
[2009/07/18 10:44] Circe Falta: crystaLLINSDE
[2009/07/18 10:44] Olmstead Fanshaw: crystatla

u. [2009/07/18 11:02] Lette Ponnier: What was the nickname of the Bell X-1 plane that was the first to break the speed barrier?
[2009/07/18 11:02] Rosalyn Python: glamoursu genenis

v. [2009/07/18 11:25] Lette Ponnier: What metal was first discovered by amateur geologist William Gregor in Cornwall in 1791 and named for a race of powerful Greek deities?
[2009/07/18 11:25] Olmstead Fanshaw: titainmim

w. [2009/07/18 11:30] Lette Ponnier: What was the American horse Sir Barton the first to do in 1919?
[2009/07/18 11:30] Chaddington Boomhauer: tiprlecowrn

x. [2009/07/18 11:44] Lette Ponnier: The American Medical Association was founded in 1847 in what city?
[2009/07/18 11:44] Lou Netizen: Phildeophia
[2009/07/18 11:44] Cinna Xaris: phillidepghia
[2009/07/18 11:44] Starla Gurbux: philealopeh
[2009/07/18 11:44] Trebor Shelman: \pems\\\philly
[2009/07/18 11:44] Chaddington Boomhauer: phildaephliapa

y. [2009/07/18 11:48] Lette Ponnier: What Canadian province capital is located in the Red River Valley, in the south central portion of its province?
[2009/07/18 11:48] Olmstead Fanshaw: wimmpen g

z. [2009/07/18 11:50] Lette Ponnier: What sport did J.M. Barrie's amateur team the Allahakbarries play?
[2009/07/18 11:50] Starla Gurbux: cfricdqet

********

a. Foreigner
b. Armageddon
c. Spielberg
d. Silence of the Lambs
e. Rush, Subdivisions
f. Brylcreem
g. Spongebob Squarepants
h. Yogi Bear
i. self-contained underwater breathing apparatus
j. a pig
k. cotton candy
l. South Africa
m. Australia
n. Energizer
o. Mary Tyler Moore
p. deposit
q. black coffee
r. Jeopardy!
s. Bluntman and Chronic
t. crystal/crystalline
u. Glamorous Glennis
v. titanium
w. Triple Crown
x. Philadelphia
y. Winnipeg
z. cricket

Typos of the Week, July 19 through July 25, please post below:

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...

Buccaneer Bowl Results 'n' Stuff

Hope you all got a chuckle from the typos I posted yesterday, and if you haven't yet, please go take a look. The May Bucc Bowl went very smoothly; the only complaint I think we received this time around was that our modus operandi question was too similar to one asked at Marine Park earlier in the week. But really, suggesting that we cribbed a question like that is like claiming we plagiarized "What's the capital of Nigeria?" There are only so many ways you can write a short question. And believe it or not, ours was written first, and when we heard it at MP, Lillian wrote me, "We can't use that now." I tut-tutted her because of course we can use it... trivia parallelism happens all the time. But I guess those who don't go to a wide range of games might not notice that phenomenon as much as those of us who go to far, far too many.

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

Typos: May Buccaneer Bowl Edition

Thanks to everyone who turned out for the fifth Buccaneer Bowl, and congrats to the Triviators for their third all-time win. I've just combed through the log from the event to find the best typos. I wanted to find the best one from each question, but there were some questions with almost none. "Elections," "Andes," and "Jefferson" seem to be pretty typeable. "Australia," "modus operandi," and "baba ghannouj"... not so much. And for that last one, it's not even just because there are about seventeen different ways to spell it correctly... it really did generate some serious mistakes.

There was too much typoage to rank these, so I've just left them in the order in which they occurred. I invite you to pick out your favorites and comment on them or to volunteer any from other times in the week. Remind yourselves of what these were supposed to look like from the list after the photo.

1. [2009/05/16 10:24] Darren Berithos: nrdua

2. [2009/05/16 10:30] Browman Griffith: trinad and tobagio
[2009/05/16 10:30] Bloot Burnstein: tinidad and tobagbo

3. [2009/05/16 10:44] Lotus Ceriano: cop;alnd
[2009/05/16 10:44] Amaranth Magic: c oplean
[2009/05/16 10:44] Cully Andel: eopceland
[2009/05/16 10:44] Rain Ninetails: coplenad

4. [2009/05/16 10:46] Trebor Shelman: ansdesds]

5. [2009/05/16 11:07] Cully Andel: fonada

6. [2009/05/16 11:14] Darren Berithos: modeiu opemadi
[2009/05/16 11:14] Devin Velinov: modiusoperiena
[2009/05/16 11:14] Cygnoir Blanc: modus oerand
[2009/05/16 11:14] Rain Ninetails: moldus ooperantdi
[2009/05/16 11:14] Maelstrom Janus: moduis operendi;
[2009/05/16 11:14] Tom127 Rayna: motis operaddi

7. [2009/05/16 11:32] Trebor Shelman: auastrai,lai
[2009/05/16 11:32] Lotus Ceriano: austarail
[2009/05/16 11:32] Maelstrom Janus: austrralkia
[2009/05/16 11:32] Olmstead Fanshaw: austrailai
[2009/05/16 11:32] Bloot Burnstein: austrflaia
[2009/05/16 11:32] Rain Ninetails: auatrialaia

8. [2009/05/16 11:41] Nelly Swindlehurst: slanon

9. [2009/05/16 11:44] Lotus Ceriano: avoidupos
[2009/05/16 11:44] Lou Netizen: avoiraoupi

10. [2009/05/16 11:57] Lou Netizen: babgamous
[2009/05/16 11:57] Mako Kungfu: babaganogh
[2009/05/16 11:57] Sinnamon Sands: baba gahnousr
[2009/05/16 11:57] Olmstead Fanshaw: babgnau;oug
[2009/05/16 11:57] Trebor Shelman: babgnanpoysh
[2009/05/16 11:57] Socrates Sautereau: baganoughts

This was the only shot I got at the Buccaneer Bowl myself. I was kinda too busy to focus on that. Please check some of the Flickr links provided in the sidebar, particularly, well, the Bucc Bowl one, for more.

1. Neruda
2. Trinidad and Tobago
3. Copland
4. Andes
5. Fonda
6. modus operandi
7. Australia
8. Salonen
9. avoirdupois
10. baba ghannouj

The Bucc Bowl is held monthly in Tranquility sim: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Tranquility/169/146/26

Expect the next one around the second weekend of June.

Buccaneer Bowl Update, May 11

We're coming up on our fifth Buccaneer Bowl this weekend, and I wanted to give you some updates. The ship has been moved again. It's still in Tranquility sim, but the sim has been rented out as a whole and is now an Egyptian combat roleplay sim. The renter has agreed to allow us to rez the ship in the sky once a month. Our landowner has been working hard to construct an oceanic skybox for the ship, so it won't just be a naked ship floating around 600m up.

Right now, if you TP to Tranquility, you land at a central landing point with no TP to where the ship will be, but the renter says he will change that on Saturday so that you will be able to TP to anyplace in the sim. At that point, use the SLURL http://slurl.com/secondlife/Tranquility/72/163/607. In the meantime, I don't yet have the ability to list the event in the SL event listings with the correct location; I haven't been able to get in touch with the landowner since she gave me the new LM. I'll keep in active touch on the blog and in-world in the Buccaneer Bowl group.

Everything else has been going smoothly in preparation. The following teams have confirmed so far:

Voracious Viridians: Leyna Brandenburg, Browman Griffith, Rach Borkotron, Cygnoir Blanc
Frivolous Corsairs: Rain Ninetails, Lou Netizen, Lebn Bucyk
Jeopardy Rejects: Darren Berithos, Amaranth Magic, Trebor Shelman
Trumpton Trivials: Cully Andel, Maelstrom Janus, AnaMaria Quintessa, Stiggs McMinnar

Please keep team registration coming in. ARC Bonuses will be in effect as always: keep your Avatar Rendering Cost below 500 and you won't leave empty handed.