Search found 269 matches

by ErikC
Thu Feb 15, 2024 6:31 pm
Forum: Collegiate Discussion
Topic: Alternate locations for ACF Nationals
Replies: 30
Views: 4103

Re: Alternate locations for ACF Nationals

Paul's basement (and the underrated main floor) is a fantastic, tried-and-true venue for buzzing. Simultaneously the Wembley and the "rainy day at Stoke" of quiz venues in Canada. Belongs in Canadian Quiz Bowl Heritage Minute if we had those. I encourage people to search their circuits for...
by ErikC
Wed Feb 07, 2024 6:45 pm
Forum: Collegiate Discussion
Topic: 2024 ACF Regionals: General Thanks
Replies: 5
Views: 1753

Re: 2024 ACF Regionals: General Thanks

I want to second (or third?) the praise for Eve as a head editor for steering the ship and keeping us on time and producing a final product that seemed to be well-received and hit the target demo. She kept a steady eye on the set and kept up production early on and made the process clear for first-t...
by ErikC
Tue Feb 06, 2024 9:23 pm
Forum: Collegiate Discussion
Topic: 2024 ACF Regionals Discussion
Replies: 54
Views: 7061

Re: 2024 ACF Regionals Discussion

The detailed stats provided a few insights: The overall %s for other history was a bit deceiving, as it seemed that bonuses are more traditional "other" history topics like Rome had pretty good conversion (contrast praetor as a medium part with 63% conversion with the Shang dynasty medium ...
by ErikC
Fri Feb 02, 2024 2:44 pm
Forum: Collegiate Discussion
Topic: 2024 ACF Regionals Discussion
Replies: 54
Views: 7061

Re: 2024 ACF Regionals Discussion

I had bigger issues with the clue selection and execution. Some of the question, like, the Being and Nothingness bonus, for example, felt really phoned in. I feel like I've heard that exact same bonus with facticity as a hard part like a dozen times before. I wasn't a huge fan of the Popper tossup,...
by ErikC
Fri Feb 02, 2024 12:43 pm
Forum: Collegiate Discussion
Topic: 2024 ACF Regionals Discussion
Replies: 54
Views: 7061

Re: 2024 ACF Regionals Discussion

The only clue that seems unique to Spivak is the phrase "epistemic violence," which doesn't even that important to her work, but it is mentioned in the Wikipedia page for epistemic injustice (the first part of the bonus)! While I generally liked this set especially the social science (lot...
by ErikC
Wed Jan 31, 2024 6:22 pm
Forum: Collegiate Discussion
Topic: 2024 ACF Regionals Discussion
Replies: 54
Views: 7061

Re: 2024 ACF Regionals Discussion

I had a lot of fun playing this set, not too much I can say of any use. I just wanted to point to one particular answerline I wasn't thrilled about, which was the colonization of Ireland question. I buzzed somewhere during the second line with "land redistribution" and was negged, which f...
by ErikC
Tue Jan 30, 2024 12:26 pm
Forum: Collegiate Discussion
Topic: 2024 ACF Regionals Discussion
Replies: 54
Views: 7061

Re: 2024 ACF Regionals Discussion

Hi all! This is my first post on this site (somehow) so it might be a bit ragged but here we go. I really enjoyed playing this set. It felt a lot better than last year in asking about topics in ways that were interesting; whether they had not been asked before, or had been asked at higher levels pr...
by ErikC
Mon Jan 29, 2024 5:54 pm
Forum: Collegiate Discussion
Topic: 2024 ACF Regionals Discussion
Replies: 54
Views: 7061

Re: 2024 ACF Regionals Discussion

I modded this tournament's UK site on Saturday. General/category-wide comments, mostly history-centric: Difficulty seemed good; I thought last year's history was somewhat harder than usual and this set is broadly closer to what I'd expect at 3 dot. A couple of packets had three 20th century history...
by ErikC
Mon Jan 29, 2024 1:03 am
Forum: Collegiate Discussion
Topic: 2024 ACF Regionals Discussion
Replies: 54
Views: 7061

Re: 2024 ACF Regionals Discussion

I enjoyed this set. It did a good job of presenting a lot of different cool things and balancing "canonical" and "innovative" approaches. To start things off, here are some small notes I took during the day, sorted by letter designation of packet edited for comprehensibility. Mo...
by ErikC
Sun Jan 28, 2024 6:40 pm
Forum: Collegiate Discussion
Topic: Packet submission thoughts
Replies: 16
Views: 3329

Re: Packet submission thoughts

Before speculating on some changes, I want to share my prespective after editing for an ACF tournament for the first time (I did European History, "Other" History, and Philosophy). I received some good submissions in each area and used submissions for a good portion of the packets - in par...
by ErikC
Sat Sep 02, 2023 3:24 pm
Forum: Collegiate Announcements & Results
Topic: Ahead by a Century: A History Side Event
Replies: 5
Views: 2345

Re: Ahead by a Century: A History Side Event

We ran this in Toronto! After a positive reaction and some minor changes, I think this set is ready for mirrors anywhere for free (organizers may charge a fee for running this as they would like). I'll keep this off the archive until further notice. I suggest playing this with Penn Bowl or another t...
by ErikC
Wed Aug 16, 2023 12:26 am
Forum: Collegiate Announcements & Results
Topic: Ontario Hybrid Online Open 2023 - August 26 (Cancelled)
Replies: 3
Views: 1364

Re: Ontario Hybrid Online Open 2023 - August 26

Due to lack of interest, this is cancelled.
by ErikC
Thu Jul 27, 2023 12:22 am
Forum: Collegiate Announcements & Results
Topic: Ontario Hybrid Online Open 2023 - August 26 (Cancelled)
Replies: 3
Views: 1364

Re: Ontario Hybrid Online 2023 - August 26

Cheynem wrote: Wed Jul 26, 2023 1:40 pm Is this an open?
Yes, this is an entirely open tournament, I'll edit the announcement.
by ErikC
Wed Jul 26, 2023 1:27 pm
Forum: Collegiate Announcements & Results
Topic: Ontario Hybrid Online Open 2023 - August 26 (Cancelled)
Replies: 3
Views: 1364

Ontario Hybrid Online Open 2023 - August 26 (Cancelled)

I am pleased to announce an online mirror of the latest edition of Ontario Hybrid, with a field open to anyone. This will be run over Zoom, with a discord for posting schedules and updates. More info on the set can be found here: https://hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=384787 . The field size ...
by ErikC
Tue Jul 11, 2023 5:34 pm
Forum: Collegiate Announcements & Results
Topic: Ahead by a Century: A History Side Event
Replies: 5
Views: 2345

Re: Ahead by a Century: A History Side Event

As I'd gotten a bit carried away with modern history and some redundancy, I'm spinning off some of the modern history I wrote for this set as a separate unnamed one-off pack that should be available around the same time I complete the seven packages of the main event.
by ErikC
Sun Jun 25, 2023 10:54 pm
Forum: Collegiate Announcements & Results
Topic: Booster Shot - 2 Dot, Spring 2024
Replies: 6
Views: 5539

Re: Booster Shot - 2 Dot, Spring 2024

Lalit Maharjan, James Wang, Aum Mundhe, Kane Nguyen, Mattias Ehatamm, Forrest Weintraub, Adrian Wong, and Joseph Chambers have joined the writing team! Also returning from MRNA II to write are Chandler West, Eric Muhkerjee, and Bryanna Shao. The writers app form is still open and I'll keep it open f...
by ErikC
Fri Jun 23, 2023 10:30 am
Forum: Collegiate Announcements & Results
Topic: Ahead by a Century: A History Side Event
Replies: 5
Views: 2345

Ahead by a Century: A History Side Event

This year I have been working on Ahead by a Century , a history side event of predominantly open-level questions. My aim is to have a mix of interesting and novel approaches to famous areas of history alongside more straight forward questions on important parts of less explored areas and periods; pl...
by ErikC
Wed Jun 21, 2023 3:57 pm
Forum: Collegiate Discussion
Topic: Should ACF tossups be shorter?
Replies: 30
Views: 12507

Re: Should ACF tossups be shorter?

I think question length caps end up effecting the kind of clues you end up hearing/writing, not just the number of clues in a tossup. You end up with less adjectives, less explanations, and more 1:1 proper noun, capitalized word matching. There's nothing wrong with ICT having a lot of that, but clue...
by ErikC
Mon Jun 19, 2023 12:03 am
Forum: Collegiate Discussion
Topic: Reworking the History Distribution
Replies: 13
Views: 6911

Re: Reworking the History Distribution

I think it's cool that British tournaments have a pretty different history distro (and I'd also generally a different style too) than the average American tournament. I also think it's cool when other editors decide to have different distros and focuses. I don't think you're ever going to find the p...
by ErikC
Tue Jun 13, 2023 6:29 pm
Forum: Collegiate Announcements & Results
Topic: Booster Shot - 2 Dot, Spring 2024
Replies: 6
Views: 5539

Re: Booster Shot - 2 Dot, Spring 2024

There may have been issues with the writer app form yesterday; I think I have resolved them. There is no current timeframe for closing the form currently, so please notify me through a PM on this site, a discord DM, or an email to erikchristensen [at] gmail [dot] com if there are any further issues.
by ErikC
Sun Jun 11, 2023 9:57 pm
Forum: Collegiate Announcements & Results
Topic: Booster Shot - 2 Dot, Spring 2024
Replies: 6
Views: 5539

Booster Shot - 2 Dot, Spring 2024

I am very excited to announce Booster Shot , a spiritual sequel to MRNA I and II. The set will be head edited by me, Erik Christensen, and Jacob O’Rourke will be doing set logistics. The set will be subject edited by the following team: Erik Christensen - Philosophy, Social Science, European History...
by ErikC
Fri May 26, 2023 9:49 am
Forum: Collegiate Discussion
Topic: Booster Shot (Spritual Sequel to MRNA) is looking for Editors!
Replies: 1
Views: 3513

Re: Booster Shot (Spritual Sequel to MRNA) is looking for Editors!

We didn't quite receive as many editors as we need, so I'll be leaving the form up for another week or so as we gather a team. We are particularly looking for people interested in editing biology, other science, and social science.
by ErikC
Tue May 16, 2023 11:25 am
Forum: Collegiate Discussion
Topic: Booster Shot (Spritual Sequel to MRNA) is looking for Editors!
Replies: 1
Views: 3513

Booster Shot (Spritual Sequel to MRNA) is looking for Editors!

A portion of the MRNA 1 and 2 team, including myself, is looking for new editors for a tournament tentatively named Booster Shot . This tournament will be 2 dot difficulty similar to prior MRNA tournaments. I will be taking over as head editor from Eric Mukherjee. The distribution will look similar,...
by ErikC
Wed Aug 10, 2022 7:55 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2022 CO Trash: Specific question discussion
Replies: 24
Views: 3369

Re: Specific question discussion

Could I see the soccer tossup on Toronto? I'm impessed how it avoided giving power just because one is Canadian but wondering what the clues were about. The tossup on the McDonalds cluing from The Founder has a clue about the tennis court scene, which Ray Kroc is also involved in. The clue isn't ina...
by ErikC
Mon Jun 27, 2022 12:15 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2022 Ontario Hybrid - Ontario Main Site
Replies: 3
Views: 1690

Re: 2022 Ontario Hybrid - Ontario Main Site

Congratulations to Chungus Express for winning the Ontario Main Site! It was awesome to run in person again and we were fortunate to get all our rounds in before the bookings ran out. People were very positive about the set. Some players noted that it turned out a bit harder than initially advertise...
by ErikC
Thu Jun 16, 2022 2:54 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2022 Ontario Hybrid - Ontario Main Site
Replies: 3
Views: 1690

Re: 2022 Ontario Hybrid - Ontario Main Site

The fees for this tournament will be paid to the UofT club's email. Here's the rate to pay them: Fees and Discounts Base fee: $130/team Shorthanded discount: $10/missing player Buzzer discount: $10/working buzzer set Travel discount: $2.50/player who travelled at least 200 km one way Please email me...
by ErikC
Fri Jun 10, 2022 1:49 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2022 Ontario Hybrid - Ontario Main Site
Replies: 3
Views: 1690

Re: 2022 Ontario Hybrid - Ontario Main Site

This tournament is happening at UofT on June 25!
by ErikC
Sun May 22, 2022 11:50 pm
Forum: Practices, Scrimmages, Online Packets, and Playtesting
Topic: 2022 Ontario Hybrid Playtesting
Replies: 0
Views: 1070

2022 Ontario Hybrid Playtesting

I'm looking for playtesters interested in playing questions from this year's Ontario Hybrid before its main site in late June. You can email me at erikchristensenplan (at) gmail.com, PM on this website, or DM me on Discord if you're interested. I'll make a server and coordinate dates and times at th...
by ErikC
Fri May 06, 2022 2:52 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2022 Ontario Hybrid - Online Open Mirror Poll and Tentative Interest Sheet
Replies: 2
Views: 1186

Re: 2022 Ontario Hybrid - Online Mirror Poll and Tentative Interest Sheet

Here Comes Rusev Day wrote: Fri May 06, 2022 1:37 pm This might have been answered elsewhere but just to ask, would this be an open mirror?
I never actually used the word, good point. Yes, it is open.
by ErikC
Thu May 05, 2022 1:20 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2022 Ontario Hybrid - Online Open Mirror Poll and Tentative Interest Sheet
Replies: 2
Views: 1186

2022 Ontario Hybrid - Online Open Mirror Poll and Tentative Interest Sheet

I am happy to tentatively announce an online open mirror for the 2022 version of Ontario Hybrid, intended to be similar to the large open mirror held in April 2020 (how things have changed!). More info on the set can be found here: https://hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=384787 I've set up a p...
by ErikC
Thu Mar 17, 2022 3:34 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Ontario Hybrid 2021/2022 (Trash + Academic)
Replies: 2
Views: 3346

Re: Ontario Hybrid 2021/2022 (Trash + Academic)

Any chance you'd be interested in organizing a date poll and online mirror? I think several people fondly remember playing the previous iteration in the early pandemic. EDIT: And/or would you be interested in licensing the set for a small private midwest mirror for those "several people,"...
by ErikC
Tue Mar 15, 2022 2:52 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2022 Ontario Hybrid - Ontario Main Site
Replies: 3
Views: 1690

2022 Ontario Hybrid - Ontario Main Site

I am tentatively announcing the first site of Ontario Hybrid on June 25. More info on the set can be found here: https://hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=384787 I hope to have this run in person in Toronto or another Southern Ontario location if school rules and provincial regulations allow for...
by ErikC
Sun Mar 13, 2022 11:20 am
Forum: Collegiate Discussion
Topic: 2022 WORKSHOP: Thanks and General Discussion
Replies: 19
Views: 5535

Re: 2022 WORKSHOP: Thanks and General Discussion

This set was largely solid , but seems to follow a trend of "weird" regular(ish) difficulty sets (along with, to varying extents, this year's Regionals, ARCADIA, HARI, and Winter; but this "weirdness"--which I feel is invariably the bad kind of "weird"--probably prompt...
by ErikC
Fri Mar 11, 2022 10:34 am
Forum: Collegiate Discussion
Topic: 2022 WORKSHOP: Specific Question Discussion
Replies: 19
Views: 4635

Re: 2022 WORKSHOP: Specific Question Discussion

I know that list comments like this rarely go addressed but I figured I'd give y'all this in the off chance you want to act on it. Conflict theory remains hard for a middle Mirror stage without Lacan feels brutal for a middle Major issues: Packet 1: In the Pessimism tossup, the On the Fourfold Root...
by ErikC
Thu Feb 10, 2022 1:07 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Music for the Masses - Late 2021 Music Trash Event
Replies: 2
Views: 3153

Re: Music for the Masses - 2022 Music Trash Event

This is just about done and available for any free mirrors starting next week, just email me at erik christensen plan "at" gmail.com (with no spaces) or PM on Discord. I hope to run this for Canada soon.
by ErikC
Tue Feb 01, 2022 12:41 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Advice appreciated - editing UK trash tournament
Replies: 9
Views: 2971

Re: Advice appreciated - editing UK trash tournament

Ganon's made some great points in question writing so I'll make some other points based on my own experience with playing, writing, and editing trash. Every trash tournament has a certain feel to it left by its biggest contributors and editors. Making sure your writing and editing team isn't just wh...
by ErikC
Thu Jan 20, 2022 12:54 am
Forum: Collegiate Discussion
Topic: Are college quiz bowl questions too long?
Replies: 10
Views: 3356

Re: Are college quiz bowl questions too long?

Like 5-6 years ago, didn't they actually start tracking where in a question people buzzed at some tournaments, and didn't the stats show that very few people were buzzing on early clues? This is pretty broad, but one regionals it was clear that the soc sci and philosophy consistently had few buzzes...
by ErikC
Mon Jan 17, 2022 11:17 pm
Forum: Collegiate Discussion
Topic: Some Thoughts on Bonuses
Replies: 35
Views: 15036

Re: Some Thoughts on Bonuses

I'd also extend Henry's point about how to write easy parts to the ends of tossups too. I've noticed tossups trying to massage a harder answerline into a tournament by adding clues from outside the category, or ending the question with a similar clue to the "coffee to wake up in the morning&quo...
by ErikC
Sat Dec 25, 2021 10:46 pm
Forum: Theory
Topic: How much "world" should there be in art?
Replies: 12
Views: 7510

Re: How much "world" should there be in art?

I think another challenge with music outside of Western tradition is that, for many traditions, there's isn't the same depth of recordings available, like western classical music, or the same depth of famous, easy to find albums like jazz music. Of course, there's some exceptions to this, with famou...
by ErikC
Wed Sep 01, 2021 2:55 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: We Need New Games
Replies: 6
Views: 5292

Re: We Need New Games

I'm happy enough with changes to this set to make it available for mirrors, online or in-person when the situation permits. I may organize a poll to schedule an online event. I've also updated the OP with a distro. Thanks to everyone who played the Canadian mirror who gave feedback and suggestions o...
by ErikC
Tue Aug 10, 2021 12:44 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2021 ACF Nationals: Thank Yous and Discussion
Replies: 26
Views: 9683

Re: 2021 ACF Nationals: Thank Yous and Discussion

The "philosophy" part of what I hope to achieve with a tournament of this nature will be way more controversial and unpopular. I will comment below on what I have come to believe should be a writer's goal for questions at this difficulty level or higher. I hope at some point to produce a ...
by ErikC
Fri Jun 04, 2021 7:14 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Ontario Hybrid 2021/2022 (Trash + Academic)
Replies: 2
Views: 3346

Ontario Hybrid 2021/2022 (Trash + Academic)

We are pleased to announce that Ontario Hybrid will be returning again in 2021/2022. We are welcoming a mostly new team of writers, including Max Gedajlovic, Michelle Prunier, Brian Luong, Emmett Blanchett, Zachary Bernstein, Benjamin Lohoar, Tony Chen, and the venerable Joe Su. I will be serving as...
by ErikC
Tue Mar 30, 2021 10:02 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2020 PAveMEnT: General Discussion For PAveMEnT
Replies: 1
Views: 194

Re: General Discussion For PAveMEnT

Playing LIBERACE has motivated me to make a post like I meant to last month, so here it is. I enjoyed this immensely but I always expected to. Here's some thoughts I have about the set as a whole. I really liked the questions on metal and electronic music that typically is left out of trash packets ...
by ErikC
Sat Mar 06, 2021 2:19 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: We Need New Games
Replies: 6
Views: 5292

Re: We Need New Games

After the first mirror I've been working on diversifying the content in this set in response to feedback. It won't be mirrored until maybe June.
by ErikC
Sat Mar 06, 2021 11:41 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Music for the Masses - Late 2021 Music Trash Event
Replies: 2
Views: 3153

Music for the Masses - Late 2021 Music Trash Event

I'm currently working on Music for the Masses , a popular music event based on music I like that I've been writing to kill time. For the distribution, basically anything is game; I might eventually set one for packetization but expect questions on basically anything - there should be something for e...
by ErikC
Wed Feb 10, 2021 8:42 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Ontario Hybrid 2020 Announcement (Trash + Academic)
Replies: 9
Views: 6490

Re: Ontario Hybrid 2020 Announcement (Trash + Academic)

A bit later than I intended, but this set is up on the archives now!
by ErikC
Sun Jan 10, 2021 11:19 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: We Need New Games
Replies: 6
Views: 5292

Re: We Need New Games

Here's a signup link for the Canadian mirror on January 24, 2021 : https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1VMrsHO59WFR0rfpvOLKsVb6NyGcGzbJTYskvd4uJdlc/edit?usp=sharing . People outside of Canada interested in play will be able to play at a future date (with the questions improved from the first mirr...
by ErikC
Sat Dec 26, 2020 7:50 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: We Need New Games
Replies: 6
Views: 5292

Re: We Need New Games

This event is finished! Shouts out to Paul Kasiński for helping me out by copy editing. I plan on having an informal Canadian mirror of this before opening it up to everyone for a second event in February or March (don't want to overlap with TOE JAM).
by ErikC
Mon Nov 30, 2020 9:14 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: MARCATo General Thoughts
Replies: 9
Views: 1709

Re: MARCATo General Thoughts

This is late, but I was talking with Isaac about different MARCATO buzzes as we prepare for PAveMEnT, and decided to import the csv of buzz data into Google Sheets, filtered it for just the correct answers, cleaned it up, and sorted it so that it's readable. Here's that sheet if anyone's interested...
by ErikC
Thu Nov 05, 2020 6:45 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Canadian Hybrid Online - "Main Site" November 28
Replies: 0
Views: 2694

Canadian Hybrid Online - "Main Site" November 28

I'm happy to announce a Discord mirror of Ontario Hybrid for November 28, 2020. More info on the set can be found here: viewtopic.php?f=19&t=23557 . You can sign-up as a team or free agent here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1d8yYv0Q-PUMD9z9bi7MyXx2BtZqFDj-XfKPoY0uxxpA/edit?usp=sharing....