Search found 194 matches

by Carlos Be
Thu Mar 14, 2024 4:13 pm
Forum: Practices, Scrimmages, Online Packets, and Playtesting
Topic: Renaissance Art Packet
Replies: 0
Views: 219

Renaissance Art Packet

I have written a packet of 45 tossups, double power-marked, on Renaissance art. It is mostly about painting although sculpture and architecture will come up from time to time. The packet covers both the Italian and the Northern Renaissance. The questions are quite difficult; difficulty and style may...
by Carlos Be
Sun Aug 20, 2023 11:26 pm
Forum: Collegiate Announcements & Results
Topic: Age of Empires II (Actually, this time!)
Replies: 2
Views: 1236

Re: Age of Empires II (Actually, this time!)

I am super excited for this.

Also, in the Theology/Philosophy/Thought distribution, does the Western subdistribution encompass Byzantine and Islamic thought, or is it more focused on the Latin West?
by Carlos Be
Mon Feb 13, 2023 3:49 pm
Forum: Collegiate Discussion
Topic: How can quizbowl support writers?
Replies: 9
Views: 5448

Re: How can quizbowl support writers?

I'd say the most valuable resources for writers would be collections of good questions and back-and-forth discussions with other writers and editors. Through the former, writers develop an intuitive sense for what a good question looks like, and through the latter, writers reflect on what guides the...
by Carlos Be
Sun Sep 18, 2022 6:32 pm
Forum: Practices, Scrimmages, Online Packets, and Playtesting
Topic: Medieval Literature Packet (interest/date poll)
Replies: 1
Views: 3182

Re: Medieval Literature Packet (interest/date poll)

This will happen on Friday, September 23, at 6 Pacific / 9 Eastern.
by Carlos Be
Thu Sep 15, 2022 3:41 pm
Forum: Practices, Scrimmages, Online Packets, and Playtesting
Topic: Medieval Literature Packet (interest/date poll)
Replies: 1
Views: 3182

Medieval Literature Packet (interest/date poll)

I have recently completed a packet of 29 medieval literature questions, by which I mean European (mostly western) literature from around 700 AD to a bit after 1400 AD. A number of questions clue literature which might in other sets be classified as religion or mythology. The tossups are targeted to ...
by Carlos Be
Fri Jun 11, 2021 11:12 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: NOVEL: A Long Fiction Only Tournament
Replies: 9
Views: 3990

Re: NOVEL: A Long Fiction Only Tournament

Will all or most of the questions be on English-language novels, or will there be stuff from other languages? Also, there are a lot of sentences that are either missing the indicator, or have the indicator replaced with a pronoun like "he." You should try to include a clear indicator (e.g....
by Carlos Be
Sun Feb 07, 2021 6:31 pm
Forum: Mirror requests
Topic: SATURNALIA (Hard HS, 2020-2021)
Replies: 6
Views: 7607

Re: SATURNALIA (Hard HS, 2020-2021)

Apparently there have been rumors spreading around that Saturnalia as difficult as 2019 NSC or close to it. Although there are a few outlier answerlines that would not be out of place in 2019 NSC, it is clear from the stats that Saturnalia as a whole is significantly easier. For instance, the UIUC m...
by Carlos Be
Mon Feb 01, 2021 5:29 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2021 ACF Nationals Qualifier
Replies: 19
Views: 11266

Re: 2021 ACF Nationals Qualifier

Seeing as general registration for ICT opens on February 8th (and teams that register would have to confirm their interest a week after registering) will ACF release more detailed information about nationals before then? In particular, it would be helpful to know: - What date will it be? Here it say...
by Carlos Be
Thu Jan 14, 2021 3:26 am
Forum: Mirror requests
Topic: CALISTO 2: Call for Writers and Editors
Replies: 4
Views: 4157

Re: CALISTO 2: Call for Writers and Editors

We have made decisions on all of the writer apps. If you have not already been notified of your acceptance, then you have not been accepted. We will respond to everyone who has been rejected with a couple points of feedback on their sample, hopefully within the next few days.
by Carlos Be
Mon Jan 11, 2021 6:44 am
Forum: Mirror requests
Topic: CALISTO 2: Call for Writers and Editors
Replies: 4
Views: 4157

Re: CALISTO 2: Call for Writers and Editors

We have received over 50 applications, included 18 today and 6 in the last five minutes before midnight. Unfortunately given this sheer number we will have to reject quite a few applicants. We hope to respond to everyone who applied within the week.
by Carlos Be
Sat Jan 09, 2021 1:55 pm
Forum: Mirror requests
Topic: CALISTO 2: Call for Writers and Editors
Replies: 4
Views: 4157

Re: CALISTO 2: Call for Writers and Editors

Tomorrow is the last day to apply as a writer. Remember to get your apps in before 11:59 pm, or else they will not be considered.
by Carlos Be
Fri Jan 08, 2021 2:21 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ANNOUNCEMENT: IKEA (Fall 2020)
Replies: 48
Views: 32734

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: IKEA (Fall 2020)

Will there be a second open mirror of IKEA and/or a closed mirror for teams who couldn't play at their regional site?
by Carlos Be
Tue Dec 29, 2020 1:15 am
Forum: Mirror requests
Topic: CALISTO 2: Call for Writers and Editors
Replies: 4
Views: 4157

Re: CALISTO 2: Call for Writers and Editors

This is a reminder that the deadline to apply as a writer is January 10th. No writer applications submitted after that date will be read. For editors, everyone who submits before January 10th will be considered, though we may extend the editor deadline if not enough people apply.
by Carlos Be
Sat Dec 26, 2020 3:57 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Southeast-Midwest Housewrite @ West, 2/20/21
Replies: 11
Views: 4669

Re: Southeast-Midwest Housewrite @ West, 2/20/21

This is a really bad idea. Having objective eligibility restrictions, as I did for SUN, is good. Just because ACF tournaments do not have them, does not mean that this tournament should not utilize them. In the past, players have repeatedly failed to show sound judgement when determining whether th...
by Carlos Be
Tue Dec 08, 2020 2:11 am
Forum: Mirror requests
Topic: CALISTO 2: Call for Writers and Editors
Replies: 4
Views: 4157

CALISTO 2: Call for Writers and Editors

A second iteration of CALISTO, a HS regs set, will be ready for mirrors beginning in Fall of 2021. I will be head editor, and many other editors of CALISTO 1 will be working on CALISTO 2 in some capacity. We aim to produce generally accessible questions that nonetheless reward players for engaging w...
by Carlos Be
Mon Nov 23, 2020 1:49 pm
Forum: Mirror requests
Topic: SATURNALIA (Hard HS, 2020-2021)
Replies: 6
Views: 7607

Re: SATURNALIA (Hard HS, 2020-2021)

We're still looking for mirrors in a number of circuits, including New England and the DC metro area. Please reach out to us if you would like to host Saturnalia in a circuit that does not already have a mirror. For circuits where we cannot find a host, we will either host the mirror ourselves or we...
by Carlos Be
Tue Oct 20, 2020 2:16 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Packet Submission discussion
Replies: 28
Views: 10336

Re: Packet Submission discussion

I condemn the idea that anti-packet submission is anti-quizbowl. While the president likes to take discourse down the slippery slope and argue that all his opponents are radicals who hate America, quiz bowl reactionaries do not need to stoop to his level. Many of the anti-packet sub crowd actively c...
by Carlos Be
Sun Oct 18, 2020 3:42 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ACF Fall 2020 - Thanks and General Discussion
Replies: 12
Views: 5221

Re: ACF Fall 2020 - Thanks and General Discussion

Over 10% of Fall questions came from freelancing volunteers. Thank you to each of them: Matt Bollinger, Jordan Brownstein, Billy Busse, Ganon Evans, JinAh Kim, Will Nediger, Caroline Mao, Ryan Rosenberg, Catherine Qian, Adam Silverman, and Kai Smith. Seeing as so much of the set was written by non-...
by Carlos Be
Sun Oct 11, 2020 11:33 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: STASH 2020-2021 (College Easy) Mirrors
Replies: 4
Views: 3473

Re: STASH 2020-2021 (College Easy) Mirrors

Will you be allowing college mirrors in the spring, or will they all have to be in the Fall or Winter?
by Carlos Be
Sat Oct 03, 2020 7:59 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: IO SATURNALIA (easy college, Fall 2020)
Replies: 14
Views: 6604

Re: IO SATURNALIA (easy college, Fall 2020)

Based on some of the arguments in this thread , we have decided to format our packets by placing tossups between bonuses, rather than at the end. Moderators are expected to skip the paired bonus if a tossup goes dead; there is a note clearly stating this at the beginning of each packet. The question...
by Carlos Be
Sat Oct 03, 2020 7:59 pm
Forum: Mirror requests
Topic: SATURNALIA (Hard HS, 2020-2021)
Replies: 6
Views: 7607

Re: SATURNALIA (Hard HS, 2020-2021)

Based on some of the arguments in this thread , we have decided to format our packets by placing tossups between bonuses, rather than at the end. Moderators are expected to skip the paired bonus if a tossup goes dead; there is a note clearly stating this at the beginning of each packet. The question...
by Carlos Be
Mon Sep 14, 2020 1:02 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Statement on LIT Cheating Allegation: Princeton A
Replies: 16
Views: 9824

Re: Statement on LIT Cheating Allegation: Princeton A

Another honest question, has anyone unaffiliated with Princeton agreed that there is substantial room for interpretation? I'm not trying to accuse you of impropriety, but it is often easy in these cases to get tunnel-vision while attempting to defend a friend and teammate. I am not affiliated with ...
by Carlos Be
Wed Sep 02, 2020 8:53 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: IO SATURNALIA (easy college, Fall 2020)
Replies: 14
Views: 6604

Re: IO SATURNALIA (easy college, Fall 2020)

Io Saturnalia is now almost completely edited. The next week and a half will be spent making final revisions and proofreading. We have prepared a half-packet sample for prospective hosts. The questions in this sample will be used in the set, so do not share it with anyone who should not see unclear ...
by Carlos Be
Wed Sep 02, 2020 8:52 pm
Forum: Mirror requests
Topic: SATURNALIA (Hard HS, 2020-2021)
Replies: 6
Views: 7607

Re: SATURNALIA (Hard HS, 2020-2021)

Saturnalia is now almost completely edited. The next week and a half will be spent making final revisions and proofreading. We have prepared a half-packet sample for prospective hosts. The questions in this sample will be used in the set, so do not share it with anyone who should not see unclear set...
by Carlos Be
Thu Aug 27, 2020 12:07 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Answerlines for Character Names
Replies: 8
Views: 2745

Re: Answerlines for Character Names

ANSWER: Nick Carraway [accept either underlined name] versus ANSWER: Nick Carraway [or Nick Carraway ] Another advantage of the second form is that it can be hard to tell the difference between Nick Carraway and Nick Carraway , particularly if you woke up early to staff a tournament or have been re...
by Carlos Be
Fri Aug 14, 2020 2:06 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Why are there negs in QB?
Replies: 17
Views: 4986

Re: Why are there negs in QB?

I don't think that losing five points on an interrupt matters very much one way or the other. Rather, I think negs cause anxiety because they're recorded. People often obsess over stats, so it can be demoralizing when the stats say "LOOK HOW MANY TIMES YOU FAILED." Similarly, if you neg a ...
by Carlos Be
Tue Aug 11, 2020 3:12 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2020 ACF Winter: Global Announcement (November 7)
Replies: 20
Views: 14465

Re: 2020 ACF Winter: Global Announcement (November 7)

and subject edited by Ganon Evans, Nick Jensen, Vishwa Shanmugam, Bryanna Shao, Christopher Sims, Jaskaran Singh, Andrew Wang, and Chandler West. Is it ACF's policy not to specify which editor is in charge of which categories? I assume that some people know who's doing what anyway, either from talk...
by Carlos Be
Tue Aug 04, 2020 1:59 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: INTRODUCING THE AMERICAN QUIZBOWL LEAGUE
Replies: 23
Views: 10764

Re: INTRODUCING THE AMERICAN QUIZBOWL LEAGUE

I will retain my terms for outreach purposes, since as you mentioned, quizbowl terminology is highly technical and very specific. New teams would have no idea what “regs+” is, but when they see “Difficult” or “Easy” or “Moderate”, they expect exactly that. "Regs+" is a silly term, but I t...
by Carlos Be
Fri Jul 24, 2020 7:13 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Best Way to learn PSS?
Replies: 5
Views: 4526

Re: Best Way to learn PSS?

I also vehemently disagree with not engaging with philosophical primary texts. It's especially strange to hear a comment like that from someone who is editing PSS for an upcoming tournament. I think it's pretty uncontroversial to say that reading primary texts will not help you get very many points...
by Carlos Be
Wed Jul 15, 2020 3:13 pm
Forum: Community Discussion
Topic: On HS Teams Without Coaches
Replies: 68
Views: 48437

Re: On HS Teams Without Coaches

I don't see how mandating teams to provide a coach will have any impact on misconduct. There are countless cases of adults performing misconduct at college tournaments, just as there are countless cases of high schoolers performing misconduct under adult supervision. Furthermore, mandating that scho...
by Carlos Be
Sat Jul 11, 2020 2:17 am
Forum: Community Discussion
Topic: General Misconduct Discussion (TW: sexual harassment)
Replies: 39
Views: 23244

Re: [TW: Sexual Harassment] Harassment in the THAT Online Quizbowl Discord

it is in general a good idea to have at least one trusted adult (and "adult" can mean a college player here) on the staff I think the key word here is "trusted," not "adult." There's no reason that a trustworthy high schooler can't perform the role you are describing.
by Carlos Be
Sat Jul 11, 2020 12:54 am
Forum: Community Discussion
Topic: General Misconduct Discussion (TW: sexual harassment)
Replies: 39
Views: 23244

Re: [TW: Sexual Harassment] Harassment in the THAT Online Quizbowl Discord

So to sum up - yeah this needs to be addressed, and not side-stepped with questions over whether this is actually occurring. The reason I asked "How frequently does misconduct occur" was because I think it occurs a lot more than people think. It's not sidestepping the issue to discuss its...
by Carlos Be
Fri Jul 10, 2020 8:51 pm
Forum: Community Discussion
Topic: General Misconduct Discussion (TW: sexual harassment)
Replies: 39
Views: 23244

Re: [TW: Sexual Harassment] Harassment in the THAT Online Quizbowl Discord

Not related to this specific incident Can we actually discuss this issue as a community? I think a general discussion about misconduct warrants its own dedicated thread or threads. This is a sensitive and important topic, so a discussion about it should have more structure than a typical forums dis...
by Carlos Be
Fri Jul 03, 2020 4:50 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Improving European and Ancient History
Replies: 3
Views: 4386

Re: Improving European and Ancient History

For a quick, incomplete answer, this online encyclopedia is a pretty good resource for ancient stuff.
by Carlos Be
Thu Jul 02, 2020 2:31 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Penn Bowl 2020
Replies: 6
Views: 5827

Re: Penn Bowl 2020

Justice William Brennan wrote: Wed Jul 01, 2020 12:45 pm
Zealots of Stockholm wrote: Tue Jun 30, 2020 8:52 pm Does this mean that all of the mirrors are delayed as well, or just the main site?
All of the mirrors as well, though no mirrors actually exist as of yet because of the COVID uncertainty.
Would you be willing to allow regional online mirrors in the fall if there is interest?
by Carlos Be
Thu Jul 02, 2020 2:28 pm
Forum: Mirror requests
Topic: SATURNALIA (Hard HS, 2020-2021)
Replies: 6
Views: 7607

Re: SATURNALIA (Hard HS, 2020-2021)

Saturnalia is now 90% written and 55% edited. The original post has been updated to reflect the following announcements: We will be offering a $5 per team discount (so that the mirror fee is $15 per team) for hosts which record individual question stats. For tossups, this means counting the number o...
by Carlos Be
Thu Jul 02, 2020 2:25 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: IO SATURNALIA (easy college, Fall 2020)
Replies: 14
Views: 6604

Re: IO SATURNALIA (easy college, Fall 2020)

Io Saturnalia is now 90% written and 55% edited. The original post has been updated to reflect the following announcements: We will be offering a $5 per team discount (so that the mirror fee is $20 per team) for hosts which record individual question stats. For tossups, this means counting the numbe...
by Carlos Be
Sat May 23, 2020 1:36 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Paired Tossups and Bonuses
Replies: 52
Views: 28720

Re: Paired Tossups and Bonuses

To clarify, I don't think tossup/bonus cycles should be intentionally of the same category (that does indeed help extreme specialism too much, as Alistair has said), but I don't think they should be intentionally different categories either. It's very discouraging if you're a team that's relatively...
by Carlos Be
Thu May 21, 2020 7:18 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Cambridge Open Online (5/24)
Replies: 35
Views: 10408

Re: Cambridge Open Online (5/24)

Justine, I hate to sound dismissive since I greatly respect you as a writer and player, but I think one reason people take issue with your posting style is that far too often, it comes across as nitpicky and critical of flaws that have already been recognized by the people who are actually implemen...
by Carlos Be
Wed May 20, 2020 5:08 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Cambridge Open Online (5/24)
Replies: 35
Views: 10408

Re: Cambridge Open Online (5/24)

[*] Please remember that a webcam is required to play this tournament. If you do not currently own a webcam, please work on getting one. [/list] I'm assuming that this is intended to prevent cheating, but how would it do that? If someone is googling, the webcam won't pick that up. The webcam will p...
by Carlos Be
Wed May 20, 2020 3:24 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Cambridge Open Online (5/24)
Replies: 35
Views: 10408

Re: Cambridge Open Online (5/24)

Smuttynose Island wrote: Sun May 17, 2020 9:43 pm [*] Please remember that a webcam is required to play this tournament. If you do not currently own a webcam, please work on getting one.
[/list]
I'm assuming that this is intended to prevent cheating, but how would it do that? If someone is googling, the webcam won't pick that up.
by Carlos Be
Wed May 20, 2020 6:16 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Paired Tossups and Bonuses
Replies: 52
Views: 28720

Re: Paired Tossups and Bonuses

Adding to Eric's points, paired bonuses would make tracking conversion data a lot easier. Currently, moderators often skip bonuses (either by mistake or misunderstanding), making it difficult to tell what bonus was read in a given tossup/bonus cycle, therefore making it difficult to read bonus conve...
by Carlos Be
Thu Apr 30, 2020 5:33 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: POLL - Cambridge Open Online (May 24th)
Replies: 20
Views: 4859

Re: POLL - Cambridge Open Online (May 24th or 23rd/24th)

7:00 am pacific is very early. Assuming that most people wake up between 8 and 10 am, you're asking west coast people to wake up over an hour before their usual wakeup time. On the other hand, if the tournament starts at 8 am pacific, then even if it lasts 10 hours it will still end at 9 pm eastern,...
by Carlos Be
Sat Apr 25, 2020 10:37 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2020 WORKSHOP Specific Question Discussion
Replies: 42
Views: 9113

Re: 2020 WORKSHOP Specific Question Discussion

4. The finale of a piece in this genre begins with this melody, which is doubled a third below: “F-sharp [pause] G, G, A, F-sharp.” The original slow movement of one of these pieces was reused in the piece Souvenir d’un lieu [soo-ve-NEER dun lyuh shehr] cher. Two attempts at slow movements for a pi...
by Carlos Be
Wed Apr 22, 2020 2:31 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ANNOUNCEMENT: IKEA (Fall 2020)
Replies: 48
Views: 32734

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: IKEA (Spring 2021)

ramblinwreck wrote: Wed Apr 22, 2020 1:01 pm invite you to play IKEA
Will the questions be packetized already, or will hosts have to assemble them?
by Carlos Be
Mon Apr 20, 2020 6:35 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2020 ACF Fall and Winter Editor Applications
Replies: 19
Views: 9379

Re: ACF Fall and Winter Editor Applications

I'm not sure I understand what you hope to achieve with this oddly antagonistic line of questioning. What sort of response to the question "what if the target difficulty of ACF Winter is not easy enough?" could possibly satisfy you? What do you even expect possible responses to be? The on...
by Carlos Be
Mon Apr 20, 2020 4:05 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2020 ACF Fall and Winter Editor Applications
Replies: 19
Views: 9379

Re: ACF Fall and Winter Editor Applications

I am not at all associated with either of these sets, but I do want to say I completely trust William's ability to hit the advertised difficulty, which is "two dots" or EFT 2017 difficulty. I cannot speak to the rest of your concerns, but I think the concern that ACF Winter will not be ea...
by Carlos Be
Mon Apr 20, 2020 3:38 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2020 ACF Fall and Winter Editor Applications
Replies: 19
Views: 9379

Re: ACF Fall and Winter Editor Applications

Previously, ACF only had one tournament to fill the "easier than Regs" difficulty window, which is a very large window. Fall had to serve the dual functions of trying to attract brand new players to the game and providing more seasoned ones with a regs-minus experience. By adding Winter, ...
by Carlos Be
Sun Apr 19, 2020 10:14 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2020 ACF Fall and Winter Editor Applications
Replies: 19
Views: 9379

Re: ACF Fall and Winter Editor Applications

Because of the addition of ACF Winter, the target difficulty for this year's ACF Fall will be lower than in years past. We are intending for the set to be a hyper-accessible introduction to college quizbowl for people with little to no previous playing experience, comprable to the Early Autumn Coll...
by Carlos Be
Fri Apr 17, 2020 1:43 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2020 MWT General Discussion
Replies: 16
Views: 1977

Re: 2020 MWT General Discussion

I did not like the construction "Name this X.", which was used somewhat frequently in the first bonus prompt. It wasn't nearly as bad as 2018-19 HFT, but it sometimes appeared a couple of times a packet. It's a useless construction and it destroys my flow as a moderator – I come off the l...