Search found 1561 matches
- Thu Dec 03, 2020 10:15 am
- Forum: Collegiate Discussion
- Topic: Playoff Round Robins
- Replies: 3
- Views: 787
Re: Playoff Round Robins
Both times, this format has felt unsatisfactory. I especially don't like the following scenario: -Team A and Team B are both in Prelim Bracket Foo. -Team A ends the prelims 5–0. Team B ends the prelims 2–3 with a loss to Team A, Team C (also a top bracket team) and Team D (who didn't make the top b...
- Thu Dec 03, 2020 12:37 am
- Forum: Collegiate Discussion
- Topic: Playoff Round Robins
- Replies: 3
- Views: 787
Re: Playoff Round Robins
The alternative is a crossover, with 2 fewer games in this scenario. In that case, the purpose of the prelims is to seed teams for playoffs and hold playoff games in the first 5 rounds. This is fine, and so is 8 rounds for an online tournament. In the event of a playoff round robin, prelim records a...
- Sat Oct 10, 2020 9:12 pm
- Forum: Databases and Quizbowl Software
- Topic: Introducing YellowFruit.
- Replies: 64
- Views: 16371
Re: Introducing YellowFruit.
I have not done statistics in a while, but I was pleased to get a chance to use YellowFruit today. It is fantastic -- the stats entry program that finally fixes SQBS's (understandable) shortcomings. You have done a truly admirable job here, Andrew.
- Wed Sep 09, 2020 12:24 pm
- Forum: Miscellaneous Quizbowl
- Topic: Answerlines for Character Names
- Replies: 8
- Views: 1184
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...
- Wed Sep 09, 2020 12:05 pm
- Forum: Collegiate Announcements & Results
- Topic: ANNOUNCEMENT: IKEA (Fall 2020)
- Replies: 48
- Views: 24142
Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: IKEA (Fall 2020)
Players are expected to play in a quiet environment if possible. If the only areas available to you with a quiet environment (due to quarantine or other circumstances) have poor internet, I strongly suggest purchasing and using an ethernet cable, which can usually be acquired for a low price - Amaz...
- Wed Aug 26, 2020 11:39 pm
- Forum: Miscellaneous Quizbowl
- Topic: Answerlines for Character Names
- Replies: 8
- Views: 1184
Re: Answerlines for Character Names
I personally find the "clunky" moderator instruction less clunky than printing the same answerline twice; I also think this moderator instruction is perfectly clear. In general, I think giving fewer distinct instructions is better; I prefer "accept either underlined portion" for...
- Tue Aug 11, 2020 4:03 pm
- Forum: Collegiate Announcements & Results
- Topic: IKEA Mid-Atlantic Mirror @ Discord (10/3/20)
- Replies: 18
- Views: 4466
Re: IKEA Mid-Atlantic Mirror @ Discord (10/3/20)
Without questioning Nick's particular skills or abilities: why is a high schooler directing this college tournament? Did we not just have several discussions about appropriate boundaries? This is a valid concern which I considered carefully in making this decision. However, Nick has experience dire...
- Thu Jun 18, 2020 2:30 pm
- Forum: Collegiate Announcements & Results
- Topic: ANNOUNCEMENT: IKEA (Fall 2020)
- Replies: 48
- Views: 24142
Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: IKEA (Spring 2021)
I encourage hosts using bouncebacks to adopt and use the relevant sections of the PACE ruleset . Bounceback replacement & protest resolution, in particular, are quite different when bouncebacks are in play – and hosts are likely to have zero experience with such issues. A primer and any relevant...
- Tue Jun 02, 2020 10:18 am
- Forum: Community Discussion
- Topic: Retroactive name changes in tournament results
- Replies: 9
- Views: 1904
Re: Retroactive name changes in tournament results
This should definitely be something that the HSQBDB is well-suited for, albeit requiring more manual intervention than NAQT's stats database. Combined with Harry White's database search, you'd just need to compile a list of tournaments using someone's deadname and only change the files associated wi...
- Tue May 26, 2020 6:25 pm
- Forum: Collegiate Discussion
- Topic: Running Zoom Tournaments
- Replies: 67
- Views: 11809
Re: Running Zoom Tournaments
Is it unreasonable to ask people to have dinner somewhat late? Lunch breaks are usually around 3PM or so for these online events; I don't think it's unreasonable to expect an 8PM or later dinner. I think it is unreasonable for tournaments to finish after 8PM Eastern without a dinner break. As Steph...
- Tue May 26, 2020 3:43 pm
- Forum: Collegiate Discussion
- Topic: Running Zoom Tournaments
- Replies: 67
- Views: 11809
Re: Running Zoom Tournaments
Yes, and for IRL tournaments, lots of people get home well past 9, so playing into the late evening is not that big a deal. It goes both ways. My point is that forcing West Coast players to accommodate East Coast players every single time is not a fair solution. Yes, but that usually includes a pos...
- Fri May 22, 2020 6:50 pm
- Forum: Miscellaneous Quizbowl
- Topic: Join the LIQBA as a Contact Finder!
- Replies: 9
- Views: 2206
Re: Join the LIQBA as a Contact Finder!
This already exists in various places.
- Sun Mar 29, 2020 9:25 pm
- Forum: Collegiate Discussion
- Topic: The Problem of the West
- Replies: 9
- Views: 2060
Re: The Problem of the West
Liberty has successfully maintained a program with an Honors College affiliated advisor. It seems like an approach that could work well because the recruiting pool of the Honors College is also fertile ground.
- Fri Mar 13, 2020 11:17 am
- Forum: Collegiate Discussion
- Topic: College Nationals and Its Problems
- Replies: 132
- Views: 16648
Re: College Nationals and Its Problems
I feel like there's several things being discussed here. One is about grad students, and another is about Nats difficulty. Those seem like two very different topics, and probably should be discussed in their own threads for the sake of sanity and keeping the conversation going smoothly. And yes, th...
- Mon Mar 09, 2020 7:54 am
- Forum: Miscellaneous Quizbowl
- Topic: Reforming Tournament and Set Announcements
- Replies: 5
- Views: 1265
Re: Reforming Tournament and Set Announcements
Doesn't hsquizbowl.org/db already perform the functions of the competition listing? edit: I'm pretty sure that anyone can use NAQT's central registration system, even if you are not using one of their sets. However I much prefer email. edit 2: okay as near as I can tell, NAQT's registration system i...
- Mon Feb 10, 2020 12:24 am
- Forum: Collegiate Discussion
- Topic: ACF Regionals and SCT Fee Schedules
- Replies: 6
- Views: 965
Re: ACF Regionals and SCT Fee Schedules
One thing I cleared with NAQT when I ran SCT in 2016 was a -$30 moderator discount and -$10 scorekeeper discount . (This was determined by capabilities, not final assigned roles. At the time, -$30 was the standard staff discount.) I think formalizing such a discount structure is a good solution if N...
- Fri Jan 31, 2020 11:50 pm
- Forum: Collegiate Discussion
- Topic: "Should have been prompted" replacement policy
- Replies: 15
- Views: 3525
Re: "Should have been prompted" replacement policy
I wouldn't call that an in-between. That's how a protest replacement policy where a tossup is nominally live for both teams (Bentley et al's suggestion) would work -- the non-protesting team is not allowed to buzz if they negged prior to the protested buzz.
- Fri Jan 31, 2020 11:27 am
- Forum: Collegiate Discussion
- Topic: 2020 ACF Nationals A-Values
- Replies: 18
- Views: 4719
Re: 2020 ACF Nationals A-Values
whoever wins the UG final will qualify automatically, while whoever loses the final will have their A-value reduced. A system in which at least one team who qualifies for a final is guaranteed to have their ranking reduced, compared to teams that did not qualify for a final at all, seems unfair to ...
- Thu Jan 30, 2020 8:58 am
- Forum: Collegiate Discussion
- Topic: 2020 ACF Nationals A-Values
- Replies: 18
- Views: 4719
Re: 2020 ACF Nationals A-Values
For this reason, in my opinion, undergraduate finals games shouldn't count towards final standings or A-values, in order to avoid punishing teams for making a final. Michigan B was not punished for making a final. Michigan B did not clear the UG field, had an advantage in a UG final, and lost 2 gam...
- Wed Jan 29, 2020 8:01 pm
- Forum: Databases and Quizbowl Software
- Topic: Introducing YellowFruit.
- Replies: 64
- Views: 16371
Re: Introducing YellowFruit.
For VHSL, all you need is a lightning round box score for both teams (same as any other lightning round format even though VHSL functions differently). SQBS handles it well by leaving it open imo. As for details, each team can score some integer multiple of ten points, no more than 200 combined, no ...
- Mon Jan 27, 2020 5:23 pm
- Forum: Collegiate Discussion
- Topic: 2020 ACF Regionals: Specific Questions and Errata
- Replies: 66
- Views: 8007
Re: 2020 ACF Regionals: Specific Questions and Errata
Certainly the moderator could make the judgment call that "prologue" should be acceptable, but if the editor wants that to be the case, they bear the greater responsibility to say so. What about an answer of the preface or the foreword to Hopscotch ? As far as I know, such terms are close...
- Sun Jan 26, 2020 8:31 pm
- Forum: Collegiate Discussion
- Topic: 2020 ACF Regionals: Specific Questions and Errata
- Replies: 66
- Views: 8007
Re: 2020 ACF Regionals: Specific Questions and Errata
This tossup was definitely my most frustrating neg of the day, as it was incredibly annoying to buzz on a description of The Ecstasy of St. Theresa in a tossup on "this profession," say "saint," and not get points. I probably should have been able to get to nun with the prompt, ...
- Wed Jan 22, 2020 12:08 pm
- Forum: Miscellaneous Quizbowl
- Topic: An incident of intentional content-leaking from an unclear set
- Replies: 18
- Views: 3378
Re: An incident of intentional content-leaking from an unclear set
Editors in Packetizor have access to see an entire set, but writers only have access to their own questions. This can still be a significant portion of the set, obviously, but it's much, much more secure than Drive docs. Hunh? This statement is at odds with the requirements for a successful questio...
- Wed Jan 22, 2020 8:23 am
- Forum: Miscellaneous Quizbowl
- Topic: An incident of intentional content-leaking from an unclear set
- Replies: 18
- Views: 3378
Re: An incident of intentional content-leaking from an unclear set
This may be slightly unrelated, but for those working on housewrite sets: Don't use Google Drive. Use a proper system like QEMS or Packetizor. It's much harder for a rogue writer or editor to retaliate by leaking a massive majority of a set using a question management system. If someone wants to le...
- Sat Dec 14, 2019 2:21 pm
- Forum: Quizbowl History Forum
- Topic: Archving the old Yahoo! group
- Replies: 7
- Views: 2033
Re: Archving the old Yahoo! group
I got the yahoo-group-archive-tools figured out and was able to do some validation using Windows Mbox Viewer. Unfortunately, all messages before June 5, 1999 @ 8:30pm (the first 301 messages) are lost. The downloads do not have a message body, and trying to access these posts in the group yields a b...
- Sat Dec 14, 2019 1:10 am
- Forum: Quizbowl History Forum
- Topic: Archving the old Yahoo! group
- Replies: 7
- Views: 2033
Re: Archving the old Yahoo! group
Thanks to Colin, I have archived the jucoqb (public and overrun with spam so will require some fixing), qb-canada, qbtrash, quizbowl, and quizbowl-announce groups using IgnoredAmbience's yahoo-group-archiver (-t -r -f -i -l -p -a -m) recommended by the Archive Team . (I also have plain email message...
- Sun Dec 08, 2019 6:40 pm
- Forum: Collegiate Discussion
- Topic: QuizCo Equipment
- Replies: 4
- Views: 1427
Re: QuizCo Equipment
Ebay is a good place to look for buzzer parts.
- Wed Nov 13, 2019 1:35 pm
- Forum: Databases and Quizbowl Software
- Topic: Using Google Sheets for a tournament? Use countformat.
- Replies: 7
- Views: 10184
Re: Using Google Sheets for a tournament? Use countformat.
I have updated the OP with a fully implemented master copy of an answer spreadsheet, which I didn't realize wasn't publicly available (sorry!). It's been used for most (all?) ACF tournaments in the past 3 years and is pretty great.
- Thu Nov 07, 2019 12:17 pm
- Forum: Theory
- Topic: Best high school formats for n teams
- Replies: 5
- Views: 1796
Re: Best high school formats for n teams
My concern for some of those schedules is that NAQT (and several other housewritten sets) only have 12 packets. If you assume you need 2 for finals, that leaves only 10 rounds to do everything else in. Sure, there are no universal parameters that work with all field sizes and number of packets. A 1...
- Wed Nov 06, 2019 4:36 pm
- Forum: Theory
- Topic: Best high school formats for n teams
- Replies: 5
- Views: 1796
Re: Best high school formats for n teams
The tournaments I directed for high schools aimed for schedules with a minimum of 9 games, a maximum of 12 non-finals rounds, around 5-7 prelim games (but as many as 9 for certain field sizes such as 19 and 20), and -- if I recall correctly -- around 25% - 40%+ remaining in contention beyond the pre...
- Mon Nov 04, 2019 10:35 pm
- Forum: Collegiate Discussion
- Topic: Abolish packet submission for ACF Fall
- Replies: 29
- Views: 5201
Re: Abolish packet submission for ACF Fall
My understanding is that the majority of the set had to be written and edited in a month. This doesn't seem ideal and is caused by the packet submission model. I don't mean to discount the rest of your post, which I think raises a number of valuable points for consideration. However, I did want to ...
- Thu Oct 10, 2019 2:44 pm
- Forum: High school area archives
- Topic: DC Metro 2019-2020 Date Claim Thread
- Replies: 48
- Views: 16405
Re: DC Metro 2019-2020 Date Claim Thread
VCU would like to claim March 28 for a HS tournament TBD.
- Mon Sep 09, 2019 1:56 pm
- Forum: Practices, Scrimmages, Online Packets, and Playtesting
- Topic: Daylight time is different from standard time
- Replies: 7
- Views: 4660
- Mon Sep 09, 2019 1:40 pm
- Forum: Practices, Scrimmages, Online Packets, and Playtesting
- Topic: Daylight time is different from standard time
- Replies: 7
- Views: 4660
Re: Daylight time is different from standard time
Has this confused anyone ever? I don't know if it's confused anyone, but it is a noticeable error and easily avoided. It's similar to writing "cf." as "c.f." -- the meaning may still be clear but it's also extremely obvious to observers that you've written it incorrectly. (And I...
- Wed Aug 14, 2019 6:06 pm
- Forum: Collegiate Discussion
- Topic: CO 2019 Discussion
- Replies: 48
- Views: 17230
Re: CO 2019 Discussion
Nah, the problem* with the "oozes" tossup is that the specific term is too hard -- almost no one in the field knows that specific term or will be able to pull it even if they figure out what's going on. It's pretty easy to figure out (especially after diagenesis) that it's talking about a ...
- Wed Aug 07, 2019 9:10 am
- Forum: Collegiate Discussion
- Topic: Changes to ACF Hosting Guidelines
- Replies: 8
- Views: 5715
Re: Changes to ACF Hosting Guidelines
I agree with Naveed. The UMD/UVA/VCU triangle has among the highest mutual tournament attendances of any 3 collegiate programs. It really makes no sense for Virginia and Maryland (& DC) to be considered different regions given the prolific hosting and attendance histories between the programs in...
- Sun Aug 04, 2019 11:24 pm
- Forum: Theory
- Topic: Faster (Human) Parsing of Answer Lines
- Replies: 6
- Views: 5372
Re: Faster (Human) Parsing of Answer Lines
#1 is mooted by proper underlining: acceptable answers are bolded and underlined, promptable answers are underlined, and unacceptable answers do not have any formatting. This makes it more difficult for moderators to mess up when quickly scanning the answerline, and is more effective than retooling ...
- Sun Jun 16, 2019 5:23 pm
- Forum: High school area archives
- Topic: FST Discord Mirror (High School, 5/19)
- Replies: 3
- Views: 2660
Re: FST Discord Mirror (High School, 5/19)
The program used to generate these stats (Intermezzo?) does not create a compliant SQBS web report and cannot be navigated conventionally. (e.g. (a) it does not include the necessary links in the standings.html and team_detail.html files, and (b) the anchor links it creates in the individuals.html f...
- Sat Jun 15, 2019 10:14 pm
- Forum: Best of the Best
- Topic: So You Want to Buy a Buzzer System
- Replies: 9
- Views: 10333
Re: So You Want to Buy a Buzzer System
Where is "The Judge" buzzer system in this? I feel like it's the best choice for a school hoping to make a solid, long-term investment in a buzzer system. It's very hard to order a Judge and difficult to repair or replace. Arguably the best long-term investment is an Anderson, replacing p...
- Fri Jun 14, 2019 11:37 am
- Forum: Theory
- Topic: Question regarding state policies regarding "playing up"
- Replies: 14
- Views: 7471
Re: Question regarding state policies regarding "playing up"
The eligibility rules for VHSL Scholastic Bowl are defined in Section 28A of the VHSL Handbook (see attached) and are the same for other atheltic and nonathletic events sponsored by VHSL. (There are more restrictions in 28B for athletic activities.) Since it's the Virginia High School League, it mig...
- Mon Jun 10, 2019 11:13 pm
- Forum: Theory
- Topic: Why is P/BB so variable?
- Replies: 2
- Views: 4086
Re: Why is P/BB so variable?
As noted, bouncebacks are extremely opponent-dependent and won't tend to average out over a large sample size like other statistics such as PPG because there isn't a large sample size as compared to the variability in getting the bounceback correct. Another consideration is that (iirc) SQBS reports ...
- Fri Jun 07, 2019 4:06 pm
- Forum: College area archives
- Topic: ANNOUNCEMENT: Lederberg Trinity (Summer 2019)
- Replies: 61
- Views: 26075
Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: Lederberg Trinity (Summer 2019)
- Wed Jun 05, 2019 7:53 am
- Forum: High school area archives
- Topic: PACE NSC 2019 Rules Changes
- Replies: 1
- Views: 4202
Re: PACE NSC 2019 Rules Changes
A small note on the adjustments to Rule H.3: the change only shifts where & how certain language is used in the rule text for clarity and specificity. There are no substantive changes in applying the rule. A smaller note on the adjustments to Rule H.12: there are no substantive changes (clarity ...
- Wed Jun 05, 2019 7:42 am
- Forum: High school area archives
- Topic: 2019 PACE NSC: Congratulations Thomas Jefferson A!
- Replies: 35
- Views: 25950
Re: 2019 PACE NSC: June 8-9, Reston, VA
Please see this thread for a note about some rule changes for the NSC this year.
- Thu May 30, 2019 10:00 am
- Forum: High school area archives
- Topic: 2019 HSNCT discussion
- Replies: 144
- Views: 42495
Re: 2019 HSNCT discussion
It absolutely should have been accepted, because the answerline communicated that putative synonyms for "diner" are acceptable (see the phrase "the notion of" below), but unfortunately "bar" was not listed among them, so it seems some moderators quickly scanning the an...
- Wed May 29, 2019 7:18 pm
- Forum: Miscellaneous Quizbowl
- Topic: My school finished 31st at HSNCT and I don't know how to feel
- Replies: 7
- Views: 5573
Re: My school finished 31st at HSNCT and I don't know how to feel
At the end of the day, any ranking is just an imperfect correlation of team strength and ability across a large, large number of high school tournaments. They are not, and are not intended to be, definitive. The rankings can be useful, but they don't have any bearing once you've secured a finish at ...
- Thu May 02, 2019 7:45 pm
- Forum: Collegiate Discussion
- Topic: 2019 Canadian Player Poll (For Real, This Time)
- Replies: 8
- Views: 6387
Re: 2019 Canadian Player Poll (For Real, This Time)
Wouldn't a player poll just for people enrolled in Canadian universities solve almost all of these eligibility problems? These rules aren't that much better than the Ontario circuit poll.
- Thu May 02, 2019 2:27 pm
- Forum: Collegiate Discussion
- Topic: Why don't we have 1/1 math?
- Replies: 59
- Views: 22603
Re: Why don't we have 1/1 math?
no one studies or uses the most important, pressing, and relevant scientific topics of our time, more at 11 on hsquizbowl.org
- Tue Apr 30, 2019 8:48 am
- Forum: Collegiate Discussion
- Topic: Why don't we have 1/1 math?
- Replies: 59
- Views: 22603
Re: Why don't we have 1/1 math?
I think people are overlooking just how much you can do with the current distribution without even getting to 1/1 math. 0.5/0.5 math is completely acceptable in the standard distribution and I have done it multiple times because I think math is important (specifically, math used in applied contexts,...
- Mon Apr 29, 2019 11:55 am
- Forum: Collegiate Discussion
- Topic: 2019 Canadian Player Poll
- Replies: 44
- Views: 17614
Re: 2019 Canadian Player Poll
Thank you, Naveed, for going back 3 years to find a poll that had substantially different eligibility requirements to prove a point that is clearly not true. (Not sure exactly, how quoting works on HSQB, but this is from the post you cited.) The rules are simple: vote for your top 25 of active coll...