Lotus-Pocus

Your name in lights!

2010-04-08T09:21:00.021+01:00

So, after my last post you've got your event venue and time, you've got a DJ and most important of all you've got Lindens. This time I want to talk about advertising your event. If you're an SL quiz junkie like me you'll have been to different events, and you'll have seen there are lots of different ways of running trivia events. I said before that you should not think I'm telling you my way is the best way, and very definitely you should develop your own style. But it woks for me, and maybe I have some tip that might be useful. I'm hoping other trivia hosts will add their own in comments, too.

You've got to tell people about your event. If they don't know it's on, they won't come! So how and where do you advertise your event? We're here usually talking about events listing, blue notices, group IM and in-world chat.

Before you do anything it's a good idea to make an event flyer and save it you a notecard in your inventory. If you do that you won't have to type out the same old thin

g every week when you come to post your event and send out notices. Here's mine for Early Birds and Night Owls:

"Lotus and DJ Chantal are the early birds with 20 questions, and maybe more, paying 25L for each first correct answer. We'll have Dingbats and money for typos, and Chantal spins her tunes and takes your requests. European larks, North American owls, kiwis, emus and any assorted avians, start the trivia weekend at Friends Best!"

If you don't know, and most of you will, you get at the events listing from the "search" button at the bottom of your viewer. Click the "events" tab and type your "trivia" into the text box, and that brings up events with "trivia" in the title. Try "quiz" and you'll get a few other ones, but my perception is that "trivia" is the crucial keyword.

Thurina Susa, fully clothed, at Chaos Truth or Dare. Sharon's Diner, Saturday 2030

Once you've done your search you'll also see a "create event" button. Click this and it takes you to the Second Life events web page. Click the "submit new event" link under the calendar, reassure LL you are not going to breach their terms and conditions, and you're there!

Fill in the fields, most of it you can edit later if you get it wrong, what you can't edit is the date, time and venue so make sure you get those right. Make sure to use trivia in your title because most people search on the keyword "trivia". The difficult bit can be the location. Understandably venues don't want any old person submitting events, and often you have to be in a fairly select SL group before you can post events. If you can't find the venue, ask the sim owner to post the event for you or to give you access.

I usually only send out one blue notice for each event, in the group that the venue belongs to, but it's up to you what you do. Blue notices relate to a particular SL group, and your group role needs to allow you to post notices. Most owners will be happy to give you a special host tag and allow you to post notices. You create a notice using the group info screen. You should put a date and time on your notice, with a landmark attached at the bottom.

Hosts normally spam group IM just before an event starts, and maybe at half-time. Click on the map button at the bottom of your screen, then click "copy SLURL to clipboard", which copies your current SLURL (so don't do this from a some embarrassing location before you teleport)! Then open the group IM you want to spam, type your message and paste in the SLURL. Copy your message before you send, then send. Open the next group and paste in your message, rinse and repeat.

Which groups should you spam? I usually spam the venue group, Buccaneer Bowl, Sharon's Diner, Trivia Fiends and Nellotus. Trivia Fiends is a general trivia group and I'm sure the owners will agree that any reasonable person can use their IM. The others are related to particular venues or events. The group owners of Sharon's Diner and Buccaneer Bowl are keen players themselves, and are delighted to support other hosts and events, and only too happy for other people to advertise in their groups. But do be tactful, and please don't spam Sharon's group when she has her own events running!

Nelly Swindlehurst is Queen of the Beavers on her rezday!

Oh yes, Nellotus! Most groups discourage group IM chat because it really can be very irritation. Nelly and I thought that there was room for an SL trivia group where IM chat is encouraged, because we like our trivia friends so much. We have the Friday Challenge winners tags in this group, and the Dingbat Queen title, and I'm sure we could find a King one if any men show an aptitude for Dingbats. Anyone is welcome to join Nellotus, if the chatter annoys you close the group Im window and it's gone. And spam it to your heart's content.

Finally you can advertise your event in local chat at events. Again, please be tactful. Some venues don't welcome this, and you'll end up on the long list of banned avis. Please don't say I didn't warn you.

Some venues and hosts welcome it and will ask if anyone else has events to promote. Speaking for myself I'd love to see the calendar packed with good events, and I really want to let people promote events, and to help new hosts, if I can. That's why I'm writing this, of course! But it's polite to ask hosts if you can promote your event. Most will say yes. And to the host who arrived at Sharon's Diner giving out event flyers yesterday, if you'd asked Sharon she'd have been only to pleased to let you. Ask first sweetie, it's always best.

Next time I'm going to talk about running the event itself.

Stepping into the spotlight

2010-03-01T12:49:00.012Z

I fell in love on 8 September 2008 when I went to my first SL trivia event, and ever since that red-letter day at Sharon's Diner, trivia has been a huge part of my Second Life. I started hosting in January 2009, and I've hosted three events every week for most of that time. I've really enjoyed hosting, and perhaps it's the actress in me, but I do like standing up there is the spotlight. And I was thinking you might like it too. If you don't already, of course.

Today I'm going to talk about how to start trivia hosting. Please don't think I'm telling you how it should be done, because everyone should develop their own style of hosting, and if everyone hosted exactly like me SL trivia would be a dull place indeed.

There is one thing you need to know about SL trivia, and it's that it's all about Lindens. Seriously. You can run an event if you have no personality, and with questions taken from the Internet, in the dullest sim on SL, but without Lindens you can't run a trivia event. Without prizes SL trivia is just Gogomodo, and we all know how tedious that can be. And if you look about SL trivia you'll find prize levels vary, but for most events we're talking about 20L per question upwards, so if you're going to run 20 questions you're talking about 400L.

St Patrick's Day music at Sharon's Diner with Nelly and the Cows: Maggie Sewell, NellySwindlehurst, Lotus Ceriano

Where does that money come from? I have blogged about the economic aspects of SL trivia before, and you might want to take a look at that post. If you're lucky some venues will pay you to run an event, and let you keep tips. If not, then you're paying for it yourself, either from your credit card or from your SL trivia winnings. And once you've got your finance the rest of the organisation should come easy.

I know some people keep their cam fixed on the sky to try and reduce lag, but I do think ambience can make a big difference to an event. Lebn Bucyk's Barefoot event is set in a lovely park-like space. Sharon's Diner has a wonderful kitschy feel that goes so well with her friendly and fun event. The content of Anamaria Quintessa's Ana-Lytical Trivia is the same, but her event is so much better fro moving to Trivy Island from the prison exercise yard she used to host in.Most clubs will welcome events that bring traffic, so if you have the lindens, take a look about SL and check out the sort of place you might want to host at,and drop a notecard to the owner outlining your ideas.

You've got Lindens, you've got where, next you want to set a time. Of course the biggest factor here will be when you can host, but you also will want to check Events to see if you're clashing with any other trivia events. SL trivia hosts and venues are generally co-operative rather than competitive, and try hard not to clash with each other. I've found the SL trivia community to be really friendly and helpful, and most established hosts will be only too pleased to chat with you about your ideas. There is no reason why you should not run your event against someone else's, but don't expect a big crowd if you're up against a well-known trivia host.

Somebody left a beaver at Sharon's Diner...

I think another piece of good advice is that you should attend other events and get a feel for how other hosts run events. You'll see lots of different hosting styles, and different ways of asking questions and of paying. What sort of host do you want to be? My hosting style was very heavily influenced by Allikatt Knipper and Sharon Scofield, who both ran really well organised fun events. Do you like the more hardcore approach of Lette Ponnier, or do you like the lighter organised chaos approach of Sharon Scofield or Nelly Swindlehurst? If you can emulate any of those hosts you'll be well on your way to running a good event!

And co-host or not co-host? I like having a co-host, because we can inject some style differences to an event, and it isn't all the same old Lotus. One reason why Nelly and I have hosted together so much is that we have contrasting styles, which I think makes the whole of Nellotus better than the sum of its parts. I know, I would say that anyway, wouldn't I?

I think I've said enough for this post. In my next post I'm going to talk about promoting your event and the nuts and bolts of actually hosting. Please let me know what you think in comments!

For the addicts!

2010-01-24T12:00:00.005Z

Ok Dingbatters get to work! 10L for each first correct answer, answer in comments below and I'll pay you in world. Don't forget to tell me who you are. These look like toughies to me!

That blog you used to write, Lotus...

2010-01-24T11:48:00.006Z

It’s been a while since I last blogged, and I’m really sorry about that everyone, I could blame all sorts of things but really it’s just been laziness.

I’ve got quite a bit of news this time, and I’ll blog some Dingbats in another post for you Dingbat addicts out there.

I want to tell you about the Lette and Lotus Culture Swap tomorrow. Lette and I have had this idea for a while, and we’ve only just got round to doing it.

We’re doing a US/UK event at New Trivia Monkeys tomorrow. The twist is that Lette is going to do the UK questions, and I’ll be doing the US ones. We have to act in role for this, so if Lette gets it wrong and sounds American players can challenge and win lindens. I’ve got to be American for the 90 minutes, and if I get it wrong, and talk about heating boilers and car bonnets, you get to win Lindens.

I was thinking it will be easier for me than Lette, because I’ve visited over there a few times and American culture is ubiquitous here, but I have learned not underestimate Lette, ever.

I have had some difficulty with question register: it’s so had to tell how difficult my questions will be for people from another culture. Americans will find “What’s the longest running radio soap in the world” almost impossible to answer, but all the Brits out there will have answered “The Archers” by now. Anyway, we shall see how we get on with this.

Do come along, we’re really looking forward to it and I think it’ll be fun. 2pm SLT Monday 25 January New Trivia Monkeys.

I wonder who can have left her box and all her stuff on my front porch?

Many of you already know that the owner of EyeQ, Jamie Parfort, is letting EyeQ go, and on a personal note I’m so sorry to see Jamie go. He has been a really generous owner and a fun person, and he has done such a lot for the SL trivia scene. I really wish him well for the future.

But SL goes on. One of the many things I’m grateful to Jamie for is bringing Nelly back into trivia hosting, and Nelly and I have agreed, whatever happens, we’re going to continue hosting together. It looks like we’ll be staying in our new slot of 8am SLT Saturdays, but our Nellotus event goes on. I’m not sure where we’ll be doing it if EyeQ goes, but do it we will!

I’ve also hosted with Karmel at the Lilly’s Friday event for 7 months, but because of RL commitments Karmel can’t host for now, so I may be looking for someone to put up with me and host at Lilly’s on Fridays.

That’s about all from me this time, I always love to hear your comments, it makes me feel so appreciated and, as Nelly will say, I’m needy like that.

By the way, Word flagged up a spellcheck for nelly without a capital N. For one glorious moment I thought Word had suggested Newfie as a replacement, but sadly it was only newly. I just thought I should share that with you!

By popular request...

2009-11-24T14:07:00.005Z

Nelly Plurked a message asking for more dingbats, and she specially asked for hard ones. So here you go. 10L for the first correct answer in comments, not in Plurk! I pay in world once they are all solved. 6 and 10 may be culturally biased.

If you don't don't know what cwt is Google "cwt imperial", and I think over there you say stand in line instead of queue. We're economical like that here. Good luck!

Lindens right here!

2009-11-22T12:10:00.007Z

Here's your dingbats! 10L, paid in world, to the first person to guess the word or phrase, leave your answer in comments.

The brass and sheet ones look as though they could be the same Dingbat, but they are two separate ones. The clock and LOSE LOSE are just one Dingbat.

Good hunting!

Trivia in Pyongyang

2009-11-22T07:24:00.026Z

I think some people are not going to like this post, because I'm going to blog about Marine Park.

Sooner or later all conversations about SL trivia turn to MP. If you don't know it, it's a trivia event held at, I think, 7pm SLT during the week. I've never been to an event there, and, since it's at 3am local time, I'm unlikely ever to do so.

But so I can keep my blogging public informed, I paid my 100L for a 120-minute pass and wandered about the sim for a while. It's a nice waterfront sim if rather laggy, and at 0635 SLT no-one was about, not that anyone in her right senses would pay 100L to wander round a pretty sim with nothing happening.

MP is important to us because of its effect on the trivia economy. It runs very high paying events and injects a lot of lindens into the trivia economy. Winnings from MP finance other events, and I have no doubt that, without MP, there would be fewer lindens flowing about the trivia scene.

The ubiquitous Lette Ponnier at EyeQ

But it really isn't all sweetness and light, and I hear so much grumbling about MP. It's no fun, and social chatter in local chat isn't allowed. There is no warning of questions, which may appear suddenly after 5 minutes' silence. The questions are culled from the Internet, and question quality is low compared with the events some of the players themselves run. Becki categorised trivia events into either trivia (with dancing) or dancing (with trivia). MP is unique, it's dancing (with trivia) without the dancing!

And then there are the bans. Rule infractions are liable to be met with a ban. Questioning questions is liable to be met with a threat. Speaking mildly disparagingly about MP has led to bans.

This attitude is so foreign to me. I've been hosting nearly a year, and I haven't sought to have a single person banned. If I ask a badly researched question I feel ashamed of myself, and seek to put it right and to make sure correct answers are rewarded. What is wrong with these people?

It's clear to me they do it because they can, and because they pay the players to dance to their tune. How many people who go to MP would go if it was a 25L game? Clearly, people only go for the money. What else is there?

I know my post is open to so many objections. How can she comment when she hasn't been? And I think that's fair comment, but most of us know that North Korea isn't a fun place despite never having holidayed in Pyongyang.

And I can be accused of being the fox who lost her brush. Lotus can't go because of time differences, so she's going to make the rest of us look uncool for going. It's possible, but I bore easily and I really don't think I could stand staring at a screen not talking for two hours. It's not me.

Many of you live off your trivia winnings, and I know for some of you MP is a big chunk of your income. Good luck to you, but you can't really expect a huge amount of empathy from those of us on this side of the Atlantic there.

Then there is the effect on the trivia economy. Every MP event must pay out about L18000, which is a lot of money, and much of this will come back into SL trivia. I know that Buccaneer Bowl and Thorny Trivia are mostly funded from MP winnings, and I would hate to see either of the events disappear. These are excellent events! I am thoroughly addicted to Buckybowl, and would be very sad if it were to disappear from the calendar.

Cully Andel hosting at EyeQ. Every Tuesday at 1230 pm

But they aren't the only games in town, and if they were then SL trivia would be a dull place. Double Standards, EyeQ, Sharon's Diner and Shiraz all run regular trivia events throughout the week, and for me they are the bread-and-butter trivia venues that keep SL trivia ticking over. I don't know where the money comes from for Double Standards or Shiraz, but I don't think it's from MP winnings. Sharon's Diner certainly isn't financed by MP, and runs 4-5 events every week, paying out 18000L monthly. Jamie Parfort at EyeQ is now running four weekly events from EyeQ, paying at least 1500L per event, and he displays a frighteningly impressive SL business acumen, as those of us who work there know very well. I just logged on to find an EyeQ notice saying Jamie is paying 9000L this week. He does not get that from MP.

As far as I can see people go to MP for the money, and for no other reason. Nothing in SL lasts forever, and one day MP will disappear. There will be a few shocks round the trivia world, but a new equilibrium will develop, and we'll all get along fine without it.

A warning!
The phrase "trivia elite" seems to have crept in vogue recently. It's snobby everyone, and it should be so not us. The correct term is "trivia community" and anyone saying trivia elite in my presence will get a stern disapproving look from me. I mean it!

Oh, your Dingbats follow in a separate blog. And I always love to get your comments!

What you really really want!

2009-11-06T15:11:00.006Z

Here's your dingbats. I pay 10L to the first person to post the correct answer in comments, paid in-world. Go for it everyone!

Plurk is the new black!

2009-11-06T08:37:00.010Z

I'm sure you've noticed it, but SL trivia blogging has gone really quiet. A few months ago and everyone was at it, and now we are lucky to have a new post every couple of weeks. A shining exception is Becks's witty take on SL trivia, but the once-prolific Lette's torrent of posts has dried to a trickle. I really enjoyed her interviews with people, and she never did get round to interviewing me and Nelly. Not that I'm hinting, of course, oh no not me!

So if blogging has gone the way of boot cut jeans, where has everyone gone? Well, if you look on the top right of this page you'll see Plurk, and it seems that's where everyone has gone. I have found Plurk to be really addictive and fun, but I do feel sorry that the carefully crafted (or in my case hurriedly thrown together) blog seems to be in decline for SL trivia.

Nelly Swindlehurst on Guy Fawkes Night at Sharon's Diner, Maggie Sewell ran a really fun event, with a great Bonfire Night ambience, but she should know by now that Nelly and fires just don't mix

How can I get this on to Harry Potter? Well, one of the Plurk threads was "If SL Trivia was Hogwarts, who would be which character?"

Harry Potter, obviously, has to be Mako Kungfu. He's geeky and keen, has magical powers and is kinda cute. The senior fatherly figure of Albus Dumbledore is clearly Thornton Writer. Nelly Swindlehurst and Rach Borkotron are Fred and George Weasley, and as Lette pointed out this is SL, and they can change sex if and whenever they want to. I have to have some senior figures so Sharon Scofield is Molly Weasley, and who else but Browman Griffith could be Sirius Black? Lette Ponnier seems surprised to be Professor McGonaghall, but I can just imagine her saying "Report to my study AT ONCE, do you hear?" Can't you? The ever-loyal Ron Weasley, just a little envious of Harry, is an exact match for JoshuaStephen Schism.

And we have to have the forces of darkness too. Lou Netizen stalks the dark halls of Hogwarts as caretaker Argus Filch, and she has to have a cat, so step forward Rain Ninetails. The sinister figure of Severus Snape is Cully Andel. Juke Badger with his hair just has to be Draco Malfoy, and Maelstrom Janus has more than a passing resemblance to dad Lucius Malfoy. Lillian Shippe cast herself as Bellatrix Lestrange, go get her Sharon!

And if haven't included you or someone else, your comment space is open, please use it and fill out our cast list!

Circe Falta hosting at Inferno. The theme was sweet things, and the club looked just fabulous. I put on 3kg just being there!

I've got some other things. I blogged this last time, but the Triviathon is on 7-8 November, and Nelly, myself and DJ Angelo are on at 4-6pm SLT Saturday, with 16000 Lindens to give out, and we'd love to see you there! My Easter Egg for the event is right here, watch this clip! http://www.weebls-stuff.com/toons/blimp/

And Jamie has recruited two new hosts for EyeQ in the Sky. Sharon is my trivia hosting role model, and for me is one of the two most fun trivia hosts in SL. She's going to do 7am Fridays, and if you've never been to one of Sharon's events, do try and get there, so often she has me laughing out loud in rl. And we're hoping Becki Verne s coming on board too, which would be awesome if she can. Do check out her blog from the link at the start of this post, she's got all the qualifications for an SL trivia host (witty, smart, and I was going to say mouthy but I'm sure there's a politer way to put that).

And here's the result from my poll about Dingbats, it looks like you want me to keep on doing them, sorry to anyone who has problems loading them.

Lotus's dingbat questions at SL events:

They load OK for me on the whole	9 (47%)
They don't load OK for me	2 (10%)
I like them and would like to them continue	11 (57%)
I don't like them and I wish she'd stop doing them	2 (10%)
What is she on about this time?	3 (15%)

Votes so far: 19

Hey, where's my Dingbats? Well, I was hoping for some comments from this post, so I've done a set of really tough Dingbats for you, but I'm going to post them separately today. Comments on the main post have a tendency to get lost among Nelly, Mags, Cully and Becks's Dingbat spam, so I'll have another post up shortly, and I'll spam you all in world and Plurk when I do. Some of them look a bit CBA to me, but you'll manage I'm sure.

Nelly and Lotus do Triviathon

2009-10-20T16:18:00.008+01:00

Cully has announced the 24 hour Triviathon, so I can feel free to blog about it. It's a 24-hour SL trivia event on Saturday 7th to Sunday 8th, and the proceeds will go to Relay for Life.

So she's been inviting as many trivia hosts as she can think of, and naturally Nelly and I don't want to be left out, so I'm pleased to tell you that Nelly and I are hosting together with a 2 hour slot from 4pm to 6pm SLT Saturday. I do know Cully still has six slots left to flii, so if any of you want to take part, IM Cully Andel in game and we'll see you there!

I hope you know by now that we like to put on a good show, and we do not want you to go away disappointed, so we're going to make a special Nelly and Lotus effort.

Fiz Laval at Clancy Huckleberry's Shiraz event

First thing is we're putting up 13K Lindens in prize money. We're hoping a most of that comes back in donations, but how much you give is entirely for yourself to decide. We'll be hitting you with 40 questions instead of our usual 30, and Nelly will have a Nelliminator for you, and I'll work up a Countdown and some dingbats . And if we think of anything else before then we'll put it in.

Oh yes, one last thing. Whatever you give during our event, I'll match the amount and donate it to UNICEF. And can I just say that UNICEF is a really worthwhile charity. Your money goes to providing third world children with mosquito nets against malaria, with AIDS treatments, with clean water, and other basics that those of us fortunate to be born in rich countries take for granted. There! I can get off my soapbox now.

Josh behaving himself right now, Rach and I look the other way

Mako has finally made me get onto Plurk, and I've missed out all this time! If you're not on Plurk do not delay, click the link at the top of the sidebar and get Plurking!

And now for your dingbats. 10L for the first person to get the word or phrase, paid in world. Answer in comments please.

Do get it right, Lotus!

2009-10-13T16:15:00.015+01:00

I know I'm not the most assiduous of researchers, and Chadd and Shale put me to shame, but even though I get through 50 questions every week, I do like to get it right. Sometimes you come up with alternative correct answers (and I do love those!) and for sure I sometimes miss the right winner, but you all keep me right, and I hope I always put things right with you where I get it wrong.

Nelly always says I should not do spam questions, because I so often come up with the wrong winners, and I do admit to finding it hard to keep up with fast-moving text and pick out a correct answer, but maybe that's just me getting older.

But it's really embarrassing when I get it completely wrong, as I did at EyeQ last week. The question I asked was "What was Abba's last No.1 single in the UK Chart", and the answer I gave was "The Winner Takes it All" in 1978. Which is, I'm sorry to say, wrong, as Carrion pointed out at the time, and the right answer was "Super Trouper" in 1980. I must have misread the Wiki entry, but I really hate to get something as wrong as that, and I should have researched the question better.

Nelly, Lotus and Kiri at Sharon's Diner. The beaver on the vote box has thankfully been greyed out

I am speaking only for myself here, but I do like it when you come up with alternative correct answers, and if you do think I've got it wrong, please say so in local chat or IM me! I'm only too pleased to look into it and pay you if I think you're right. Please don't think I'm worrying myself into an early grave over getting one question wrong, and I do not want a post-mortem after every question, but I don't mind at all if you keep me right. Nelly does it, why should you not?

Cully Andel and Krikra McMillan at AnaMaria's Monday event at Moysie's

I put a poll about alts on my blog a couple of posts ago, and I've got the results for you here. It doesn't suggest to me that most of you have any problem with alts. I was Option 4: I don't use them but I don't have a problem.

OK everyone, it's Linden time. Ten dingbats for you, answer in comments please, 10L for each first correct answer, paid in game.

About alts in SL:

I use them and like them	10 (41%)
I use them but I wish alts didn't exist	2 (8%)
I don't use them and I wish they didn't exist	2 (8%)
I don't use them but I have no problem with them	4 (16%)
I just don't care at all	6 (25%)

I've put a new poll on for you this week, I'd like to know how you are finding my dingbat questions at events. Some of you seem to be having loading issues, and I want to know if I should keep on doing them. This time you can choose multiple answers.

The Quest for the Perfect Event

2009-10-04T13:04:00.014+01:00

I've been hosting quiz events since January, and I'll let you into a secret! Not all my events have gone as smoothly as I would have wanted, and I'm going to look at why this might be sometimes.

Readers of this blog will know that I think that there should be more to trivia events than asking questions, but today I do want to look at questions themselves, and in particular question register.

I mean by question register setting questions right for my audience. I'd really like everyone to come away from one of my events saying to themselves that they enjoyed it. And that means my questions have to be right for you! If only it were so easy.

First we have the Scylla of easy questions. If I asked for the capital of France, the speed typists would get the answer every time, and knowledgeable people who aren't fast typists will not be in with a chance. Veer too much towards difficult questions, and the Charybdis of Google swallows me, or worse still, the lingering death of hint after hint until the penny drops, and somebody finally comes up with the answer.

I'll never make an SL photographer! I managed to take this photo of Rhea Neiro and Cinna Yaris at Monochrome with my HUDS included. So we also have (clockwise from top right) Rain's What? HUD, Rudi's Green Tool Radar and SEMations AO HUD.

With peak time events like EyeQ and Lilly's 12 noon events, I tend to know the players, and I can at least match my questions with my estimate of players' likely strengths, are likely to know, and I do try to avoid questions where I know certain particular strong players will know the answer. We should not have the same player winning every time, should we?

Early Birds and Night Owls at 11pm on Fridays is much harder. The unusual time means, I think, that people are less likely to come every week, and will tend to come if they're online at that time. I sometimes find myself changing questions in mid-event once I have a feel for the players, and I might take out questions that I think too hard, or too culturally biased, and replace them with easier ones, or questions directed to particular cultures. Since I've been doing Early Birds I've realised that there are some really good players in SL who don't come to mainstream events, but who clearly are smart trivia players. One day I must ask them what they find in SL that's better than trivia. Perhaps I'm missing out on something?

My question register for Cully and my Great British Pub Quiz is,, if course, entirely different. Here my questions should have a cultural bias, with a strong British and Irish flavour. I enjoy writing for this event, because I can use questions I'd never dream of asking at international events. We were really pleased when we ran this event first time to find that so many people came along, and that there was so much interest in a British and Irish event. We're doing another event on Monday 5 October at 1.30pm SLT.

JoshStephen Schism, Lucinda Dollinger, Lotus Ceriano and a zombified Lette Ponnier at Monochrome, sorry [Monochrome]

I'm sitting here thinking that it's just impossible to get it right! When all is said and done, SL trivia is competitive, and it's right that the best players should do well. I just hope that enough of you have fun to make it worthwhile coming along!

I've got some lindeny dingbats for you, but first here's a link to some really annoying Flash games, Semantic Wars and Cargo Bridge. Needless to say I'm hopeless with both, but I don't see why you should not have your time wasted too.

For your dingbats, 10L to the first correct answer in comments, paid in world. Good luck!

More Cultural Bias

2009-09-29T14:01:00.011+01:00

I'm going to talk again about cultural issues in SL trivia. I know, I blogged about it before, and when I did you gave me lots of interesting comments and perspectives on the issue. This time I'm not looking to grumble or stir up controversy, just to acquaint you with our Culturally Biased plans.

Cully and I were chatting about cultural bias a few weeks ago and we decided finally we should do something about it. And we decided that if you can't beat 'em, we'll join 'em!

So I'm going to tell you about the 100% culturally biased event we've set up at Flanagan's Pub. Our idea was to try and recreate an RL British or Irish Pub Quiz, and quizzes like would have the sort of questions I would never dare to make an event out of in SL.

It's unashamedly culturally biased, and we worried we might not attract enough British and Irish players. But you all did us proud, and a hardy few from over the pond even ventured into our wallowing in Father Ted and Coronation Street.

Olmstead Fanshaw, our latest winner of a Karmel and Lotus Challenge T-shirt. The question was "Who was the wife of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian?" The answer was Theodora.

Oh yes, before I forget, the sim has the wonderful father Ted Parochial House, complete with Pat Mustard, Chris the sheep and the miraculous holy image of Bishop Brennan on the skirting board.

Here are my questions from 14 September. I've left out dingbats, and I've put the answers at the foot of my post.

1: Which Coronation Street character first appeared in 1974 and died on 18 January 2008?

2: What did Harold Wilson view as his greatest achievement?

3: Who extinguishes fires in Pontypandy?

4: Which guidebook writer wrote a seven-volume “Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells”?

5: Where would you find the National Media Museum?

6: Which university is descended from the Catholic University of Ireland, founded in 1854?

7: Which parliamentary constituency did Tony Blair sit for?

8: What is the deepest lake in England?

9: Who is the captain of the England Test cricket team?

Anyway, I want to tell you that we will be doing another Great British Pub Quiz next Monday 5 October at 1.30 slt. Watch events for details. I've written my questions, I do hope Cully finds the time to do hers, from her last blog post she sounded just a little bit overstretched...

Lette and I have another idea for a UK/US event, but I'll keep that one under wraps until we fix it up. It should be a real laugh if we can make it work, so I'll let yo know about that one another time.

And your answers were:

1. Vera Duckworth
2. The Open University
3. Fireman Sam
4. Alfred Wainwright
5. Bradford
6. University College, Dublin
7. Sedgefield
8. Wastwater
9. Andrew Strauss

Do I hear you say Dingbats? 10L pain in world for our first each correct answer posted in comments!

Try this one!

2009-09-25T06:10:00.004+01:00

Let's try a different puzzle this time, post your best time in comments and the winner by, shall we say 11pm Saturday wins 100L. Leave your times and your SL avi name in comments, please. Be honest!

Click on the puzzle to start it, the timer should be in the new window.

Chaos and confusion

2009-09-22T15:40:00.015+01:00

I'm normally an early riser, but not many things get me out of bed at 5am, but Chaos Truth or Dare does.

Chaos is a special kind of trivia event, but when I say trivia the questions aren't the main thing, just a vehicle to keep the game moving along. It's the Truth or Dare element that makes it so special. Now before I go any further I need to say that we at Chaos must agree that what happens at Chaos stays at Chaos, and that any pictures taken at Chaos may only be reproduced with the permission of those involved. And, I'm pleased to say, the people in question have said yes!

Mako's dare was to sent this naked pic of himself to another player. Sadly I only saw the censored version. Thanks Mako for permission to use your Flickr pic

It works like this. Lette asks a question, and the person who gets a question right picks someone else to do a Truth or a Dare. The Truths are a mixed bag, and the Mistress of Amok Lette asks supplementary questions with forensic skill. Being asked to tell everyone how I masturbate isn't something I do every day, and I can feel myself blushing when I write this sentence, but in the interests of accuracy a good blogger must tell it how it is!

The Dares are fun. Rach Borkotron is the Daremistress, and it's so nice to see someone enjoying her job, even if her enthusiasm has to be reined in by Lette from time to time. There is strip hangman, where the dared player must guess a word, and lose an item of clothing for every wrong letter. I'm sure we Mac users are at a disadvantage with naked mudwrestling, because I had my face pushed in the mud several times. Lately I sense a pattern for myself, which is me getting dares that lead to Nelly doing mean things to me. She, of course, enjoys that.

And that's another thing about Chaos. Once I've got to know people it's even better, and it's got better yet for me when Nelly and Kiri come along. There is nothing like seeing your friends given silly dares to do!

Nelly enjoying her dare, which was to spank me ten times

By the way, I know I'm digressing, but have you noticed this at events? People tend to stand in the same place. At Lilly's Anamaria and Becki are always near the fire, Rain always on the mantelpiece, Lette, Kiri and Rickson towards the bar, and Sharon always seems to be by the door for some reason, maybe in case her creditors appear. This does make it easier to pay winners if you know where they will be, and a problem I have at EyeQ is the lack of landmarks makes it hard for me to locate winners.

I told you I'd post a picture of me in a Chaos wet T shirt and thong if I ever won one. Here I am drying out afterwards in front of my fire!

Anyway, getting back to our subject, our Chaos hosts treat new players gently, and don't be afraid to come along and join in, you won't be made to get naked on your first outing. I keep saying so, but Chaos really is fun! Chaos is on 8.30 pm SLT Saturdays.

Anyway I promised you lindeny Dingbats, and here they come! Ten of them, 10L to each person with a first correct answer in comments. Please leave your avi name and I'll pay you in-world. Good luck everyone!

Buckybowl 9

2009-09-22T15:05:00.007+01:00

By now I'm an experienced Buccaneer Bowler, and I've only ever missed two events. But it's still the biggest event for me in my trivia diary, and the event is just different.

It is, for me, easily the most competitive trivia event in SL. Almost all the best players are there, and the team element means I don't want to let down my team mates. I always get to Buckybowl with my low-ARC (36 this time) avi, and I feel the tension rising right away...

Because the sim with the pirate ship has been sold without Lette's knowledge, Buckybowl 9 was at Monochrome, which is always a great trivia venue, and which performed admirably, with very little lag for me.

I don't know if I was imagining it, but the competition this time seemed fierce, and after a good start in the first round where we got the first bonus, we had a 'mare in the second round where we failed to get a single point. This has never happened to us before, but we bounced back to win the third and fourth rounds, and a solid final round saw us home first.

Trumpton, the winners of Buckybowl 1, ran us close, and a new team Zen and the Koans (read all about Koans here) were a very strong third.

The Triviators with their low-ARC avis at Monochrome, picture courtesy of Mako

But we did it, and we're champs for the sixth time, so wtg Mako, Starla, Alanna and absent-this-time Nelly, you are such awesome team-mates.

I'm now starting to feel tense about Buckybowl 10 as I write this...calm down girl!

Altercations

2009-09-22T05:58:00.004+01:00

The alt wars have broken out again (here and here), and although it isn't a subject I have strong feelings about, I thought I'd give you my two penn'orth.

I have two alts, and neither of them has been out in months. I just don't find any use for them, and I want to be myself and not a multitude of identities.

On the whole, I'd rather know who I'm dealing with in SL, but alts are a fact of life, and I can't do anything at all to change things.

And if everyone else thought like me, what sort of a boring place would SL be? So my view is, why should I waste my time worrying over something I can do nothing about? If people want to have alts, I'm happy to go with it. I know some of my friends' alts, and in IMs we sometimes maintain the fiction of talking about the main avi in the third person, which can be quite fun if you don't do it too often.

But..do be careful who you're talking to about somebody else, it might just be her alt.

Oh yes, there's a new poll in the sidebar, all about alts. Please vote!

Nelly reminded me I haven't posted for a while, and I'm going to post a longer entry in the next day or so, complete with dingbats, so watch this space!

A few more dingbats

2009-09-13T04:50:00.005+01:00

You seemed to like them, so here's ten more.

Same as before, but 10L for each this time. Have fun!

Typing faster than the speed of light

2009-09-12T12:32:00.050+01:00

Speed typing. Becki posted on this recently, bemoaning her 3MB connection, and how it handicaps competing at Buccaneer Bowl. I just checked my speed now which came in at 3.5MB, and I'm just a two fingered typist, but my Buccaneer Bowl record is respectable soooo I think I'll keep quiet on that subject...

First of all let me say right away that I think there's no avoiding it. If you give people enough time in SL trivia they will Google. You can ask people not to as much as you like, and most will play to the spirit of the game, but once someone starts Googling everyone else is at a big disadvantage. And in my opinion all efforts to kill speed typing founder on the rock of Google.

Tori, Sharon, Kiri, Polaris and Lotus are the naughty girls in the penalty box at Sharon's Diner

My own opinion is, if we can't eliminate Google, we may as well embrace it, and there are countless times when I'm hosting that I've been glad of someone Googling a question that has turned out to be too hard. Karmel says in an ideal event everyone would win once, and while I think this is right, I find it harder to do in practice. Some people are just very good, but here's my thoughts on how we hosts should think about it:

Avoid themes unless they are very broad
Do not run events about one country's popular culture
Be generous with Pity Lindens (I love that phrase, was it Nelly who came up with it?)
Try and find something that can involve everyone
Try and make it fun! Don't be too serious!

I try to do this myself, and that's why I've run the Easter Eggs and money for typos. But no matter how hard I try, it tends to be the regular players who get the Easter Eggs, and my typos seem to be a major income stream for Sharon Scofield and Nelly Swindlehurst. Please, everyone, check my Lilly's and EyeQ notices for the Easter Egg links. It's money for jam, it really is. I want to give you the Lindens!

Glimmer Mattercaster wearing a Karmel and

Lotus shirt after she won the Challenge question at Lilly's.

The question was "In the Harry Potter books, who does Harry marry?"

I've rather strayed from the speed typing subject, but the reason why it's so prevalent is that all efforts to deal with it turn out unsatisfactory to my way of thinking, in one way or another.

Samantha Poindexter uses an innovative HUD system for her strip trivia event, where you have to choose one of four answers. The winner is chosen randomly from the correct answers, the losers remove an item of clothing and it's rather neat and fun. But for me it lacks something, because multiple choice questions are so hard to write. Either they are far too easy, or so hard it just seems like guessing, and I rather think this is intrinsic to the system, and not the fault of the question setter.

Tori Lok and Sweejen Stourmead at Lilly's

I wonder if this could be solved by removing the multiple choice element and the host marking free text answers right or wrong? I wouldn't like to have to mark 20answers for every question myself, though.

I've played games where players send answers in IM, but I don't much like this. Anyone who wants can Google answers, and it removes much of the social aspect of the game. I would far rather play a fun game for fewer Lindens than a boring one for lots of Lindens.

Personally I think we are stuck with speed typing, and it's the job of us trivia hosts to make it interesting for people without lightning fingers, but who know their trivia. And that brings me onto your lindeny questions, and those of you who come to my events might just be familiar with Dingbats. I've got five for you today, 20L for each first correct answer in comments, paid in world.

Trivia hosts unplugged

2009-08-31T06:12:00.034+01:00

I can tell you why I host trivia in SL. I enjoy the whole process of trivia hosting. Doing the research and framing the questions can be onerous sometimes, but delving through reference books and Wiki is never dull for me. So many byways and new fields to explore. And although I'm quite a shy person in RL, there is an actress in me, and standing up in front of a virtual crowd does something for my ego.

And I have made friends with so many wonderful people (that's you!), and I can try out new ideas which, if they go wrong, can't hurt anyone except myself.

Cully Andel hosting at Double Standards.

It's Cully's rezday today, many happy returns Cully!

And I got to wondering why everyone else hosts, so I sent out a survey to every host on my friends list. If I did not ask you I'm so sorry, but please please tell us why you host in comments. If you replied but your answer isn't here, I missed your IM, please tell me quick and I'll edit you in! And if I'm not on your friends list but should be, just open up that blue box and tell me.

Thank you everyone for your responses, and I have found them fascinating. Some were IM, which explains the chatty style of some, and some were notecards. I'm going to post them verbatim and without comment from me. Comment from you would be wonderful.

I asked people to describe, preferably in one sentence, why they host (Sinnamon wins the prize for the longest sentence). And this is what they said:

Cully Andel: Why do I host -well it ain't for the money! Well - I guess I've always been one for organising things. And I like to have fun doing it. Most trivia events are great fun because of the people there - and it's a nice being able to offer fun events which people enjoy. (Which I hope I do)

I think that's probably why - and of course I'm nuts - which you have to be :)

Maggie Sewell: Because it's a way of giving back to people who give up much for others. I have no other skills.

My very good friend Kiriaster Mirakjar at Double Standards

Honey Potez: In one sentence/thought: I have continued to host trivia for almost two years because of the people: 1) the people that tend to follow trivia are genuine, thoughtful, intelligent and smart, and 2) many people depend on all of the hosts as constant companions and friends as they have RL illnesses or issues preventing them from fully living in the real world and depend on our events as something to look forward to each day.

I know it’s a long response but hosting is something I am passionate about :)

Lacey Lukas: I enjoy hosting trivia because I've always been a "game" type of person... watching game shows on tv, play games in RL ... and trivia has been one my favourite games. And I've discovered in SL that apparently I can't read the questions fast enough to beat the "fast fingers" in SL so being a host is the next best thing to playing. The trivia environment in SL is a lot of fun thanks to the colourful group of people who participate. Every event is always full of fun and laughter and what more could a person ask for :)

AnaMaria Quintessa: I said it was because I was a megalomaniac.I want to stand upon a pedestal dispensing favour and LindenDollars amongst the intelligentsia like a fickle despotic monarch bestowing patronage to their favourites; who just so happen to know the same irrelevent factoids that I currently value.On the more altruistic side, i don't want to just be what Lou has called a "parasite" ie just turning up enjoying the Qs and taking money off peopleOn the insecure side, i felt would only ever be a second class member of the trivia community and would not have "arrived" until i hosted my own game.

JoshuaStephen Schism: I like to give back to the trivia community and I like to be on stage

Chaddington Boomhauer: My main motivation for hosting trivia is that it's fun to do. It's also to ensure there is a trivia event I can't be ejected from ;)

Rickson Barbosa: hi Lotus, got your notecard...best way I can sum up the motivation thing is just that I enjoy it...I enjoy the researching and the asking. I wish I could give you something more philosophical but I can't really. :D

The Daremistress herself Lette Ponnier plans something for her next ~~victim~~ nominee

Circe Falta: Hey Lotus- Why do I host? Because it's fun. Actually, I was just filling in a spot while Lyss was gone, and it kind of stuck. But I kept doing it, because I enjoy coming up with the questions (usually), and tying everything together, trying to fit in a bunny somewhere. I like testing people's knowledge, and more, learning on my own while I research too- I get distracted a lot so it takes me all day sometimes. lol. I hope something there helps :)

Lette Ponnier: so... each time I’ve started a new trivia game, it's been because I had an idea about a new way to play trivia that seemed like it would be fun and I get excited about the idea, and I have to carry it out. This is how chaos, bucc bowl, and birthday suit trivia all started. So hosting, for me, is about innovating and creating and seeing good ideas come to fruition, and seeing people really enjoy the work that I put into it.

Impromptu is the only one that follows a standard format, and i started doing that when there was a gap in the schedule and i felt like having trivia and figured if no one else was having it, I might as well do it myself.

Mako Kungfu: My main motivation for hosting, when I was a host, was as a sort of PR move to bring people to Armada and have them experience the place. I did it for the fun of introducing people to a new location and to source material (the works of China Mieville) that they were probably unfamiliar with... and to get those mental gears cranking -- a lot of trivia is pretty inane, but I think it was hard to attend an Armada trivia without learning something. It was a smart crowd of engaged players in an interesting location, which I really enjoyed. It was also a bit of a unique situation -- I don't think I'd be as interested in hosting at a club or something. In those cases, I prefer to play.

Nelly Swindlehurst: OK here's my quote for ya.... My motivation for hosting trivia? Well its fun! You get to control the questions being asked and therefore subject matter, you usually walk away with more money than you started with... and everyone actually has to pay attention to you :)

Karmel Kips: I co-host at Lilly's so I can stay off the Lotus Blacklist! But seriously... I host trivia because I enjoy sharing interesting information with others while keeping them entertained.

Sinnamon Sands: Hey Lotus, sorry I hadn't got back to you on the survey... wasn't really sure what to say... I guess I originally got into hosting to try to attract people to the club, but I found that I liked it because of the creative and social aspects of it. Creative in that you get to try to come up with questions and deliberate about having a good mix of subjects, difficulty levels, things that will interest and entertain people. And you get to have the opportunity to shape an event in the image of what you think will be fun and entertaining for people, to experiment with some different styles and things. The main reason is just that I enjoy the social experience of hosting, having a lot of new people and regulars both come to chat, hang out, have fun in an environment

Thanks so much everyone, just what I was looking for! And onto your Lindeny questions. I pay 10L, paid in world, for each first correct answer. Answer in comments please, replace the missing letters.

1. 5280 FIAM

2. LPN 9

3. 5 BBWBTT

4. 90 NIABG

5. 78 CIATP

6. 646 CITUKP

7. T 10 C

8. NG 33 1/3 TFI

9. 206 BITHB

10. 9 SBLvB

Arrivals and departures

2009-08-30T10:52:00.005+01:00

I've got a more substantial post to follow soon, but I just want to tell you something new.

The departure is that I'm dropping my Wednesday Lilly's event. I've loved doing it, and working with Nelly, Rev, Rick and Karmel has been such a pleasure, but I'm writing 65 new questions every week and I can't do everything. I'll still be hosting with Karmel on Fridays, and I'll still be doing Early Birds and Night Owls with Chantal on Saturdays. Lilly's is in my trivia hosting genes and I'm not giving that up.

The arrival is Jamie Parfort's new venue EyeQ. The Grand Opening is this week, and Jamie has signed me up for a new event. And for me the big attractin is that I'll be reunited with Nelly Swindlehurst. Nelly is such fun to host with that I'd walk over hot coals to do it, but Jamie's new low-lag venue doesn't have hot coals, so I'm spared that. We're going to be running 30 questions paying 1st/2nd/3rd, and we'll bring money for typos and Easter Eggs, and we'll see what else we can think up.

The not-at-all-elusive any more Nelly Swindlehurst

Jamie's also got Cully doing an event, and I hope she'll tell you about it in comments. Our event is on Wednesdays at 2pm SLT.

Anything but hip-hop and rap

2009-08-23T11:42:00.029+01:00

Lou doesn't like DJs at trivia events, but I do. I've been on SL a year, and one thing I have really liked is listening to music I have never heard before, or coming across old tunes again. And today I want to talk about those ubiquitous SL people, the DJs.

Because of SL I have bought loads of CDs in the past year, and my iPod has all sorts of different music compared with a year ago. Sometimes it has confirmed my negative prejudices too. I never have liked rap or hip-hop, and, no matter how much I listen too, I can't make it sound any better. Even Nickelback is better than that, sorry hip-hoppers

Samantha Poindexter hosting Strip Trivia, she uses an innovative HUD system that removes the speed typing element, as well as people's clothes.

4pm Fridays

For me, a good DJ can add such a lot to a trivia event. When playing I really enjoy the interaction a good DJ can have with the players. The best DJs get to know their customers, and there is something so touching about having a DJ play you a song because they know I like it. I often wondered, Sinnamon and Angelo, do you remember music I like, or do you make notes in avi profiles? You both do it so well.

Some DJs become an integral part of the event. Cully does Alphabet Trivia twice a week at Melodi, and the DJ plays tunes starting with, or bands starting with, the letter in question. I shall be very interested to see how they get on when X and Q come up, there is definitely such as thing as too much Queen and XTC. DJ Kewan also has a "middle bit" in the interval, where players are invited to identify music clips,, so that Rach Borkotron can win a prize. I usually get 1 out of 10, though I excelled myself with zero last week.

I'm not here to say bad things about DJs, but sometimes DJs seem determined to play their own sets, and to take no notice of the crowd and just do as they please. Unless you happen to be playing British indie music, that's just dull, and you're not working for your crowd. It's just the same with trivia hosts, we have remember we're here to entertain.

Readers of my blog will know I host at Lilly's. The Wednesday and Friday 12 noon events were established before I hosted, and I view myself as merely one of the current hosts. Mars Lake and Sandi Losangeles DJ these events, and both are such a pleasure to work with, and their sets add so much to the event.

But if I'm asked which is my favourite, I'd have to say Early Birds and Night Owls at 11pm Fridays. That's my own event, and it's quieter in tone than the other two events, and without Challenges and Easter Eggs and shouting, and it's a different crowd. And lately Chantal Glenwalker has been getting out of her RL bed to DJ the event, and she is so good, picking up from questions, answers and chat, and she tunes her set so well to our event. I find myself looking forward to Chantal's next tune, wondering if she'll pick up on what someone just said, or an asnwer someone just gave. I'm not saying all DJs should do it that way, but I find it matches my early morning hosting style so well.

Cerys Curtois at Coco's Shiraz event

T-Shirt winner

Becki Verne won Friday's T-Shirt Challenge and a rolled-over 300L on Friday, so wtg her! The questions was: "In "The Grapes of Wrath", what was the name of the family who travelled to California?"

Becki beat two others who got the answer before the 5 second cutoff. I'm not sure if anyone has signed Becki up for next weekend's Buccaneer Bowl, but she's been doing really well at events I've been at, and if you're looking for a player...

Becki Verne, winner of a Karmel and Lotus Lilly's T-shirt

I know you want Lindeny questions to finish, but please may I ask for comments about my new picture format? Does it work for you? If not, can I improve it?

Replace the letters, answer in comments please. Leave me your avi name and I'll pay 10L for each first correct answer, paid in world.

1. 42 TATLTUAE

2. 77SS

3. 8 FIAM

4. 12 POCN

5. T39S

6. ATO2C

7. 2468M

8. 4 BBWBTT

9. 2001 ASO

10. 4LG2LB

Worth more than lindens

2009-08-15T19:01:00.014+01:00

Lette's most recent post about prize money generated lots of interesting discussion, and one point commenters made was that money is not the only motivator in SL trivia.

I want to look today at non-financial achievements in SL trivia. You know, titles and medals and things without intrinsic worth but sou

ght after nevertheless.

My take on this will be coloured by the events I go to. All sorts of things may go on at events when I'm in bed attended by people who only come out at night, so if I missed anything please let me know.

So Chaos first. If you don't know Chaos, it's on at 8.30pm slt and is basically Truth or Dare with some trivia to oil it (maybe not the best metaphor there). It's where the first person to get naked after the 9.30 watershed gets a wet T shirt and a thing. Lette and Reke stipulate voluntarily naked doesn't count, because certain persons display a keenness to show their pixels. I've never won this coveted T shirt, but if and when I do I promise I'll post a picture of me wearing it right here on Lotus-Pocus.

I was composing a picture of Lillian Shippe at Double Standards when Lette Ponnier walked into shot and made it even better

Just about everyone knows about Buccaneer Bowl. Thornton, Lette and Lillian's event has been blogged about and commented on a lot. Teams of four battle it out for big prize money and the BuccBowl Champs tags. I find the event very stressful but I also find it great fun. Almost all the best players are there, and with a possible forty others competition is fierce. And then there is the team thing, I always feel very much that I don't want to let my team down, as I once did by messing up a bonus answer when they had told me the correct answer. I'm lucky to be in a very tolerant team full of smart players. Next BuckyBowl is 29 August. It's looking like the Triviators may be at full strength.

Smartasstermind at Double Standards is based on the British TV quiz show Mastermind. Hummingbird Forster runs it, and contestants pay an entrance fee and have two rounds of questions in the black chair. The first round is on a self-chosen specialist subject, and the second on general knowledge. My one try at this was not an amazing success as I only scored five points on my specialist subject. This, I think, is a drawback with this format, because some specialist subjects are very narrow and some very broad. If you choose a single book or a film there are only so many facts you can be questioned on. If you choose, as Thornton did, World War 2, the possibilities for questions are almost infinite. Sour grapes Lotus, good players won it and I have to do better next time.

Zarita at my Early Birds and Night Owls

Lilly's event

Lebn Bucyk runs an event on Sundays at Barefoot. There are five rounds of five questions, and the questions seem - I think Lebn once said intellectual - compared with some other events. Each round has a different subject, and there is a bonus for a person who gets all the questions in a round, Lebn calls it running a round. When he started his event I thin he expected this to happen often, but it took a while for Anamaria Quintessa to do it for the first time on the subject of barbarians, and a round has only been run once since.

And finally T shirts at Lilly's. We run a challenge question at the end of the event, and if the winner gets it inside 5 seconds we give them a T shirt and lots of lindens. Probably we've had ten or so winners now. I like to make the questions hard (it's a challenge, as Nelly says), but not impossible. And I'always really pleased when someone does win, I like giving out those coveted "Too clever for Rickson/Karmel/Rev/Nelly and Lotus Trivia at Lilly's" shirts. WTG winners!

Before your linden bearing questions if anyone has been puzzled by short-lived picture question posts on this blog (Hilda and Luce especially) it's to do with my in-event new picture question format. I should have taken them down right away after using them, sorry for the confusion. I'm not sure how it's working, please let me know in comments. I can bear the truth, honestly.

So, lindeny questions. 10L for each first correct answer in comments, paid in world, please remember to give your avi name.

Replace the letters.

1. 6 FIAF

2. 1 MYBC

3. 7 SOR

4. 14 DIAF

5. 90 MIAFG

6. 78 CIATP

7. 112 PIAH

8. 100 DIF

9. 44 POTUS

10. 8 MA-M

1000!

2009-08-12T22:31:00.005+01:00

Lilly's trivia host and event manager Lotus and Chantal

Well, I did it and I really enjoyed it. My 1000th question was asked, the Challenge was won but no T shirt, Sharon made lots of money out of my teh typos. And Nelly did come and ask a phobia question :)

I'm sorry to confuse people with those posts that disappeared quickly from my blog (Luce I'm thinking of you particularly here) : they were my experimental new format questions which I'm not sure worked all that well. I'd love to have your comments if you were there at the Lilly's event.

Oh yes, my poll of 11 people closed. 2 of you buy lindens at least every month, 2 less often and 7 of you never buy them.

If you weren't there my the 1000th question I wrote for Lilly's was: Elinor and Marianne Dashwood appear in which novel?

And the 500L Challenge was: Which sweet-scented climbing garden annuals belong to the genus Lathyrus?

I haven't done anything difficult for Lindens today. For 20L each please tell me in comments who won the 1000th question, what was the answer to the Easter Egg, and who won the Challenge question? The winners of 1 and 3 themselves are barred from entering. Answer in comments please, leave your avi name and I'll pay you in-world.

Back tomorrow!

2009-08-11T19:26:00.005+01:00

Kitten Nemeth hosting at U21. The answer will be Tennessee

I don't know who anonymous is from my last lot of comments, but you're right.

I'm back hosting Lilly's tomorrow Wednesday 12th 12 noon slt. I'll be asking my 1000th question and I'm paying 1st 2nd and 3d for the whole event at 50/20/10.

And I'm going to try out my new question format. And look out for the Easter Egg.

Not only this, but the Challenge will be set at 500L with some T shirt or other.

And if Nelly Swindlehurst can be persuaded to come and ask a phobia question I'll pay 100/50/25 to the ones who get that right. So you better work on her.

And we're back 12 noon Friday for the usual event, and I'm doing Early Birds and Night Owls on Friday at 11pm.

No lindens today, you'll have to come along tomorrow for that.

Nothing new to say, just a puzzle for you

2009-08-10T13:53:00.004+01:00

I just thought I'd give you a puzzle. I think this one's pretty easy, but 100L for the first correct answer in comments, paid in world!

The 5 houses are in a row, number them 1-5 from left to right, and each occupant has favourite music and a favourite drink.

Kaele Jinx waits for the trivia orb at 4-Play Roadhouse

In comments, please tell me who lives in which house? (Lotus lives in house 4 for example)

1. The person who likes Nickelback lives directly next to the person who likes Kaiser Chiefs.

2. Sharon lives directly next to the person who drinks water.

3. There is one house between Lette and Nelly on the right.

4. There are two houses between the house of the person drinking beer and the house of the person who likes Snow Patrol.

5. The fourth house does not belong to the person who like Snow Patrol

6. There is one house between Sharon and Sinnamon

7. The person drinking beer lives to the left of the person who likes Blur.

8. There are two houses between the house of the person drinking milk and the house of the person who likes Nickelback on the left.

9. There is one house between the house of the person who likes Blur and the house of the person who likes Snow Patrol.

10. There are two houses between the person who drinks water and the house of the person who likes Coldplay

11. Nelly drinks industrial alcohol

12. There are two houses between Mako and Sinnamon.

In which number house does everybody live?

Making the world go round

2009-08-08T07:42:00.027+01:00

I mentioned to Lette yesterday that I was going to blog about money. She said she had the same idea, but when we talked we realised we were looking at different aspects of the subject. We were going to try and co-ordinate our posts, but my ISP has thwarted us, and Lette's post about prize money is right here.

I'm wanting to look at the macroeconomics of SL trivia. I realise after "macroeconomics" half of my readers have just skipped to the Linden-bearing questions at the end, but you've been kind enough to humour me and stay with me. Where do the Lindens come from to finance trivia events? This is something I did not understand all all until recently, and if I get my facts wrong in this post please be sure to tell me.

I'm not a business expert, but I've been doing some digging. Linden Labs (LL) is a private company and isn't obliged to publish its accounts. Bloggers seem to think its profit in 2008 was in the region of $40M on a turnover of something like $96M.

Current exchange rates: $1 US buys 250L, £1 buys 418L, 1 euro buys 359L

And LL's turnover comes from somewhere, and it comes from either corporate subscriptions or your credit card and mine. And the trivia economy is the same. Eventually the lindens come from someone's bank account.

I've heard it said often that people can make more money out of playing trivia than hosting it, and I can believe it. If you're good and can play Marine Park, it is almost certainly true. Lette touched on Marine Park, which seems to have a distorting effect on the SL trivia economy by giving out 16000L in prizes every event. That's a lot of money, and would finance 2 months' worth of Lilly's events. I know much of this money is recycled back into trivia, and when it disappears, and nothing in SL lasts forever, I predict trivia events and prizes will contract significantly. I admit to a little anticipated schadenfreude here. I've never played MP and almost certainly never will because it begins 3am UK time. I'm sorry about the schadenfreude, I know you can tell it's just envy.

For those who don't know, practices vary, but club owners often pay hosts with lindens to run events. Most or all of this goes on prizes, and what percentage of tips goes to the host varies, I think, from club to club. So the host usually makes something out of it. So far as I can tell the biggest losers in all of this are club owners.

Coco Sands adjusts her caffeine levels during her Shiraz event

Sometimes there is an indirect benefit to owners from trivia events. Attracting players to events boosts traffic figures, which in turn means that shops on the sim will come higher up when searched for, in turn hopefully boosting sales. If the venue is attached to a shopping centre, as with Double Standards and Shiraz, then some extra sales may offset the cost of the event.

Where there is no such income stream, for owners it's a labour of love. I've got no financial interest in any club, but, if you've got any spare Lindens, spare a thought for the venue owner who makes it all possible for you.

I'm fortunate enough to be able to buy Lindens. One of the great things about SL is that it brings together people of all nationalities and from all walks of life. I know some of you rely on making money in SL to keep going, and I'm certainly not criticising you for it.

One last thing: there is a poll at the foot of my blog. Unfortunately my colour scheme makes it eye watering to read, and I can't work out how to change it without making other parts of the layout look eye watering in turn. I'm sorry about that, but do take a look.

Linden time! Replace the letters with words, answer in comments please. Leave your avi name, first correct answer gets paid 10L in world.

1. 1 FOTCN
2. 2, 2 TLWB
3. 10 PIC
4. 52 CIAP
5. 27 MSOTEU
6. 8 MH
7. 221 BBSSH
8. 18 HOAGC
9. 12 DOC
10. 14 LIAS

Winning friends, influencing people

2009-08-01T00:28:00.008+01:00

I've long thought that SL is like real life, only speeded up 50 times. Venues and events come and go, and old friends depart and new ones arrive. And somehow in a short space of time I have transformed from a complete noob knowing nobody into a senior member of the trivia community.

After I posted last time I had two conversations that set me thinking. In my blog I've quoted from IM conversations I had with Nelly, once directly and once indirectly. I then realised doing this was telling others about our private conversations, when I hadn't asked it I might do so. She told me she had no problems at all with what I had written, but still, I felt I had betrayed confidences.

The other conversation was very thought provoking. I won't say who it was with (see rule no1 below), but it was with someone who isn't a trivia regular. We were chatting about various things and he said that I had the power to destroy reputations with my blog. I'm sure he was not saying I had destroyed anyone's reputation, but I've been thinking about this since.

This is not the only SL trivia blog, and there are other excellent trivia blogs listed in the sidebar. But I want you to enjoy what I write, and look forward to new posts, and not to fear them.

Cinna, Devin and Jez on the ZooBar beach.

Somebody had given Cinna's Evil Titler a Triviators title. Chadd claims to have evidence that one of the Triviators is trading on our team name. Who can it be???

My experience of SL has been almost all positive. I've made some really good friends, and those I haven't got on with I can avoid. I want to keep it that way.

So I'm going to set myself some blogging rules, and I'll do my best to stick to them. Isn't it a bit late to set yourself rules in your 13th post, I hear you say? Well, better late then never, so here we go:

1. I won't repeat the content of IMs in my blog without permission.*

2. If I haven't got anything nice to say about someone I'll say nothing.*

3. My opinions are just that, and should not be taken as meaning I think everyone should think that way. Well spotted, that's a rule for you and not me!

4. I will never use this blog to settle scores, not that I have many to settle.*

* Except Nelly Swindlehurst

So that's it for this post, a blog entry about blogging, if you like, a first-order derivative post. You deserve questions for lindens.

Replace the letters with the correct words. Answer in comments, please, leave your avi name and I'll pay 10L in-world for the first correct answer.

1. 6 FOAC

2. 20 FOIAP

3. 12 AM

4. 32 POACB

5. ITVODRT 600

6. 10 GBHOTW

7. 99 RB

8. 27 BITNT

9. 14 JBD

10. 1805 BOT

Inclusivity

2009-07-30T15:10:00.007+01:00

This time I'm going to talk about new players. "We were all new once" is a cliche, but is true just the same. I'm sure we can all look back on our first weeks in SL and smile at the problems we had then, and if only we'd known then what we know now. Nelly Swindlehurst told me that she even started an alt because she didn't know how to take a hat off her main avi. That would not have happened to me because I couldn't work out how to create an alt for ages. Not that I'm an alty person, the last time I used my alt was to infiltrate The Village, from where I'm banned. For those who don't know and want to, I'm banned for associating with Nelly. Click the link and Lette will tell you the story.

And this is SL, where old friends leave and new ones arrive (hi there Hilda and Luce!), which sets me off wondering about our Trivia community and how inclusive we are.

Now I think we're pretty friendly, but when I get thinking some more we are also pretty exclusive. First thing is SL trivia isn't for everyone. I'm sure some people must try it and find the level of competition is just too high. We all know it's not enough to know the answer, you have to type it fast too. I'm sure we all find some events harder than others, and I think some hosts' styles suit some players. My function as an SL host seems to be to supply Anamaria with lindens. It took me months to get a question right at ZooBar, but I seem tuned into Lette's question style.

And then we have the group dynamics stuff. I'm well aware that catchphrases and jargon are great for bonding a community together, but insider knowledge is just baffling to newcomers. And I'm probably worse than most for this. My events are full of Cultural Bias Alerts (yes Lou I stole that off you), Easter Eggs, lindens for tehs and all sorts of other in-crowd jokes.

I think harlequinade is the right word here...

...Circe hosting at Inferno, I managed to chop Lothor in two

Most hosts try to welcome everyone by name, and myself I have made gestures to quickly explain some of what's going on. I also tried asking at the start of my events if there were any new people, and asking them to IM me if they needed any help. The problem is that I always have so many things to think about that I sometimes forget to do it, or then I can't deal with 4 IMs properly.

I really would like to know what you all think about this. And thank you for reading this far, your reward follows.

Replace the missing letters, the first to answer each one correctly in comments wins 10L, paid in-world. Please tell me your name or I can't pay you!

1. 220 YIAF

2. 55 DAP

3. 9.8 MPSPS,ADTG

4. 6 NBJA

5. 27 ATTUSC

6. 13 PATLS

7. 60 YDA

8. 147 MBIS

9. 22 DOCE

10. 7 HOR

Let's run that one again!

2009-07-24T22:43:00.005+01:00

If there is a better entertainer in SL trivia I have yet to meet her. Sinnamon Sands holds court at her SinnDay event at [Monochrome]. Sinnday takes place 1pm Sundays.

After Mako's tour de force with my last set of questions, I'm going to try that again without the hard work of a new blog post.

So here's another set of questions like the last. Tell me what the letters stand for, each first correct answer is worth 10L, paid in-world. Answer in comments, and please tell me who you are. And I've made these harder, so I hope Mako and Cully don't clean up right away. They are so hard I had to write the answers down in case I forgot them myself.

Cinna combines hosting with ice cream at Double Standards!

1. 5.5 YIAR,POP

2. 23 POHC

3. 53 TLB

4. 4 WAAF

5. 10 DTSTW

6. 11 POACT

7. 11 SITCSA

8. 165 BIAR

9. 24 LITGA

10. 4 HOTA

Any questions?

2009-07-21T14:45:00.010+01:00

"Lotus, where do you get your questions from?" People sometimes ask me this in-world, and so I thought today I'd share my question writing process with you. Lette has blogged about this already, but what's the harm in a bit of brazen plagiarism? She has also touched on this subject in her interview with Shale and Chadd,, and I was really very impressed with the trouble they take over question writing.

But in an average week I ask 16 questions in each of two Lilly's main events, and then another 20 if I do Early Birds and Night Owls, which is most weeks. So that's OMG, 52 questions every week to write. And with that number of questions my motto has to be "Pile 'em high and sell 'em cheap". I like to run at least 100 questions ahead, and that means I have to keep the questions coming.

So where do my questions come from? I stole one from Gogomodo, and two from a quiz book I bought. All the rest were written with my own fair hands. And, in spite of the impression I might have given you, I do like my questions to be accurate, and I do take some care over framing the question and researching the answer. Wiki I love you so, did I tell you today?

My questions spring from three main sources. Inspiration is good, and sometimes I think of a good question and I write the idea down to frame a question later. But for churning out 25 questions, nothing works better for me than sitting at my keyboard for an hour or two's focused question writing.

My first focused method is my subjects card. I have a card with about 30 subject headings on, and I work through them in turn. So we go history, fashion, exploration, TV, literature, booze, nature... you get the message. It works well for me provided that I don't make the fatal mistake of logging onto SL. SL and serious question writing just do not mix.

And my other method is this wonderful book. The author of "The A-Z of Almost Everything" is a serial quiz show contestant, and it's aimed at quiz compilers. I can just sit and work through the book pulling out questions... films, No.1 singles, fashion designers, bingo calls, sports, capitals, cocktails... and so much else. It's a British book so I have to declare a Cultural Bias Alert, but it gets my questions written.

Oh yes, let me tell you I wrote my 1000th question for Lilly's a couple of weeks ago. I haven't asked it yet, but when I do I'm going to do something special. I'm not sure how yet, but when I do it'll for sure involve lots of Lindens.

OK, I've had enough of her, I hear you say, when is she going to hand out some Lindens? And quite right too, answer in comments please, first right answer gets 10L, paid in-world. It might be a few days before I pay you, but pay you I will. I do, of course, need your SL name to pay you.

What do the letters stand for? (* denotes UK Cultural Bias Alert, **US CBA)

1. 24 HITD?

2. 7 COTR?

3. 10 DS?*

4. 50 WTLYL?**

5. 8 PIAG?

6. 1 RTRTA?

7. 1600 PA?**

8. 12 MITY?

9. 1066 BOH?*

10. 64000 DQ?**

11. 20000 LUTS?

12. 76 TITBP

13. 7 DS?

14. 1760 YIAM?

15. 10000 HIBL?* This one's hard I think, 60L if anyone gets it before I post a clue in 24 hours' time.

Another Challenge winner!

2009-07-16T07:03:00.011+01:00

Neill shows off his unique "I'm too clever for Rev and Lotus: Trivia at Lilly's" shirt

I deliberately try to make the Challenge questions at Lilly's hard but not impossible. If you don't know, I ask a question, and if it's answered withing 5 seconds the winner gets at least 200L and a T shirt. I need to keep track of the T-shirt winners I think, and anyway a new winner always give me a chance for a new blog post.

So WTG Neill MCCullogh for winning last night's culture-fair Challenge question, or I thought culture fair for 50% of the population anyway!

And he is the first winner with a Rev and Lotus T shirt, and WD Neill!

And the question: what is the name of the protein-rich milk that comes immediately after childbirth? The answer is colostrum.

This time for Lindens I'm doing a hosts' self-referential quiz, where I want you to tell me which host you associate with:

1. Lollipops?

2. Donations are are *never* required but *always* appreciated?

3. The Wheel of Fortune?

4. Typo top 10?

5. Easter Eggs?

6. Running a category?

7. Johnny Depp?

8. Whipping out a question?

9. Kookbook?

10. Caboose?

11. Pelliculas?

12. Either/or? (It's called something else now, but if I said it would give it away)

Answer in comments please, 10L paid in world for each, no spamming so one guess per question per person please! The host's first name will do fine!

She's still about...

2009-07-14T15:35:00.009+01:00

[7:08] Lotus Ceriano: oh yes and you haven't commented on my blog you have to do that too
[7:08] Lotus Ceriano: seeing as you get mentioned more than once
[7:08] Nelly Swindlehurst: haven't commented....but i have read it!
[7:08] Nelly Swindlehurst: I'll get to work on that too
[7:08] Lotus Ceriano: what do you think, you can be honest!
[7:08] Nelly Swindlehurst: I enjoy it... I think its good
[7:09] Nelly Swindlehurst: I'm always tempted to correct your typoes though :)

[7:22] Lotus Ceriano: i could blog about you but who would be interested?
[7:33] Nelly Swindlehurst: and i bet a blog about me would get you more comments than usual :p

Sooner or later I was going to have to blog about Nelly, and I'm sure many of my readers know her well. Like so many of my friends I met her at Sharon's Diner. She was telling everyone what a great place Canada is, and if she's dropped that subject ever I missed it. If I had not met Nelly my Second Life would have been so much duller. We're both Triviators at Buccaneer Bowl, and I hosted with her for a wonderful five months at Lilly's.

Nelly had hosted before, and she held my hand when I took my first faltering steps as a trivia host in January this year. And we are, I'm sure you'll agree, such different people. She's witty and sharp where I am not, and has an amazing talent of writing questions for events just before and event during it. She picks up my typos, and lets me get away with nothing. Her questions are about all sorts of stuff like Johnny Depp and the Simpsons that I know nothing about. And ... it was great! I loved it!

Krogare, Traian and Rain enjoying a chat because Cully and Angelo advertised their Melodi event wrong! It's a nice event when it does happen.

Because of RL issues Nelly has not been hosting recently. She's still on SL sometimes, and she is still a Lilly's host. So I'm hoping we'll see Nelly back to hosting sometime. And she will never admit it, but she is even better with Lotus.

And so your 50L question. First to answer in comments gets paid in world.

In which sport is play divided into chukkas?

Coronation Street, Marks and Spencer and Absolutely Fabulous

2009-07-10T07:30:00.008+01:00

Stay with me please! With that title I've alienated most of my readers, if I have any, and I've hardly typed anything yet. I've put of this topic for a week or so, because I find it so difficult. I'm talking about culture bias in question setting and hosting, and my aim is to try and make my point without being defriended by other trivia hosts.

I'm just a wallflower at some events. If I listened to music or watched films I might get some answers at film and music themed events, but that's my problem. Please don't think I expect events to be run so I know all the answers.

But some events I just don't have a chance, and often it's because the event is so culturally biased that no-one who is not from that country can possibly get it. And, because the dominant world culture is American, it's always American themes. And I really really don't want to offend anyone in particular, but American ads, TV shows, that guy who used to say "Heeere's Johnny!", whoever Johnny is, and most US celebs are, well, just a foreign country to me.

Hey, I hear you say, pots, kettle, glass houses and stones! She's always asking all those Father Ted questions! So in a spirit of true British fairness and not a little trepidation I'll look at the last 100 questions I asked at Lilly's, asking which country the answer was to do with.

Hilda Static won the Lilly's T-shirt Challenge today, just beating Kiri to the answer, and winning 250L and a Karmel and Lotus T-shirt. The question was "what plant is absinthe and pastis flavoured with?", the answer was anise.

And the results are now in: France 5, Canada 1, UK 21.5, Germany 5 , USA 13, Rwanda 1, Russia 3, Italy 0.5, Sweden 1, Turkey 1, Mexico 1, Paraguay 1, Australia 1. Many questions have no national bias at all.

So about 20% of my questions are British, but don't forget that I host with a Polish and an American cohost. Nelly and I used to run a bias count at Lilly's but we stopped because the USA was always streets ahead. Incredibly someone once accused me of being too American. If you host try it on your own questions. Sometimes I think the bias must approach 80-90%

Of course some events are so redeye for me I never go. I have no idea if New Zealanders and Australians fill 6pm slt events bitching about cultural bias. If there are only Americans and Canadfians on at that time then there is no point in playing to European sensitivities. Oh, and, by the way, I have great admiration for players who hold their own when English is their second language (yes Bo, Krogare and Chantal, I mean you)

There is something that is particularly galling. We call blind canes white sticks over here, and soccer is football, and we have our own Monopoly board. I got in first with all those correct answers only to lose because I didn't do American. C'mon guys, give us a break!

Oh yes, Coronation Street is a British soap opera, Marks and Spencer is where we all buy our knickers as the rest of the world calls them, and Ab Fab was a 90s sitcom. You so wanted to know that.

And for 50L, answer in comments please, here's an American one to make it up to you.

Which American state was initially called Kanawha?

Triviators!

2009-07-05T08:21:00.014+01:00

This time I'm not going to be quite as self-promoting as I was last time, but my Triviator friends deserve a blog post, and I want to tell you about them.

We're to do with Buccaneer Bowl. Lette, Thornton and Lillian run Buckybowl, and it's a monthly team event with lots of lindens at stake, and I think, is maybe the Derby of SL trivia events. She would say that, I hear you saying, but I did not say there would be no self-promotion.

The idea of Buckybowl is that teams of four compete in five rounds of questions, with a bonus at the end of every round to the highest scorer in the round. The team with the most lindens at the game wins and gets to wear the Bucc Bowl Champs tag for a month, not to mention a nice pile of lindens.

Mako made this composite, that's why it's so much better than my own pictures. Here's me, Nelly, Mako, Starla and Alanna.

A long time ago when Buckybowl was just a glimmer in Lette's brain, I said to Nelly that if there was ever team trivia in SL I'd want to be on her team. And when Buckybowl came up Nelly and I formed our own team. I came up with some hopeless names, and Nelly came up with the Trivators. And so the team was born.

The Triviators in T-shirts and low-ARC items at Buckybowl 3., where we came a close second to Boomfirecirceschism.

Starla we knew from events, and we were very pleased when she agreed to join us. We thought we had a fourth but she couldn't make it so we went into Buckybowl 1 with three players. And that's where we met Alanna. I can't remember where we came in Buckybowl 1, it might have been fourth, with Trumpton being deserved winners.

Next time Nelly couldn't make it, and Lette gave us a list of unattached players. And so we got joined up with Mako the Awesome. And since then we've won 4 out of 5 Buckybowls, and I've got to know three really nice people in Starla, Alanna and Mako. Please don't think Nelly is not nice, I knew her already!

Now I don't know about you, but Buckybowl does stress me out. There is all that organising and making sure we have a team, then I worry in case my teammates show up (they always do!), then with so many good players there I'm sitting with trembly fingers poised over my keyboard. But I love it! It's a two hour adrenaline fix, and I get such a buzz when I see a Trivator name first with the right answer!

Rach encourages me to use my heels on Mako the Kung Fu Master.

Next Buckybowl is 18 July, but I'm on holiday and won't be there, and I know they'll manage without me!

And, everyone, we're hosting a Triviators Special event at Sharon's Diner on 11 July, watch the Events listing for details.

So to finish with we need a question. If you answer first in comments you get a whole 50L in-world.

So here's one for the Janeites: which character does Emma Woodhouse try to match with the local vicar, Mr Elton? Character and novel, please!

Challenge Champs!

2009-07-04T06:37:00.009+01:00

I'm just going to post a quick one this morning before I do early Birds and Night Owls. I thought from now on I'd tell you who won our Lilly's T-Shirt Challenge.

And last night's winner was none other than the dazzling Sinnamon Sands, and she won our first ever Karmel and Lotus T-shirt, with our 250L rolled over from our last event. Way to go, Sinn! I'll post a picture of her once I can persuade her to be seen in our T-shirt. She's got a Nelly and Lotus one too, but we still have Rickson and Lotus and Rev and Lotus shirts no-one has won yet.

Anamaria wearing the Nelly & Lotus version of the T-shirt

And here's our question from last night:
"Who left his plough in 458 BC to serve as Dictator of Rome?"

The answer was Cincinnatus, and an honourable mention to Less who got the answer within 5 seconds, but Sinn just got there first.

OK it's money for comments time, so for 50L tell me which actor links the BBC series "I Claudius" and Star Trek, and which characters he played?

Lilly's Irish Pub

2009-06-30T07:30:00.031+01:00

Time for some shameless self promotion. Where in SL can you find:

A wonderful Irish sim?
An Irish pub with a great ambience?
Awesome DJs every day?
Three great hosted trivia events every week?

Lilly's of course! Lilly's was one of the first trivia events I went to in SL, and as most of you know I'm one of the current hosts there.

If you haven't been you so should. Lilly and Rudi have created a wonderfully atmospheric Irish sim with the pub at the centre of it. The pub is a busy place, and it certainly isn't all about trivia, and the club features DJ sets from Chantal Glenwalker, Mars Lake, Ronin Stormwind, Accacia Brissot, Sandi Losangeles, and of course Lilly25 Connolly and Rudolf Moo themselves. And I must mention Capi who works behind the bar, and my good friend Whisper who puts so much energy into making people feel welcome. And Lilly and Rudi are such a pleasure to work for!

Trivia crew!

Chantal, Rev, Karmel, Lotus, Whisper and Lovelee at Lilly's

I've been hosting at Lilly's since January, when Nelly and I spammed Lilly's group IM demanding trivia back during the week. We took it over from Alliekatt Knipper, and kept her format of 30 questions with a halftime break. We wanted something different, so we put in the T-shirt Challenge at the end. For those who haven't been, the first person to get the challenge question within 5 seconds wins a special T-shirt and at least 200L. If there is no winner we roll 50L over to the next event.

Last night's challenge question was on the subject of Chick Lit:

Which novelist wrote "The Camomile Lawn", "Harnessing Peacocks" and "The Vacillations of Poppy Carew"? Anamaria got the correct answer Mary Wesley, but not within 5 seconds, and we rollover 250L to Friday!

The Easter Egg is a clip hidden (not very hidden) in my event notices, and the last question before the break is about the clip. Everyone who gets it in 5 seconds gets pain. I try and make it easy so anyone who did watch it will get the answer. Yesterday's clip was a cartoon clip, the questions was "where is the only place you can find lions and tigers?", and the answer is, of course, Kenya.

We have "teh" bonuses of 5L for the first person to spot my irritiating "teh" typo, and we have halftime Stand on the Rug trivia, for anyone who wants to ask questions of their own. Nelly started out at Lilly's doing half time trivia when Allie ran the event.

Hosting with Nelly has been one of the most enjoyable things I have done in SL. She hasn't been able to host lately because of RL commitments, but we have some new excting hosts at Lilly's! Rickson has his own event at Cafe Trivia but he's a Lilly's host too. Karmel was talent spotted at Sharon's Bring Your Own Trivia, and Karmel's Kookbook is always open on Fridays, which leaves us with Rev on Wednesdays, and I've already told him I'm NOT going to be his altar girl.

I need to say that the Lilly's Wednesday and Friday events aren't my events, Rudi and Alliekatt diid them before me, and I'm just one of the current hosts. But I do do Early Birds and Night Owls at 11pm on Fridays, and that is mine. I noticed when I was on at 7am UK time, that my North American friends were still about. Earlybirds doesn't have the bells and whistles of the main Lilly's events, but Chantal or Mars DJ for us if they're about and the ambience is more subdued that the usual shouty stuff we do.

Karmel of the Kookbook fame. Anamaria looks chilled and ready to take our Lindens, as usual

The last thing I have to say is that I need more comments because I'm feeling lonely! So where persuasion and cajolery don't work I'll try bribery and put a question at the end of my posts. Oh, and I just realised I hadn't enabled comments from unregistered readers, I've done that now!

If you're the first person to post the correct answer in comments you get 50L in-world, so make sure I know your SL name.

Soooo.. here we go for 50L:

Which valley has the highest mountain, the deepest lake and the biggest liar in England?

Theminess...

2009-06-28T08:03:00.014+01:00

What do Hawaii, 4th July, movies, music lyrics and TV have in common? You're right, the theme of this post is themes, and all of those subjects are themes of trivia events on this week.

I was saying in my last post that, as you might expect, players seem to host in a style that reflects their preferences as players. To digress, I also think that, while you don't have to be a star trivia player to host an event well, the best hosts tend themselves to be good players, and understand the questions, and who can be flexible with unexpected answers.

I just saw Lette do this at the post-nakieness wind-down at Chaos. She asked: "A leading banana exporter, what Central American republic borders the Caribbean & the Pacific and starts with C?" and got both Colombia and Costa Rica as answers, quickly realised it was a bad question and paid both answers. We all ask bad questions sometimes, and some hosts get into all sorts of difficulties when they do.

Rach and Lotus attempt to re

ad Lette's notecard at Chaos Truth or Dare. Chaos runs 2030 SLT Saturdays.

Visibility may be restricted due to giant rezzed phallic objects.

I rather got off my subject there, didn't I? I hardly ever do themed events because I don't much like them as a player. The problem for me is that I can spend 2 hours at a themed event and not know the answer to a single question. Ask me about comic books and, well, my ignorance is profoun. Meanwhile the others are having a whale of a time getting all the questions right. Sometimes I just don't go to an event I usually enjoy because I know I'll know nothing.

And, of course, it sometimes works in my favour. If anyone is thinking of doing a Jane Austen theme please let me know well in advance so I can keep my SL diary free! But I rather think having me get half the questions won't be much fun for everyone else.

Mako and Rach at Chaos

at Double Standards, snapshot used with permission of course!

Love the T-shirt, Rach, but are you sure a defibrillator works through a T-shirt?

I've been to some seriously good themed trivia events. Lebn Bucyk runs a sweet event "Barefoot in Furu" on Sundays at 1200. The 25 questions come in five themes of five questions, and the themes are complete nonsequiturs. Barbarians, South Pacific, Biblical Names, guitars, it's wonderful. Some themes are broad enough to allow variety, and Sharony subjects like "Rocks" or "Little" are so vague that the questions can be about almost anything. I remember Lebn saying he's been criticised for being too intellectual. Lebn, here's someone who just loves your intellectuallity, even if there might not be such a word really. Your event rocks, it so does!

Lebn hosting his Barefoot event in his cool and understated way

There is another theme to this theme too. Two of the subjects in my first paragraph are definitely American, and I have juuust a slight suspicion that the movies won't be Carry On, the lyrics won't be Pet Shop Boys and the TV won't be Father Ted. That's far too good an idea for a post to waste right now, and I rather think I'll be coming back to that one another time.

Do let me know what you think, as always!

Let me entertain you!

2009-06-25T07:27:00.002+01:00

Reading other blogs, I’ve been struck by how differently people think what makes a good trivia event. Some trivia players I know and respect seem to be saying that they like events to run at a brisk pace with a fast QPH (questions per hour, thanks Lette).

Now I was quite surprised by that. While there’s something to be said for getting the event moving along, as a player I really do like the host to go some way towards entertaining us. And 1 hour events for me are a little like shrimps: they can be delicious but in the end a little unsatisfying.

I know some people have limited time, especially those who play during work hours. Some people will just want the questions, answers and lindens, and for new players much of what goes on apart from the questions might seem exclusive and cliquey.

But that’s not me! I like to get to an event, say hi to my friends, maybe exchange a few IMs and take part in the general chat that goes with most trivia events. And I like my trivia hosts to entertain me, so step forward the great entertainers of Second life, like Sinnamon Sands, Nelly Swindlehurst and Sharon Scofield! A good host like the three S’s can fill the time between questions and get the best out of the crowd. And DJs, yes please, especially ones that take my requests and play British music. Angelo and Sinn, that's you. I mean, who can tire of the Kaiser Chiefs and Blur? Sploders don’t do it for me, but people seem to like them, so bring them on!

I blogged some of this from Circe’s Inferno event. The theme was Arabian Nights and the club was full of carpets, camels, tents and cushions. The place was packed with guests wearing harem clothing, the DJ was buzzing (no Brit music but hey not perfect here either!). The effect was magical and, for me entertaining. One player had to spoil the effect of course by having nothing appropriate in her inventory and had just woken up and not enough time to get anything, no prizes for guessing who that was.

And, I guess, we carry our likes and dislikes as players over to our hosting style. So at our Lilly’s event we have T-shirt challenge prizes with rollovers, money for typos, Easter Eggs and halftime guest trivia. Sometimes I hope it works, sometimes maybe it doesn’t, but it’s the sort of thing I like as a player and I sure enjoy doing it as a host.

Alanna, Honey and Rosalyn go Arabian Nights at Inferno

Circe's Trivia at Inferno on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at 2030

And, a final point, there are so many hosted events about right now that it shouldn’t be too difficult to find events that suit your taste in trivia, and please don't anybody think I am saying there is only one way to run trivia events.

Do let me know what you think!

Sharon's Diner

2009-06-23T17:55:00.000+01:00

Sharon Scofield sending Bo Cordoso to sleep
in the background

My first post is about where I first found true trivia love. Sharon's Diner is the first trivia event I went to as an SL newbie and I realised there was a whole world of SL trivia to tap into.

The setting is Sharon's Diner, with all the jokes about Ella the Salmon, mortality rates among the customers and visits from Environmental Health.

And it works so well. I call Sharon my hosting role model because she's just so good. She's friendly to newcomers, keeps the conversation going and, though she themes her questions, the questions have a wide enough range to stop players dominating the event.

On Mondays Sharon has started BYOT: Bring your own Trivia. The idea is that players ask questions of their own and Sharon hands out the prizes. It's one of the ways that people can try their hands at trivia hosting without the sttress of running a whole event, and the talent spotters from Lilly's Irish Pub have already recruited Karmel from Sharon's BYOT.

Until recently Wednesdays was Maggie Sewell's Wheel of Misfortune. Every fifth winner had the chance to spin the wheel for a random prize, which in my case was usually 0L but could be 1000L. Maggie's not doing it at the moment, and the new Wednesday star is Weniki Oh, the Miss Whiplash of SL Trivia.

I'm going to come back to the show element of trivia in a little while, but Sharon's Diner is an event that is far more than the sum of it's questions.

Sharon's Diner is open for business Monday-Thursday 0900-1100 SLT

Welcome to Lotus-Pocus!

2009-06-23T16:25:00.001+01:00

Joining the blogosphere...

This blog is mostly going to be about Second Life. I've been on SL for 9 months now, and created precisely three T shirts and nothing else. There has been a flurry of blogging from my SL Trivia friends, and this afternoon I was complaining about being bored to my friend Jez Oh... ...and she said "why not start a blog?" So why not? My big thing in SL is trivia, and it's going to be mostly about the love of my life, lots of useless facts, collecting in my brain ever since I could read. So welcome to my blog, and please comment as much as you want!

My inspirations for this blog are Cully Andel and Lou Nietzen's SL blogs. But the guiding star of all SL trivia blogs is Lette Ponnier's wonderful SL Virtual Trivia blog. I'll post the links once I work out how to do it!