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Scoring a Trivia Game,.. Frustration..explanation Sunday night (8-26-12) I was a volunteer score keeper for the Sunday night trivia game. For those of you who have scored before, you know that it can be a frustrating task when the answers are scored as to who got it first..........and then the various other trivia players jump all over the score keeper to say he or she got it wrong (some other person was first). Due to the complexity of the overall Internet and it's various components, each person who is playing will likely see the answers appear in a different order on their monitors than others. There is no single reason why this happens, other than the differences in connections of the various players, the path their answer takes through the Internet, their connection speed to their ISP, their PC Ram, their PC processor speed, their personal brain functions, and lastly their typing speed. Viewing the schematic topography of the Internet above, keep in mind this is a two-dimensional view. It also extends on the "Z" axis to give a three dimensional view, ie: (the same view in the front and the back), thus tripling (at least) the amount of connections inherent in the internet. In the view above there are little things that look like little stars at the edges. These are the smaller ISPs who only serve a few users. Connection speeds from these smaller ISPs are generally slower than those from the larger ISPs. The larger ISPs use fiber optic connections while the smaller ones still use copper which limits the maximum speed of connectivity to the end user. As you look toward the middle you will see clustering of many points and lines, each of which represents a switching point (routers or backbone routers)..the point... and lines connecting each point which represents a leased telephone circuit consisting of fiber optics or copper. Depending on the factors mentioned in the second paragraph above, plus your connection speed to your ISP, your speed of transmission will vary in a somewhat minisule amount compared to the Trivia Host(ess) or Host connection as well as the Scorer's connection. This amount can be as small as one micro-second or one millionth of a second. In any given case, trivia players (depending on the 2nd paragraph factors) may see an answer before another players. Some may see it at the same time (visually, although it actually arrived either sooner or later). Therein lies the dilemma. The Host or Hostess hits the enter key and the question is forwarded to that person's ISP. From there, the ISP has leased circuits going different directions toward other connection points (routers) within the ISP, or the message may leave the ISP immediately and be routed to a backbone carrier (circuit) via an IXP (Internet Exchange Point), (big router). It eventually arrives at the trivia players' PC and the Scorer's PC. The times will vary depending on all of which was mentioned previously. Some players will have to have their response routed through many circuits or routers, or some may only have one or two circuits or routers. Guess what? The one with the fewer connections will be seen first at the scorers' monitor. There was another factor involved Sunday night. Due to the influx of people from the other Friend Finder site and Big Church, I now have over 200 handles in my ignore box. Some of them, or some other people I can't stand, were in my ignore box, and I didn't (couldn't) see their answers. I don't apologize for that. They are in my ignore box for personal reasons. Some may be long term members, some not. That's enough. Good luck to the next score-keeper. AZ 
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Thank you for that explanation AZ!! It's a GAME folks.... for FUN!!! EXHALE....RELAX....ENJOY!!! I don't play regularly, but sure appreciate the time and effort of the questioner & the scorekeeper!!
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8/27/2012 4:34 pm |
Thank you for that explanation AZ!! It's a GAME folks.... for FUN!!! EXHALE....RELAX....ENJOY!!! I don't play regularly, but sure appreciate the time and effort of the questioner & the scorekeeper!! I appreciate your comments. Its kind of sad that a game that used to be fun for all participants has diminished to a game of "who's first", to be followed by arguing for the rest of the game, with the scorekeeper taking most of the heat....from generally good people overall. AZ
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8/27/2012 4:37 pm |
Thanks Bob. It was quite a night for sure. I'm afraid the Sunday night trivia game has a limited future lifespan. The eventual last participants will be a clique of those who choose to argue as opposed to having fun. The rest will be long departed. You made the right choice. AZ
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8/27/2012 5:46 pm |
I was not aware of the game - sounds way too complicated for me though. Spiritwoman ^i^
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8/28/2012 3:23 am |
Hi Skamp, Thank you for your comments. The actual Internet is quite technical, and is understood via the internals (routers, circuits, etc) by a select few people, generally working, or who have worked with it in the past in the technical design field. The lack of knowledge or interest to learn about the internals, has led it to be referred to as a "cloud" in recent technical discussions. One mistake in designing the internals and/or routing algorithms and equipment or circuits will result in slow response times or frequent outages on any given piece of the Internet. The "people I can't stand" comment was very real. There are those who I have learned to identify over the years on SFF who are just less than desirable in my world, for whatever reason, and I don't care to see their commentary. These people generally fall in either the "less than lucid", or ego-centric categories. Both ends of the intelligence graph, if you will, without a "J" curve. Yes, Rocket is right. However the degradation in the recent past year or so, to a point of arguing rather than having fun, has ruined the trivia game forever IMO. AZ
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8/28/2012 3:30 am |
BWG, Thanks for your comments. Regarding question #6, hell we'll just change it and give it to you. That makes the score either 14-10 men, or 12-12 tie, rather than the actual 13-11 men. Doesn't seem to matter when or how the score gets changed. Better late than never. Pants either won or tied, so whatever suits the reader is fine. AZ
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8/28/2012 3:37 am |
I was not aware of the game - sounds way too complicated for me though. I don't know for sure how long the trivia game has been going on, but it started before I joined SFF in July of '07. It used to be a whole lot of fun, with bantering in various commentary between participants. Now with a select few having determined that they're always first, and always right, the game isn't the same. If you want to see what it is like, just turn your profile off and lurk next Sunday. Game will be in the Boudoir room at 9:30EDT. Its the Internet that is complicated. The trivia game is just general knowledge questions, and can be answered by anyone with knowledge of the subject matter which is many and varied. Might help with your insomnia prob BTW, lol. AZ AZ
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8/28/2012 3:48 am |
Msoosey, Thanks for your comments. You and I have been in the trivia mix for a very long time, each being host(ess)or score-keeper for each other on several occasions. I appreciate your offer of being associated with you via Scorekeeper, but I have lost interest in trivia forever, and will never return. There is really no need for a BP increase or heart rate increase when trying to have fun. I was blasted from all corners Sunday night, and it just isn't worth it to me anymore. Thanks for your offer though. This was my final try after a long absence. It didn't work out. Best of luck. AZ
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AZ I was in the room but very seldom give any answers. There are some that plays - if is does go their way they get mad. These people are the ones that make trivia not fun to play anymore. I think each person should respect the score keeper and the one that host the game. After all it is a game where people should be able to come and have fun not a fuss box. AZ you done a great job and I agree with what you said about the IP also the virus protection also slow a company until it runs a check depend which one you use. Anyway you are a great person and you did a great job
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8/28/2012 8:02 am |
ET, Thanks for your comments. Now. What kind of golfing groups do you hang around with where they are wife swapping before the game?? Seems kinky or maybe just variety, lol. The ones that were PO'd probably ended up with someone 50lb overweight and couldn't even look at them let alone play golf, ya think? I agree on the sour losers comment. AZ
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8/28/2012 8:06 am |
Thanks Honeycup. Sometimes I come in there invisible also (profie disabled) just to see the ridiculous activity by others. Usually the same ones. You're also right on virus protection. For example, Norton antivirus is a horrible process and will eat PC cycles while it is processing, therefore slowing everything down. I couldn't list all the related factors, the blog was long enough as is. AZ
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8/28/2012 8:09 am |
BWG, Thanks again. We have lost a whole ton of players who don't come in any more for the reasons I have listed and what others have written in here too. I fully agree. Now I'm moving #6 back, lol. AZ
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8/29/2012 7:11 am |
ET, Hahahahaha I was just thinking maybe I should have joined a wife-swapping golfing group instead of spending time writing blogs. I may have ended up with a female resembling Jennifer Annison and therefore would have been distracted and would have been the sour loser, also missing the banquet of food. This is in contrast to the 50lb overweight person that I mentioned earlier. Trying to be aware of the possibilities is all. AZ
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