As I look at the stats from the Gridiron Challenge, I have to say one thing:
Dammit, I took a stab at 99 questions. I should have went for the even 100.
It didn't matter anyway because I racked up the dallions. My longest winning streak was 13 in a row, and I ended the contest getting seven straight correct.
Yes, that was self-serving, so let me get to other people's stats.
There was one person that went 9-for-9 and had 2,387 points. The person played for only four of the 12 days. Extrapolating it, this person was on pace to get more than 7,000 points, which would have put him or her in the top four.
However, this is all predicated on the player not missing a question (that would mean 27-0 and getting nine bonuses) and answering it at the same rate every time (which turns out to be spending 9 seconds for each question).
So there is a fine line between playing every question possible and cherry picking. Reason being, there's another person that answered 44 questions, the sixth most among the participants. However, this person went only 20-for-44 and won't even get a T-shirt.
I'm kind of torn on which strategy works. I still believe cherry picking is a better option, but if you go up against someone that plays a heavy volume, that might not work.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Take a break. Win some loafers (or an iPod).
Greetings all.
I'm Francisco, one of the folks behind The Game That Plays You. Just wanted to introduce myself and talk a little about what Ringorang is and isn't.
It is always on.
It is single-player.
It is social, too.
It is playing for prizes.
It is hard core casual.
It is a trivia game.
It is NOT like any other trivia game you've ever played. Which is where that "game that plays you" bit comes in.
Nifty phrase, right? But you're wondering, "what does that mean exactly?" Well, if you've checked out our teaser demo or played one of our early mini-games, you'll quickly discover a new type of play pattern. This isn't something you have to set time aside for. It's designed to pop up at random times, hit you with a question, and then disappear. The whole process takes roughly 35 seconds. The dallions (our point system) you accrue in those seconds will add up as you keep playing, and you'll be able to redeem them for the proverbial shiny new pair of loafers. By loafers I am referring to gift cards and T-shirts and iPods and such.
That's how the game that plays you actually plays you. We give you an inch and would love it if you took a mile. In less than 60 seconds.
So, if you're looking to slack off at work, sorry. May I suggest LOLcats for purposes of procrastination. No prizes, but they are mighty funny.
I'm Francisco, one of the folks behind The Game That Plays You. Just wanted to introduce myself and talk a little about what Ringorang is and isn't.
It is always on.
It is single-player.
It is social, too.
It is playing for prizes.
It is hard core casual.
It is a trivia game.
It is NOT like any other trivia game you've ever played. Which is where that "game that plays you" bit comes in.
Nifty phrase, right? But you're wondering, "what does that mean exactly?" Well, if you've checked out our teaser demo or played one of our early mini-games, you'll quickly discover a new type of play pattern. This isn't something you have to set time aside for. It's designed to pop up at random times, hit you with a question, and then disappear. The whole process takes roughly 35 seconds. The dallions (our point system) you accrue in those seconds will add up as you keep playing, and you'll be able to redeem them for the proverbial shiny new pair of loafers. By loafers I am referring to gift cards and T-shirts and iPods and such.
That's how the game that plays you actually plays you. We give you an inch and would love it if you took a mile. In less than 60 seconds.
So, if you're looking to slack off at work, sorry. May I suggest LOLcats for purposes of procrastination. No prizes, but they are mighty funny.
Monday, September 29, 2008
The next challenge
With the Gridiron Challenge over, I'm awaiting the next game.
I did pretty well in this contest, even though you didn't see my name on the leaderboard. That's because I was playing alongside, answering questions and comparing my scores to you all on the list.
And yes, I was way ahead of TopShelf, our winner. Way ahead.
For those who don't know, we've postponed the second Gridiron Challenge until a later time. But a new, different game is coming, and I think it's going to be as challenging as the previous two. More will be revealed in the coming days.
I mentioned the scoring system change that was in place with the current game, and it provided an opportunity for higher scoring. That was correct.
A couple weeks ago, I mulled over different ways of "playing the game." There's several ways to play the game, but here's the one way I totally missed.
Be active.
TopShelf picked up more than 16,000 points and his win percentage was 87 percent.
Now get this: The runner-up, guy2BS, also had a win percentage of 87. What was the difference? The volume of questions.
TopShelf answered 81 questions and got 71 correct. Guy2BS got 41 questions and answered 36 correct.
My strategy was all about answering the questions you knew. But it seems as though that is the grey-area strategy. If you're active, you're going to win. Keep that in mind as the next competition begins.
By the way, I just received the statistics from the Gridiron Challenge, so I'll be talking more about the statistics I see.
I did pretty well in this contest, even though you didn't see my name on the leaderboard. That's because I was playing alongside, answering questions and comparing my scores to you all on the list.
And yes, I was way ahead of TopShelf, our winner. Way ahead.
For those who don't know, we've postponed the second Gridiron Challenge until a later time. But a new, different game is coming, and I think it's going to be as challenging as the previous two. More will be revealed in the coming days.
I mentioned the scoring system change that was in place with the current game, and it provided an opportunity for higher scoring. That was correct.
A couple weeks ago, I mulled over different ways of "playing the game." There's several ways to play the game, but here's the one way I totally missed.
Be active.
TopShelf picked up more than 16,000 points and his win percentage was 87 percent.
Now get this: The runner-up, guy2BS, also had a win percentage of 87. What was the difference? The volume of questions.
TopShelf answered 81 questions and got 71 correct. Guy2BS got 41 questions and answered 36 correct.
My strategy was all about answering the questions you knew. But it seems as though that is the grey-area strategy. If you're active, you're going to win. Keep that in mind as the next competition begins.
By the way, I just received the statistics from the Gridiron Challenge, so I'll be talking more about the statistics I see.
The exclusive Madden
One of the debates still going on is whether any Madden version past 2004 have been any good. A lot of people claim that EA had gotten soft since it signed a five-year exclusivity deal with the NFL.
If you ask a video game player, they'll tell you that NFL 2K5 was perhaps the best football game of the last 10 years. Those same people will bash Madden players as well as the Madden Challenge, the annual national tournament series.
This is my answer to all of those 2K lovers: When is it time to say goodbye?
You see, 2K5 featured an unstoppable Randy Moss ... on the MINNESOTA VIKINGS. Not the Oakland Raiders or the New England Patriots (where he currently is). Cris Carter is still in the game (he's now with the NFL Network), so is Rich Gannon (a commentator), Jeff Garcia (benched), Eddie George (reality show) and Drew Bledsoe (retired).
You can only love a sports game so far before you have to say goodbye. It can't be your staple game. And I think three years is enough. There's so much re-living that you can do with a sports video game.
And before anyone says that glitches have killed the Madden series, think about this: there's glitches in every game. It's not the players' fault they're exposing them. Blame the developers for not catching them in time.
There also seems to be this "code of ethics" in which you are not allowed to run the same play more than twice because it's not the way actual football is played. But this isn't actual football. This is a video game.
Especially in a tournament, you perform the plays needed to win. If that means running a fullback dive 20 times in a game, you do it if it's successful.
If you ask a video game player, they'll tell you that NFL 2K5 was perhaps the best football game of the last 10 years. Those same people will bash Madden players as well as the Madden Challenge, the annual national tournament series.
This is my answer to all of those 2K lovers: When is it time to say goodbye?
You see, 2K5 featured an unstoppable Randy Moss ... on the MINNESOTA VIKINGS. Not the Oakland Raiders or the New England Patriots (where he currently is). Cris Carter is still in the game (he's now with the NFL Network), so is Rich Gannon (a commentator), Jeff Garcia (benched), Eddie George (reality show) and Drew Bledsoe (retired).
You can only love a sports game so far before you have to say goodbye. It can't be your staple game. And I think three years is enough. There's so much re-living that you can do with a sports video game.
And before anyone says that glitches have killed the Madden series, think about this: there's glitches in every game. It's not the players' fault they're exposing them. Blame the developers for not catching them in time.
There also seems to be this "code of ethics" in which you are not allowed to run the same play more than twice because it's not the way actual football is played. But this isn't actual football. This is a video game.
Especially in a tournament, you perform the plays needed to win. If that means running a fullback dive 20 times in a game, you do it if it's successful.
Monday, September 22, 2008
The subtle difference
We could be seeing some record scores with our Gridiron Challenge, and I think it's because of two changes, one of them which is very subtle but huge.
In first place, we have TopShelf, at 8,481 points. It's surprising because second place has only 4,711 points. These scores are way ahead of what we saw during the Ringolympics challenge.
Two factors come into play: the new structure, and the player's ability.
I figured the player ability has to increase because we're talking about a mainstream topic: American football. I think a lot more people are going to know about the history and intricacies of American football than the Olympics. Yes, the Olympics are a much-more recognized event and have been around for more than 100 years. Then again, it only comes to some people's minds every 3 years, and to the whole world every 4 years. American football is in the media perhaps 11 months out of every year, be it the draft, player trades, or off-the-field issues.
The new structure could be more important than the player ability. You might not have noticed, but it is huge.
If you answer three questions in a row correctly, you get a 150-dallion bonus. Ok, you knew that. However, unlike the Ringolympics challenge, you can skip questions in the Gridiron Challenge and still get the bonus.
Let's take some examples and put them into both contests. If you answered two correctly and then did something else, what would happen?
Ringolympics Challenge
Right-Right-Wrong-Right: No bonus
Right-Right-Pass-Right: No bonus
Right-Right-Skipped-Right: No bonus
Right-Right-Timedout-Right: No bonus
Gridiron Challenge
Right-Right-Wrong-Right: No bonus
Right-Right-Pass-Right: Bonus
Right-Right-Skipped-Right: Bonus
Right-Right-Timedout-Right: No bonus
That's a big difference. If you don't know it, you're not punished if you tell the game, "I don't know so I'll pass."
I think those changes are going to result in higher scores, because we're not punishing those that don't know or aren't playing the game consistently.
Take advantage of these gifts we give you. You don't have to play the game every hour (although it helps if you want to win the iPod), and you don't have to painfully guess (because there's a 75 percent chance of being wrong).
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Mobile Fetish
I'm Alex, I'll be blogging about mobile devices.
I remember the time when phones were so big that they had their own bags. When having a phone back then meant you were important. We've come so far since those old days, that now anybody has mobile phone. You're almost looked down upon if you don't have one.
I remember my first phone. How I loved my phone. It was HUGE maybe as big as a brick. It was a simpler time back then. When people made plans days, even weeks ahead of time and kept them. I was a rare individual meaning that on a whim or spur of the moment I can round up my friends on the fly or if something happened I would know right away. The phone was a Godsend in the time before email and the internet.
That was it and since then I've been hooked on mobile devices.
Today everything you can think of is on a mobile device. All the bells, whistles and shiny lights you can shake a stick at.
Let me try to take you through the some latest and most interesting that I run into.
Ringorang's beginnings. I feel like a proud father who is finally doing a scrap book once his kid is already in school. Beta test our first piece at Ringorang beta.
Ringorang's been some years in the making, but is now making its debut as a casual game that plays you. Born of media convergence, Ringorang is actually a platform that engages you and me with sponsors with pop culturalists with geeks with gamers with techies with moms with kids with the world at play. Ringorang socializes commerce. And commercializes socializing. And incentivizes everything you love to do online and on mobile.
But whoa, one thing at a time. First, it's a game that plays you. So stay alert. Happy to finally be able to draw back the curtains on this.
Ringorang's been some years in the making, but is now making its debut as a casual game that plays you. Born of media convergence, Ringorang is actually a platform that engages you and me with sponsors with pop culturalists with geeks with gamers with techies with moms with kids with the world at play. Ringorang socializes commerce. And commercializes socializing. And incentivizes everything you love to do online and on mobile.
But whoa, one thing at a time. First, it's a game that plays you. So stay alert. Happy to finally be able to draw back the curtains on this.
About the authors
I'm Francisco. My business card says "Creative Development." I write and edit all the trivia for Ringorang, and expand on one question per day here on the blog (you can find all these posts labelled "Q du jour").
I'm a big movie fan and foodie, so apologies in advance if there are lots of those questions. It is my goal to create a joke answer for one question that is so hilarious it actually causes you to stumble over and not answer. I take it very personally when people have really high scores in Ringorang, so take note that the better you do, the harder I will make the next day's batch of questions ;)
I have a very rare (and possibly worthless) degree in screenwriting from the University of Southern California and can be found at the LA Coliseum in a #3 Carson Palmer jersey on game days. Otherwise, you can follow me on Twitter (@ciscoman) or e-mail me (francisco@ringorang.com) or just shout really, really loud. I have decent hearing.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
I'm Glenn. I write. I give you inside info.
That's it.
You're still here? Oh, OK.
I'm one of the team members of Vergence Entertainment, and I do a lot of writing. I've started this blog to give you a peek inside our world. Actually, if you were to ask me, I hate saying the word "blog." I prefer "online journal," even though the hip term is blog.
I have lots of passions, two of them being video game competitions and pizza. Yes, I've been to nearly 200 locations since I've been born. As for that video game thing, I was a former competitor, from 2000-06. I've won five championships, including a state title in "Dance Dance Revolution." I also finished sixth in "Mario Kart DS" for the Evolution World Championships 2006.
OK, so you think pizza will give you instant diabetes and video games are the great evil. You don't care for those dangers ...
Alrighty.
I've had two books published. I worked as a newspaper reporter starting when I was 15 (and I was given legitimate sports games to cover. You'll never see THAT happen in this day of journalism).
The picture above is my Mii character. Yes, in real life I have a shaved head (people love rubbing it for some odd reason) and one of my favorite colors is Orange.
If you have any questions for me, send them to gcravens@vergence-ent.com
Intros, endings and blue shells
How's it going, blog world?
A personal crutch of mine is having to introduce myself and say goodbye. I just don't know what to say on either end. I usually like getting down to business.
What you'll hear from me is everything that has to do with the video game world. Not just the new games or what's cool. I'm about the interactive games, the arcade games (if arcades are still alive in your area) and the competitive gaming scene.
Oh boy, the competitive gaming scene.
I competed in video game tournaments from 2000-06, my last event being the Evolution Fighting Game World Championships. I finished sixth in Mario Kart Double Dash. It was perhaps the most painful of the tournament finishes.
The blue shell is a death knell to whomever is in first place. Actually, I take that back, because you can dodge it. And for five months, I had blue shell dodging down pat.
I was in the semifinals with three other players. The top two players advanced to the finals. After two sub-par results, I stormed back with a first-place finish in Race No. 3. All I had to do was finish two places ahead of this other guy (I think his name was Death Racer) and we would face off in a tie-breaker.
We even played on my best course, and I had a good sized lead going into the final lap. Death Racer was in fourth. This was looking even better now. But on the final turn, everyone started catching up. Uh oh. And then I hear it ... a blue shell.
I get ready.
The blue shell hovers over my kart.
I turn my kart to dodge it.
It didn't work.
I was engulfed in blue, as the other three racers stormed on by. I wanted to throw my Nintendo DS all the way across the ballroom at the Red Rock Casino and Spa (yes, they hold tournaments in elegant ballrooms).
There went my chance at $5,000. Instead, I played in the consolation round, where the top prize was $750. I finished sixth, and I got $500.
It was fun to be on such a big stage in a high-pressure situation. The downside was the ending.
A personal crutch of mine is having to introduce myself and say goodbye. I just don't know what to say on either end. I usually like getting down to business.
What you'll hear from me is everything that has to do with the video game world. Not just the new games or what's cool. I'm about the interactive games, the arcade games (if arcades are still alive in your area) and the competitive gaming scene.
Oh boy, the competitive gaming scene.
I competed in video game tournaments from 2000-06, my last event being the Evolution Fighting Game World Championships. I finished sixth in Mario Kart Double Dash. It was perhaps the most painful of the tournament finishes.
The blue shell is a death knell to whomever is in first place. Actually, I take that back, because you can dodge it. And for five months, I had blue shell dodging down pat.
I was in the semifinals with three other players. The top two players advanced to the finals. After two sub-par results, I stormed back with a first-place finish in Race No. 3. All I had to do was finish two places ahead of this other guy (I think his name was Death Racer) and we would face off in a tie-breaker.
We even played on my best course, and I had a good sized lead going into the final lap. Death Racer was in fourth. This was looking even better now. But on the final turn, everyone started catching up. Uh oh. And then I hear it ... a blue shell.
I get ready.
The blue shell hovers over my kart.
I turn my kart to dodge it.
It didn't work.
I was engulfed in blue, as the other three racers stormed on by. I wanted to throw my Nintendo DS all the way across the ballroom at the Red Rock Casino and Spa (yes, they hold tournaments in elegant ballrooms).
There went my chance at $5,000. Instead, I played in the consolation round, where the top prize was $750. I finished sixth, and I got $500.
It was fun to be on such a big stage in a high-pressure situation. The downside was the ending.
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