Daily tournament announcement

Congrats to ... oh wait, we haven't started the daily tournaments.

But for certain, you can see a message everyday on the blog regarding the daily tournaments. We'll be announcing the winners here (and on all of our other networks) as well as giving you a status update on how things are shaping up. It's a quick cup of coffee for you all. Actually, it's probably more like one of those 4 ounce paper cups that have the fireworks design on it.

Also, to the right, just below our Twitter feed, you'll see the graphic for the Daily Tournaments list. If you ever want to know who has won a daily competition, check there as well. Keep in mind that a person's name will only show up once a week because of the competition rules.

If you have any questions for us, fire away here or let us know in the feedback forum.

What to shoot for in the daily challenge

The team and I are excited for next week, when the daily tournaments begin. And I think it's in part because we don't know what's going to happen. It could be really great, great, or below average.

Now, we have ideas of how it will go because I crunched numbers and made estimates and guesstimates. But, as I've said a million times, you can make statistics sing any song you want. We have an idea but we truly won't know until the competition begins Monday.

How do I think it will go? Personally, I think there will be a domino effect, and this is what I figure will happen.

* -- The maximum amount of dallions you can win is 4,200. That means you got all 12 questions correct at 300 dallions (3,600) plus the four Bonus Cities (600). Nobody's going to get 4,200 dallions; the chances of it happening are slightly worst than getting hit by lightning and dying of it.
* -- Because of that, the scores will be more sharply "pointed out" than before. The average person who gets a question right spends 7 seconds (230 dallions won) Those that get a question wrong spend about 16 seconds (140 dallions lost). With only 12 questions to win a tournament, the field will probably either spend more time to get it right, or spend less time.
* -- And with there being only 12 questions and the urgency to get them right, the field will be much closer than before. More contenders, perhaps?

I'll set the barometer right now.

1,190 dallions.

Based on the past numbers and results by everyone, that is what I think will be the average score.

So if that's the average, what do I think will it take to win?

2,970 dallions.

That's based on the gap between the top players and the rest of the field. It might be closer, or it might be wider. But if you're thinking about doing well, first aim for 1,190 dallions, then go for the 3,000 mark.

Also, keep in mind that when you win a daily tournament, you're out for the rest of the week. Friday winners can play on Monday.

Will these numbers come true? We won't know until the tournaments begin Monday.

By the way, vote in our poll below, please! =)

A change to the Question Everything Challenge

I have to admit that earlier in the week, I was nervous, wondering whether my proposal was going to get rejected, like how Rafer Alston slaps someone in the back.

But as the meeting went on, I felt a wave of momentum coming, and I rode that momentum toward what has become The Announcement that I'm going to mention right now.

= = =

The All Purpose, Question Everything Challenge will change format starting June 1.

Here's how it goes.

Instead of each week being a tournament, EACH DAY is a tournament.

Each daily tournament will start at 8 a.m. PT and end at 7:59 p.m. PT. That's 12 questions. You still won't know when the question is coming and still won't know the topic until you play it.

The winner of each day will receive a Ringorang T-shirt. We will also have a daily drawing for a Ringorang T-shirt.

The competition remains the same; you'll still get one question an hour. Think of it as "Instead of competing every week for a prize, I compete everyday for a prize."

Throughout the coming days leading up to the June 1 start, I'll talk about different parts of the change, and we would really appreciate feedback. In the meantime, I'll try to answer some questions:

If I play in Monday's tournament, can I play in Tuesday's tournament?
Of course!

What about Wednesday?
Definitely!

And Thursday and Friday?
Yes indeed!!!!!

But are there restrictions on playing?
Yes. Once you win a daily tournament, you are disqualified from winning anything for the rest of the week. However, you can keep on playing for the remainder of the week. Friday winners are eligible to play on Monday.

How do I qualify for the drawing?
Two qualifications:
1. Don't win the competition.
2. You must play three Ringorang questions. And that means ... when it says "PLAY?" you must click yes. Three of those, and you're eligible for the daily drawing.

How many dallions do I need to have to qualify for the drawing?
It doesn't matter as long as you play three questions and aren't the daily winner.

If I win the drawing, can I keep playing the rest of the week?
Yes. You can keep playing to win the daily tournament.

So, after 7:59 p.m. PT, what happens?
Absolutely nothing. You can go breathe a sign of relief or joy. Just make sure to come back at 8 a.m. PT the next day for the next daily tournament.

So there's no more overnight questions?
Nope.

Do I have a better chance of winning?
I'll explain later on why more people have a shot of winning.

Where can I find out who won the daily tournaments?
We'll post it here on the blog, and we'll have a recap in the weekly newsletter, sent out every Friday.

But are you all still going to post the questions later on?
Yep. You can go on our secondary Twitter and get the questions one hour after they were delivered.

Are we there yet?
No, and if I hear that again, I'm going to turn this car around!!!

Do I have to change accounts or sign up again?
If you've played in the past, you're good to go! If this is your first time playing, then you will need to sign up. Go here to do so.

Can I ask you guys more questions about the competition?
Yep, leave them here or head to the feedback forum.

Announcement coming later this week

Hey everyone,

Just wanted to let you know that we'll be making a big announcement later this week about the Question Everything challenge. We think you will like the change, and we're very excited to bring it to you. Stay tuned to the blog later this week for all the info.

Thanks for playing!

Quick question

The team and I are curious about something here. And although we've asked this before in previous surveys, we're bringing it up again.

You can vote on the question below:



Thanks for voting!

Remembering the Kingorang

We Love You Pasha from Team Ringorang on Vimeo.

Our dear friend, player, and team member, Pasha Phares, passed away last Friday. We met him via 12seconds.tv, where he was also a big presence, and they wrote up a beautiful piece on their blog (which includes info for making a donation to the Phares family).

He was one of our first player interviews. When Glenn asked him about his strangest experience playing a Ringorang Q, he wrote this, which I think says a lot about his stance toward the world:

The weirdest place was in the Children's Clinic examination room while my daughter was getting a checkup; I was talking to the doctor about height/weight averages when, embarrasingly, Ring-o-ding! I excused myself, answered the Q, got it right, then told the doctor that it was a page from work. My daughter knew the truth, but, knowing what's good for her, neglected to pipe up with it. Good girl! Extra lollipop!

We here at Team Ringorang, knowing what was good for us, gratefully embraced Pasha when he first came aboard as a player.

Some notable Kingorang game facts:

• Won 1st three weeks of Question Everything weekly challenge
• Top Ten finish in 9 of the first 11 QE weekly challenges
• Longest consecutive correct Qs streak (25)
• First to record a 10,000 dallion weekly score

If Ringorang players can be grouped into families based upon the person who brought them into the game, then we’ve got one big Pasha family playing along. He was one of the first, and one of the first greats. So good was Pasha that he became a veritable Ringorang T-shirt dealer. So dominant was the “Kingorang” that we really had no choice… we had to bring him on to write some trivia.

This was the second Q he wrote:I loved it. In less than 144 characters (the limit for RoR Qs) was a sly sense of humor, a dash of pride, and a depth of knowledge. Oh yeah, and also a nifty bit of trivia.

Incidentally, his first Q:I only knew him through Twitter, 12seconds.tv, and e-mail. 12seconds video replies notwithstanding, I never once spoke to the man. But I felt there was more than a trivial connection. I think it was that sense of humor, a kind of goofy wit, that I responded to. I once tweeted “Is there such a thing as a smorgasborg that isn’t veritable?” His response: "Also true for cornucopias, and who's whos."

I remember laughing for a long time and being really happy he was one of the folks on the other end of my feed.

Granted, it’s not exactly Oscar Wilde material, but here’s the thing… Snark is not a rare commodity on the Internet. But true wit is extremely rare. It requires intelligence and heart and soul. To have all that in the face of what he was dealing with, and to share it with completely random folks on the web, is amazing and admirable. I can't say I knew the man, but for a brief time, I knew that wit and admired it.

We here at Team Ringorang all think we were the better having knew it. We'll miss ya, Pasha.

You can leave your thoughts onto this 12seconds video. Here's his obituary in the Kitsap Sun. He also kept a really cool repository of all things interwebs on his blog.

UPDATE: I forgot to link to mzpete's post about Pasha. Wear your Ringorang t-shirt on May 2nd!