Frequently Asked Questions
1. |
Hey, can I use these questions for my quiz? |
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Yes! All the quizzing material on this site may be freely used! All that I request is that you also keep it free. An acknowledgment of the site will be appreciated. |
2. |
Why another trivia site? What is so different about TriviaBug? |
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TriviaBug provides a high quality resource for quizzers by addressing the below: (a) Quizzing is a diverse area and caters to a wide range of appetities. At one extreme, you have the pub quiz type where the emphasis is on pop-culture and at the other end is the Quiz Bowl standard where you hear of books and operas that even their authors would have forgotten about. This site attemps to find a middle ground between the two. (b) Almost all trivia sites have questions in a multiple choice format to aid in easy scoring. For seasoned quizzers however, the greatest joy of playing trivia comes from being able to 'workout' the answer. Seeing the answer out in the open, regardless of how well the incorrect choices wrap it, takes the fizz out of the entire experience. (c) Along with the answer, it would be nice to read something about it as this not only helps one better remember the answer but also gives a good context to the question-answer set. However, you seldom see this done anywhere. (d) There are times when you want to be quizzed on a particular topic only. For example, you want somebody to ask you famous taglines of movies in quick succession. The traditional question/answer format is not ideal in such a case as the topic is already known. The format you see in the List Quizzes section handles this. (e) Finally, when you want a quiz, you just want a quiz. Not ads or mailing list sign-ups! |
3. |
Why is there no scoring for any quiz? |
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Because it is very difficult to create a good scoring quiz in the web format. Multiple choice is out for reasons mentioned in the previous response and even if people are willing to type in their answers (which most hate), there are serious difficulties in valuating an inexact match of the answer. For example, if a correct answer were 'bellwether', you would want to tonk me if 'bellweather' were marked incorrect. But if I allow for a single mismatch and the correct answer were 'dove', then 'love' would pass when it shouldn't (no matter how nice it sounds!). Trivia is simply too subjective for any automated rule to evaluate answers. If you really think about it, hiding an answer is all you need to play. Scoring is meaningless when you can take the same test more than once anyway. |
4. |
How about a contest? |
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The only meaningful trivia contest is one that does not allow anyone to google around or take helplines. Online search is so powerful that one can figure almost anything with a few clicks and having an open contest is not fair on those who do not have the time/intent to search. If you do not believe me, take a question from the Friday Challenge, take the keywords and use google and you will see what I mean. |
5. |
How often is the site updated? |
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(a) New Picture Quiz and the '50 Random Quiz' (in Lists) are generated daily. (b) Seven Q&A Questions are added every week through the 'Friday Challenge!' and the answers to the previous challenges go into their respective Q&A categories. (c) New Lists are added as and when I find time. |
6. |
Why are you doing this? |
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To provide a free and fun quizzing service as a hobby. It is hard to play trivia on the net without dealing with well-worn multiple choice questions and annoying ads.
Besides when someone says 'free', it has to be free without the need to subscribe to an email list! Here, you do not have to worry about costs, streaming ads or meaningless open contests.
If your real question is "Do you intend to make money off this?", the answer is no :). TriviaBug is ad/cost free and will stay that way. |