|
What is the purpose of this FAQ?
When is Trivia
played?
Why are
the questions so hard?
Do I
have to have high score to win?
Does spelling count?
How many
answers may I send in?
Who is That
Trivia Guy?
The question appeared late! What do I do?
Any tips
on finding the answers?
Does That Trivia Guy have anything else he'd like to add?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What is the
purpose of this FAQ?
Heck if we know. We surf the Internet and there's FAQ's everywhere,
so it seemed like the thing to do. If at the same time we help you
understand the game - so be it.
When is Trivia played?
Technically, Tuesday through Friday. We try to post the question at
9 am CST. Of course certain events can alter this slightly - i.e.
sickness, death, major sporting events, and hangovers. But we try.
Why are the
questions so hard?
First, because there are a thousand places you can go to get easy
questions. Why should we do it? Second, and perhaps most
importantly, we enjoy torturing you. We love all of our players -
but we love them like a big brother. We'll stick up for you if an
outsider tries to mess with you, but at the same time we enjoy
inflicting pain and watching you squirm. We reserve the right to
give you wedgies.
Do I have to
have high score to win?
Of course not. We realize some of you are aren't too bright. For
that reason we've rigged arranged it so that you can win with as
little as 1 point. At the end of the month, we have a drawing, You
will have one entry in the drawing for every 5 points you've earned
in that month's challenge. (less then 5 points = 1 entry). If we
pick your name - you win.
Does spelling count?
As we always say, in order to make you spell it right, we would have
to learn to spell it. Not going to happen. Spelling doesn't count
unless specifically stated in the question.
How many answers
may I send in?
ONE! Notice we screamed that. We don't like to scream - it upsets
us. But so do people who send in more than one answer. Please don't
upset us. And make sure you put your name on it!
Who is That Trivia Guy?
He runs the place. We don't like him.
The
question appeared late! What do I do?
We've had 2 or 3 instances now where the question does not appear on
players computers until late in the day. We do not know the cause of
this. The question is posted from this end at the normal time, and
we are unsure why it appears as normal for most, but not for a few.
Two things to try - First, the obvious: make sure you hit the
"refresh" button on your browser. Second, empty your temporary
Internet files. If you don't know how, consult your browser's help
function. We are continuing to look into the problem.
Any tips on
finding the answers?
As much as we'd like to make it tougher for you, our players
insisted we post these helpful tips. Take them to heart... some of
these people have been playing for years, and are consistent top
scorers. It annoys the hell out of us....
My first mode of attack is to take all the key terms in the question
and dump them all at one time into a google search. Then I check out
the hits that seem promising. If necessary, I start to eliminate
wide-reaching terms to find a more likely hit.
Another way, if I'm reasonably sure the answer is a general is to
open up the CW generals website
http://sunsite.utk.edu/civil-war/generals.html and use the "find"
feature. It works well if you know a specific year or place to
search on
If I want to try and confirm a guess I also use
http://www.famousamericans.net/ and search the name.
Find-a-grave http://www.findagrave.com/ and the political graveyard
http://politicalgraveyard.com/ are also good sites if the subject is
a politician or other well-known character.
And it doesn't hurt to have some good tangible references, such as
Boatner's CW Dictionary, or Generals in Blue, Generals in Gray, and
Who Was Who in the Union and the Confederacy.
.............................. Pat Caldwell
Here is my list, in no particular order. I hope someone finds it
helpful.
Generals in Blue -- Warner
Generals in Gray "
The Civil War Dictionary -- Boatner
Who Was Who in the Civil War -- Sifakis
Historical Times Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Civil War -- Faust,
editor
More Generals in Gray -- Allardice
The Civil War Day by Day -- Long
The Civil War Almanac -- Bowman, editor
Battles and Leaders
The Internet and several hundred other books depending on what
subject needs
to be researched.
.........................Larry Gebing
Read all you can on every aspect of the Civil War, {start with the
Mexican War}, I don't expect most people to have an extensive
collection as I do, but three books that I would say are a must to
have are,1. The Civil war Dictionary,by Mark M. Boatner, 2. The
Longest Night,by David Eicher, and 3. The Illustrated Battle Cry of
Freedom, by James M. McPherson ! Try to stay away from Civil War
High Commands,by Eicher and Eicher, it will only confuse those who
are novices. By the Authors own admission, the book was quickly
done, the research not treble checked, and is full of errors and
inaccuracies. Use GOOGLE as a last resort.
........................... Troy Pothoff
My techniques vary but normally I pick out most of the key words and
do a Google search, then I start eliminating words that show up too
much in order to narrow the search. If the person seems unique in
some way I'll search on just that aspect of the person, like the one
yesterday about the Egyptian Army I used that alone to find the guy.
I also have a few key websites that have biographies and allow me to
search within them or use the find function in Explorer. The Sunsite
Civil War Generals, the Victorian Order of Battle Site and the
Political Graveyard are probably my top three sites on most days for
finding the most answers.
.........................David White
I use many search engines, rephrase and try again. Growing up
learning love of history and the civil war made me interested in
finding out different facts on the subjects. So I have a collection
of books, usually too lazy to go and use them, but discovered and
bookmarked sites like, MOA, Louisiana's Civil War , Battles by
States, Americans in Egypt, Bios of famous people. Sometimes I work
backwards. For Scott, I used my genealogy sites, and then checked
Winfield's Bios where his son in law is mentioned in three different
sites. Maps for different places. Sometimes its just a list of names
and each has to be checked out. Political Graveyard, Congressional
Bios, really too many too mention. Its all online, it takes time,
sometimes if I'm in a hurry and don't double check and miss it. A
weekend I can run to the library if I'm desperate.
...........................Barbara Johnson
Sometimes I look for the answer at a "U.S. Civil War Generals" site.
If that comes up empty I'll take a name, date, event, etc. from the
question and do a general internet search to try to "connect the
dots". Also, can't rule out those good ol' fashioned paper and ink
books. They can work as good as the internet sometimes...
........................John Simonski
Does That Trivia Guy have anything else he'd like to add?
Well, yes I do. Thank me for asking. Here's some random thoughts and
suggestions:
The point of CWi's Trivia Challenge is to learn. We pick questions
and answers about people and events we find interesting, and that we
would like you to know about. Even when you look and don't find the
answer, you'll have learned something.
Never assume. The "J. Davis" in the question may not be the one you
think it is. The "Washington" may not be where you think it is.
"Bull Run" may not be the first battle there. Always be aware of
traps and tricks. We can be devious. We enjoy it.
Remember that we're dealing with an event a century and a half ago.
For every event, there are a thousand sources. Some differ.
Occasionally we screw up, and that's fine. We'll get through it. On
rare occasions we have to void a question due to an error, but we
try to be as thorough as possible. Unless we just decide to play
with your head.
Never take the game too seriously. Have fun. Enjoy the company. That
will be all. Dismissed....
|
