Near the bottom of the page, around the area where you can see the statistics for the forum, there is a new line. It looks like this (for the moment):
Trivia Leaders:
(Color of the link will depend on what style you are using, but either way it is still a link.)
When you click on the word "Trivia", you'll have a new page opened on your browser. This first page is the question page. As soon as it loads, a trivia question will be shown, and a 60 second timer will start.
Type your answer into the box provided at the bottom of the question page, and click "Submit" (on most browsers, you can just press the "Enter" key instead of clicking with the mouse.)
This will load the answer page, which will look to see if the answer you typed is correct.
If it is correct, you will get the rounded remaining time added to your score. If it is wrong, you'll get no score added.
Either way, if you'd like another question, just click on the "Try another question" link to go back and start a new round.
Repeat over and over for more questions and higher scores!
There are almost 3,000 questions in the database at the time of this writing, with many more to be added as time goes on. Some are just crazy easy, others are panic-inducingly difficult. If you don't know the answer, make a guess.
Hints
There are two hints available on the question page. Hint one will cost you 5 seconds off your time (and, therefore, 5 points off your score.) Hint two will cost you 10 seconds/points. You do NOT have to use either hint, and you can use either hint without using the other. Use them both, and it will cost you 15 seconds/points.
Hint One is a smaller hint.
Example:
Answer is: computer mouse
Hint One will show: *o*p*t*r*m*u*e (shows half the letters)
Hint Two will show: *om*ut*r *ou*e (shows two-thirds of the letters)
Together, both hints can pretty much give you the answer. Thus, the bigger penalties.
Answers
In most cases, if the answer is a number, it is to be answered with the actual number--don't spell it out.
Example:
_____ Dalmatians was a Disney movie.
Answer: 101 (good)
Answer: one hundred and one (bad)
The only exception is when the number is a part of a title, such as a book, where the number is a part of the meaning to the title.
Example: "___________ Years of Solitude"
Answer: One Hundred (good)
Answer: 100 (bad)
For names, just the last name will work in pretty much all cases. The rest of the text will be cheerfully ignored by the program.
Example: "Who was the U.S. president during the "Bay of Pigs"?
Answer: John F Kennedy (good)
Answer: kennedy (good)
Answer: jfk (no way!)
Bad Questions
OK, some bad questions are bound to sneak in. HARD questions are acceptible. But, questions containing errors or ambiguities need to be brought to my attention for repair.
Example: Unscramble: etreh
Answer: there (good)
Answer: three (bad, but accurate--needs fixing)
If you get a cranky question like this, you'll find the question's reference number at the bottom of the answer page. Send me the question number, with a brief description of what is wrong, and I'll get it fixed ASAP.
As play continues, the "Trivia Leader" line will change to look something like this:
Trivia Leaders:
Crazy-Cajun(4500) - 
Maranatha(4450) - 
Callie(4300)The big race is to see who the top three trivia plavers are by December 31st, 2010 at 11:59:59pm Eastern Time. Those three people will not only get a permanent page on the forum, to record their amazing accomplishments, but a physical reward will be mailed out to each of them (trophy, plaque, ribbons...something, still looking at ideas
)As of the time above, all scores will reset to 0, and we start it all over again--more new questions, more old questions, and everybody at the starting line anew.
Everybody is elligible for this exceptmyself and Callie (since we have built the question database, and therefore would have a small, but unfair, advantage.)
Add Your Questions
Got some good trivia questions/answers?
Send them to me, by PM or email. If we can, we'll get them converted to database forms, and get them into the question pool.
Have fun and enjoy the friendly competition!
