Birth of a LLama

[ntndeacon]

So I'm excited about the online trivia league that has been talked about earlier this summer. I thought I would share my progress in this initial season.

First off, the league is called LearnedLeague. It is a head to head league where you are pitted against one person a day to see who gets the best score. There are six trivia questions each day. Everyone in the LearnedLeague plays the same questions. The key to it is the number of questions answered correctly doesn't matter as much as the points you get from answering them.

Points come from your opponent's idea on how you'll do in a certain category. For the six questions, everyone chooses a defense to give your opponent. You must choose the following numbers...3,2,2,1,1,0
Note that one of the questions will not be counted. And one will be worth 3. So you give the 3 to the question you think your opponent won't know. And the 0 to the one they are going to breeze through.

There are 2 big rules in LearnedLeague ...
1. Though shall not cheat.
You are allowed to only use your brain and possibly pencil and paper. No calculator. No map. No asking friends.
2. Thou shalt not Forfeit.
Play everyday.

Each person is put in a group called a rundle. You play only members from your rundle. And since I'm new, I'm in a rookie rundle.

The other cool thing is next season relies on how you'll do. Relegation and Promotion.. Woohoo.

[ntndeacon]

The title should be explained. People in the LearnedLeague are called LLamas.

[RPI-Fan]

Interesting dynasty! It appears that a referral is required to join. Would you mind signing me up for a referral? Will PM you my email.

[ntndeacon]

A couple of things about my rundle.
1. We have 20 people in it, so I will be playing 6 of them twice.specifically the first 6 I play, I 'll play again.
2. You are in the league of the one who refers you. in fact they have branches so you can see where you came from (game wise). I am in Rundle R Delta Div 2. There is no difference between Div 1 and 2. it just means there were enough in our league and level to have 2 different rookie rundles.

[ntndeacon]

So for Rundle R Delta Division 2 , I have several goals.
GOALS
1. Get more than half the questions. this means by the end of the season I should have at least 75 correct answers.
2. Get put in Rundle B.

There are 6 levels for LLamas. R, which I am in, and A,B,C,D,E. The trivia elite are in A, the next best B, and so forth.
In my particular Rundle, The Top 3 go to Rundle B. The next 4 go to Rundle C. The next 5 go to Rundle D, and the last 8 go to E.
2a) So If I can't make top 3, then I want to be NO worse than 7.
3) I would like to have more correct answers than my referrer. Just because I'm competitive like that.
4) I also would like to finish ahead of the other guy that was referred by my referrer.. Again Competition is a healthy thing.

[Radii]

Originally Posted by ntndeacon

1. Get more than half the questions. this means by the end of the season I should have at least 75 correct answers.

Good luck. I won on the first day with 1 question correct.

[ntndeacon]

MD1
Me 7(5)-HayesM 0(1)
So the number in the parentheses is the number of questions correct. The number outside the parentheses is the number of points gotten by getting the questions correct.

Of the six questions, I missed the World History question. The answer was Zapata and I went with the other possible answer I thought of...Villa. My defense was perfect, but only because my opponent got one right. And I thought it was very easy so I hit it with a big 0.

[Young Drachma]

We need a FOFC rundle bad. Then I'd come back. Maybe I'll do this at some point. League would be way more fun if Quik or some else was doing the questions.

Good luck this season though, rooting for ya! Defense is really important, it took me half a season to realize that and once I did, things got way better. Don't give them points on obvious shit, make them earn 'em.

[ntndeacon]

Thanks! Yesterday it was easy to give one question the 0. What did Jack trade for magic beans? That seemed to be an auto 0. The tough part was assigning the 3. I put it on the second most correctly answered question. Hopefully I did better today.

[ntndeacon]

MD2
Me 5(3)-DolanK2 1(1)

This was a harder group of questions than day 1. There was only one that was an obvious answer to me. However I was able to figure another out. The third was between two possible answers. This time I chose correctly.

+2 on getting half the questions. It's early yet though.

[Young Drachma]

I used to put the 3 on questions where it seemed esoteric or hard or something you doubt they'd know based on their history of answering questions. I'd look at each matchup when you have time to figure that out, and it tended to work okay.

[ntndeacon]

MD3
Me 2(3)-2(1) T

This was a rough batch. I had heard of all the answers, but they were out of my head. And lucky for my opponent, he played a perfect defense and I didn't. I fell to 4th. But I haven't played any of the ones ahead of me yet.

[ntndeacon]

A word on referrals.
New members enter the league at the start of each season. Luckily several members of our fine community have been sharing their referrals with us. Most folks have either one or two. LL75 will start on November 13. Before that, I assume that the LearnedLeague post will be alive and well with people who have referrals to share. Unfortunately I have promised my next season's referrals already. I appreciate y'all paying attention to my little dynasty.

[digamma]

Small sample size so far, but this season's questions have been brutally hard.

My referral for the end of this season is committed to Comey, but there are a few of us, as we begin to expand there.

[digamma]

Originally Posted by ntndeacon

Thanks! Yesterday it was easy to give one question the 0. What did Jack trade for magic beans? That seemed to be an auto 0. The tough part was assigning the 3. I put it on the second most correctly answered question. Hopefully I did better today.

In the rookie rundle, you're flying blind and have to base it mostly on the questions alone. Once you get assigned to a ladder rundle, you can see people's question history and know to pretty much always assign 3 to classical music questions for me.

[ntndeacon]

I'll have 2 referrals. One will go to my local trivia group, the other to RPI-fan

[QuikSand]

I don't yet understand WTF you all are saying, but the gist of it seems up my alley. If a referral comes free, please keep me in mind.

[ntndeacon]

MD4
Me 5(3)-0(0)BrooksN2

Today I thought the questions were a little easier than yesterday. I had a moment where I got upset with myself. I immediately said one answer...yellow dog contract...then said no that can't be right. It's yellow dog democrats. I must be wrong. So I just put an answer up to fill that spot..yellow paper... I felt silly.

Day 6-10 are gonna be harder. I'm playing several of the better folks. Including my referring person's other referral.

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

I don't yet understand WTF you all are saying, but the gist of it seems up my alley. If a referral comes free, please keep me in mind.

I think I will probably rejoin next season and do a private rundle so that we can host FOFC-esque games there now that there a bunch of you all playing (which is great.) I don't really enjoy beating everyone else in the game, but playing against familiar folks with our own questions would be a lot more enjoyable.

Stay tuned.

(Though I did look and apparently, even with a private rundle, only people who pay can play in them. Which seems lame to me...but whatever. I'd get more referrals that way.)

[ntndeacon]

MD 5:
Me 5(4)-MarchiondaC 0(0)
The next 5 games will be much more difficult than the first 5. The next three matches are against the folks in 5th, 6th, and 1st respectively. This ext one coming up is important anyway (Yes, I realize all the games are important) since it is against the other referral of the one who referred me.

At the 1/5 mark...How stand the goals?
1.half the questions correct? check. I'm at 18 correct after 5 days...at a +3 there.
2. am I in the places for Rundle B? Rundle C? check. The top 3 go to Rundle B and I am currently in 2nd.
3. Am I ahead of my referrer in Correct answers? check. it's close but currently up by 2.
4. Am I ahead of the other referrer ? check both in placement and in total answers! woohoo! points by 2 and Correct answers by 3. ( This could easily change in the next grouping of games!)

So far, I am a little above where I supposed I would be. But as I said, this next group of games is really going to sort out the top pretty well.

[ntndeacon]

MD 6:
Me 8(4)- PerilloB 3(3)
This was the first of three battles that will be a rough stretch. All three could beat me on a given day. One of the big diferences today in addition to getting one more correct, was me getting the 3 pointer and him missing his.

[britrock88]

This is fun! I'd also be interested in any spare referrals that might appear down the road.

[britrock88]

And peeking at your group standings, you look like you're on track for a top-two finish.

[ntndeacon]

I'm hopeful of that britrock! At least top three. Pollock on Tuesday is gonna be tough. and Friday'ss match wont be easy either. both are at worse C rundlers, I believe.

[Young Drachma]

Keep at it. Defense! it's how I won my rookie rundle by a point.

[ntndeacon]

MD7
Me 3(3)-KahanK 3(2)

It's a tie. This was tougher for me than several folks in the rundle. He played better defense than I did. Which led to the tie.

[ntndeacon]

MD8:
Me 6(4)-PollockJ 4(4)
This was a HUGE win for me. I suspected all day that he had beaten me. (This was his first non win all season) But as Young Drachma keeps preaching...D Fence! My opponent hadn't gotten a games/sports question yet so I tossed the 3 there. and a 2 on the Theater question. My misses were less obvious to him. the World history and Bus/econ questions made me scratch my head.
I am now in first in my rundle. with 14 points. I'm actually tied with Pollock in points but I am ahead of him in match point differential...(the amount of points I beat my opponents by. )
to get in B rundle 12 points
to get in C rundle 10 points (MPD 9)
to get in D rundle 7 points
So I 'm happy where I am at the moment.

[Young Drachma]

Well done! You're in very good shape. Keep up the good work.

[Radii]

I, on the other hand, am getting an average of one question right a day and wondering when I turned stupid.

Well done!

[ntndeacon]

MD9
Me 5(3)-DamlujiN 0(1)

I talked myself out of a right answer for the Classical music question. And talked myself into a correct answer for American History. SO I guess I can't complain. (But I kinda want to... I want them ALL to be right!) I am still tied for first, and ahead on MPD.

[Young Drachma]

Nice work! That's a good win for the point differential too!

[ntndeacon]

MD10
Me 2(2)-HamilJ 0(0)
I'm sad I got under half the questions correct for the first time. Luckily my opponent didn't know them either. It included a bonehead pick of Bonanza over Gunsmoke in longest running drama in tv history. oops.

So we are at the 2/5 mark...SO it's time for another installment of where are you goalwise... (I need a better name for this portion!)

so..
1) Get more than half the questions. check. yesterday was the first day I went After 10 days I have answered 34 correctly... so a +4 there.
2. Get in Rundle B...Rundle C... Check I aam currently in 1st with 18 points
to get into B Rundle currently..16
C Rundle 12 points
D Rundle 9 points
3) Do I have more correct than my referrer? check. as I mentioned earlier I have 34 correct answers. my referrer has 33. so +1 there!
4)AM I ahead of the other referree? in points? check (I'm in first, so that was probably clear! +5 in points, in Correct Answers? check. he has 32, so I'm +2 there!

There are stats of all types, and since Young Drachma has hit on the importance of defense really hard, I will mention that my Defensive Efficiency (DE) is 0.760.

DE is calculated by the total number of UfPA(Unforced Points Allowed.....or the number of points above what a perfect defense would have given.)that I could have but didn't allow divided by the total number I could have allowed...
As I understand it.

(possible points-UfPA)/possible points

[ntndeacon]

MD 11
Me7(4)-DeanJ 4(2)

I am pleased to get back to having more than 3 correct answers Friday. still tied for 1st with Pollock. It's going to be back and forth I bet. I need to keep winning to keep pace, as I don't see him losing anytime soon.

[Young Drachma]

you're doing great though!

[ntndeacon]

MD 12
Me 9(6)- AlmeyJ 4(4)
Yes you read that correctly. I got what is referred to as an eggroll or as drinking the beer. The one That I almost missed was a question about a diary in 1600s London. I almost put another Samuel...Johnson, but then remembered it was Samuel Pepys. There was also a nice easy one about picking one of the newest MLB expansion teams. I'm very pleased with myself today.

[ntndeacon]

MD 13
Me 8(5)-JosaphatC 3(2)

The one I missed no one in this rundle got it. The New York Times Theatre critic...I had zero clue. I had to think about a couple of other answers and one about a seller's monopoly was a wild guess based on assuming it ended in a y and wasn't too many more letters than monopoly. Myself and PollockJ are still tied with 24 points to be in first and second with a Match point differential of 8 in my favor keeping me in first. This will likely expand in the next few days as two of the next three battles are against serial forfeiters. Every point is important though and I will try to get all the answers even on those days.

[henry296]

From reading, it sounds like these are multiple choice questions, is that right?

[ntndeacon]

I'm afraid that there aren't any multiple choice questions.

[ntndeacon]

MD 14
Me 5(3)-LoA 0(F)

There was a question that I am embarrassed I missed. The number of elements was asked. They gave the name of the last element that was named last year...(oganesson) We had to get it right within 5. I put 218 like an idiot. the answer?...118.
I feel foolish! The only consolation I have, was that didn't hurt my placement.
Tomorrow, I have an opponent that will answer the questions. So I can't make those kinds of errors then. But on Friday I will face the second person whose forfeited away the season.

[Young Drachma]

Damn, you're cruising with the wins though! Solid defense too.

[ntndeacon]

MD 15
Me 9(6)-RosenbaumA 2(2)
Needless to say, I am very happy with this result. I've had some very good results recently. I hope I don't have any let downs. If I do have a slip Pollock could get the win for the Rundle.

As it is the 15th day time to evaluate the goals:
1)half the questions correct? oh yes! I am at 58 correct answers so I am at +13 . I am almost to the point where I am averaging 4 questions right a day (-2 on that)
2)headed to B Rundle ? C Rundle? check. I am in first with 28 points..
B needs 23
C needs 18
D needs 11
3) more correct than my referrer? check.I have 58, he has 48. +10 there
4)ahead of the other referree? check, check. +5 on points, +9 on correct answers.
I am in pretty good shape here.

[Young Drachma]

Nice win. You're cruising. Keep it up.

[digamma]

My Rundle is very tightly packed this year. I'm currently in 3rd, but only two points separate 3rd and 11th. (And I'm only two points out of first.)

[ntndeacon]

MD 16
Me 8(5)-GregoryMD 0(F)

So this was the second forfeiture against me. I don't expect any more. I am closer to getting 4 right every day now.

[ntndeacon]

Good luck digamma! What's the cutoff for advancing to the next league?

[ntndeacon]

MD 17
Me 5(3)-GermainC 0(0)

I was a little concerned here with just getting 3 right. But my opponent missed out on all of them so I win the day!

[ntndeacon]

MD18
Me 6(5)-EganB 1(1)

I missed getting all six by missing the middle word in Cosi fan Tutti. I could not remember it for anything! And my Classical music score drops even further with that. Besides that a good solid win.

[Radii]

We play each other today. Good luck. I've been doing much better after my horrible start but I'm still fighting to stay out of the last tier.

[ntndeacon]

Good luck to you too! You have been doing better. Basically 4 questions a day for a few days!

[ntndeacon]

MD 19
Me 3(2)-DixonR2 4(4)
Well, there goes first place. I'm going to assume that Pollock won't lose and will win the Rundle. I had 3 most common wrong answers yesterday. I put Nelson for the guy who beat Napoleon, Glass for a contemporary composer, and Hair spray for a Baltimore movie. I'm still in good shape to move to B rundle next season.

Congrats, Radii. Hopefully we'll play again in a few seasons or in a private rundle.