It's always good to read discussions about how quiz bowl experiments turned out, whether successfully or not. For the benefit of anyone else like me who wasn't at Deep Bench and had been wondering just what its innovations were, they're described succinctly at: <a href=http://www.faqt.org/DeepBench2001.html target=new>http://www.faqt.org/DeepBench2001.html</a> <a href=http://www.faqt.org/MinnesotaGuidelines.html target=new>http://www.faqt.org/MinnesotaGuidelines.html</a> skipperdee42 writes: "Another thing (the last one I'll bring up) that's a matter of principle rather than one of playability is the linked tossup-bonus format--while I don't think it affected my play, I really prefer the "luck of the draw" of non-linked questions. Linked questions in principle avoid the nailing-the-tossup, zeroing-the-bonus phenomenon (I'm not sure this is really the case, but I'll give the system the benefit of the doubt), but my thought is that they may not be as strong a test of general knowledge as randomized questions. Also, they could pose a problem if a bonus or bonus part is thrown out. Does anyone else have thoughts on the advantages or disadvantages thereof?" I have always thought that, in theory, it makes a lot more sense for the bonus to be linked to the tossup. Someone who nails a tossup then gets the opportunity to show off more knowledge of the subject (or reveal ignorance thereof). If I recall correctly, Science Bowl has linked tossups and bonuses, but only by general category, such as Chemistry, Earth Science, etc. The Minnesota Guidelines seem to suggest that the linkage should be closer than that. Although I've never been involved in organizing or writing for a tournament with linked questions, I've long assumed that the main disadvantages are (1) you'll need to have more bonuses, and (2) if you've written the greatest bonus question of all time, it won't get read if the tossup isn't answered. Did any bonus have to get thrown out at Deep Bench? The web pages don't suggest what should happen in such a case. I'm also curious to know how the experience was for those of you who had to write linked questions. For me, at least, writing bonus questions is never as fun as writing tossups, and one reason is lack of inspiration. With linked questions, you can write a packet about only 25 different topics (one for each topic-bonus pair), instead of having to think of 50 different topics, so I'd guess it might be easier.
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