LugWars unformatted howto

LugWars is a trivia game, with questions that relate to the elite LUG member (Geeks, Nerds, etc). Question categories can be made up by the hosting LUG, but the most popular question categories are *nix commands and history, computer hardware (especially old stuff), Science Fiction, and computer related acronyms. You may explore other areas, but remember who your audience is and try to stay within the realm of technology.

Everyone seems to think that a complicated setup of switches, programs and electronic buzzers make a good trivia type game, but this is far from the truth. The best games have good questions with good participants and good rules. Most of the time, the technology just gets in the way because it was coded or otherwise implemented incorrectly. A simple hand raising by the participants is good enough, as long as you have a spotter/judge to determine who was the first to raise their hand. The questions and answers could be on 3 x 5 cards or a presentation program. It does not have to be technical at all.

Generally, a person or a small team of persons who belong to the hosting LUG will make up the questions and answers. If you intend for your LUG to also be represented in LugWars, you will, of course, want to leave some of your better players out of the question raising process. However, make sure the people making the question sheets are highly competent and can come up with good questions.

Rules that work:

Make difficult questions worth more points. Generally, make 3 grades of questions: Easy, Intermediate, and Advanced worth 1, 2, and 3 points respectively. It would be OK to make an insanely difficult category for 4 points, but limited to only a very small number of questions (1 or 2).

Format the questions so that the answers are very specific (not generalized). Do not ask yes/no questions and resist multiple choice questions.

Have each team elect a representative that will be the one who gives the final answer. This one person should be the one who announces that the team is ready to give an answer and is the sole mediator between the team and the person hosting the questions.

Limit the teams to 3 – 4 people max. Too many people on a team causes communications problems, and can lead to problems with under-represented LUGs.

Limit the time between giving the question and answering the question. Normally, 10-15 seconds is plenty of time.

Ensure that there are plenty of prizes for each team member that wins. Each prize for the winning team should be identical, at least in worth. Make prizes available for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place at least (this will depend on the size of the event and the number of LUGs participating).

Resist making a rule to subtract points if the team answers a question incorrectly. This only makes the teams apprehensive about answering the questions in fear of losing points and you will end up with several unanswered questions. No fun.

The host should be someone who is enthusiastic and can keep the game moving without getting stale or boring.

Most of all, have fun!

2005-04-09T12:56:57