The Auswine Forum

Has the QmA fallen off the edge of the earth?

We should send out a search party to the castle....he was having troubles with that evil master of his, hes probably in the dungeon somewhere??

Michael,

Thank you for the query, and I haven't dropped off the edge of the earth, although if I had the turtle would have caught me.

My apologies for the response in getting back to you today, I have been tied up with taking Quizmaster for his treatments. Seeing his reactions thus far I still wonder why trepanning is not more respected here.

To answer your question, to be frank I couldn't see the benefit to the forum in continuing with the quiz, and took a break.

The last quiz was seven weeks ago, before the last religious festival (based on a pagan history), and yours is the first query about it since then, from anyone, by any means.

I'm not sure about Quizmaster but the Friday Quiz takes me from one to three hours to prepare, including research, typing up, and google checking to make sure the answer wasn't found in 0.28 second with 36 results. In most cases also I took extra effor to make the quizzes a bit educational as well as fun, which extended the reserach. There is then another 2-4 hours or so monitoring the boards and responding to guesses and answers, prior to finalising the quiz.

I was appearing for just a few hours a week and yet was the 5th highest poster on the board last year. Even with seven weeks absence I'm still equal with Davo as 12th.

This effort, made in my own time, was worth it as long as the effort was respected and not taken for granted. Quizmaster treats me like shit but I still get respected for my efforts, and get offered a glass of cold rancid tea once in a while, and he even passes on a portion of the apprenticeship allowance he gets for having me on the books once in a while.

The reaction, and responses, to the quizzes was minimal particularly in the latter part of the year, especially from the board regulars, so why bother? It even seems that that the forum host takes the Friday Quiz for granted, whether from Quizmaster or me. The most comment either of us got from him was the query whether the quiz survived the forum being hacked.

All of that is hardly encouragement for a unique component of the worldwide wine fora .

As such I came to the conclusion that the Friday Quiz wasn't worth the effort, Quizmaster presumably thought the same, as he has not posted since as well, although the ECT could be a factor in his case.

I have quizzes ready to research, prepare and post. If you consider the Friday Quiz to be an asset to the forum, then treat it like an asset, otherwise, like so many posters and topics in this forum, it will just fade away.

QmA

QMA,

I appreciate the effort, but it's wasted on me 'cos I can't participate due to work commitments (and a flakey slow internet connection at lunch-time as everyone tries to surf at the same time).

QMA

I do agree with Brian on this. I do not post on the quizz because everytime I checked the quizz, it answer has already been posted.

Secondly I do not have the wealth of knowledge many posters here poses.

How about moving the Quizz to Sat or Sun where more people can participate. Just a suggestion.

Just to demonstrate how long it's been - I can't log on because I can't remember my password!

Despite all the ribbing I give that young whippersnapper, Murray does a great job. He is also absolutely correct explaining the effort required in putting them together, it can take hours. Though I must confess to literally throwing a couple together at the last minute on occasion, but I’m sure you all picked those.

The reason I stopped doing the quiz was simply because I couldn’t devote the time to the task of compiling it each week; social, family and especially work commitments took me away from a PC all too often in the later part of 2003. I was never looking for recognition or thanks either; I simply did it because I thought it was a bit of fun, though Google is something of a quiz killer!

If there is enough interest in maintaining the quiz, share it around. I suggested at one point that the weekly winner should frame next weeks question, but there was no support for this concept. Bottom line seems to be that we’re all a bit to busy.

I think the quiz’s which ‘fed’ clues offered more interest for a greater number, just my opinion, but they just took so long to prepare. I also deliberately remained anonymous, because I didn’t see any reason to disclose which poster I was; who I am is irrelevant to the fun of it. That said, there are a couple that do know. I also don’t think the new forum format is as conducive to encourage quick, spontaneous posts. Whilst I do read it on occasion, for me the forum no longer has the spark that previously attracted me to it. That’s not a criticism, just an opinion.

Q and QmA,

It certainly is a shame that no-one seems to have the time to do the Quiz, but perfectly understandable.
I don't have nearly the knowledge it requires to be part of the procedings but I did love reading the answers and trying to guess which one was right. It was a definite education, and thanks for doing it while you did!

Hope there is a return somehow for the future,