In January I plan to start something new-- a race! If any of you have seen 'The Amazing Race' in any country, you'll know that it involves teams of two traveling around the world completing different tasks to win one million dollars. I'm not that rich. In January, our own race will begin, starting here in the Author's Lounge and spreading across a number of categories around the site. Teams of two, three, or four will travel not necessarily to compete, but to experience the race. This will also give authors a chance to go places they never imagined they would go-- just like the real 'Amazing Race'! At the start of each leg of the race, teams will receive a Route Info clue directing them to a specific category or subcategory along with additional info for their task. For example, the first clue could read 'Make your way to the Animals category and receive your next clue upon completion of a quiz about Cats'. All teams will receive the same clues, and only one team member will need to write a quiz about Cats. When the quiz is placed online, teams will receive their next clue in the leg and so on until they reach a Pit Stop, a predetermined rest period at which teams can relax until the next leg begins. Because teams can have anywhere from two to four people, you can spread quizzes out over the month, or place them all into the hands of one capable member for a short time, or do whatever. The goal is to make it to the end, remember, and there are many means of making it there. Sign up will continue until January 1st-- talk with any authors. Racers must have at least one quiz online if they wish to join a team. If first-timers wish to join and teams would like to add them in, please speak to me. We should easily be able to work something out. A representative of the team should contact me directly regardless to be added to the race roster. The race has begun! Additional Questions/Concerns: What do I need to join? A team of two, three, or four authors, an open, creative mind, and a FunTrivia forums account. Clues will be received through a five-way forum message between myself and the team members. This can be used to collaborate with teammates and prevent others from finding out your ideas via the boards. What don't you need? Infinite time. To be realistic, not everyone will have all the time in the world at all times. This is why it pays to have several team members. If someone needs to be offline for a couple of weeks, the others can take care of that leg of the race in the meantime to support the team. Choose partners wisely! What if I've never written a quiz? Not a problem. A non-author may participate as long as the rest of their team (remember, only two to four people per race team) is okay with it. Technically, a racer could go through the entire race without submitting a single quiz, but it would be completely up to the team. Who knows-- perhaps you might find a topic you want to be your first quiz? All I can say is that many (if not most) quizzes offer the opportunity to collaborate with your other teammates, even if that means writing questions without entering a template, so if one person wants to be more of an idea-maker than a quiz-submitter, then that's okay with me. It just needs to be okay with your group. :) How long is a single leg of the race? It depends on how long it takes you to complete your submissions. On the TV show, a single leg of the race normally includes Route Info (a basic 'follow the instructions' type task), a Detour (a choice between two tasks) and a Road Block (a task completable by only one member). There are tweaks here and there to make the formula work for quizwriting and not all legs of the race will feature these clue types in this order or at this frequency. When you complete a leg of the race you will arrive at a 'Pit Stop', a predetermined non-elimination point at which you'll be able to take a rest...at least until the next leg. If this seems confusing, it will ease up a lot when you start receiving clues. By the second leg you'll all be naturals. ;) Do team quizzes factor in at all? Only if all of the members of your race team are part of the same FT team and only if non-participants do not add questions/info. This ensures that all of the teams are playing on the same level; it's too hard to keep track if one team has ten different members writing one group of four's quiz. If this seems like it could be a problem, I recommend placing the template into the hands of one of your teammates and collaborating via the message system in the forums (which will be fairly easy to maintain). Unless a clue tells otherwise, all members of your race team may contribute questions and info to any of the quizzes. Not all race teams will contain members on the same FT team as one another, but it shouldn't make too much of a difference in terms of submitting to the queue. If anyone has any more questions, please don't hesitate to ask! TEAMS: ICBS (Inter-Continental Ballistic Sheep) - Rowena8482, Eburge, PDAZ, Doublemm Four Winds - Shuehorn, Zorba_Scank, JanIQ, Lones78 CLAP-21 - Salami_Swami, Looney_Tunes, WesleyCrusher 4Pi - Christinap, Calpurnia09, Invinoveritas and Leith90 Dr. Bob's Travelling Mensans - BxBarracuda, Markswood, Jakeroo, Smartiel Kaffeeklatsch - James25, Reedy, Daaanieeel, Dcpddc478 All Puns Intended - Cellardoor, Tazman6619, Malik24, Pollucci19 The Trivia Chicks - Plodd, Creedy Team SLAG - George95, Spaudrey, Habitsowner, Adams627 Team NVNG - Mlcmlc, Playmate1111, Szabs, Rossian Progress Leg 1 - Geography ("Four. Wow. Damn Bhutan for being so exotic.") http://www.funtrivia.com/bb.cfm?action=details&qnid=26879&boardid=2222222 Leg 2 - Movies, Celebrities, Entertainment ("Misreading clues is a plague.") http://www.funtrivia.com/bb.cfm?action=details&qnid=26879&boardid=2222222 Leg 3 - Entertainment, People ("What about the thought of using it? Is that bad karma?") http://www.funtrivia.com/bb.cfm?action=details&qnid=26879&boardid=2222222 Leg 4 - Music ("Sky diving is next on my list of things to do.") http://www.funtrivia.com/bb.cfm?action=details&qnid=26879&boardid=2222222 Leg 5 - Video Games, World, Humanities, Literature ("I haven't a clue what I'm talking about.") http://www.funtrivia.com/bb.cfm?action=details&qnid=26879&boardid=2222222 Leg 6 - General, For Children, Geography ("I'd rather end at the pub!") http://www.funtrivia.com/bb.cfm?action=details&qnid=26879&boardid=2222222