General
Rewards
Scoring, Balance and Fairness
Epic Challenges
Partner Challenges: Twin, Nemesis and Expert
General
What are Daily Challenges?
The daily challenges are a new way to discover and rediscover the many quizzes and games that make up FunTrivia. Each day, you will be assigned three small tasks to complete that will guide you around the site.
We have attempted to include all aspects of FunTrivia in these challenges, so you will on some days enjoy your favorite activities and then on other days be led way outside your comfort zone. This is part of the game - enjoy both the discovery of the new and some additional reward for playing your favorite games. You just never know what you might get!
Easy, Medium, Difficult, and... Epic?
You will encounter four difficulty levels of challenges:
Easy, Medium, Difficult, and Epic.
Their relative difficulty levels are as they sound.
These are just approximate difficulty levels though, and some challenges are more difficult than others. For example, one day you may find a "medium" challenge difficult to complete, but on other days you may find your "medium" challenge easy. When you complete a challenge, you earn a certain number of credits.
It's important to note that difficult challenges are just that... difficult. Do not be disappointed if you struggle with these and fail them frequently. You're supposed to. ;)
Epic challenges are a 4th class of challenges which can only be obtained by first completing all three of your three original challenges on one day. Once you do so, you have a small chance on the next day that one of your three challenges will be an Epic.
Only with time and perseverance will you score epic challenges - if you want to have a better chance, try to complete all three basic challenges as often as you can!
How long do I have to complete my challenges?
Daily challenges expire at midnight FunTrivia time, which is displayed on our homepage. You can generally start, continue, and finish daily challenges at any time during the day.
What are the Gold Member advantages in this game?
Gold Members get a wider variety of challenges since we can include the Gold Member games in their selections. In addition, three times per week a Gold Member can get rid of an unwanted, incomplete challenge and get a new one in its place. Some of the epic-level challenges (and thus also the "Totally Epic" badge) are available only to Gold Members.
In addition, Gold Members who complete all three challenges will immediately receive a fourth one. This will most likely be an extra difficult one, but can also be medium or easy. The choice is random, but on any given day, all members will receive the same difficulty bonus challenge. For purposes of receiving the fourth challenge, epic challenges and those which only score at midnight will not count against you - if you receive one of those, you'll have appropriately fewer to complete.
Are there limits to the Gold Member swap?
The special Gold Member challenge swap may be used three times per week. It is reset every Monday morning.
The replacement challenge you receive will be of the same difficulty level as the one you are turning in. You cannot return an epic difficulty challenge or any challenges that match you with a second player - these you are stuck with, for good or bad.
For purposes of these challenges, what is an hourly game?
I completed all three challenges, what do I get now?
Completing all three challenges has two effects, one immediate and one applying to the next day.
Gold Members who complete all three initial challenges immediately receive a fourth challenge of random difficulty (but most likely difficult). This will never be an epic challenge, so don't worry about getting one of those at 11pm!
All members (whether Gold or not) have a small chance on the next day to receive an epic difficulty challenge in place of one of the three normal ones. Epic level challenges will always drop only from the first three - you will always have the full day to complete them!
Rewards
What are the rewards for playing?
First of all, each completed challenge will give you points: You get 150 points for an easy, 350 for a medium, 500 for a difficult and at least 2,500 points for each epic challenge. (Plus, of course, any points you happen to pick up while playing. Those are yours, too.)
Also, there are a total of ten badgelets and four major badges to be won:
- An entry-level badgelet called "Seven Done" (Topaz level) is given for completing seven daily challenges - any difficulty will count.
- Eight "Epic Flag" badgelets are given for completing special, rare daily challenges designated as epic-level difficulty.
- A full badge (at Emerald level) is granted to players who complete 20 easy, 20 medium, and 20 difficult challenges. Its more difficult cousin in the Ruby Dungeon requires 200 of each of the three levels instead. Want more? You'll get a badgelet at 1000 each and finally the upgradable Daily Dynast - a full badge again - at 2000 per difficulty.
- Finally, there is a special treat for our dedicated players: Should you manage to collect all of the epic flags, you will be awarded the rare and coveted "Totally Epic" badge. You can find that one all the way down in the Diamond Dome.
I don't see the epic flag badgelets in the challenge list! Is there an error?
No. We have specifically decided not to show these flags in the list to preserve the mystery of the epic daily challenges. You will not see their requirements until you get an epic challenge. There are eight of these flags: white, yellow, orange, red, purple, blue, green and black. Each of them will test your performance in a single area of the site. Which of them is which will be left to you to discover - and please do not share your discoveries with others. Every player should be able to enjoy the feeling of finding another piece of the puzzle.
Do the flag badgelets still count for Challenge Crusher and Challenge Mastery?
Yes. They are badgelets and a full set will contribute eight badgelets to your count.
How can I see which flags I am still missing for "Totally Epic"?
Just check your profile. The flags are the first listed badgelets there. A full set consists of a white, yellow, orange, red, purple, blue, green and black flag.
Scoring, Balance and Fairness
How does a challenge determine the score I need to obtain?
Some of our daily challenges use fixed values. Others look at your personal past record to see how good you are at a particular game or task. Some will simply scale by level with higher level members getting higher requirements.
Isn't this unfair towards higher level players who get higher limits?
Skill levels vary very much across the FunTrivia audience and we have members ranging from those who are struggling with vision or mouse dexterity issues all the way to those who could beat any TV trivia show without breaking a sweat.
If we asked all players to perform to the same scores,
it would either be impossible for the more casual players to beat even the easiest of challenges or boringly easy for the top level players. By adjusting the requirements to personal skill and capability, we are ensuring that everyone will most frequently be given tasks tough enough to be interesting yet not so tough as to be frustrating.
To answer the question above, we think that what would have been truly "unfair" would have been for us to have created a boring and frustrating game!
What happens if a challenge looks for a game that I have already played earlier?
In most cases, a daily challenge will consider all of your scores and activity from midnight onwards.
For example, if you have already played "Mind Melt" and later on in the day receive a new challenge which happens to deal with Mind Melt, then your earlier play will be the one that is considered for that challenge.
I am asked to score a number of something. Do I need to hit that exact number?
Challenges that specify numbers to be achieved (such as playing X quizzes or scoring Y points) can be solved by any number at least equal to the target unless the challenge text specifically and clearly asks for an exact match.
"Get several thousand quiz points in one category" - Is that intentional?
Does the challenge mention game mode? If so, those numbers do indeed look high. Remember however that these are your game points, not the FunTrivia points. Getting 9 correct in a reasonably quick time is over 800 game points, not the 135 you might right now be thinking of.
Why does "Play Piece of Cake in X seconds" not score my past tries?
The challenge to play the Piece of Cake game perfectly in a certain time is using a finer granularity of timing than the assignment of game points. However, only game points are stored beyond the hour just past, thus we would be unable to verify older games to see if they were truly played in the required time. Thus, this challenge only looks forward - you need to play your game after getting it.
Can I discuss the challenges with other players?
Feel free to! We are happy if you share your experiences. However, please do not disclose the exact requirements of the epic challenges. We want to keep those a surprise for everyone, so if you want to discuss those, please just refer to them by flag color and avoid any specific data. Also, please be mindful that some players may not want to get spoilers in advance, so make sure that all discussion of the daily challenges is labeled as such in message board and forum threads.
Epic Challenges
What is an epic challenge?
An epic challenge is one of eight rare challenges that you can occasionally get as a reward for completing a full set of three daily challenges.
There are a total of eight epic challenges, and each one has a corresponding epic badgelet that is won upon completion.
They are more elaborate and difficult than normal challenges and you should expect anywhere between one and six hours of play to give them proper attention. If you do complete the requirements of an epic challenge, you will receive the appropriate flag badgelet (which counts normally towards your badgelet total even though it is not listed in the normal "Tower of Challenges" list).
Can I receive an already completed epic challenge again?
Yes. Completing an epic challenge will not exclude it from later selections.
That epic challenge was too tough for me! I had no chance!
It will show up again in due time and now you are prepared. Each specific flag will have the same general content next time, however individual details (such as the choice of a specific game or category) will be re-chosen at random. You'll thus hopefully have better luck with the next one.
That epic challenge was too easy for me! It didn't feel epic at all!
Just continue playing. Some challenges are by nature epicer than others and yes, in the context of this game, "epicer" is a word. Also, you can be sure that things will get harder next time - see the following question!
I already have all epic flags complete. Is there still a reason for me to play?
Yes. For those of you who breeze through even the epic challenges with ease, there are super-epic challenges at an even higher difficulty level. If you receive an epic of a flag color that you have completed before, you will be playing for a double flag.
The point with these is that they are completely optional and meant only for players who want a challenge more difficult than what we'd consider fair to most FunTrivia players. The requirements for them are set extremely high and we don't want any players to feel they have to get them. With the random assignment of epics, it can be many years until you even get a chance to try for all of them, much less complete them. We didn't want to add something like that to the list of things people feel they need to achieve for a "complete" set. On the other hand, the doubles give you something to shoot for if you receive a "wrong" epic (one you already won) while you chase the regular set of eight, so you don't actually feel like you received a completely wasted epic - you do still have something to play for and who knows, maybe you'll actually win as well.
This is also why the doubles are replacing the original badgelets. If you get a double, you're getting a visual credit for a special achievement above and beyond the requirements, but they're not actually considered an extra badgelet, just a visual upgrade of the one you already won.
It's like getting an extra special trophy!
Oh, and did we mention that completing a double flag will unlock the super-difficult triple flag of the same color?
Alas, however - unlike figure skating, we do not do quads. However, you can still repeat triples you already won for a sizeable point reward.
Partner Challenges: Twin, Nemesis and Expert
What kind of devilry have you cooked up with these three challenges?
In Twin, Nemesis and Experts Duel, you are being paired up with another player who has picked up challenges for the day.
For Twin and Nemesis, you will be asked to achieve certain point totals through your daily play which depend on those of your partner. In Twin, either both of you win together or both of you lose. In Nemesis, however, there is always one winner and one loser.
In the Experts' Duel, each of you gets four chances to play the "Who's the Expert" game. Only the best score counts!
I just received Twin or Nemesis but have not yet been assigned a partner
Try back a little later to see if your partner has been assigned.
In the rare case that you never get paired up with anyone, you will receive credit for the challenge at midnight.
I just received Experts' Duel but have not yet been assigned a partner
This is a slightly tricky situation because the challenge won't actually start until you do have a partner, so if you have just been given the challenge and want to play the current hour, hold back for a moment. It should only be a few minutes until you get a partner and then you can go and play!
In the rare case that you never get paired up with anyone, you will receive credit for the challenge at midnight.
What happens if Nemesis results in a tie?
It can't. Terry owns a large stack of dice especially acquired for this purpose. (Read: the winner will be randomly determined).
When can I play my games for Experts' Duel? Is this retroactive?
The Experts' Duel starts only when both partners in a matchup are known so that players have exactly equal chances. Plays you made before this moment will not be scored, so you will always be able to play your four games after knowing what you're fighting for.
For the first player in a pair, make sure that you don't jump-start. If you play a game immediately after getting the challenge and you don't have your opponent yet, it will not count and you may thus lose your ability to play the current topic for the challenge. Wait for a few minutes - as soon as your opponent's name is displayed, it's safe to go and play!