Terry or Wes, I'm curious to know exactly what the advancement bonuses consist of. Are we just given extra FT points if we play the * or ** games, or are additional points applied to specific FT games given each time we do? I searched the forums but nothing came up.

As an aside, under the Global Stats heading, the final results for the last GC ending in February are nowhere to be seen. Any chance of including them with all the others?

Thanks,
Barbara

You are given some (immediate, one-shot) FT points for playing these games as well as a bonus towards your GC advancement whenever you play a * or ** game. There are no other effects of playing these games (no game on the site adds a hidden bonus to another. All awards are either immediate after playing, or, if they depend on a placing, will be given when final results are known).

The missing header is something Terry will have to add.

On completing a * or ** game in Global Challenge, you'll find a message that the advancement bonus is only given for people scoring at least 500 points in this game. So a ** game in which you only get 5 correct answers, will not result in any bonus at all.

And, of course, if you are playing Hardcore, you won't score anything at all unless you get at least 10 correct.

What looney said actually does apply to the FT points as well just in case anyone is wondering. No advancement means no score at all. (I just tested it - you do get the 100 FT bonus points only if you make the 10 in 130 limit)

Sadly, I know it all too well Looney!

Thanks all for the clarification.

I too have a question about advancement. Which gives greater advancement - playing a category with * or ** and scoring ca 600, or playing one without an asterisk and scoring ca 1300?

I don't have a clue about how much advancement * and ** categories give but I can tell you one thing: the advancement bonus is greater in ** than in *.

So how about you ask the question again.

Which gives greater advancement - playing a ** category and scoring 600, playing a * category and scoring 950 or playing a non-starred category and scoring 1300?

While some pros know the exact values (and it's not too hard to figure them out), I will just say that both are more than 100 and no higher than 500 points.

(Well that wasn't vague. :P)

Is the ** bonus double what the * bonus is?

It is less. That should narrow it down to three four options. Good luck figuring out the rest on your own.