demise of quiz machines factors and solutions (main body)

Discuss Quiz Machines here..
David Healy
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Post by David Healy »

You could have put a spoiler alert on the Murder on the Orient Express revelation. Thanks for that.
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Post by Sloach »

Stubble wrote:To my mind, the one thing a quiz machine can offer, that is both suitable from its context and not usurped by better technology, is social play.

By this I include 3-4 people drinking, and collectively having a go at the quiz. Maybe a different aspect of social play may be networked Jackpots, but I feel evem this is better served by online gaming on tablets and phones.

I think Bubbles makes a decent point, the barriers to entry here are not high. The software will almost certainly run on hardware costing less than £50 (raspberry Pi), and it is the additional hardware to handle money controls that is more costly. This can be bought for £150-200. Altogether, I expect you could put together a workable prototype for under £800. Of course you'd then need to program some games, but these games are just cut and paste affairs and individual devlopment times are likely in the region of a couple of weeks. Maybe even less.

Hmmm... database of questions!
The best suggestion is probably to try to get Gamestec (e.g.) to add quiz games to the digital AWPs.

Problems:

1: fruit machine players don't seem to like these cabinets so they've never really taken off
2: they look like fruit machines so unlikely to attract average pub user who doesn't play fruit machines but who may casually play a quiz machine
3: quiz machine players paying 50p for a 5 minute game blocking fruit machine players on 50p a spin
4: the cabinets are licensed as fruit machines so presumably no legal obligation for any quiz games added to it to be skill-based
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Matt Vinyl
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Post by Matt Vinyl »

I wrote between 2,500 and 3,000 (I can't recall exactly now) a good 7 or 8 years ago now. Some of them still pop up now and then in some of the more long-standing games (if you are lucky enough to find them). I did sneak quiet a few of the FruitChat related ones in there too, but I know I was certainly not the only one.

With regards to the current question sets that are out there, I have to confess to have not played many (read: any) question-related games in at least the last 12-18 months. I might have a game of Word Soup or PMP if I'm nursing a pint or two. But prior to that, getting anywhere near the £1 point on many question-based games led to classics such as "How much would Moby Dick weigh if measured in planks of 4x2?" Yes, you have 33% (or 25%, dependent on game) to get it right, but that brick wall is going to hit you almost every time unless you are exceedingly lucky.

I might have a bit of a resurgence though, as have a few days off the end of this week so may well have a mosey.
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Post by cool »

Yes the smaller of the I-Pub machines would be perfect for quiz games. I have suggested it but the last of your points scuppers it at present. The Space Invaders / Pacman on the units havent attracted the wrath of the Gambling Commission presumably as there is no jackpot to win so cannot be accused of encouraging gambling. My idea was to to have a quiz game that complements the AWP with a potential increased jackpot though the legislation states that an SWP with a jackpot over £50 will attract greater attention which doesnt make sense as its AWP's that are a gateway into other forms of gambling yet its perfectly acceptable for AWP's to have a jackpot of £100. How many SWP players are casino goers or love at flutter at the bookies? Few . How about a DOND AWP with a DOND SWP on the same unit for example? Even an AWP format to include SWP questions on an adapted circuitboard would work though this hybrid would lead on to the introduction of a new category which presumably make things worse? However as things stand these ideas are a nonstarter.
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Post by cool »

In response to Matt I had the question yesterday 'what is the rectal temperature of an Icelandic Codfish?' Who the hell would know that and who gets off on inserting a thermometer into the backside of a fish with the excuse of 'Im doing it in the interests of 'research' !
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JG
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Post by JG »

Fish need very little in the way of endothermic heat for necessary biological processes to function as intended. Now an Icelandic codfish is going to be in waters close to freezing point, so I would be estimating a temperature of between 0-2 degrees Celsius here. What were the options given out of interest? This is very much a 'QI' style question whereby rational thought rather than pure knowledge is required.
Question such as how many electrons are found in the average African elephants left testicle? are far trickier imo.
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JG
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Post by JG »

Yawn. Another repeat.
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Stubble
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Post by Stubble »

Googled the sea temperature around Iceland, JG. Between 7-10 Celcius year round. So that fishes asshole is hotter than you gave it credit for!
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Post by cool »

The options were I believe 29-30 30-31 32-33 33-34 degrees centigrade so the fish presumably exist on a diet of marine chillis.
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Post by cool »

Of course I could have made a mistake it could have been fahrenheit but are fish really that cold?
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Post by muddle »

Matt Vinyl wrote:I wrote between 2,500 and 3,000 (I can't recall exactly now) a good 7 or 8 years ago now. Some of them still pop up now and then in some of the more long-standing games (if you are lucky enough to find them). I did sneak quiet a few of the FruitChat related ones in there too, but I know I was certainly not the only one.

With regards to the current question sets that are out there, I have to confess to have not played many (read: any) question-related games in at least the last 12-18 months. I might have a game of Word Soup or PMP if I'm nursing a pint or two. But prior to that, getting anywhere near the £1 point on many question-based games led to classics such as "How much would Moby Dick weigh if measured in planks of 4x2?" Yes, you have 33% (or 25%, dependent on game) to get it right, but that brick wall is going to hit you almost every time unless you are exceedingly lucky.

I might have a bit of a resurgence though, as have a few days off the end of this week so may well have a mosey.
Hi Matt,I have always wondered who they get to write the questions - do you mind me asking how it came about that they asked you to write some? I take it they use a few compilers on one question bank?
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JG
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Post by JG »

Marine chillis :)

Hardly giving much away with those ranges, that's a proper spoiler question for sure.
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JG
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Post by JG »

Marine chillis :)

Hardly giving much away with those ranges, that's a proper spoiler question for sure.
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Matt Vinyl
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Post by Matt Vinyl »

Hi Muddle, sure. A few of us on here were in touch with representatives from GW and were invited to meet at their head office. Alas, I couldn't make it, but I believe the other chaps did. It was quite a few years back now, but from what I recall contact was made through Fruitchat (I may well be off the mark slightly there, but I'm pretty certain that is how it came about). And, things just went from there. I had been question-writing in my spare time for a personal mini game project I was developing, so there was synergy there.

Interestingly, I played a 'classic' Bullseye game this Friday just gone (it was in a 'spoons, but can't recall the type of unit it was) and some of my questions still popped up. :)

FWFI: You see 701 / 801 a LOT on that Bully game - I didn't get to the end once, within 8 attempts. A lot of those attempts threw extremely spurious questions at me from the first throw (DOB's of little known celebs / minor events all with 4 answers within a year of each other etc.). The 'Out of Time' trick still works for the first three questions, however.
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Matt Vinyl
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Post by Matt Vinyl »

Duplicate.
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