International Culture Challenge - Reader Guidance

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Mimir Readers’ Guide

1. How to claim a match
   1. All games are listed at the Matches page of the Quiz Central website at https://quizcentral.net/matches.php . Any scheduled game requiring a reader will have a time and date listed in the “When?” column and a box displaying the word ‘Read’ in the “Reader” column.
   2. Log in to your Quiz Central account and click where it says “Read” and a window will pop up allowing you to send the players your Zoom details. In this box, please introduce yourself, enter the link for the Zoom, confirm the time and date of the match, and click “Save”. This will confirm you as the reader. Refresh your browser and you should see your name has replaced the word ‘Read’ in the “Reader” column. Any future emails sent regarding this game will now also appear in your email inbox.
   3. Where possible, all games should be played using a premium Zoom account. If you do not have a premium account, you can ask the players if any of them can provide one by requesting this in your initial contact made via the pop-up box. If you do not have premium Zoom and none of the players can offer it, you can ask the competition organisers if any of them have a premium Zoom available for that slot. The organising teams for each competition are listed later.
2. What is required to read a match
   1. All matches require the Google Chrome plug-in. This allows you to display the questions on the scorer. You can download the plug-in at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JID_oJBOCZliQb2dZZde6rI37hOWojTs3iqQrInxR-0/edit?usp=sharing . This page also provides you with instructions on how to install and operate the plug-in.
   2. You will also need the questions and the specific file to use with the plug-in. Please note that OQL do not send out questions and plug in files automatically and you must request them from the organisers. To request the questions, you can either email info@onlinequizleague.com or send a DM to one of the competition organisers over Facebook and they will send you two files: a pdf with the questions and a tsv file which to use with the plug in tool. Below is a list of the organisers of each competition.
      • Brain of Online Quiz League - Jon Stitcher and Aidan Linge
      • Pop Culture Challenge – Jon Stitcher and Aidan Linge
      • International Culture Challenge – Jon Stitcher, Rob Hannah and Hugh Bennett
      • Pop Solos – Will Jones
   3. Please request the question sets as far in advance of your game as possible. If you leave it until the last minute and the organisers are unavailable, you risk letting the players down. It is best to request the question sets as soon as you claim the match or, if you are participating in the competition, as soon as your own match has finished.
   4. It is always a good idea to look through the question set prior to reading a match so you get a feel for any difficult pronunciations.
3. Before the match
   1. Assuming there are no issues, you just need to log in to the Zoom and read the questions. We recommend you log in around 5 minutes before the allotted start time and check that you have everything you need, and that the plug-in is working. You can obtain the score sheet by going to the matches page and clicking the “Sheet” button next to your game.
   2. Occasionally players may need to reschedule a match. If they do this, you will be copied in on all the emails. Once a new time is arranged, please advise the players if you can still read at the new time. If you cannot read at the new time, let the players know and advise them they will need to contact the competition organisers to remove you as a reader. The players are responsible for rescheduling the match on the matches page, usually done by requesting this be completed by an admin.
   3. If you can no longer take the match, you should do the following as soon as possible.
      1. Email the players to apologise and explain that someone else will have to read the match and they can expect a new Zoom link. You can do this by replying to any emails you have received regarding this match.
      2. If you have not received any emails you will need to ask the tournament organisers to advise the players.
      3. You should also let the tournament organisers know as soon as possible so they can remove you as a reader and allow someone else to take the game.
4. Reading the match
   1. Once everyone has logged in to the Zoom you are ready to begin. Assuming all four players are in attendance you should start screen sharing and take care to only share the score sheet. This should be on display throughout the entire match. Check that you have the correct question sheet for the game by reading out loud what the question set says on the title page.
   2. If a player does not arrive on-time then every attempt should be made to contact this player, such as sending an email to all the players, posting in the Facebook group, and sending a Facebook direct message. Unless a player has advised they will not be attending the match, the reader shall wait 10 minutes before commencing the game. If after 10 minutes, the player has still not arrived then the reader should commence the game immediately unless all remaining players agree to wait a further 5 minutes. No game should commence more than 15 minutes after the allotted start time. How to deal with empty seats is covered below.
   3. The game will then commence following the standard Mimir rules – these can be read at https://quizcentral.net/qc/International_Culture_Challenge_-_Rules#Game_play
   4. Please ensure that all players have their hands visible prior to the match starting, and at all points during the match. There should be no circumstances in which players are allowed to compete without having their hands in view (unless they have a pre-approved exemption from OQL). In most circumstances players need only to move back six inches to comply with this rule.
   5. If you make an error in scoring at any point, please do not panic as there is an undo button. Simply click that until you have corrected the mistake. The players will likely be able to assist with this.
   6. If you make an error that renders a question unusable, for example, by accidentally revealing the answer before all players have had a chance to answer, then it may be possible for the players to come to an amicable agreement on how to proceed. However, where this is not possible, a spare should be used. The spares are usually located at the bottom of the question packet and there will be 3 spares available. Ask the player to whom the spare question will be directed to pick a number from 1 to 3 and ask the corresponding spare. The question should play out as normal.
   7. Please allow answers that are only marginally incorrect; we have players for whom English is not a first language, and so absolute adherence to exact answers is not possible. Mispronunciations and/or very slight variations of titles should not be penalised; if you would like more instruction on this matter, feel free to ask. This is, of course, not an exact science and you will be required to exercise judgement.
   8. If a game starts with only 3 players, there are extra rules to be applied. The game proceeds as normal, but the missing player must be marked as ‘passing’ on every bonus attempt. When it is time for the missing player's own questions the following should be adhered to:
      1. Announce who is first in the bonus queue and make sure they know they have 15 seconds to decide whether to answer or pass.
      2. If they wait the full 15 seconds and give a wrong answer or pass, then you should pass the question down the bonus line giving the remaining two players the usual 3 seconds to answer as a bonus.
      3. If the first player in line gives an incorrect answer or passes before the 15 seconds have elapsed, then proceed to the next player but give them the remainder of those 15 seconds plus their own 3 seconds.
      4. If player A passes after 5 seconds then player B has 13 seconds (10 seconds + 3 seconds) in which to answer.
      5. If Player B also passes before the 15 seconds have expired, then player C has whatever time was remaining + 3 seconds in which to answer.
      6. In the highly unlikely event of a match commencing with only 2 players then follow the above.
      7. No match should ever commence with just 1 player.
      8. If only 1 player shows up then the players should attempt to reschedule the game.
5. What to do at the end of the game
   1. Different competitions have different rules at different stages regarding when you need to break a tie. This will be clearly listed on the question packet. If no tiebreakers are required then you need do nothing more; you do not need to notify anyone at OQL of the result as we receive this automatically. It is courteous to read the tie breaker questions and the spares to the players for fun. Once this has been completed, thank the players for playing and end the Zoom. It is always best to check that everyone wants to play the spares, some players may be in a rush and want to leave instead of playing the spares.
   2. If a tie-breaker is required then you should do the following:
      1. Acknowledge which players are in the tie-breaker.
      2. You only ask the tie-breaker questions to one player at a time so the first player to play will be the one who answered first in the main quiz.
      3. Put the other tie-breaker player(s) into the waiting room.
      4. Any players not in the tie-breaker who wish to observe are welcome to but they should turn off both their camera and microphone to avoid distracting the players who are involved.
   3. Ask the first three tie-breaker questions to the first player. They have 30 seconds in which to answer each question and, because these questions will not appear on the plug-in, you should copy and paste them into the Zoom chat. Do not tell the players whether their answers are correct. Once the first player has played, bring the next player in. Read the questions to the second player and then ensure all players are back in the room to announce the answers and results. If the tie is still not broken, then repeat the procedure with the second set of tie breaker questions. It's also advisable to ask the “nearest the bull/pin” question at this stage, this answer is used only if there is still a tie after the second set of tiebreakers at this point. That way you can quickly announce the results after the tie-breaker has been played without having to repeat the waiting room procedure for the nearest the bull tie-breaker. If a tie is required for multiple places then please ensure you have broken the ties for all relevant places.
   4. Any tiebreaker results should be completed on the score sheet. If a tiebreaker was used then simply click the tiebreaker button and complete the tiebreaker sheet as per the instructions. If you do not submit the tiebreaker result an admin will likely contact you directly to obtain the outcome.
6. Disputes
   1. Occasionally a dispute will arise which cannot be resolved. Should this happen, please advise the protesting player that you will leave the score as recorded for now. They can then make their protest to the tournament organisers at the end of the game should the protested question make a material difference to the game. Players should be informed that the organisers only review protests which have a material effect on the result of the game.
   2. The organisers may approach you to ask for your recollection of the events. Please don't be alarmed if this happens, we just want to ensure a just and correct outcome in every game.
   3. If you are aware a protest is due to take place and, based on the result of the protest a tiebreaker may be required, then play the tiebreaker as normal and advise the organisers of this result. For example, if in an ICC game Player A finishes on 12, Player B finishes in 2nd on 11 but has a protest on an earlier question, then play the tiebreaker just in case their protest is upheld.