LearnedLeague FAQ

SO, LIKE, WHAT IS LEARNEDLEAGUE?

I'm glad you asked. LearnedLeague is the greatest web-based trivia league in all of civilized earth, and one of the most glorious activites of mankind. It's a game where players use their brains to compete against one another head-to-head in a league format, with the goal of winning matches and ultimately becoming the mightiest of mighty, the LearnedLeague Champion.

HOW DO I JOIN THE LEARNEDLEAGUE?

In order to join the LearnedLeague, you must receive an invitation from the Commissioner of the LearnedLeague, Thorsten A. Integrity. In order to receive an invitation, you must be referred (and vouched for) to the Commissioner by a current League player with at least one full season of experience.

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO JOIN AND PLAY IN THE LEARNEDLEAGUE?

The LearnedLeague is free to join, and to play in one's first season. Beyond the first season, eligibility is maintained via membership and the payment of annual dues. The annual dues rate is Pay What You Want.

HOW MANY MATCHES ARE THERE IN THE LEARNEDLEAGUE SEASON?

There are 25 matches in the LearnedLeague season. There is no postseason.

KARL MARX AND FRIEDRICH ENGELS, IN THEIR COMMUNIST MANIFESTO, DISCUSS AT LENGTH THE BOURGEOISIE AND PROLETARIAT. TO WHAT EXACTLY ARE THEY REFERRING?

By bourgeoisie, they mean the class of modern capitalists, who own the means of social production and employ the wage-labor. By proletariat, they mean the class of modern wage-laborers who, having no means of production of their own, are reduced to selling their labor in order to make a living.

CAN PLAYERS LOOK UP ANSWERS OR ASK OTHERS FOR HELP?

Absolutely not. The integrity of the LearnedLeague is based on a foundation of honor. And while it is impossible for the League to monitor the honesty of its players all the time, the League appeals to its players' senses of fairness and right. Please keep the League clean, and just use your brain. Please do not cheat. Do not use anything other than your own brains to answer the questions.

HAS ANYONE EVER BEEN EXPELLED FROM THE LEARNEDLEAGUE FOR CHEATING?

Sadly, yes.

HOW DOES THE DEFENSE ELEMENT OF THE LEARNEDLEAGUE WORK?

A LearnedLeague match is not just a test of who can answer more questions correctly. It also adds the factor of how a player thinks his/her opponent will answer.

This is done by assigning point values for each of the six questions FOR YOUR OPPONENT. Points are assigned as follows:

ONE question worth 3 points

TWO questions worth 2 points

TWO questions worth 1 point

ONE question worth 0 points

For a total of 9 points

The winner of each match is determined not by the number of correct answers, but by the number of points.

WASN'T HILL STREET BLUES THE SHOW THAT ENDED UP ALL BEING THE IMAGINATION OF AN AUTISTIC BOY?

No, that was St. Elsewhere.

HOW DO I READ THE SCORES ON A SCOREBOARD?

After the player's name, the first number is the number of points scored in that match, and the number in parentheses is the number of questions answered correctly.

For example, in the following scoreline...

Jacobson 6(3) Wilson 3(3)

Jacobson scored six points on three correct answers, while Wilson scored three on three correct answers.

The number in parentheses (number of correct answers) doesn't really matter in terms of who wins; it's just for information purposes. It's sort of like the number of hits a team gets in a baseball game -- it's not what decides if they win or lose, but it can be interesting.

HOW ARE DISPUTES IN THE LEARNEDLEAGUE SETTLED?

All disputes are settled at the discretion of the LearnedLeague Commissioner, Thorsten A. Integrity. However, because of time constraints, only in the most egregious cases will scores and match outcomes be changed after the fact (this is known as the 'Jacobson Clause'). To the delight of the Commissioner, the Jacobson Clause has evolved to the point where, basically, nearly all disputes are ignored.

WHO WAS THE BEST PROG-METAL BAND TO EMERGE IN THE 1990S?

Dream Theater. Symphony X is outstanding and may be the best today, but they didn't really hit their stride until V: The New Mythology Suite in 2000, (though the love for The Divine Wings of Tragedy is well-deserved). One could also argue Porcupine Tree, but it's tough to categorize any of their (his) pre-2K work as prog metal. I might make the case for Andromeda if they hadn't changed lead singers after Extension of the Wish, and Ark could have been gods had they stayed together.

HOW DO I RECEIVE AND ANSWER THE DAILY LEARNEDLEAGUE QUESTIONS?

From the LearnedLeague website. There are Quick Links at the top of the page that take you directly to the current match days, and you can also click on the appropriate date on the questions calendar. If a match day is in the past, clicking the link will take you to that day's results; if a match day is the current match day, the link will take you to the answers & points submission page; if the match day is in the future, there will be no link, and if there is one it will take you nowhere.

WHAT IF I FORGET TO ASSIGN POINTS FOR MY OPPONENT?

If a player forgets to assign points for his opponent, his opponent will receive the default number of points for the number answered correctly.

The default point assignments are found in Section 7.4 of the Official Rules.

HOW ARE QUESTIONS DETERMINED? ARE THEY IN 6 CATEGORIES LIKE TRIVIAL PURSUIT?

The questions are authored by the LearnedLeague Commissioner, Thorsten A. Integrity. There are 18 broad categories, developed for the purpose of tracking player performance. There is no system for allocating questions from categories on specific match days or over the course of a season. However, Mr. Integrity endeavors not to have categorically similar questions on the same match day (e.g. typically there will not be two geography questions or two math questions, etc., on one day).

DO ALL PLAYERS RECEIVE DIFFERENT QUESTIONS?

No. All LearnedLeague players receive the same six questions on each match day.

ARE THERE TIES IN THE LEARNEDLEAGUE?

Yes. Players receive one league point (point in the standings) for a tie.

HOW ARE THE LEAGUE POINTS (POINTS IN THE STANDINGS) EARNED?

A player receives two points for a victory, one for a tie, and zero for a loss (and loses one point for a forfeit loss).

WHAT ARE RUNDLES?

The LearnedLeague is divided into levels, which are called 'Rundles'. The league is further divided into three Regions, based rather indirectly* on player location (Northeast, Atlantic, and West). Each of the three Regions has Rundle levels (A, B, C, D, etc.); each region also has a rookie Rundle R. Rundle A contains the top players in the league, then Rundle B, then Rundle C, etc. At the end of the season, a certain number of players in each Rundle drop to the next lower Rundle, and likewise a certain number are promoted to the next higher Rundle. The top R-Rundlers move up to B, the next set to C, and so on as appropriate.

Additionally, there is a top Rundle level, outside the Regional alignment, called Rundle Championship. The top finisher in the RChamp at the end of the season is LL Champion, the bottom nine drop to their Regional Rundles A

*Rookies joining the league are placed into the Region of the rookie's referrer, which may not be an accurate geographical representation of where the rookie is physically located.

DO I PLAY OPPONENTS FROM ALL RUNDLES, OR JUST MY OWN RUNDLE?

Just your Rundle and Region.

HOW IS THE LEARNEDLEAGUE CHAMPION DETERMINED?

The first-place finisher in the top-level Rundle Championship is LearnedLeague Champion.

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO ANN CURLESS, THE SEXY BLONDE FROM 80'S DANCE/POP OUTFIT EXPOSÉ?

Ann has done a few things since Exposé. She wrote a song for Angela Bofill and a group called Degrees of Motion. She also has recorded and released three singles, though not truly as solo projects; she sang lead on 'Come to Me' by JJ Presents, 'Lately' By Clueless, and 'Heaven Knows' by K&M Project.

In July, 2010, she rejoined Jeanette and Gioia to record some tracks for a new Exposé album. Stay tuned!

HOW CAN A PLAYER ANSWER MORE QUESTIONS CORRECTLY THAN HIS OPPONENT AND STILL LOSE?

Because the winner of a match is determined by the most points, not most correct answers. For example, a fairly common scoreline looks like the following:

PlayerA 4(2) PlayerB 3(3)

PlayerA answered fewer correctly but still won. That is why defense is so important.

HOW MUCH TIME PER DAY DOES IT TAKE TO PLAY IN THE LEARNEDLEAGUE?

Players can take as much time as they like as long as their answers are received by the Commisioner before the due time. However, it is the intention of Commissioner Integrity that participating in a LearnedLeague match should not take more than five to ten minutes per match day.

WHAT IF I FORGET TO SEND IN MY ANSWERS (OR SEND THEM IN LATE)?

You forfeit. You lose that match, and you lose one point in the standings. You cannot tie if you do not send in your answers; that is, if both players don't send in answers, they will both be registered with losses on that particular day. And, if a player forfeits, and his opponent sends in answers but gets them all wrong, the player who sent in the answers will be credited with a victory. When a player joins LL, he commits to playing every match day. If you cannot make that (small) commitment, LL is not for you.