Difference between revisions of "2021 ONCT"

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|fourth = [[Ladue]]
 
|fourth = [[Ladue]]
 
|scorer = [[Aiden Dartley]], "Billy Joel A"
 
|scorer = [[Aiden Dartley]], "Billy Joel A"
|editors = [https://hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=382291]
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|editors = [[Aidan Leahy]], [[Govind Prabhakar]], [[Arjun Nageswaran]], [[Katherine Lei]], [[Dylan Bowman]], [[Ethan Strombeck]], [[William Groger]], and [[Ethan Ashbrook]]<ref>[https://hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=382291 Southeast-Midwest Housewrite Global Announcement] by [[db0wman]] » Tue Dec 22, 2020 10:06 pm</ref>
 
|site = Online
 
|site = Online
 
|field = 64
 
|field = 64
 
|stats = [https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/7015/]
 
|stats = [https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/7015/]
 
}}
 
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The '''2021 ONCT''' took place on June 26–27. The tournament was held [[online]] though [[Discord]].<ref>[https://hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=383332#p383332 Initial Tournament Announcement] by [[lava_lock]] » Mon Feb 22, 2021 8:12 pm</ref> "Scalene Triangle" ([[Joel Miles]] and [[Brendan Fuller]]) cleared the field, defeating [[Detroit Country Day]] 280–260 in the first game of an advantaged final. [[St. Mark's]] and [[Ladue]] finished 3rd and 4th, respectively.
  
The 2021 [[ONCT]] took place on June 26–27. The tournament was held [[online]] though Discord, and was a [[mirror]] of the [[Southeast-Midwest Housewrite]]. "Scalene Triangle" ([[Joel Miles]] and Brendan Fuller) cleared the field, defeating [[Detroit Country Day]] 280–260 in the first game of an advantaged final. [[St. Mark's]] and [[Ladue]] finished 3rd and 4th, respectively. [[Aiden Dartley]] was the top preliminary scorer, with 135.00 PPG.
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The tournament, the inaugural national of the newly-created [[AQBL]], was almost exclusively promoted through e-mails to qualified teams and on the high school quizbowl [[Discord]]; it had little presence on [[hsquizbowl.org]]. A major selling point was its lower cost compared to the [[2021 HSNCT]] and [[2021 NSC|NSC]]. 64 teams registered from across the US, making it the smallest high school national tournament of the year; additionally, the [[field]] was considered weaker, due to fewer teams with high placements on [[GrogerRanks]] than the two major nationals.
  
The tournament was heavily promoted on the high school [[quizbowl Discord]], and was attractive due to its lower cost compared to [[HSNCT]] and [[NSC]]. 64 teams registered from across the US, though the number of top-[[GrogerRanks|ranked]] teams was lower than at the other two major nationals.
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==Question set==
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Instead of producing their own questions for the tournament, AQBL [[mirror]]ed the [[Southeast-Midwest Housewrite]]. This was the only high school mirror of the set, as AQBL had bought exclusive rights for that market; however, SMH was run at a large number of college tournaments.  Though this was the first time that a set used for a high school national had been played before the date of the competition ([[HSNCT]] routinely has a [[Canadian]] mirror several months later), question security remained uncompromised (to anyone's knowledge) due to quizbowl's strong [[community]] standards.
  
==Issues==
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==Issues and criticism==
 +
===Before===
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Senior members of the community criticized AQBL's plans for the ONCT as soon as it was announced, due to the relative inexperience of AQBL's members (who were mostly high schoolers at the time of announcement). Many doubted that AQBL would be able to handle the logistics of even a modestly-sized national tournament. These concerns largely subsided once AQBL proved that they could run successful tournaments during the regular season.
  
The tournament did not run as smoothly as intended. This was in part due to the use of Discord video (considered more lag-prone than Zoom) and to staffer inexperience. The tournament directors failed to communicate a schedule change until Saturday morning, causing teams to suddenly learn they had 9 rounds that day instead of 7, the number announced in pre-tournament emails. Due to delays, the schedule was changed again that evening, with the last 2 Saturday rounds being moved back to Sunday. (The latter issue also occurred at 2021's NSC and [[NASAT]].)
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Unknowingly, AQBL and [[IQBT]] had both initially scheduled their nationals for the same weekend (June 26–27). Once this conflict was discovered and the two organizations had discussed it, [[NASAT]] was moved forward a week to June 19–20, while ONCT retained the initial date.<ref>[https://hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=24823 NASAT and ONCT are scheduled for the same weekend] by eygotem » Fri Jan 22, 2021 12:25 pm</ref>
  
By the end of prelims, several low-placing teams had dropped out of the tournament, leading to forfeits in multiple brackets. Additionally, several players were caught "[[biking]]" (searching up answers on the internet) during preliminary games; this could have been addressed more quickly had inexperienced readers not been assigned to rooms without separate scorekeepers, who would have helped to discern suspicious behavior.
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===During===
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The week of ONCT, there was a schedule change which was only communicated in the tournament Discord, rather than via email or on the forums. As a result, many teams learned on Saturday morning that they had to play 9 rounds that day instead of 7, the number announced in pre-tournament emails.
  
Other critiques included the use of half-packet [[tiebreaker game]]s for two-way ties (in accordance to [https://www.aqbleague.com/public/policies.html AQBL tiebreaker policy]), instead of the full packets used at other nationals; and the use of an [[advantaged final]] when the top two teams did not face common opponents in the [[superplayoff]]s.
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The tournament went on to experience delays. Some were attributed to the choice of Discord video as a platform, which was considered more lag-prone than [[Zoom]] (which was used by both the [[2021 HSNCT|HSNCT]] and [[2021 NSC|NSC]] that year), while others to staffer inexperience. The schedule was changed again on Saturday evening, with the last 2 Saturday rounds being moved back to Sunday. Similar changes had happened earlier at NSC and NASAT.
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By the end of prelims, several low-placing teams had dropped out of the tournament, leading to [[forfeits]] in multiple brackets. Additionally, several teams' wins were vacated after players were found to have [[cheated]]. The tight staffing situation meant that many [[readers]] did not have separate [[scorekeepers]] and there were none of the circulating integrity checkers which were seen at HSNCT, NASAT, and the NSC.
 +
 
 +
Other critiques have included the use of half-packet [[tiebreaker game]]s for two-way ties (in accordance with [https://www.aqbleague.com/public/policies.html AQBL's tiebreaker policy]) rather than the full-packet tiebreakers used at other nationals, as well as the use of an [[advantaged final]] when the top two teams played in separate brackets during the [[superplayoff]]s with no common opponents (which would usually result in a one-game final).
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==References==
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<references/>
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{{c|2021 Tournaments}}
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{{c|High school national championships}}

Latest revision as of 19:06, 4 November 2021

2021 AQBL ONCT
Edited by Aidan Leahy, Govind Prabhakar, Arjun Nageswaran, Katherine Lei, Dylan Bowman, Ethan Strombeck, William Groger, and Ethan Ashbrook[1]
Champion "Scalene Triangle"
Runner-up Detroit Country Day
Third St. Mark's
Fourth Ladue
High scorer Aiden Dartley, "Billy Joel A"
Site Online
Field 64
Stats [1]

The 2021 ONCT took place on June 26–27. The tournament was held online though Discord.[2] "Scalene Triangle" (Joel Miles and Brendan Fuller) cleared the field, defeating Detroit Country Day 280–260 in the first game of an advantaged final. St. Mark's and Ladue finished 3rd and 4th, respectively.

The tournament, the inaugural national of the newly-created AQBL, was almost exclusively promoted through e-mails to qualified teams and on the high school quizbowl Discord; it had little presence on hsquizbowl.org. A major selling point was its lower cost compared to the 2021 HSNCT and NSC. 64 teams registered from across the US, making it the smallest high school national tournament of the year; additionally, the field was considered weaker, due to fewer teams with high placements on GrogerRanks than the two major nationals.

Question set

Instead of producing their own questions for the tournament, AQBL mirrored the Southeast-Midwest Housewrite. This was the only high school mirror of the set, as AQBL had bought exclusive rights for that market; however, SMH was run at a large number of college tournaments. Though this was the first time that a set used for a high school national had been played before the date of the competition (HSNCT routinely has a Canadian mirror several months later), question security remained uncompromised (to anyone's knowledge) due to quizbowl's strong community standards.

Issues and criticism

Before

Senior members of the community criticized AQBL's plans for the ONCT as soon as it was announced, due to the relative inexperience of AQBL's members (who were mostly high schoolers at the time of announcement). Many doubted that AQBL would be able to handle the logistics of even a modestly-sized national tournament. These concerns largely subsided once AQBL proved that they could run successful tournaments during the regular season.

Unknowingly, AQBL and IQBT had both initially scheduled their nationals for the same weekend (June 26–27). Once this conflict was discovered and the two organizations had discussed it, NASAT was moved forward a week to June 19–20, while ONCT retained the initial date.[3]

During

The week of ONCT, there was a schedule change which was only communicated in the tournament Discord, rather than via email or on the forums. As a result, many teams learned on Saturday morning that they had to play 9 rounds that day instead of 7, the number announced in pre-tournament emails.

The tournament went on to experience delays. Some were attributed to the choice of Discord video as a platform, which was considered more lag-prone than Zoom (which was used by both the HSNCT and NSC that year), while others to staffer inexperience. The schedule was changed again on Saturday evening, with the last 2 Saturday rounds being moved back to Sunday. Similar changes had happened earlier at NSC and NASAT.

By the end of prelims, several low-placing teams had dropped out of the tournament, leading to forfeits in multiple brackets. Additionally, several teams' wins were vacated after players were found to have cheated. The tight staffing situation meant that many readers did not have separate scorekeepers and there were none of the circulating integrity checkers which were seen at HSNCT, NASAT, and the NSC.

Other critiques have included the use of half-packet tiebreaker games for two-way ties (in accordance with AQBL's tiebreaker policy) rather than the full-packet tiebreakers used at other nationals, as well as the use of an advantaged final when the top two teams played in separate brackets during the superplayoffs with no common opponents (which would usually result in a one-game final).

References

  1. Southeast-Midwest Housewrite Global Announcement by db0wman » Tue Dec 22, 2020 10:06 pm
  2. Initial Tournament Announcement by lava_lock » Mon Feb 22, 2021 8:12 pm
  3. NASAT and ONCT are scheduled for the same weekend by eygotem » Fri Jan 22, 2021 12:25 pm