Regular difficulty - Revision history

Kevin Wang: /* College */

2026-04-13T17:38:21Z

College

Kevin Wang at 19:25, 8 December 2021

2021-12-08T19:25:21Z

Kevin Wang: /* Theory */

2021-12-08T19:09:46Z

Theory

Kevin Wang at 19:09, 8 December 2021

2021-12-08T19:09:21Z

Kevin Wang at 18:43, 8 December 2021

2021-12-08T18:43:31Z

Kevin Wang at 18:42, 8 December 2021

2021-12-08T18:42:33Z

Kevin Wang at 15:38, 27 October 2021

2021-10-27T15:38:34Z

June Yin: /* See also */

2021-10-20T21:09:16Z

June Yin: /* High School */

2021-10-20T21:09:08Z

High School

June Yin: /* See Also */

2021-10-20T21:09:02Z

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 In college quizbowl, the barometer for regular difficulty has traditionally been set by [[ACF Regionals]], i.e. "[[three-dot]]" difficulty on the [https://collegequizbowlcalendar.com/difficulty-scale/ college quiz bowl calendar's difficulty scale] - for many years, "Regionals difficulty" was used interchangeably with regular difficulty. As a result, it can be difficult to assess the precise difficulty of [[ACF Regionals]], which ''does'' fluctuate from year to year, but it is generally held to have avoided overshooting in every year since 2008.
-Division I [[SCT]] is held to be equivalent difficulty to Regionals despite differences in distribution, an assertion that largely holds true based on empirical data. SCTs from 2012 onward
+Division I [[SCT]] is held to be equivalent difficulty to Regionals despite differences in distribution, an assertion that largely holds true based on empirical data.
 Other sets which are generally considered to be represent regular difficulty:

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 ==College==
+{{Collegiate difficulties}}
 In college quizbowl, the barometer for regular difficulty has traditionally been set by [[ACF Regionals]], i.e. "[[three-dot]]" difficulty on the [https://collegequizbowlcalendar.com/difficulty-scale/ college quiz bowl calendar's difficulty scale] - for many years, "Regionals difficulty" was used interchangeably with regular difficulty. As a result, it can be difficult to assess the precise difficulty of [[ACF Regionals]], which ''does'' fluctuate from year to year, but it is generally held to have avoided overshooting in every year since 2008.

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 ==Theory==
-Regular difficulty tournaments must be more difficult than [[novice]] and easy tournaments on one hand, or else games between highly-skilled teams will feature too many [[buzzer race]]s on early clues. They must also be less difficult than [[hard]] tournaments or national championships or else games between average and below-average teams will feature too many [[dead]] tossups, buzzer races on late clues, and situations where luck of the draw on [[bonus]]es determines the victor. Since regular difficulty tournaments typically represent the modal questions in a [[circuit]], it is more important than usual to avoid especially-wild fluctuations in difficulty from question to question, from category to category, and from packet to packet.
+Regular difficulty tournaments must be more difficult than [[novice]] and easy tournaments, or else games between highly-skilled teams will feature too many [[buzzer race]]s on early clues. They must also be less difficult than [[hard]] tournaments or national championships or else games between average and below-average teams will feature too many [[dead]] tossups, buzzer races on late clues, and situations where luck of the draw on [[bonus]]es determines the victor.
 ==High school==

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 <onlyinclude>
-'''Regular difficulty''' is the modal difficulty at a level of quizbowl. Theoretically, it represents the [[difficulty]] level at which any eligible [[closed]] team across the whole range of skill levels can play meaningful games against any other eligible team. For example, a regular-difficulty high school set will have a [http://hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=10795&p=201695&hilit=regular+difficulty#p201695 distribution], selection of clues/answers, etc. that allows the more knowledgeable high school team in a given match to consistently win, regardless of whether it's a match between weak teams, average teams, or strong teams.</onlyinclude>
+'''Regular difficulty''' is the normative difficulty for questions at a given level of quizbowl. Theoretically, it represents the [[difficulty]] level at which any eligible [[closed]] team across the whole range of skill levels can play meaningful games against any other eligible team. For example, a regular-difficulty high school set should have a [[distribution]], selection of clues/answers, etc. that allows the more knowledgeable high school team in a given match to consistently win,<ref>[http://hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=10795&p=201695&hilit=regular+difficulty#p201695 Some thoughts on the distribution and regular difficulty] by [[Sen. Estes Kefauver (D-TN)]] » Sat Nov 13, 2010 9:09 pm</ref> regardless of whether it's a match between weak teams, average teams, or strong teams.</onlyinclude>
-More generally, regular difficulty tournaments must be more difficult than [[novice]] and easy tournaments on one hand (or else games between highly-skilled teams will feature too many [[buzzer race]]s on early clues) and less difficult than [[hard]] tournaments or national championships (or else games between average and below-average teams will feature too many [[dead]] tossups, buzzer races on late clues, and situations where luck of the draw on [[bonus]]es determines the victor). Regular tournaments must also avoid especially-wild fluctuations in difficulty from question to question, from category to category, and from packet to packet.
+==Theory==
 ==High school==
-In high school quizbowl, the range of regular difficulty is usually defined by the difficulty level of [[NAQT]] [[Invitational Series]] sets, as well as independently produced [[mACF]] sets such as [[LIST]] and [[RAFT]]. These sets are designed to produce consistent, meaningful aggregate results for all high-school matchups. [[GrogerRanks]] uses a regular-difficulty set—usually an IS set—as the benchmark for its [[power]]s/game and [[PPB]] adjustments when computing teams' scores.
+In high school quizbowl, the range of regular difficulty is usually defined by the difficulty level of [[NAQT]] [[Invitational Series]] sets, with many [[housewrite|independently produced]] [[mACF]] sets like [[LIST]] and [[RAFT]] attempting to align closely with this standard. These sets are designed to produce consistent, meaningful aggregate results for all high school matchups. Team rankings like [[HSQBRank]] and [[GrogerRanks]] have historically used the season's regular-difficulty set to calibrate its [[PPB]] (and in the case of GrogerRanks, [[power]]) adjustments when computing teams' scores.
 ==College==
-In college quizbowl, the barometer for regular difficulty has traditionally been set by [[ACF Regionals]], i.e. "three-dot" difficulty on the [https://collegequizbowlcalendar.com/difficulty-scale/ college quiz bowl calendar's difficulty scale]. Examples of recent tournaments that successfully achieved regular difficulty without overshooting include [[ACF Regionals]] from 2008 to the present, [[Penn-ance]], and the Division I [[SCT]] from 2012 to the present. More discussion of what collegiate regular difficulty consists of, and how to properly write questions for it, can be found [http://hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=14164&p=257457 here], [http://hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=6154 here], and [http://acf-quizbowl.com/documents/regular-difficulty/ here].
+In college quizbowl, the barometer for regular difficulty has traditionally been set by [[ACF Regionals]], i.e. "[[three-dot]]" difficulty on the [https://collegequizbowlcalendar.com/difficulty-scale/ college quiz bowl calendar's difficulty scale] - for many years, "Regionals difficulty" was used interchangeably with regular difficulty. As a result, it can be difficult to assess the precise difficulty of [[ACF Regionals]], which ''does'' fluctuate from year to year, but it is generally held to have avoided overshooting in every year since 2008.
-More recently, many community figures (such as [[Eric Mukherjee]]) have advocated for the redefinition of college regular difficulty to be the level of [[EFT]], i.e. "two-dot" difficulty on the quiz bowl calendar scale. Among other things, this could lessen the perceived difficulty of college quizbowl to newer players. However, older members of the community have largely resisted this change, resulting in much confusion surrounding the term's meaning. This has been exacerbated by the fact that the abbreviation "regs" may refer to either "Regionals" or "regular," and has led to a decline in the usage of the term "regular difficulty" among the college quizbowl community.
+Division I [[SCT]] is held to be equivalent difficulty to Regionals despite differences in distribution, an assertion that largely holds true based on empirical data. SCTs from 2012 onward
 ==See also==
-*[[List of collegiate difficulties]]
+*[[Collegiate difficulties]]
 *[[Regular-plus difficulty]]
 [[Category:Quizbowl lingo]]
 [[Category: Difficulty and quality scales for packet sets]]
 {{c|Quizbowl concepts}}

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 <onlyinclude>
-'''Regular difficulty''' the modal difficulty at a level of quizbowl. Theoretically, it represents the [[difficulty]] level at which any eligible [[closed]] team across the whole range of skill levels can play meaningful games against any other eligible team. For example, a regular-difficulty high school set will have a [http://hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=10795&p=201695&hilit=regular+difficulty#p201695 distribution], selection of clues/answers, etc. that allows the more knowledgeable high school team in a given match to consistently win, regardless of whether it's a match between weak teams, average teams, or strong teams.</onlyinclude>
+'''Regular difficulty''' is the modal difficulty at a level of quizbowl. Theoretically, it represents the [[difficulty]] level at which any eligible [[closed]] team across the whole range of skill levels can play meaningful games against any other eligible team. For example, a regular-difficulty high school set will have a [http://hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=10795&p=201695&hilit=regular+difficulty#p201695 distribution], selection of clues/answers, etc. that allows the more knowledgeable high school team in a given match to consistently win, regardless of whether it's a match between weak teams, average teams, or strong teams.</onlyinclude>
 More generally, regular difficulty tournaments must be more difficult than [[novice]] and easy tournaments on one hand (or else games between highly-skilled teams will feature too many [[buzzer race]]s on early clues) and less difficult than [[hard]] tournaments or national championships (or else games between average and below-average teams will feature too many [[dead]] tossups, buzzer races on late clues, and situations where luck of the draw on [[bonus]]es determines the victor). Regular tournaments must also avoid especially-wild fluctuations in difficulty from question to question, from category to category, and from packet to packet.

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:38, 27 October 2021
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−	'''Regular difficulty''' is the [[difficulty]] level at which any eligible [[closed]] team across the whole range of skill levels can play meaningful games against any other eligible team. (i.e.: A regular-difficulty high school set will have a [http://hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=10795&p=201695&hilit=regular+difficulty#p201695 distribution], selection of clues/answers, etc. that allows the more knowledgeable high school team in a given match to consistently win, regardless of whether it's a match between weak teams, average teams, or strong teams.)	+	<onlyinclude>
		+	'''Regular difficulty''' is the [[difficulty]] level at which any eligible [[closed]] team across the whole range of skill levels can play meaningful games against any other eligible team. (i.e.: A regular-difficulty high school set will have a [http://hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=10795&p=201695&hilit=regular+difficulty#p201695 distribution], selection of clues/answers, etc. that allows the more knowledgeable high school team in a given match to consistently win, regardless of whether it's a match between weak teams, average teams, or strong teams.)</onlyinclude>

	More generally, regular difficulty tournaments must be more difficult than [[novice]] and easy tournaments on one hand (or else games between highly-skilled teams will feature too many [[buzzer race]]s on early clues) and less difficult than [[hard]] tournaments or national championships (or else games between average and below-average teams will feature too many [[dead]] tossups, buzzer races on late clues, and situations where luck of the draw on [[bonus]]es determines the victor). Regular tournaments must also avoid especially-wild fluctuations in difficulty from question to question, from category to category, and from packet to packet.		More generally, regular difficulty tournaments must be more difficult than [[novice]] and easy tournaments on one hand (or else games between highly-skilled teams will feature too many [[buzzer race]]s on early clues) and less difficult than [[hard]] tournaments or national championships (or else games between average and below-average teams will feature too many [[dead]] tossups, buzzer races on late clues, and situations where luck of the draw on [[bonus]]es determines the victor). Regular tournaments must also avoid especially-wild fluctuations in difficulty from question to question, from category to category, and from packet to packet.