Difference between revisions of "2019 NHBB Online"

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(Largely reverting much of the changes and editing it to be more concise)
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:''See also: [[Question recycling]]''
 
:''See also: [[Question recycling]]''
: This event has no affiliation with [[NHBB]] and all promotions of this event were clearly stated as such.
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The '''2019 "[[NHBB]]" Discord Tournament''', also known colloquially as '''"NHBB Online"''', was an online history bee-style "tournament" held during April 2019 on Discord. The brainchild of 8th grade [[Laurel Springs]] NHB player [[User:Ameya Singh|Ameya Singh]], the "tournament" was won by [[Sam Brochin]] in a small field. The event attracted controversy after it was revealed that a number of questions it used were knowingly plagiarized from existing packets, rendering it not a true tournament, but instead a scrimmage.
The '''2019 "[[NHBB]]" Discord Tournament''', commonly known as '''"NHBB Online"''', was an online history bee-style tournament held during April 2019 on Discord. The tournament was created by [[Laurel Springs]] NHB player [[User:Ameya Singh|Ameya Singh]], the tournament was won by [[Sam Brochin]].
 
While the event had multiple logistical issues, it gained its notoriety for false advertising in the Hsquizbowl forums about it being a majority housewrite, spurring a controversy.
 
==Controversy & Aftermath==
 
The tournament was initially announced on Discord servers and was promoted as a hype-up event before the 2019 NHBB HS Nationals. It was stated that the TUs being used will be a collection from old NHBB/IHBB packets along with a few housewrites. This information was properly mentioned and noted in all Discord promotions. However, vague and unclear promotions made by Singh in HSQuizBowl forums along with misleading affirmations that it will be a majority housewrite spurred the controversy. After the tournament's preliminary stages had concluded and the Google Docs were made public online, members of the online QB community pointed out that many of the tossups used in the tournament were either directly copied from, or extremely similar to, cleared questions used in past tournaments run by other organizations.  
 
  
In light of the controversy, the HS quizbowl forums created a category for those wanting to run scrimmages using clear packets/housewrites.
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==The Scrimmage Begins==
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The event had promoted itself on the [http://hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=104&t=22615&p=357297#p35729 forums] as a [[housewrite]] "based off of NHBB/IHB packets." After its preliminary stages had concluded, attempts were made to upload the first three packets onto the packet archive, leading observers to note that comments on the Discord had implied that the questions had been adapted from existing questions, which would have barred them from being posted. The packets in question were instead posted to the forums for review, where many of the tossups were verified to have been directly copied from past tournaments. Other writers participating in the project provided chat logs that indicated that this plagarism was intentional.
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There was also additional concern over the choice to explicitly label the event as the "NHBB Discord Tournament", despite not being affiliated with NHBB or International Academic Competitions (IAC) in any way outside of using their questions. Though such connections were denied, such denials were only found in niche areas of associated discussion, preventing many from accessing them.
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==The Scrimmage Concludes==
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In the midst of this controversy, the organizer of the event elected to continue, indicating that they would continue to draw questions from existing packets, but not post them. This drew additional censure, as did a later attempt by the organizer to run multiple other such events. Ultimately, the final round was run on a packet of housewritten tossups.
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As a direct result of these events, a new category on the forums was created to advertise for and organize scrimmages using clear packets.
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==Packets used==
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Samples from the prelims include:
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*[https://docs.google.com/document/d/173QOXJVojf9UYwQRzJdx7QprG94Qu0j_fcpHXP7Xquk/edit Packet 1]
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**[https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ARi-ztbQyJgL7edo-wU3-Ovv3giI18uFM-I2WlMCftE/edit?usp=sharing Packet 1 (with plagarism noted)]
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*[https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JiD-2gVjxT11Dm2GqnauU77AOOeHWYQDZNjOBEz6X9Y/edit Packet 2]
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*[https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nkh3anG0Al5xmNzH6VqogOVPOhkwlI-_-zSM6B_SImE/edit Packet 3]
  
 
[[Category:Quizbowl scandals]]
 
[[Category:Quizbowl scandals]]
 
[[Category:Bad quizbowl]]
 
[[Category:Bad quizbowl]]
 
[[Category:Quizbowl on the internets]]
 
[[Category:Quizbowl on the internets]]

Revision as of 13:27, 11 May 2019

See also: Question recycling

The 2019 "NHBB" Discord Tournament, also known colloquially as "NHBB Online", was an online history bee-style "tournament" held during April 2019 on Discord. The brainchild of 8th grade Laurel Springs NHB player Ameya Singh, the "tournament" was won by Sam Brochin in a small field. The event attracted controversy after it was revealed that a number of questions it used were knowingly plagiarized from existing packets, rendering it not a true tournament, but instead a scrimmage.

The Scrimmage Begins

The event had promoted itself on the forums as a housewrite "based off of NHBB/IHB packets." After its preliminary stages had concluded, attempts were made to upload the first three packets onto the packet archive, leading observers to note that comments on the Discord had implied that the questions had been adapted from existing questions, which would have barred them from being posted. The packets in question were instead posted to the forums for review, where many of the tossups were verified to have been directly copied from past tournaments. Other writers participating in the project provided chat logs that indicated that this plagarism was intentional.

There was also additional concern over the choice to explicitly label the event as the "NHBB Discord Tournament", despite not being affiliated with NHBB or International Academic Competitions (IAC) in any way outside of using their questions. Though such connections were denied, such denials were only found in niche areas of associated discussion, preventing many from accessing them.

The Scrimmage Concludes

In the midst of this controversy, the organizer of the event elected to continue, indicating that they would continue to draw questions from existing packets, but not post them. This drew additional censure, as did a later attempt by the organizer to run multiple other such events. Ultimately, the final round was run on a packet of housewritten tossups.

As a direct result of these events, a new category on the forums was created to advertise for and organize scrimmages using clear packets.

Packets used

Samples from the prelims include: