Difference between revisions of "Playing under a pseudonym"

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This term is pretty self-explanatory; the practice of '''playing under a pseudonym''' occurs when a team or individual player decides to register/play under a name which is not their own. This may include various mononyms, names of historical figures, or even mere [[in-jokes]]. Notable infamous examples of quizbowl pseudonyms include [[Basileus]].
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<onlyinclude>
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'''Playing under a pseudonym''' refers to the act of a [[team]] or individual [[players]] using a name other than their real one. The primary reasons for using a pseudonym are:
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# to circumvent restrictions imposed by their institution
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# to avoid having to follow proper procedure (e.g. not bringing an adult chaperone)
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# to be funny
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# to facilitate [[cheating]] (e.g. [[Basileus]])</onlyinclude>
  
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==Players playing under pseudonyms==
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Regardless of whether the original intent of playing under a pseudonym was comedic, many names are chosen to be [[:Category:In-jokes|in-jokes]] of some kind. Because many pseudonyms are employed by high school players, this has a tendency to backfire.<ref>[https://www.hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=349564#p349564 Re: Announcement: Penn Bowl 2018] by [[1.82]] » Fri Sep 14, 2018 12:33 pm</ref>
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Players who use pseudonyms might do so for a number of reasons. They might think it's funny for a personal reason or, more rarely-- and perhaps more scandalously, might also be trying to hide their actual identity for more suspicious purposes...
 
  
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Many players/coaches/etc. who oppose playing under pseudonyms don't like it because it can result in a lack of complete or even reliable summary of statistics for a player, as it is impossible to determine what the actual identity of a pseudonym-using player was based solely on their stats entry. Even if the team of the pseudonym-using player is known, it is still very hard to track their identity down. Thus, some consider it a hallmark of '''[[bad quizbowl]]'''.
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The use of pseudonyms obscures violations of [[question security]] and damages the usefulness, accuracy, and completeness of statistics. Generally speaking, both of these practices are considered hallmarks of [[bad quizbowl]] (although the use of pseudonyms by individuals is generally looked down upon more than if teams do it).
  
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==Teams playing under 'pseudonyms'==
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==Examples==
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Teams might do this for numerous reasons, including that the team might not be officially sponsored by the school they ostensibly represent. Teams that have done this include [[Hotchkiss]] (who currently play as "[[Team Coldhug]]"), [[Millburn]] (who have played as "Team Low Mountains"), and [[Whitney]] (who have played under the name "Goldenrod"). Unlike individual players, usually, for a team to play under a 'pseudonym' is generally '''not''' considered [[bad quizbowl]].
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[[NAQT]] officially allows teams to play under a pseudonym, including at the high school and middle school national tournaments, provided that a [[coach]] or parent writes in to request it. In such cases, teams are assigned a pseudonym "[city of origin] Scholars". It is generally considered a faux pas to publicly associate a high school team with their pseudonym, as teams typically have been given explicit permission to use it and have legitimate reasons.
  
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==Playing under given name only==
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In at least one case, individual pseudonyms were employed at a [[2003 HSNCT|national tournament]] and then rotated to avoid [[statistic]]s from being meaningfully attributed to any player.
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Playing under one's first name only (or first name plus last initial) doesn't count as a pseudonym because it essentially constitutes a failure to properly sign up with complete information, ''not'' a deliberate attempt to hide one's name for a specific personal reason.
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{{Right quote box|Now that we're done talking about Naveed Bork's quizbowl America, I do think that there are points of discussion that are worth talking about here: the presence of semi-closed tournaments in some regions.
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-[[Ike Jose]]<ref>[https://www.hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=324230#p324230 Re: Non-students playing closed tournaments under false name] by [[Ike]] » Sat Dec 17, 2016 9:03 am</ref>}}
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In 2016, [[Will Alston]] played under the pseudonym "Isaac Biggerstaff" (a reference to [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Bickerstaff Isaac Bickerstaff], pseudonym of Jonathan Swift) on the [[UCSD]] team at a [[closed]] mirror of [[Terrapin]] after privately receiving permission from head editor [[Jordan Brownstein]]; this caused a snafu, as he was not affiliated with UCSD in any way ([[Eddie Kim]] also played the tournament under the pseudonym "Klaus Fuchs", which he regularly did).<ref>[https://www.hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=324198#p324198 Non-students playing closed tournaments under false names] by [[1.82]] » Fri Dec 16, 2016 5:46 pm</ref>  The resulting discussion included [[Ike Jose]] calling [[Naveed Chowdhury]] "Naveed Bork", inspiring the name of a later [[Naveed Bork|side event]].
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[[Open]] teams can chose to play any name, and as they do not represent an affiliation it is not considered playing under a pseudonym for them to do so. However, players occasionally will take on pseudonyms while on such teams.
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==See also==
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*[https://www.naqt.com/hosting/pseudonym-policy.jsp NAQT's policy on pseudonyms]
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==References==
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<references/>
  
 
[[Category:Quizbowl lingo]]
 
[[Category:Quizbowl lingo]]
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[[Category:Quizbowl Lore]]
 
 
[[Category:In-jokes]]
 
[[Category:In-jokes]]
 
[[Category:Bad quizbowl]]
 
[[Category:Bad quizbowl]]

Latest revision as of 16:10, 20 January 2023

Playing under a pseudonym refers to the act of a team or individual players using a name other than their real one. The primary reasons for using a pseudonym are:

  1. to circumvent restrictions imposed by their institution
  2. to avoid having to follow proper procedure (e.g. not bringing an adult chaperone)
  3. to be funny
  4. to facilitate cheating (e.g. Basileus)

Regardless of whether the original intent of playing under a pseudonym was comedic, many names are chosen to be in-jokes of some kind. Because many pseudonyms are employed by high school players, this has a tendency to backfire.[1]

The use of pseudonyms obscures violations of question security and damages the usefulness, accuracy, and completeness of statistics. Generally speaking, both of these practices are considered hallmarks of bad quizbowl (although the use of pseudonyms by individuals is generally looked down upon more than if teams do it).

Examples

NAQT officially allows teams to play under a pseudonym, including at the high school and middle school national tournaments, provided that a coach or parent writes in to request it. In such cases, teams are assigned a pseudonym "[city of origin] Scholars". It is generally considered a faux pas to publicly associate a high school team with their pseudonym, as teams typically have been given explicit permission to use it and have legitimate reasons.

In at least one case, individual pseudonyms were employed at a national tournament and then rotated to avoid statistics from being meaningfully attributed to any player.

Now that we're done talking about Naveed Bork's quizbowl America, I do think that there are points of discussion that are worth talking about here: the presence of semi-closed tournaments in some regions.

-Ike Jose[2]

In 2016, Will Alston played under the pseudonym "Isaac Biggerstaff" (a reference to Isaac Bickerstaff, pseudonym of Jonathan Swift) on the UCSD team at a closed mirror of Terrapin after privately receiving permission from head editor Jordan Brownstein; this caused a snafu, as he was not affiliated with UCSD in any way (Eddie Kim also played the tournament under the pseudonym "Klaus Fuchs", which he regularly did).[3] The resulting discussion included Ike Jose calling Naveed Chowdhury "Naveed Bork", inspiring the name of a later side event.

Open teams can chose to play any name, and as they do not represent an affiliation it is not considered playing under a pseudonym for them to do so. However, players occasionally will take on pseudonyms while on such teams.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Re: Announcement: Penn Bowl 2018 by 1.82 » Fri Sep 14, 2018 12:33 pm
  2. ↑ Re: Non-students playing closed tournaments under false name by Ike » Sat Dec 17, 2016 9:03 am
  3. ↑ Non-students playing closed tournaments under false names by 1.82 » Fri Dec 16, 2016 5:46 pm
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