I think what Richard was criticizing in the
example you reference is not *necessarily* the
pyramidally structured biographical question, rather the
biographical details chosen. The professions of a person's
parents, a person's collegiate alma mater, and this sort
of non-unique information can simply make for long
and tedious questions that are sufficiently arbitrary
to make everyone in the room have to wait through it
all before some uniquely identifying piece of
information is offered.
On the other hand, there are
certain seemingly-mundane facts that have become
canonical and are thereby both uniquely identifying and
readily accessible. The challenge is to become immersed
enough in the canon--quite a feat for a secondary school
student.
I agree that biography questions have their place
in Quizbowl, but they should be carefully
constructed with concern for the player and limited in
number. (Nobody likes a "round of 'who?'".)
Albert
Whited
The Universal Doctor