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 Post subject: Re: Hello fellow Buzztime players!
PostPosted: Thu Apr 21, 2016 6:07 am 
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Sir or Dame Postalot

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whales wrote:
For that matter, Trivia Tour 2006 combined all of the premium games + Countdown + Wipeout, and touched even more bases. Clint, track down and dust off that software in your archives if you're curious about rivalries and stretched-out league-type dedicated player action.

no surprise that whales would like trivia tour as well as he did at it, but i agree with him that was my favorite tournament as well. a better sports game would be necessary though.


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 Post subject: Re: Hello fellow Buzztime players!
PostPosted: Mon Apr 25, 2016 1:28 pm 
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Location: Illinois side of the St Louis Metro Area
I just thought of something... Have a incidentive in where the game winner gets P+ points (maybe 100)... Something blind players will never get... Of course STILL must be two players at a venue in order to win a game

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Last edited by MitchWolf on Sat May 07, 2016 12:09 am, edited 1 time in total.

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 Post subject: Re: Hello fellow Buzztime players!
PostPosted: Mon Apr 25, 2016 10:03 pm 
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New Driver

Joined: Fri Apr 01, 2016 2:40 pm
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Great ideas everyone. We are planning on trying out a few different game types and competitions. I have to balance the offering because we have tablets sites and playmaker sites but outside of that the sky is the limit!

I recently started posting daily trivia questions to Facebook and Twitter from Buzztime. Just a little something for players to look forward to when they are on the go or grabbing a bite to eat around lunchtime. There are plenty of directions I could take that idea, any suggestions from the group here? Maybe something closer to Opinionation? I'll be experimenting with it a bit but I'd love to her your thoughts.

If you want to check it out just do a search for Buzztime on Facebook. Then click on the Buzztime Page (not the Buzztime Business Page). A new questions is delivered every day at 12 PM PST.

Here is today's question

Buzztime brings you daily trivia...
CARTOON CHARACTER FOGHORN LEGHORN IS A?

The first answer was- LOAF OF GARLIC BREAD! LOL!!!!!

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c0braje7 (aka CDUB)
Clint Worley- Executive Producer Buzztime


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 Post subject: Re: Hello fellow Buzztime players!
PostPosted: Wed Apr 27, 2016 8:55 am 
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U > 100 * 2

Joined: Sun May 27, 2012 10:51 am
Posts: 221
Clint, I just saw that the May 19th Topix game is NASCAR.
If this is your doing, Thank You, Thank You!!!

RAY J.


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 Post subject: Re: Hello fellow Buzztime players!
PostPosted: Wed Apr 27, 2016 11:46 am 
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Joined: Thu Jul 03, 2014 4:58 pm
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rayj1029 wrote:
Clint, I just saw that the May 19th Topix game is NASCAR.
If this is your doing, Thank You, Thank You!!!

RAY J.


Our NASCAR expert will also be delighted, as well. Should be an entertaining battle.


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 Post subject: Re: Hello fellow Buzztime players!
PostPosted: Thu Apr 28, 2016 4:55 am 
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Posts: 272
Glad to have a BT rep here and paying attention to us players!

One thing that needs to be addressed with the new locales that get the tablet system. I hate it when I walk into a new place and they don't have the game going on a TV. Many places do not seem to understand that by FAR the most-common way that people become aware of the game and maybe become regulars at a place because of the trivia is by SEEING THE GAME ON A TV SCREEN and becoming interested by looking at the questions. The next time someone unfamiliar with the product discovers it by looking over someone's shoulder at a tablet would probably be the first. New places that add the game w/tablets need to understand that having the game easily visible on reasonably large TV screens is VITALLY IMPORTANT to having the game be a successful business aid. POUND it into their heads...

Just because the game can certainly be played by just reading the questions on the tablet screen does NOT mean that zero TV's in the place should have BT playing.

I even remember one place (long before the tablets came into being) that never ever turned the trivia channel on any TV in the place unless someone asked them to. I tried to get the manager to understand that they'd never get any players without having the trivia on, telling her that *everybody* I knew that played trivia discovered the game by seeing it on a TV. She insisted that the little NTN advertising signs stuck on the TV stands were just fine, and that she knew what she was doing, had managed at three places previously, all that jazz... Yeah, she managed all three of those places right into the ground, most likely... Anyway, the place never picked up any trivia clientele and soon dropped the game... and then closed a few months later. Another fine job of managing there... [/rant]


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 Post subject: Re: Hello fellow Buzztime players!
PostPosted: Thu Apr 28, 2016 12:14 pm 
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Rackme32 is correct.


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 Post subject: Re: Hello fellow Buzztime players!
PostPosted: Fri Apr 29, 2016 12:04 am 
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I agree. A few years ago, I was in Lansing, Michigan. I needed to fill out a card in the old cards promotion. There was a location nearby which I knew, but I decided to play at another close location I had seen on the site finder. They had no screens on the game. I realized that by the time I got someone to get me a playmaker and get a TV on the game, I'd miss several questions. I walked out without saying a word to anyone. I stopped there (Reno's West) last summer. Again, no TV's on the game. I did get it on and played while having lunch.

In my opinion, if you put no sets on BT,why pay all that money for the service?


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 Post subject: Re: Hello fellow Buzztime players!
PostPosted: Wed May 04, 2016 12:11 pm 
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Lord or Lady Postsalot

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Yes to the above - pretty much all of it. I'm another two decade player and one of Akbar's destination BT visitors. I base both residence and travel on site availability.

The new tablet sites really need better training on the TV issue (you do have site support people still? Even if by phone?). My most recent home site is one such and they have a weird wrinkle where their BT live trivia night on Wednesday brings in a full house with 15+ multiperson teams, but other than my wife and I only one other player ever bothers with the national games. Once the owner works out he can bring in a full-service live trivia outfit for a fraction of what he pays you guys, there will be only our business as incentive to keep the service, and I'm pretty sure my bar tabs don't generate enough in net profit. It's nice that the tablets can maintain game play even when bars turn every single screen onto sports games, but that should not be the main presentation vehicle.

To not be entirely critical, I should include kudos for relatively recent game changes such as going back to national games and even, subjective only here, moving away from an over-reliance on pop music TV and movies. Nobody reasonable can deny they are important components of trivia, but when games routinely had 50%+ such content it was too much. Well balanced, verified trivia with some game variety and without asinine distractors (when asking a question about, say, Roman emperors, it wouldn't kill your writers to actually list 5 Roman emperors as choices, would it?) is really all it takes to keep those like me happy

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 Post subject: Re: Hello fellow Buzztime players!
PostPosted: Wed May 04, 2016 1:06 pm 
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Thanks for the feedback and television training is a critical part of our new installation walk-through. It is also featured in a monthly newsletter that we send out to all of our venues. That being said... it is a challenging problem to solve. In most situations we see the televisions turned off during major events (Monday Night Football, UFC fights, Nascar, etc...) during those times the restaurant/bar owners change their TV's to whatever the customers are requesting. We will continue our efforts on educating new and existing Buzztime locations. It also helps when regular Buzztime players request for the TV's to be changed back (in many ways, players have much more impact than we do because they are ordering food/drinks and leaving tips.

If there are sites that any of you are aware of that we should follow up with please start a thread and I would be happy to have the field reps follow up with the venue owners!

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c0braje7 (aka CDUB)
Clint Worley- Executive Producer Buzztime


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 Post subject: Re: Hello fellow Buzztime players!
PostPosted: Wed May 04, 2016 3:31 pm 
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Excellent Idea


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 Post subject: Re: Hello fellow Buzztime players!
PostPosted: Wed May 04, 2016 3:43 pm 
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Well, hell. With respect to sites switching screens off Buzztime by other customers' requests :evil: , in my long experience, it almost always seems that the Buzztime screens get changed without anyone checking to see if someone is playing. :( However, if someone wanting to bang away at Buzztime wants a screen switched, then every last #&*%! other customer and staff needs to be asked before the screen is switched. :roll:

With that, my experiences here in Buzztime's Site-Poor Backyard's BWWs have been extremely favorable, once I get to know the captains and they understand that the screen that shows Buzztime where I'm resting my poor tired lil old grumpy ass is *reserved* until I drag myself out for the day. 8-)

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liljol, still residing in a humble lil abode in Buzztime's Backyard, San Diego County, in The Horribly Site-Poor Golden State, California...

<--805 NTN Buzztime sites visited as of 11/13/2018...

F CUBS!!!!! FBOSOX!!!!!

FPDRES!!!!! FCHGRS!!!!!


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 Post subject: Re: Hello fellow Buzztime players!
PostPosted: Wed May 04, 2016 4:49 pm 
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I don't think that screen switching is a unique thing. I've been in restaurants where I am watching a TV and the bartender switches it because someone asked. The experience is very different with Buzztime obviously because players are actively engaged with the content on the TV.

I noted this in my previous comment... the best way to make sure that the TV's stay on Buzztime is for more people to be playing. Invite your friends, family and anyone else to be part of the Buzztime family! If there is a group of players the likelihood of the channel getting changed is lower than a single player quietly sitting in the restaurant.

We are kicking around a few ideas that would reward players for referrals. I'd love to hear thoughts from the players on referral ideas as well.

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c0braje7 (aka CDUB)
Clint Worley- Executive Producer Buzztime


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 Post subject: Re: Hello fellow Buzztime players!
PostPosted: Wed May 04, 2016 5:07 pm 
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With all due respect, Clint, it sounds like my point was missed. Buzztime players have too often, with few exceptions, been treated as second class citizens with respect to screen switching. There are few things more troubling to Buzztime players than to have the Buzztime screen switched without site employees making *any* effort to find out if anyone is playing the games on that specific screen. Also, IMO it should not make any difference if there is one or more than one playing.

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liljol, still residing in a humble lil abode in Buzztime's Backyard, San Diego County, in The Horribly Site-Poor Golden State, California...

<--805 NTN Buzztime sites visited as of 11/13/2018...

F CUBS!!!!! FBOSOX!!!!!

FPDRES!!!!! FCHGRS!!!!!


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 Post subject: Re: Hello fellow Buzztime players!
PostPosted: Wed May 04, 2016 6:58 pm 
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I agree with your point. It comes right back to educating the staff about Buzztime which we take very serious. There are some elements that are out of our control though. Mainly staff turn over in sites. We have seen locations that have great engagement with the players take a hit when staff members change shifts or get replaced. The knowledge isn't always transferred to the new team member. Our account team proactively messages out best practices and ways to keep Buzztime players engaged in venues.

We are in constant communication with sites and have no problem relaying player feedback on the Buzztime experience. Thanks for sharing your insight on the situation.

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c0braje7 (aka CDUB)
Clint Worley- Executive Producer Buzztime


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 Post subject: Re: Hello fellow Buzztime players!
PostPosted: Wed May 04, 2016 7:21 pm 
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Ah, good. :) One perception (likely an incorrect one) is that site support all but goes away after the system is installed unless the installation was faulty. Sustaining site support IMO is most essential to maintaining sites' subscriptions.

That said, there have been (and likely always will be) situations when sites are unable to get all of their employees to encourage customers looking at the Buzztime screen with more than a lil curiosity to try playing. There have been far too many times in my experiences (and very likely others here) when other customers were showing way more than a lil interest in playing, only to be ignored or answered with "YOU WANT TO PLAY *THAT*??" :( Granted, this is not accountable to Buzztime, but I have to wonder how many more players there might be otherwise.

Another perception (hopefully also incorrect) is that a great deal of reliance is placed in other than face to face contact (e-mails, text messages, etc.). While such contact certainly saves travel expenses (among others), as an admittedly old grump :lol: , IMO there is still far more value in face to face meetings.

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liljol, still residing in a humble lil abode in Buzztime's Backyard, San Diego County, in The Horribly Site-Poor Golden State, California...

<--805 NTN Buzztime sites visited as of 11/13/2018...

F CUBS!!!!! FBOSOX!!!!!

FPDRES!!!!! FCHGRS!!!!!


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 Post subject: Re: Hello fellow Buzztime players!
PostPosted: Wed May 04, 2016 7:39 pm 
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Has anyone mentioned box turn around time? That is often mentioned when I ask about the replacement, but then again I have no way of knowing whether it's sitting on a desk at the site or not. :roll:

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 Post subject: Re: Hello fellow Buzztime players!
PostPosted: Wed May 04, 2016 11:09 pm 
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Can you give me additional context on "box replacement"?

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c0braje7 (aka CDUB)
Clint Worley- Executive Producer Buzztime


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 Post subject: Re: Hello fellow Buzztime players!
PostPosted: Thu May 05, 2016 1:42 am 
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Lotsa Posta

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Posts: 785
Location: Delaware
Gogetem wrote:
Has anyone mentioned box turn around time? That is often mentioned when I ask about the replacement, but then again I have no way of knowing whether it's sitting on a desk at the site or not. :roll:

It's never more than a few days, and you know we're about as far away from Carlsbad as you can get. They are very quick. Any delays are likely on the site management's part.


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 Post subject: Re: Hello fellow Buzztime players!
PostPosted: Thu May 05, 2016 12:17 pm 
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Thanks for checking in Clint.

How about a once a month "Throwback Thursday" where classic and not used games make a comeback? One month it could be "Classic Version Playback". Another month it could be "Jukebox", etc.

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 Post subject: Re: Hello fellow Buzztime players!
PostPosted: Thu May 05, 2016 5:29 pm 
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Gogetem wrote:
Has anyone mentioned box turn around time? That is often mentioned when I ask about the replacement, but then again I have no way of knowing whether it's sitting on a desk at the site or not. :roll:

Every time I've sent PM's back it's been 10 days or less until new ones appear. The hardest part by far is convincing any location manager it's not rocket science.

In my 20+ years of dealing directly with NTN/BT customer or technical support it's been top notch.


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 Post subject: Re: Hello fellow Buzztime players!
PostPosted: Fri May 06, 2016 12:26 am 
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Sir or Dame Postsalot

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Regarding several of the subjects in this thread simultaneously (locations' and staff's attitudes toward Buzztime and its players; players' wish for better welcome, better support, screens, playmakers, etc.; Clint's interest in fostering environments of referrals, rivalries, shout-outs, etc.) I suppose I have a cluster of ideas.

Buzztime could do more to play matchmaker between A and B.
Who are A and B

A
Locations (whether owners, managers, or waitstaff) whose ideal Buzztime customer is/has x,y, and z
x- an ideal size party, maybe it's 5, maybe it's 10, I doubt it's 1 or 2
y- they come on the slow nights. It is probably a lost cause to think that waitstaff and shift managers will ever really welcome Buzztime or its players among their bread-and-butter basketball/football/weekend crowds. They don't want to break up their solidarity wall of color, every screen on a sports event, even every screen on the same sports event, for a dull static board of text. They don't want to have to be fending off, all night long, people asking for that screen (Buzztime) to be switched off for something with more motion. They just wish Buzztime (and its monolith players) would go away at those times when they have all the business and all the demands they can handle. They are reminding themselves that their reason for ever trying Buzztime in the first place was to have a shot at filling in the gaps, getting specific extra business and traffic where they needed it most, not where they needed it least...the slow nights (dare I say those are Tuesday and Wednesday, and about 32 out of 52 Mondays)...and they are wondering why that ain't happening either.
z- I'm no restaurateur (this forum's authority on that is Akbar in Delaware), correct me if I'm wrong, but locations love reservations, knowing exactly when and how many and the luxury of planning in advance how/where to put them.

B
Players whose ideal Buzztime night out is pretty simply p,q,r, and s
p- a seat
q- a working charged playmaker
r- line of sight to a screen showing Buzztime
s- the Buzztime game they came out for

Obviously don't further bother any locations that aren't interested. For those that are, ask them to tell you (Buzztime) what nights they want seats filled, how many are their ideal, how much lead time they need in advance, and perhaps even if they have some preference for whether one unified team group (gets loud), or a table A vs. table B, or just couples or all cutthroat (quiet as a library). Then you (Buzztime) take on that challenge of finding the bodies for those seats. Data mine your e-mail lists, which you used to love to do. Brand and market the concept as some special open-house type series of events, award extra players plus points or some all-new points accumulation system (points and/or referral rewards perhaps redeemable for reserved seats at future events). Stick to a reservation concept to make it look more exclusive and in demand. Operate some new kind of scoreboarding for recording participation long-term (where the shout-outs and rivalries come in). Use this forum as a crowdsource to help hammer out some specifics and maybe suggest a first few candidate sites. And try to be most sure that a Buzztime representative can attend and create some continuity around it with post-event PR and reporting.


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 Post subject: Re: Hello fellow Buzztime players!
PostPosted: Fri May 06, 2016 8:30 am 
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King or Queen Postsalot

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BGTUNA wrote:
Thanks for checking in Clint.

How about a once a month "Throwback Thursday" where classic and not used games make a comeback? One month it could be "Classic Version Playback". Another month it could be "Jukebox", etc.


Not if they're just going to be "Encore Presentations" I don't think the avids want to go through that fiasco again


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 Post subject: Re: Hello fellow Buzztime players!
PostPosted: Fri May 06, 2016 12:46 pm 
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poman wrote:
BGTUNA wrote:
Thanks for checking in Clint.

How about a once a month "Throwback Thursday" where classic and not used games make a comeback? One month it could be "Classic Version Playback". Another month it could be "Jukebox", etc.


Not if they're just going to be "Encore Presentations" I don't think the avids want to go through that fiasco again


No, "encore presentations" wasn't what I had in mind. You can use new questions (as new as they get for Buzztime) in the classic formats.

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 Post subject: Re: Hello fellow Buzztime players!
PostPosted: Tue May 10, 2016 12:56 pm 
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Joined: Thu Jun 11, 2015 3:58 pm
Posts: 101
Location: Dayton, OH
I'm late to the party but hi Clint and welcome.

I agree with a lot of what has already been said on this thread but from what I know, I'm probably on the younger end of players here, being in my mid 30s and only with a couple of years of Buzztime under my belt. I played before that just not very frequently. Anyways, here are my thoughts. I understand that the company is probably walking a fine line with keeping core players (which as mentioned already are middle aged and older) happy while trying to attract new players. I understand that a company can't base it's long-term future on what the core players are now and needs to go after a younger demographic eventually. I'm not sure how your entry level games (Jackpot, etc...) are doing but rarely do I ever see anyone playing those where I go. I can't answer for anyone else nor would I claim to have the answer on how to get more younger players; I can only tell you why I play and how I choose where I go. One category I see missing from your premium content that might drive some younger folks in is video games or gaming in general. It's been around long enough now that there should be ample content to do something, even if just a Topix to start out (maybe it was and I missed it). As to posting questions on FB and social media in general, it may engage younger players if they know about it but there has to be a way to draw them in first as I'm sure you are aware.

I think site engagement towards players is the biggest way to target new players. My BWW used to have Trivia Live every Wednesday. There was one Captain that would go around and really get involvement up and the rest of those nights, there were always more players for the games as well. Since he switched to bartending more, Trivia Live slowly went away and so did the amount of players on those nights. If Buzztime found a way to get individual sites (especially BWW) to engage and push people to play more, it could help both the company and the site. Something as simple as a free beer/appetizer to the winner of a game of Countdown (doesn't have to be every round) could definitely get more people playing, playing longer, and eventually hooked. Push it around the start of a big, local game even. People tend to start arriving early with not much to do. Have servers, etc...tell people beforehand that the winner of this round gets (prize) and ask if they want a board. Some people may even keep playing on after that round. At least it would be a starting point.

As to some of what has been addressed already, I only really know of one site around me that doesn't have TVs on unless asked, so I usually don't go there. I tend to go to the same couple because they know me and I can usually get two screens dedicated (one for trivia and one for whatever game I want). Since I started playing more, I make a lot of choices of where to go out based on if they have trivia or not. I'm lucky to be in an area that's not short on sites.

Anyways, my two cents on the matter.


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