HQ Trivia . . . a fun idea gone awry

So I'm sure most people on Steem are familiar with HQ Trivia by now? No? Scott Rogowski hasn't annoyed the hell out of you yet? Well, then check out the app on the iPhone store. Here's the quick synopsis: you play live trivia alongside hundreds of thousands -- sometimes even more than a million -- other players through the phone app. The goal of the game is to answer all 12 questions correctly. If you do, you get to share in a small amount of the prize pool, which is generally in the $2,000 per game range. Get one question wrong and you get nothing.

The questions generally start out painfully easy. The first two or three questions are softballs. But by the fourth question, they throw out some screwball question that is so hard you generally rely on luck to guess right. The trick to this is that you only have 10 seconds to answer the question from the time that the host (Rogowski or some other presenter) begins reading said question. Not a lot of time. And not enough time by my estimation to cheat (e.g. search for the answer on Google), even if you have another computer handy. Now, I'm not technologically savvy, so there may be players out there who have figured a way around this, using some kind of voice-activated system such as Google Home or an Amazon Echo, but even that would require a rapid-fire turnaround.

Though cheating would be difficult, there is a legit way to increase your chances of winning. If you invite friends to play the game and they participate, you will receive an extra life. These extra lives are pivotal to survival, especially when you run into one of Rogowski's patented "savage" questions (questions in which a large number of players are eliminated). I've received a few of these extra lives over time and they have helped me stick around longer than average. I've made it as far as the ninth question but haven't been able to crack double digits yet.

(Scott Rogowski, a man you will come to love and loathe)

The good thing about the game is that it is generally fun. Frustrating, but fun. That frustration, to be clear, comes from the seemingly Herculean task of answering all 12 questions correctly. I've played nearly every day for the past two months and haven't made it yet (yes, I'm aware that is setting me up for jokes . . . but until you've played, don't dispute the difficulty!). It's also been nice to see them increasing the prize pool as more and more users join the game. When I first started playing, the prize was typically $1,000 per game. Now the twice-daily games (except on weekends) have prizes up to $2,500 and the Sunday night game is generally in the $10,000 to $15,000 range.

While there are positives, there are also cons to the game. Let's start with the prizes. While the pools may sounds nice, keep in mind you only get a share of the winnings. However many players are left standing after 12 questions split the pot evenly. So that $2,500 prize can suddenly become a meager $11 in your account. Which brings up the next issue. I'm not one to scoff at $11, apparently the operators of HQ Trivia are. Or at least, they don't want you to have it. See, even if you win, you must accrue at least $20 worth of winnings before they will let you cash out to your connected PayPal account. And while that may sound like a low threshold, it isn't. It's hard enough to win once as it is, but can you imagine how infuriating it must be to win and be told you can't even have the money UNLESS YOU WIN AGAIN?!?!?!

(In case you doubt that someone can get excited from winning $11 at HQ Trivia)

The other significant flaw is the technology supporting the game. The app is fine. However, they need to make serious upgrades to the infrastructure running the game. It crashes all the time. Today, for instance, is a fine example. After one question into the 2 p.m. game, the system wouldn't provide the answer and froze up. That means they have to work on whatever "technical difficulties" are plaguing the game, which leaves players waiting around for things to start anew (assuming they can give that kind of time). By now, the programmers should be privy to the fact that the game is generating massive user traffic and that they need to address instability in the software. But it hasn't happened yet.

All in all, give it a try if you haven't already. If anything, it can be a nice distraction to the work day - and barring technical breakdowns, the average game is done in no more than 15 minutes (or sooner if you get knocked out). If you do sign up, use my code "pskraiders" when you do and I'll get an extra life. Much appreciated!