I'm weak in my category but I make the world go around, what am I?
Water
Electricity
Sun
Gravitation <-- right

World go around as in what? Spin? Around the Sun?
I think it means around the sun, but if that is the case, it is the suns gravitational pull that puts us into orbit? So are there not 2 answers? The sun is relatively small for a star, the reason for its weak gravitational pull, so I think this is ambiguous.

Which U.S. President's face is not depicted on Mount Rushmore?
Theodore Roosevelt
John Adams
Ronald Reagan <--- marked correct
George Washington

I know I have seen this question on this forum before. Both Ronald Reagan and John Adams are correct since neither are on Mount Rushmore. Please change John Adams or delete the question since it is obviously misleading.

Quote: DoomDudeRuby1 - 2010.10.05. 22:49:08

I think you are right. The Sun should be edited to sunshine and the world to Earth so it'd only leave the gravitation as a correct answer.

Yup.

I have seen this before too.

The faces of former US presidents on MT Rushmore are:

1. George Washington
2. Thomas Jefferson
3. Abraham Lincoln
4. Theodore Roosevelt

Needs to be edited.

I'm back again after a break.
Most of the posted questions are corrected or removed.
If the rate of good answers is 75% or more, the question will not be deleted even if it seems to be specific or ambiguous to some players.

What year was the lego invented?

1916
1949
1987
1996

From lego corporate website timeline menu

1934
The company and its products now adopt the name LEGO, formed from the Danish words "LEg GOdt" ("play well"). Later, it is realised that in Latin the word means "I put together".
The firm has 6-7 employees.
Ole Kirk places the following motto on the workshop wall: "Only the best is good enough".

1932
Ole Kirk Kristiansen, master carpenter and joiner, establishes his business in the village of Billund, Denmark. His firm manufactures stepladders, ironing boards, stools and wooden toys.
His son, Godtfred Kirk Christiansen, starts working in the business at the age of 12.

Quote: D00ml0rd - 2010.10.06. 21:20:23
Had it been "Lego brick", it might have been correct, Lego is the company name. However the Lego Brick was designed in 1949 based on earlier design, among them a Kiddicraft brick by Hillary Harry Fisher Page.

Quote: Hatsepsut - 2010.10.06. 17:54:45

What if it's obvious which answer the submitter thought was correct (resulting in 75%+ correct), but the answer is factually wrong. Here's a possible example (I have no way of knowing whether it's at 75%+ correct or not, or whether this specific question has been deleted or not - please treat this as an illustration of my point, not the point itself) that I posted a long time ago:

It's not ambiguous, but wrong. Questions with wrong answer are usually deleted, sometimes corrected.

I give you an example to my earlier comment.
Some player feel the "A brick weighs 2kg and half a brick etc." ambiguous. Some other feel it a simple question. However most players can answer it correctly, so it will not be removed from the database.

About specific questions.
According to my experience Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter questions are easily answerable for most players even if they seem to be quite specific. It doesn't mean we will accept any questions in these themes in the future, but I will not delete them if they are already in the database.

Quote: Hatsepsut - 2010.10.07. 22:52:31

The only reason that's at 75% is been because it's been discussed so often here that everyone knows the right answer. Just because people have memorized it, that doesn't make the question any less absurd.



Yes, and no. There are three specific questions I recall (paraphrased):
What street does Potter live on with his foster parents
How many rings were the elves given
How many rings were the Dwarves given

Again, just because a potential majority have memorized the answers - that doesn't make them good questions. New players coming in will likely have difficulties with these, and cite them as examples for obscure questions that THEY will want passed. So you can't say yes to these, but no to them later, or it creates a cycle of hypocrisy, and you get the same Quiz problems as currently exist. The idea is to remove problems for the future. The snapshot of the present is relatively meaningless.

I will not go into a debate about these questions.
However I can tell you some of my experiences.

1. Most players never read the forum, so they cannot see the answers here.

2. About 2/3 of the questions get about 50% good answers or less.

3. There are already a number of exceptions in the database we will never remove, even if you do not agree. For example the capital cities.

I am happy steps are being made!
I think your statistic of 2/3 of all questions have a 50% or lower answer rate may be skewed by the fact that many players don't attempt the questions. You should have another statistic stating how many questions that were attempted have a 50% or lower answer rate. Though I might be wrong and that's what you've done, I can't be sure.

I like the 75% rule.

What is couscous made from?
Semolina
Wheat
Rice
Maize

Semolina is ground Durum wheat, so it is wheat too. I think this is ambiguous, but the answer is still obvious so I assume it has a 75% or higher pass rate and therefore the question will be kept? I'm just checking so I won't post questions like this in future to waste forum space.

This one needs a year: In 2010 it was New Zealand followed by Iceland, in 2009 it was New Zealand followed by Denmark, in 2008 it was Iceland followed by Denmark, in 2007 it was Norway followed by New Zealand (Iceland wasn't ranked)

According to Buddhism there are 5! So this question should include something like in Catholicism or in Western Culture.

Not sure I would call this an error, he was from a part of Austria that lies in modern day Croatia, but as Austria is not a possible answer it's OK. But on the other hand it is not strictly speaking correct. I only post this as an example because I'm interested in what people, and specially the moderators, think about this "problem".

This one needs a year, as a larger one might be built.

Not really, that honer goes to hydrogen. Hydrogen can be made by combining an e electron with a positron, and both those subatomic particles can be and have been made from other elements, and later combined into Hydrogen.

"What color do you get when you mix yellow and blue?"

question should specify if it is referring to pigment or light, in other words additive or subtractive color.

Yellow + blue = green
Yellow + blue = white

both are true

Quote: Phalanxii - 2010.10.09. 14:09:46

You are wrong. If someone doesn't answer a question it counts as neither good nor bad answer. So it doesn't affect the percentage rate.

Wasn't paying much attention so clicked before I could copy, but the question was similar to "Lucien B. Smith in 1867 created what invention that ended the era of the roving cowboy in the West."

The answer according to the quiz creator was "barbed wire" but to give him credit, he did state the actual true answer as another option: The Colt .45

Barbed wire was a major deterrent to cattle rustling, but in that aspect alone did it affect the gun-slinging outlaws. Even to this day in its myriad uses it remains just that; a deterrent. And in my personal experience, its just a sign of hopeful but false security.

Additionally, the first barbed wire fence was envisioned/proposed in France in 1860. Lucien B. Smith was one of 6 people to invent barbed wire in 1867, so his name should not be heralded.

Quote: Hatsepsut - 2010.10.07. 22:52:31

Thanks. That's what I wanted to confirm.

Maržanna, Mara, Maržena, Morana, Moréna, Mora, Marmora or Morena is a Slavic goddess of death and winter

Who is Slavic goddess of nature and death?
Morana <-- right
Marzana
Something else
Something else

I googled it and the second result was Marzanna so in my haste I chose that option, but there is at least one multiple answer... please delete.

Can you confirm that a question can only be deleted? That means if I see a wrong question that is reported, I still answer the question wrongly to get the answer right? EDIT: Nevermind I saw the previous post. Could you notify us if/when a question is modified so we know to choose the right answer?? ie. next to the question put an asterix or something...

There was a question where the answer was Germany (which would be right in modern terms) but the true answer was Bavaria. I will report it next time I see it.

EDIT:
Found it...
What was the nationality of the 1st King in Greece?
German <-- right
Greek
Russian
English

He was Bavarian.

Also:
Which country had the Roman name Lusitania?
Portugal <-- right
Spain

Although it was mainly Portugal, there were parts of Spain too.

This is specialist knowledge.

Sorry but I think this question as it is stated is nonsense, the answer is easy enough to guess though, (and the idea behind it is good: What was Michael Jackson also known as? or What was Michael Jacksons title?) so I guess it will not be deleted, but I think a possible refusal category should be added for questions like this. Something indicating that the question only makes sense from the possible answers.