Leetest Link: Feedback

[nulltone]

Although I wasn't actually involved in the event, what did everyone think of it?

[hackajar]

I was very sad that I didn't get a runner up prize (2nd place) or even a mention at the awards show

[dYn4mic]

while drinking w/ ppl... I saw it on Defcon TV... (round 1 only)

I thought the host/main speaker could've done a much better job in the first round.

It seemed to be very loosely put together, and a poor immitation of the real thing. It didn't seem to be like anyone thought about how it was going to really work out, or what to do. I feel as if there are many examples of this and im not going to list them out because I feel they are obvious.
The questions were good and bad... but overgeneral at most.
The contestants other than a few.. seemed to be quite 'lacking' in the knowlage department.; this was annoying.

I thought it was terrible that the "Leetest link" was also the person who didn't know what the 7th layer of the OSI model was.... (GO HACKAJAR!)

I don't mean any of this to be insulting or degrading to members of the defcon community or people who organized the leetest link. Much respect for grifter and others...

With all that said, Grifter and the other people who helped to put it on tried hard. Maybe next year it will be improved. Maybe it won't 'be' at all.

[kallahar]

One thing is that the original show was built on suspense, but the attention span of a room full of drunk geeks is rather short. Jeopardy was nice because it kept moving along. Another good comment I heard was that the crowd could get involved by answering questions (and getting cheesy prizes) if they could answer a question that the contestants didn't know.

[ravyn]

i watched the first round on friday night and competed in the second... and, well, i know that the people who put it together put a lot of work into it and i appreciated the chance to get on stage and get far drunker than i think i've ever been, but please, next year, bring back hacker jeopardy.

random observations...
1- it seemed to be really disorganized, and compared to the way it was described in the defcon booklet, it didn't really run that way. i know they had some technical issues leading up to the event, so maybe if those hadn't happened, it'd have run more smoothly.

2- the questions were ok, but i'd liked to have seen more technical questions and fewer questions about TV shows. i've never seen a single episode of "the family guy" nor do i ever plan to start watching it.

3- there wasn't really any excitement to the game - at least with HJ, there's always the chance that somebody will hit a daily double and get the crowd excited with the possibility of removing some article of clothing from vinyl vanna. with this game, there's not much to really look forward to.

i had fun playing the game, but from a spectator's standpoint, it's kinda boring.

[[Syntax]]

I was dissapointed by the event, so were the others who went with me. When they announced there was a 2nd round that night, the tent was already half empty and people kept filing out.

Hacker Jeopardy never cleared out. People begged for more. Hell I dont think the tent even filled itself to capacity. Last year there was a huge line, and the tent was filled and chairs were added.

The questions were non technical, 10 or more were Simpsons questions?
One round ended before the last person was asked a question.
Another round, the person who had the most points was voted off
and then the decision was reversed.

Hacker Jeopardy had audience interaction, questions that pertained to
the "hacker culture", prizes tossed to the audience, nudity, and a good format
that utilized the projectors and kept the audience entertained, and kept the audience rooting for the teams.

I didnt see any of the above things in this game.
If they keep this event, I hope they make some major changes.

I understand there was a loss of data, and that maybe the projectors and questions might have been different otherwise, but I cant imagine it being
alot better.

I dont blame the Host or Grifter for the way it went, but I dont think it came close to filling the shoes of Jeopardy.

[Deviant Ollam]

i award points to the organizers for style, cleverness, and general ability to pull this off with very little planning time. however, my vote is in accordance with everyone else's so far... Hacker Jeopardy was always much more enjoyable.

perahps most of all, and i realize that not everyone is 100% on this, i like games and events that are team-based and not a bunch of individuals slagging it out by themselves. (altho i do enjoy participating in the lockpick)

hacker jeopardy gets my praise more than any other game because...

there is more energy
the crowd can participate more
there is free swag awarded to everyone, crowd included
beer is a much bigger factor
nakedness often ensues
:-)

[Discord]

I attended it the first night.... that was enough. It wasn't really bad, in fact parts were really funny / entertaining. But a few times the validity of answers were satisfied by simply "right" or "wrong" responses where I would have preferred the correct answer to be presented to the audience. (I'm all about learning new things). This was my first con so I can't say "bring back hacker jeopardy", but I would make ^ that small change for next year if the Leetest link remains. All in all good job.

[Voltage Spike]

I was also unimpressed with the game.

Presentation

The first red flag should have been that it was a timed game. Anyone who has attended Hacker Jeopardy should know that the event doesn't always follow a neat plan: the audience argues answers, entertaining contestants do their own thing, or technical difficulties arise. Was the expectation that the audience would sit quietly and watch while the contestants simply waited for their turn?

The game strayed from the format of the Weakest Link: this is a good thing. The teams were supposed to "bank" points which would have been too much work for those playing and scoring the game under the circumstances. Keep the rules simple so that they don't require constant explanation and clarification (especially to the inebriated).

I both like and dislike team-based games. Teams (in theory) allow for more difficult questions since the knowledge base should be wider and deeper. Furthermore, teams tend to be more entertaining because people have their friends on stage. Individual contestants allow more people to participate and tend to move the game along faster (due to the lack of discussions). Also note that individuals (with a few exceptions) tend to consume less alcohol than teams, so the event is cheaper. ;)

I really enjoyed the idea of the "stars" of Defcon participating. Seeing Effugas, Dark Tangent, Wynn, and others on stage was very cool. I kinda' got the impression that they were called in an attempt to liven things up, but that doesn't mean it was a bad idea.

And bring the audience back into the game. We shouldn't have to be on stage to show off. :D

Questions

I don't have an objection to the content of the questions (but I may be biased since I knew many of the answers). I felt that the Family Guy and Simpsons questions, although not related to computers, were a part of "hacker culture". The "adult entertainment" questions of HJs past had less of a tie-in, but were entertaining none-the-less.

However...

Although the Family Guy and Monty Python style of entertainment seems to "click" well with hackers, these shows are also a significant part of popular culture as a whole. Shows such as Futurama walk the line between funny material and geek in-jokes, which further confuses the issue.

Limiting the questions to the technical realm would eliminate fun questions such as "where is CIA headquarters located?" A mixture serves well to both attract more people and make the event more entertaining.

Technicalites

The host can really make or break the show. I know there were last-minute issues, but I would still like to point out the audience is unlikely to get involved when the host who puts very little energy into the show. Disobedient did a very good job, and the second night was much better than the first. I'm sure I'm just pointing out the obvious, though.

The repetition of questions was rather annoying as well. Again, I'm sure this will be corrected in future events, but I would like to bring attention to it.

[Deviant Ollam]

while i recognize that the general opinion when it comes to games is in favor of getting back toward hacker jeopardy exclusively, i have to mention this thought i just had...

as part of my post-defcon decompression i stepped over to my neighbor's house a little bit ago for a little mind fogging. this situation often ends up with some brain candy junk programming being watched on TV. my neighbor had a show on called "Street Smarts" which, while it's not something i look for in TV Guide, makes me fall out of my chair if i'm elevated.

for those not acquanted with the show, it's essentially a program where the producers ask rather basic questions to people out in public, then contestants attempt to determine which members of the populace would give right or wrong answers. (hillarity often ensues in the gloriously bad answers that uninformed citizens give) more info here... http://streetsmartstv.warnerbros.com

i thought, if only for a moment, that it would be pretty uproarious to have a game of "Leet Smarts" in which a small camera crew conducted 5 to 10 minute interviews with attendees at technology conferences* and compile the answers into short clips, then DefCon participants would guess who was right and who was wrong.

* at first i thought of videotaping questions asked to defcon attendees... but i would MUCH rather see suit-and-tie types who attend corporate conferences fumble though security trivia.

hard to setup? probably. lots of legwork required? yeah. scrub all other games next year and focus on hacker jeopardy? that gets my vote most of all. still... if anyone out there thinks it's a better or easier idea than i am conceiving, maybe something could come of it. heh, or maybe it could be organized as a game at the next HOPE conference with interviews of various east coast people. which crowd do you think would provide better fodder in the form of bungled answers? east coast or west? ;)

[hackajar]

I thought it was terrible that the "Leetest link" was also the person who didn't know what the 7th layer of the OSI model was.... (GO HACKAJAR!)

Just for the record, I got that one right (answering in low tone to ppl around me) while waiting to go up the second round :) :P

[astcell]

I am not tired of Hacker Jeopardy, I miss it, maybe it is good that it left before we got tired of it. We need games which have survived the test of time.

The 25,000 Byte Pyramid (The $25,000 Pyramid)
Hack Game (Match Game)
...and others.

[Xodia]

I was there Friday night and thought it was hilarious. The whole thing did have a very disorganised feel to it, but it was its first year,its allowed to be that way.
I agree with what was said at closing ceremonies about a mix of team and individual games on separate nights. That would satisfy the Hacker Jeopardy folks and give the Leetest Link one more chance.

[ck3k]

It wasnt my favorite, but at the end when humperdink took over, it got funny as hell, i was rolling on the floor. The cause of the disorganization near the end was the person in control was drunk. I think by next year it will rock, just add more beer, boobies, and swag, people will dig it.

[Eugene Da Vinci]

It wasnt my favorite, but at the end when humperdink took over, it got funny as hell, i was rolling on the floor. The cause of the disorganization near the end was the person in control was drunk. I think by next year it will rock, just add more beer, boobies, and swag, people will dig it.

Yea...humperdink is very "unique." I chatted about this w/ other people and they said hacker jeapordy was way better. Prolly be a good idea to re-spawn that.

-xchris