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Please first check All about Tower Teams IV

Have questions for the mods? Post here

FAQs

�� Q: Do we need to write reviews for the book to count?
    A: No, you just need to have them marked as "read"

�� Q: What happens if I have a period of a lot (or not much) reading?
    A: No problems. You can alter your number of books estimate which we are recording to accommodate. We expect teams will gain and lose players as we go (as real life gets in the way or goals change!)

�� Q: Do I post all of my books to a special shelf or just ones as I read?
    A: Your choice. Some captains may like just all "read" books on the special shelf, so just check with them once teams are assigned

�� Q: What does it mean "Participating in a BOM" ? Answering a set or comment? Or do we need to answer all days to get the 20 points? Or is a 20 points per set of questions?
    A:Provided you add to the discussion at some stage through the book. It doesn't need to be answering a set of questions if that doesn't appeal to you. You may just pop over and give some thoughts. It is just one set of points per book

�� Q: Are there going to monthly sub-challenges and/or puzzles that earn extra points again??
    A: Possibly.
If we do any puzzles, it won't be quite as many puzzles as we had in TTII!
We intend to have the teams grouped under "mentors" and each NBRC Moderator will be a mentor. That way all the team captains in that group have one person for questions/issues/concerns and validations.
So I would imagine that over the course of the game some of the mods may get competitive and start some mini challenges across the groups. ;)

�� Q: When do we start again?
    A: The challenge will start at 7pm on the 7th November, Lisbon Portugal (GMT) time.

Countdown until the challenge start is

�� Q: If I have to abandon a book because I just can't get through it - does my Team still get points for the pages I've read? Say, the book has in total 600 pages. I've read 405 pages before I've abandoned it - does my Team get the 40 points?
    A: No, sorry, it is only books marked as "read" that count. So you either need to bail out of the book early or push through to the end!

�� Q:Do I have to start the BOM on the same date as the group?
    A: No. However, the BOM participation points are to reward those joining in the book discussion, so you will still need to do some participation on the BOM thread and have the book read within a month of the date that the group starts it to get the points

�� Q:Can we get the points if let's say we read a book that has already been done but go to the thread to answer the old questions or discuss our thoughts? An already done BOM or buddy read?
    A:We are looking for some kind of discussion and input with others for current BOMs, so you have the book read within a month of the date that the group starts it to get the points

�� Q: If I start a book on November 6th but finish it on the 7th, does my team get points for the pages i read on the 7th? Or does the book have to be started on the 7th?
    A:No. It has to be started after the challenge start time (7th or 8th depending on your time zone). Countdown until the challenge start is

�� Q: For page counts, do we use the most popular edition on GR or the edition that we actually read?
    A: Edition you've read.
Default edition will be used for audiobooks and large print editions

�� Q: If you read a BOM do you get points for the book size (say 5 if's 150 pages) plus additional as its a BOM and you join the discussion? (20 points) would equal 25 points? Do I have that right?
    A: Yes. You get points for page count with or without BOM points.
BOM points are extra points.

�� Q: One of the upcoming BOMs is a book I recently read a couple months ago. I realize that I can't get points for this book since I read it prior to the challenge start date, but if I participate in the discussion can I get points for participating in a BOM?
    A: To try and keep things simple, I was intending to only have points count for BOMs once the book is marked as "read" by the member. This would mean the answer to your question is 'no'

�� Q: Is it predetermined books that we read as a group or do we read as we typically do and simply have it added to the count? Or do the books have to fit a certain criteria, since you mentioned a spreadsheet with goals? I'm confused on that
    A: We'll read as we typically do. As long as it follows the rules (no picture books, more than 100pages, etc) it counts. You just need to mark it as read - make sure the read date is there, and shelved it on the shelf you are using for the challenge (the shelving part is important because we have a script on the spreadsheet that gets all books from a shelf into a tab - it saves a Lot of work)
The goals are things like "read a book with a red cover" or "where the character has a sibling". Since there is no way of predicting what goal your team will get, read whatever fits your fancy, eventually it will be used for some goal

�� Q: just wondering more about what the goals will be. Especially, as I get as many books as I can from the library and that takes planning ahead on my part.
    A: There are almost 1000 different goals so it is hard to plan for anything specific, but if you do to the Goal FAQ thread there is the google sheet of goals and goals FAQ

�� Q: Do I have to read a certain number of books a week? I didn't understand the "day of questions" . Do you spend the day asking questions. Does the team have to read the same books? Is it a new challenge every week you have to complete?
    A: It's very easy although it may look complicated. all you need to do is:
- read (no minimum number ; whatever you like)
- Check in to your team (i.e. comment on the team thread) once a week so they know you're still around
- create a special shelf and post your read books to that shelf
and that's it! The "day of questions" is just an option for players that like to read and contribute to our Books of the Month (BOMs). You are not required to do that if you don't want to :)

�� Q:I'm a bit confused on BOM. I understand you get 40 points for writing questions and 20 points for participating. If you write questions and participate do you get 60 points or is it one or the other?
Also, if one team member writes questions and all of the other team members participate in the same BOM do they all earn points?
    A: Yes you would get 60 points and there is no limit to the number of team mates that can participate. We only limit the writing of DQs to one team member per team.
So if you were allocated a day of DQs and participated in the BOM and so did 3 of your team mates that would be points of 60+20+20+20+the points for the actual book(depends on page numbers)

�� Q: Just wondering about omnibuses (one volume containing two or more full books): Would each individual book in an omnibus count for points, or must we read the entire volume for it to count? Examples: a Book-of-the-Month-Club three-novel, 964-page E.M. Forster volume (A Room With a View; Howards End; Maurice); a Modern Library 846-page omnibus of The Iliad and The Odyssey; and a volume containing three Tony Hillerman mysteries.
    A: Where there is a boxed set or 'omnibus' of separate books being sold as one, we use the singular books for the page count. So you can either shelve the single books, or let your captain know so they can do a "page override" in the spreadsheet to change your page numbers.
For an omnibus like Wool Omnibus where it is just the one book, but was previously released in parts ; then you would shelve and use the page numbers for the Omnibus.

�� Q: Can anthologies of novellas and short stories count if they're over 100 pages long? Page count is for the whole book/collection, not for the individual novella/story, right? (So long as we read the whole book and not just the individual story, that is.)
It's only stand-alone novellas that aren't 100 pages or more long that wouldn't count, right?
    A: Yes, so books like Wool Omnibus, Four: A Divergent Story Collection, Side Jobs: Stories From the Dresden Files would count as one book eventhough they started life as separate novellas/short stories.
Whereas a boxed set like Percy Jackson and the Olympians Boxed Set needs to be counted as the separate books

�� Q: How do I sign up to volunteer to write BOM discussion questions?
    A: Just go to the BOM thread and let us know at least 3 days prior to the BOM start date

�� Q:
    A:

reserved

reserved

Hi! I've never participated in anything like this before, but I'd like to. My question is this - is it predetermined books that we read as a group or do we read as we typically do and simply have it added to the count? Or do the books have to fit a certain criteria, since you mentioned a spreadsheet with goals? I'm confused on that bit.

Oh blah, I just realized I named my shelf TT3, but this is TT4! Should I fill out another form, or somehow edit the one I already sent (and how do I do that?) or just let it go for now? Thanks!

Okay, I changed shelf to TT4. Just let me know if I need to do anything with my sign-up or whatever.

ilovebakedgoods (Teresa) wrote: "Okay, I changed shelf to TT4. Just let me know if I need to do anything with my sign-up or whatever."

I'll update the info tomorrow, don't worry

Emily wrote: "Hi! I've never participated in anything like this before, but I'd like to. My question is this - is it predetermined books that we read as a group or do we read as we typically do and simply have i..."

Well read as we typically do. As long as it follows the rules (no picture books, more than 100pages, etc) it counts. You just need to mark it as read - make sure the read date is there, and shelved it on the shelf you are using for the challenge (the shelving part is important because we have a script on the spreadsheet that gets all books from a shelf into a tab - it saves a Lot of work)


The goals are things like "read a book with a red cover" or "where the character has a sibling". Since there is no way of predicting what goal your team will get, read whatever fits your fancy, eventually it will be used for some goal.

Emily wrote: "Hi! I've never participated in anything like this before, but I'd like to. My question is this - is it predetermined books that we read as a group or do we read as we typically do and simply have i..."

The spreadsheet is were the captains keep track of the books read. The goals in the tower teams is something new, we used them on the last team challenge and decided to try on this one... We'll see how it goes.

Hi! I'm excited and this is my first Tower Teams challenge. A question: Will all the various folders for goals, teams, and whatnot be put in this same folder?

Jen wrote: "Hi! I'm excited and this is my first Tower Teams challenge. A question: Will all the various folders for goals, teams, and whatnot be put in this same folder?"

Yes, all challenge related stuff will be under the tower teams iv folder.

Each team will have their own thread to chat and play, of course interstellar communication is always fun, so feel free to visit the other threads.

The goals and point tracking will be done in a Google spreadsheet, so everybody can see them. Usually only the team captains /co-captains have edit permissions on those.

There will be a global spreadsheet with all the teams status - only mods can edit that one, but everyone can view it.

Both team and challenge spreadsheet links will be on the first page of each of the team's threads

where do i sign up? i am excited to attempt this

I forgot to make my shelf after signing up and I can't remember what I put down. Should I just make one with the name I think it was and let you know?

Emma wrote: "I forgot to make my shelf after signing up and I can't remember what I put down. Should I just make one with the name I think it was and let you know?"

Found you! Shelf name Tower-Teams-2015
If you'd rather change it just let us know

Cynthia wrote: "where do i sign up? i am excited to attempt this"

Great! The sign up form is linked at the end of this thread:
/topic/show/...

thanks Karen!

I don't know how to access my sign up form to add this there, so I'll post it here. I originally said no to being a captain, but if you need captains, I'm willing to be one.

Karla wrote: "I don't know how to access my sign up form to add this there, so I'll post it here. I originally said no to being a captain, but if you need captains, I'm willing to be one."

Thanks Karla. I'll keep that in mind since we'll probably will have to do an extra team after the teams ate posted or when the challenge starts... You just saved me for trying to figure out which captain would be easier to leave the original team.

I'll explain it better tomorrow after some sleep. Plus I have some blondies on the oven that need to be watched

Sonia wrote: "Karla wrote: "I don't know how to access my sign up form to add this there, so I'll post it here. I originally said no to being a captain, but if you need captains, I'm willing to be one."

Thanks ..."

No problem.

Sonia wrote: "of course interstellar communication is always fun, so feel free to visit the other threads."

Is this some sort of hint? ;)

Vicky I was wondering the same thing. I as sensing some sort of space/cellestial/sci-fi related theme.

Vicky wrote: "Sonia wrote: "of course interstellar communication is always fun, so feel free to visit the other threads."

Is this some sort of hint? ;)"

No, just a bad case of auto correct. I meant inter threads

Darn, I was getting excited. :P

Vicky wrote: "Darn, I was getting excited. :P"

Sorry to burst your bubble.

Worry not, I stored it on my bag-of-ticks. Maybe it matures into something interesting.

Oh darn!. I was looking forward to something galactic. Which is the word I could not think of last night.

Ha! I have the same problem as Emma, I registered and forgot to write down the shelf name, I thought that I had created it already but now when I double checked my shelves I found that I did not. Can anyone find me and tell me which name I put down?

Sure thing

You wrote "tower team iv" although the spaces won't work for shelves. Do you want it as one word or with __? I can change our spreadsheet to either

Karen wrote: "Sure thing

You wrote "tower team iv" although the spaces won't work for shelves. Do you want it as one word or with __? I can change our spreadsheet to either"

thanks for checking, I set it up as tower-team-iv or does it not work with hypens?

Christine wrote: "Karen wrote: "Sure thing

You wrote "tower team iv" although the spaces won't work for shelves. Do you want it as one word or with __? I can change our spreadsheet to either"

thanks for checking, ..."

hyphens are ok. They are default for GR for spaces in shelf names

I forgot my shelf too and I think I had the wrong round #. I think I may have put TT5

Mary: Harry Dresden's Love Slave wrote: "I forgot my shelf too and I think I had the wrong round #. I think I may have put TT5"

Actually it's TT7 :P

I decided to check on my shelf and I don't seem to be able to find it. What did I name my shelf when I registered? Thank you.

Monica wrote: "I decided to check on my shelf and I don't seem to be able to find it. What did I name my shelf when I registered? Thank you."

NBRC Tower Teams 4

Quick question, and no pressure, about when should we expect to see a better idea on the challenges and our team assignment?
I do realise I just signed up last night, so totally can wait, just wondering more about what the challenges will be. Especially, as I get as many books as I can from the library and that takes planning ahead on my part. Mainly because I don't live near much of anything.
Thanks for all the set up work.

No probs Alison ;)
Posted in the other thread, but I'll paste here in case someone else is interested and doesn't see the other thread:

Sonia is putting the teams together, so I'll wait for her to get online about when they will be announced. Usually 1-2 weeks before we start.

There are almost 1000 different goals so it is hard to plan for anything specific, but we will post a google sheet with the list so you can have a look at the types of goals. I'm also completing a FAQ on different goals based on th Q&As we received through gladiator games. With any luck I'll have that posted within the next day or two

I probably should know this but... when we post our book to our designated shelf for the challenge does it automatically post to the team spreadsheet. I usually post it in the chat thread as well but I will be away for about ten days during the challenge, not sure what my internet access will be or how available I will be to chat but I'll definitely post my finished books to my shelf. ��

Thank Karen, I had asked here, then went to the other thread and notice Alex had asked basically the same thing.

Yes it will Lisa, so posting to the right shelf is really important.
Just let your captain know you are going away so they know you're not MIA ;)

Will do, thanks Karen.

Hi all :)

I haven't gotten an invite to the captain's group yet (I'm co-captain of Lir). Should I have?


Also, it looks like on the spreadsheet my shelf is listed as TT6. It's actually called TT4. I don't know if that is going to make a difference, but I thought I'd check.

Rose wrote: "Hi all :)

I haven't gotten an invite to the captain's group yet (I'm co-captain of Lir). Should I have?


Also, it looks like on the spreadsheet my shelf is listed as TT6. It's actually called TT4..."

Well, you should have the invite.. will send it in a bit.

That TT6 is probably on me. Teams were originally named from T1 to T23 for easy shuffling, so, when doing it, I forgot about the TT4... sorry :S

Rose wrote: "Hi all :)

I haven't gotten an invite to the captain's group yet (I'm co-captain of Lir). Should I have?


Also, it looks like on the spreadsheet my shelf is listed as TT6. It's actually called TT4..."

Okay, invite sent. Sorry, it took me a little longer... maybe it would be better if I started to close some tabs *grins*

Ha. Got it. Thanks for the prompt reply. Now I just have to remember how this game works.

just wondering the reason for why my team thread is frozen? thanks :D

Joanne♥~Bookworm Extraordinaire wrote: "just wondering the reason for why my team thread is frozen? thanks :D"

The team threads are frozen until the captains check in so that they can reserve a few posts at the beginning of the threads. As soon as the captains give the go-ahead we'll unfreeze them.

EDIT: You must be the Joanne that's on my team. :) I'm just waiting to see if Laura wants to reserve a few posts and then I'll open the thread ASAP.

Hi,

If you're a co captain are you supposed to be part of a captains group?

Sorry all new to me. Just want to check if I should be doing something that I'm not.

Hey Alison. Yep. Changing to the other account to invite you.

Alison wrote: "Hi,

If you're a co captain are you supposed to be part of a captains group?

Sorry all new to me. Just want to check if I should be doing something that I'm not."

Okay, done.

Sorry for the delay, some of you were new to the group, so I send the friend request (for the mods account) and didn't do the re-check of the list for the invites for the group, so sorry.

Sonia wrote: "Alison wrote: "Hi,

If you're a co captain are you supposed to be part of a captains group?

Sorry all new to me. Just want to check if I should be doing something that I'm not."

Okay, done.

Sor..."

Thanks Sonia. I'll go have a nosy.