CivTrivia's Source.

[SnowFire]

Firaxis is getting ripped off if they "bought" the questions for CivTrivia from one source. I've noticed this for awhile but I've wondered just how long it would last: has anybody else noticed that almost every single darn question is ripped directly from the Cartoon History of the Universe (by Larry Gonick)? Not well ripped off mind you, lots of these questions have been phrased funny (by the time Persia took over Crosseus in Turkey it was already quite large), but they use the same spelling and same incidents pulled from history. The CHoTU, despite its lofty name, can only cover so much in its pages, so I'm reasonably certain it's not a coincidence judging by the fact it's used again the same exact incidents and notes that the CHoTU decided to mention.

I would scan in the book pages to show you how blatant it is, except for the fact I don't have a scanner and it would violate copyright. But if all this company is going to do is rip off the Cartoon History of the Universe, heck, I could do that. For much less.

[Buck Birdseed]

Yes! Yes! Fire Dan Magaha! I mean, he might actually write out his sources (and you're wrong, only about 50% are from the CHoTU), and do a lot of other work on the site, but... I mean... not actually reading the original greek and latin sources himself is inexcusable!

[KrazyHorse]

I'll say it in a shorter way than Snap did: who cares?

[Rakki]

if you have the book, you have a 50% attack bonus.

[Dan Magaha FIRAXIS]

Originally posted by Rakki
if you have the book, you have a 50% attack bonus.

Actually, the sources used are quite diverse. Here are just a few of the sources that were used:

-- The Columbia Encylopedia
-- The Timetables of Technology
-- New York Times Almanac, 2000 edition
-- The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy
-- Bartlett's Familiar Quotations
-- Webster's Dictionary
-- Phaidon's Guide to Antique Weapons
-- People's Chronology
-- Evans' Dictionary of Quotes

We aren't even halfway through the questions yet, and I can tell you a lot more questions reference the Columbia Encyclopedia or the Timetables of Technology than either of the Cartoon History of the Universe books. It just so happens that the first bunch of questions were plucked from those two books.

Dan

[SnowFire]

Snapcase: Gee, offering to save a company money is really asking for somebody to be fired. Yeah, sure.

KH: Because for a professional service, it's generally expected that they don't write the questions up in an hour via one source and laugh all the way to the bank.

DM: Nice to hear that some other sources will be used. Because again if they're just going to quote one book verbatim, they're aren't selling you much of a service. But glad to hear it.

[KrazyHorse]

But they aren't selling me the service; they're giving it away for free, and I don't take it very seriously.