I deleted the Sporcle Live app a couple of years ago because it wasn’t working very well – and I wanted to clear space on my tablet’s hard drive. I’m kind of a “shutterbug,” and usually have quite a lot of photos on my tablet. Hey, photos are important to me – having the Sporcle Live app… ain’t that important to me!

But I see the writing on the wall! Apparently, if the rumors are true, trivia players will soon have to download that pesky app to even view visual mystery round questions. I’ve also heard that they won’t even be shown on screen – even in places that display questions on screen via PowerPoint. Thee are still lots of unanswered questions.

A trivia team called Don’t Forget to Strip Your Bartender is talking about switching trivia leagues because of this. The Wurst Bar offers trivia just a little less than a mile away on the same night in the My Trivia Live league. Powell’s is not very far to go for a couple of their players (I warned them it’s not exactly a “big team” trivia spot). One of the players, Jeff, messaged me about this last night. He doesn’t like having to “register” for the app and provide so many personal details.

What about the “noobs” who just show up randomly and play? Are they going to be strong-armed into signing up for this app, too? Sorry, no mystery round points for you! Not all trivia teams playing on a given night are “league” teams. Sometimes a random group of folks hanging out in a bar will decide to sign up for trivia. Did the league brass think of this? It could very well be a PR nightmare.

Another player I talked to speculated that this might cut down on “cheating.” If cheating with phones was really such a concern, then why did they even start using visual rounds in the first place? It’s frightfully easy to use a reverse image search, after all (not that I’d do such a thing…really, is there no honor among thieves – or trivia players)? There was some griping years ago when the visual rounds were switched from paper to being a page that could be viewed online, which required smart phones.

I’ve GOT it! Why not just get rid of the visual rounds altogether? Why are these picture rounds so important? Is Sporcle just using them to make their games more of a “multimedia” thing, like that game Cranium? I wouldn’t miss them if they got rid of these altogether (buh-BYE)! However, if they started doing “triviaoke” nights – where answers have to be answered in the form of a song, I would be totally on board with that (I would probably be the only player to show up…except Liz)! Hey, I can dream, can’t I?

I predict that there will be even more things that will “require” the use of the app. Like possibly…RSVPing for trivia tournaments. I can totally see the league going there (though I definitely don’t want them to)! Maybe we’ll even need to use the app in the future to get newsletter questions (please don’t do that…please)?

I don’t WANT to download that app again! I think it’s just a ploy to get more app users! Prove me wrong!

It’s come down to this…make room for the app, or make room in your life for something besides Sporcle Live trivia. Resistance is futile! We all will be assimilated! Must download Sporcle Live app…must download Sporcle Live app…