New Scaratings

The new BT system has started to roll out in Southern California as of the end of July. San Diego is no longer Site Poor!!

This new capital light system known as "Buzztime Basic" costs a lot less then the current system and is the future of Buzztime, especially if BWW can be convinced to renew the contract using this system.

There are no tablets to maintain so the costs to the bar and to BT drop by a large margin. Players will play on their own phones or iPads/Android tablets. The system is just a computer hooked to a tv or 2. No idea what the new price is yet, the current system is about $450 per month for 10 tablets.

The downfall is that these Buzztime Basic bars are not part of the Smartest Bar tourney. Don't know if that will hold true for all future promotions. The other downfall is having to source some used iPads/Galaxys for about $40 on eBay. iPads need iOS 8.0 or later. Not going to tie up my phone all night long.

Anyone been to any of the following locations yet??? In the sitefinder they all show as Classic blue box bars. No icon for the Basic system yet?

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THE FOLLOWING SITES ARE BUZZTIME BASIC SITES AND WILL NOT BE PARTICIPATING IN THE SMARTEST BAR COMPETITION.

Papa Marce's Cerveceria Carlsbad CA
Mas Fina Cantina Carlsbad CA
Culver Beer Carlsbad CA
Eureka! Carlsbad Carlsbad CA
Park 101 Carlsbad CA
Novo Brazil Brewery Chula Vista CA
3N1 Sports Bar & Grill Chula Vista CA
Sky Zone San Diego Chula Vista CA
Viewpoint Brewing Co Del Mar CA
Oggi's Sports Brewhouse Pizza Del Mar CA
The Grand El Cajon CA
GoldFish Swim School Elmhurst Elmhurst CA
Bread & Barley Encinitas CA
Lumberyard Tavern Encinitas CA
Oggi's Sports Brewhouse Pizza Encinitas Encinitas CA
Rosati's Pizza Encinitas CA
The Brewers Tap Room Encinitas CA
1st Street Bar Encinitas CA
Harry's Sports Bar & Grill Fallbrook CA
Cavu Brewery La Jolla CA
Zpizza La Jolla CA
American Legion 282 La Mesa CA
The Hills Local Pub La Mesa CA
Norms Cocktails La Mesa CA
Alibi La Mesa La Mesa CA
Manny's Cocktail Lounge La Mesa CA
Parkys La Mesa CA
Hearth House La Mesa CA
Dirk's Nite club Lemon Grove CA
Sportsman Pub Lemon Grove CA
Breakwater Brewing Oceanside CA
Legacy Brewing Company Oceanside CA
Northern Pine Brewing Oceanside CA
19Ten Oceanside Oceanside CA
DV's Cork & Tap Oceanside CA
Urge Gastropub and Whiskey Bank Oceanside CA
Mainstream Bar & Grill Poway CA
The Olde Carriage Tavern Poway CA
Longhorn Bar & Grill San Diego CA
New English Brewing Company INC San Diego CA
The Watering Hole San Diego CA
Dirty Birds Liberty Station San Diego CA
Poseidon Project San Diego CA
Slater's 50/50 San Diego San Diego CA
The Harp San Diego CA
Amplified Ale Works San Diego CA
Voltaire Beach House San Diego CA
Striders San Diego CA
Cheers San Diego CA
ActivCare at Mission Bay San Diego CA
Shakespeare Pub San Diego CA
San Diego Brewing Company San Diego CA
Tilted Stick San Diego CA
Navajo Live San Diego CA
The Break Room San Diego CA
Effin's Pub and Grill San Diego CA
Second Chance Beer Co San Diego CA
Sunshine Company San Diego CA
Tony's Martini Bar San Diego CA
Arizona Cafe San Diego CA
Carriage house Cockails and karaoke San Diego CA
The BLVD San Diego CA
Savagewood Brewing Company San Diego CA
Camels Tavern San Diego CA
The Library Tavern San Diego CA
Crickets Pub San Diego CA
Slaters 50/50 San Marcos San Marcos CA
Players Sports Grill San Marcos CA
Double Peak Brewing Co San Marcos CA
San Elijo Vine & Tap San Marcos CA
Wild Barrel Brewing Co San Marcos CA
Stumblefoot Brewing San Marcos CA
My Yard Live San Marcos CA
Urge Gastropub & Common House San Marcos CA
Full Circle Santee CA
Alibi Lounge Santee CA
Shooters Spring Valley CA
The Bancroft Spring Valley CA
Spring Valley Inn Spring Valley CA
Guadalupe Tap House Vista CA
Aztec Brewing Co Vista CA
Barrel Harbor Brewing Vista CA

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BUD - Stained Glass Pub Silver Spring MD
OC BUD - Grotto Pizza DE near Ocean City MD

LET'S GO ....Caps and Os!!!!

Wow... without bothering to actually count, that looks like so 80 locations!

Might even be an argument for that being too MANY places now! Part of the reason a bar might want to have Buzztime is to make their bar different than non-BT bars and therefore be a destination rather than just another bar... Now it seems like a trivia player could walk into just about any place and play BT. Not REALLY, but you get the idea...

Then again, this is a test run, I'd suppose... Probably for free or darned close to it... Sorta like shareware computer programs. Once trial is over and BT starts to charge, the bars where the game has become popular, the rest give the hardware back. Might prove to be a good sales model.

What if all of these new locations under this model are not network connected? Doesn't the fact that they are not eligible for Smartest Bar hint at them not being network connected? What other reason would they be excluded? Has anyone seen any of these locations in a HOF or on a broadcast screen yet?

I was thinking they aren't included in Smartest Bar because they aren't paying the full price other bars are. Hadn't thought of the not on network.

There is something strange though. None of the bars have any players registered there. The only games played at the 10 bars I checked were CD, LT, LS and the new 15 min Buzztime Trivia available from 3am to 11am, so they have games 24/7. San Diego Brewing Co has a lot of CD play, 560.

Somebody in the Oceanside to San Diego area could check it out?

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BUD - Stained Glass Pub Silver Spring MD
OC BUD - Grotto Pizza DE near Ocean City MD

LET'S GO ....Caps and Os!!!!

I heard from LEOASC when we were in Vegas a few weeks ago that the new BT app isn't allowing them to play Showdown, and I believe I heard that there are problems with the other premium games as well. If that's a problem with the new "Basic" system, it would explain why those locations can't participate in Smartest Bar. But this is just a guess.

Brooke/AARDVK

The app does work for Six, but none of the other hour-long games, to my knowledge. I think they rushed Six into operation because of Smartesr Bar.

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Anon
"He may seem like Mr. Rogers but a dark spirit lies beneath."

Spotlight, Playback and Showdown are not in the app yet, all other games found at tablet bars are working. I believe BT is currently working on coding those 3 prime games and hopefully it won't be too much longer.

So not really a problem with the system, just not available yet. All unrelated to the Buzztime Basic system.

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BUD - Stained Glass Pub Silver Spring MD
OC BUD - Grotto Pizza DE near Ocean City MD

LET'S GO ....Caps and Os!!!!

I just talked to Buzztime about these new 82 "Buzztime Basic" bars around the San Diego area . They are still in beta testing and are indeed on the network. The guy said the bars don't yet show all the rankings boards yet in the bars but scores should be seen elsewhere if you make a ranking board. But they do not get any of the premium games yet. They will in time, but for now only get LT, CD, LS, Badge Hunter and the new 15 min BT trivia. Default CD or BT trivia will air during Premium games.

He says eventually they will be just like current tablet bars just with no tablets. He would not confirm or deny that BT was trying to sell this much cheaper system to BWW.

I'll be out there in a month and will check out several of these Basic bars.

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BUD - Stained Glass Pub Silver Spring MD
OC BUD - Grotto Pizza DE near Ocean City MD

LET'S GO ....Caps and Os!!!!

I question if there is really a market out there for people playing trivia on their own devices.
The market already is limited.

I have been informed by my home site BWW (a corporate site I believe), that the onsite tablets are going away. As the current inventory breaks or wears out they are not being replaced. As of right now there are still probably at least 15 or so that are still fully functional. With the handwriting on the wall however I decided to be proactive and get moving on the BT Entertainment App and try to start getting used to playing that way.

I downloaded the app on both my phone and a tablet. With my eyeballs nearing age 63 I much prefer the tablet as the screen is much larger than the phone screen. Plus then I am not tying up my phone while playing. I have played 3 times now with the tablet and I must say so far it is working pretty well. The BT graphics show up well on the tablet and there does not seem to be any issue with lag. It is definitely a disadvantage to not have the clues show up on the app. One must continue to look at the TV screen at the clues and then switch your eyes back to the tablet to hit the right button. Probably not an issue for those who routinely put up 14 1000's per game , but at my level of expertise I definitely need clues for 4 or 5 questions per game.

All in all though I am so far satisfied with the experience. As someone who is rather technically challenged I worried that I wouldn't be able to make the transition work. So far however I am Ok with it and will continue to play this way as long as there is BT around to be had. Hopefully they will continue to improve the app and be able to use it for all games as well as get clues on the app, and that will make things even better

Hey Everyone. Great stuff here. Yes, we have a good presence in the San Diego market now. Please go in and check out these newer locations! They require the mobile app, which is continuing to get more of the premium games added. We recently updated the app with Six. Some of you noticed that these newer locations aren't part of Smartest Bar. That's mainly because we are still testing these locations and would hate if somehow there was an error in the scoring (unlikely, but want to be safe). However, these locations will be part of our network competitions/promotions very soon!

Thanks for the update! Is there a ballpark idea of approximately when Showdown might be added?

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Anon
"He may seem like Mr. Rogers but a dark spirit lies beneath."

Meh........more importantly Spotlight and Playback.

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BUD - Stained Glass Pub Silver Spring MD
OC BUD - Grotto Pizza DE near Ocean City MD

LET'S GO ....Caps and Os!!!!