Moderators will add you to a game room for each match. You should see exactly one text and voice channel for a room. Join the voice channel by clicking on it. Once you join, you should see something like this in your Discord client:
Click on the Video button to enable video. You’ll then want to find the pop out button that looks like this so you can the video open in a separate window than the text chat:
You’ll end up with windows that look something like this:
Once the game is about to begin, make sure to mute yourself. Never have your microphone on while questions are being read. Even if you’re using a headset, having your microphone unmuted can result in noise from your environment overriding the moderator.
Once the game starts, your focus will mainly be on the text channel for your room (i.e. #room-4-text). The moderator will read out the questions (via voice). To buzz in, you will type “buzz” in the chat (alternatively, some moderators may request that you buzz by @mentioning their name so they get a more prominent notification). After buzzing, wait for the moderator to officially recognize you. Buzzer order is determined by what the moderator sees on their screen. This may very well be different than what you see on your screen (generally, your buzzes will appear faster to yourself than other people see them).
After buzzing in, you can either say your answer (make sure to unmute) or type it in. Tournament directors will let you know the timing for answering tossups and bonuses. Generally, you’ll have a little more time than at an in-person tournament.
If the other team gets the tossup incorrect and you want to buzz in again, type “buzz” a second time. The moderators will not count any buzzes after the first buzz unless you buzz in again. (It’s generally good quizbowl strategy to wait until the end of the question if the other team gets the tossup incorrect.)
For bonuses, do not interrupt the moderator while they’re reading. This is much more distracting and hard to understand than at an in-person tournament. We suggest that you use the text chat to confer while the moderator is reading and then audio afterwards.
To avoid ambiguity on giving an answer, teams should say either “Our answer is [the answer]” or type their answer in ALL CAPS.
TODO: Bonus screenshot
If you have a protest, let the moderator know during the match. The TD may then contact you about resolving it.
Focus on the match while the game is going on. Do not have other apps open or use your phone, just like you wouldn’t do those things in an in-person match.
Don’t fill up the room chat with extraneous messages. Don’t post in gifs or other images in the room chats because they can be distracting to other players.
After each round, it can be helpful to the TD to report in the #general chat that you’ve finished. Once your next room is ready, you’ll be automatically assigned to that room. Join the voice/video chat and start the process again.
Sometimes tournaments will have a discussion channel. Do not discuss content from any match currently in progress in these channels.