Quidditch was the moment in that first book when I realized this crappy author wasn't putting much thought into her story. She did improve a tad as the series went on, but I could never take her seriously as a writer after that. She didn't want to think that through a bit? She didn't have an editor?
To me the most instructive comparison is a basketball game where every made bucket is 1 point and a made half-court shot is 15 points and the end of the game.
"And this thing at the end is worth so much that it is guaranteed to nullify all gameplay before it" is the thing you make sure you eliminate before your game show goes to pilot."
I'm pretty sure Family Feud works this way, still - I don't think there's ever been a third round that was meaningless. Obviously the competition aspect is secondary to the "getting people to make innuendos" part, though
Even in the current version, the scoring is micromanaged so that if one team wins the first 3 rounds and the other takes the Triple one, nobody reaches 300 and there's what amounts to a tiebreaker. Golden Snitch would be if taking only the Triple round won the game outright.
I think it's at least in part the difference of organic v manufactured. You'd see things screw up on game shows all the time, because they shot live to tape as editing was expensive. Nowadays, all that stuff gets a stopdown and all we see is the contrived euphemisms on the board so Steve can bug-eye
It's a shame too, because it had potential. I will never understand the logic of creating a sport for your fictional world when you actually don't like sports 🤧
goals are 10 points; catching the snitch is 150 points and ends the game. first of all: divide everything by 10. (Rowling retconned meaning to the 150 in Quidditch Through the Ages; do not quote it to me)
if there are two kinds of scoring, and one of the methods is 15x more valuable and ends the game, the game will tilt towards that value: either more players dedicated to that endgame, or eventual rule changes that lessen point value of that very valuable goal.
also the Quidditch World Cup takes up like 200 pages of Goblet of Fire and is wrapped up before the title credits of the movie. nothing after book 2 was edited, it’s just lore and snappy dialogue and everyone falling in love with gingers
The Hogwarts Quidditch Tournament is decided on total points scored. Not win-loss. Not point differential. Total points scored.
Ergo, catching the snitch only gets you into the conversation (you’re going to need at least 2*150 to be in the race), but scoring goals is what wins Cups.
Meaning Potter catching the snitch faster than anyone ever has just means he has no game awareness. He just deprived his team of the opportunity to score any goals.
All of the quidditch scenes in the books are also written by someone who clearly isn't a sports fan. (Which is fine! But maybe consult someone who is.)
I was going to write something about how her construct could work but it can’t. You would have to dominate the other part of the game to overcome the 10x value of the snitch making it unworkable
What happens if you can’t catch the snitch? Is the game endless?
Catching the snitch and locking in a loss could work in a league where point differential is possibly important. "We can qualify for the playoffs if we don't lose by more than 200".
Doesn't quite fit the quidditch world as presented.
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Ergo, catching the snitch only gets you into the conversation (you’re going to need at least 2*150 to be in the race), but scoring goals is what wins Cups.
But worse, it took a generation of nerds away from better sports, like ultimate or literally anything else. Come play rugby ya goddamn dorks.
What happens if you can’t catch the snitch? Is the game endless?
Yeah, she sucks.
Doesn't quite fit the quidditch world as presented.