# Quidditch USA to change its name \[New name is "Quadball"\] **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [December 20, 2021, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quidditch-usa-to-change-its-name-new-name-is-quadball/956383 "2021-12-20T21:05:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2022, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quidditch-usa-to-change-its-name-new-name-is-quadball/956383/101 "2022-07-21T16:38:45Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Even if you had your own scoring system for the Snitch, whereby you increased your own rank the longer you could stay uncaught, there would still be complaints that you gave the game to the “bad guys”: even if not by allegations of outright corruption, people would still whine that their team lost the game due to the incompetence of a third party rather than a lack of skill on their own part. I mean, it’s bad enough to have human officials. Having a third party that’s actually a third team is insane. There is simply no way to prove neutrality. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2022, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quidditch-usa-to-change-its-name-new-name-is-quadball/956383/102 "2022-07-21T17:38:19Z")
I’ve never understood it. Sports and games may be weird and apparently arbitrary in their rules, but there’s generally an underlying logic to it. In fiction, the snitch clearly only exists to let the protagonist be the star without having to actually do anything, in what is otherwise a perfectly reasonable goal-scoring game. In the real world, get rid of the sticks, get rid of that third person running around, and you have a perfectly reasonable goal-scoring game. Sure, all you have now is a variation on something like field hockey or handball or lacrosse, but those are all perfectly fine sports. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2022, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quidditch-usa-to-change-its-name-new-name-is-quadball/956383/103 "2022-07-22T00:33:58Z")
_Ditch the Snitch!_ ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2022, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quidditch-usa-to-change-its-name-new-name-is-quadball/956383/104 "2022-07-22T12:53:51Z")
How about using a drone for the snitch, programmed to stay, say, 8’ above the ground, and with just enough AI to attempt to evade all vaguely human-ish things approaching it? Battery life would be relevant, but as the battery wound down, it would get slower, and hence easier to catch, hence putting a reasonable but not bright-line limit to the length of games. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2022, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quidditch-usa-to-change-its-name-new-name-is-quadball/956383/105 "2022-07-22T14:13:48Z")
If you take away both the Snitch and the brooms, is there really anything left that makes them unique? The brooms are an artificial restriction, where they have to find a way to hold on to it while they move. That seems akin to, say, needing to dribble in basketball or not touch the ball with your hands in soccer. The Snitch does seem rather silly, but, at the same time, there are people who enjoy being seekers, having to play this complete other game without impeding the main game. I doubt they’d like it that much if the reason they play the game got eliminated. It seems to me to be an intramural-style game, not this super serious sport. The amateur nature of it is what allows it to be inclusive. I still think the name change was less about trying to become a “legitimate sport” and more about trying to preserve a game they love. It’s more akin to a sports team changing their name after the public realizes it is racist, rather than an attempt to reform the game to “go legit.” But if they do the latter, I would think they’d at least keep the sticks. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2022, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quidditch-usa-to-change-its-name-new-name-is-quadball/956383/106 "2022-07-22T16:40:00Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > In the real world, get rid of the sticks, get rid of that third person running around, and you have a perfectly reasonable goal-scoring game. Sure, all you have now is a variation on something like field hockey or handball or lacrosse, but those are all perfectly fine sports. Sure, but the appeal of Quiddich, now Quadball, is that it is related to the game in Harry Potter. If you took away the Harry Potter stuff (fake brooms, snitch), then why would people want to play? Of course changing the name may make it harder as well… though without the Snitch, I guess it’d have to be Tri-Ball and that name doesn’t even share the Q. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2022, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quidditch-usa-to-change-its-name-new-name-is-quadball/956383/107 "2022-07-22T16:52:56Z")
A goal scoring game with three smaller goals instead of one larger one mixed in with some dodgeball actually sounds pretty fun. Why overcomplicate it? Want to keep the sticks and up the difficulty, make it so that the only way the ball can be advanced is by passing or keeping the ball in contact with the stick. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2022, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quidditch-usa-to-change-its-name-new-name-is-quadball/956383/108 "2022-07-22T17:49:53Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > The brooms are an artificial restriction, where they have to find a way to hold on to it while they move. That seems akin to, say, needing to dribble in basketball or not touch the ball with your hands in soccer. Just what I was going to say: > [@RickJay](#): > > There is no reason to hold a stick between your legs except that, you know, it’s Quidditch, from the Harry Potter books. There’s no reason to have to keep bouncing the ball instead of carrying it except that, you know, it’s basketball. There’s no reason not to touch the ball with your hands except that, you know, it’s soccer. The only metric by which to judge a sport is by whether the players (and, optionally, spectators) are having fun. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2022, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quidditch-usa-to-change-its-name-new-name-is-quadball/956383/109 "2022-07-22T17:59:52Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > Want to keep the sticks and up the difficulty, make it so that the only way the ball can be advanced is by passing or keeping the ball in contact with the stick. I’ve actually thought of a way to make it competitive yet fair: weigh the sticks according to your teams or individual’s accomplishment level (And weigh them toward the middle so they will remain safe for other players). And while you’re already being literally handicapped, may as well stick the stick between your legs to preserve the flavor of the game. I still think the snitch needs to go, though. AI drones sound promising, but having an entirely different game being played simultaneous to another game just feels off. If you combined AI drones with a snitch that only scored 30 points rather than stopping the game, I would then grudgingly accept that it isn’t a completely insane sport to try to take seriously. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2022, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quidditch-usa-to-change-its-name-new-name-is-quadball/956383/110 "2022-07-22T17:59:58Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > There’s no reason to have to keep bouncing the ball instead of carrying it except that, you know, it’s basketball. There’s no reason not to touch the ball with your hands except that, you know, it’s soccer. The difference is that those rules exist to make the sport function in a certain way. Basketball doesn’t have dribbling because they dribble the ball in an imaginary sport in a novel written prior to the invention of basketball. Soccer doesn’t disallow use of hands because Cervantes described the sport that way in “Don Quixote.” Quidditch has players carrying fake brooms between their legs **because J.K. Rowling described the sport that way** , which makes the fact they’re changing the sport’s name because they don’t like J.K. Rowling kind of, well, bizarre. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2022, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quidditch-usa-to-change-its-name-new-name-is-quadball/956383/111 "2022-07-22T18:00:12Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > There’s no reason to have to keep bouncing the ball instead of carrying it except that, you know, it’s basketball. Considering that the original rules of basketball didn’t include dribbling, why do you think it was added? The rules of a sport are not simply arbitrary restrictions imposed in order to define the activity. They are designed with significant thought and consideration as to how those rules impact gameplay. Holding a broom between your legs is ridiculousness and has nothing to do with improving game play or competition, it’s about Harry Potter. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2022, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quidditch-usa-to-change-its-name-new-name-is-quadball/956383/112 "2022-07-22T18:02:07Z")
But the dribble rule and the no hands rule were introduced to add difficulty & interest to the game. The broomstick rule is there because the original magic game was played on broomsticks, and it’s actually easier with a flying broomstick, since you don’t actually use your legs in magic Quidditch. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2022, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quidditch-usa-to-change-its-name-new-name-is-quadball/956383/113 "2022-07-22T18:07:44Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > But the dribble rule and the no hands rule were introduced to add difficulty & interest to the game. The broomstick rule is there because the original magic game was played on broomsticks, and it’s actually easier with a flying broomstick, since you don’t actually use your legs in magic Quidditch. Yes, but I’d imagine having to hold onto a stick with one hand while holding a ball with the other adds to the difficulty. And it slightly resembles a flying broom, which adds interest. It’s not like Handball is all that popular in the US, why would a Handball with three goals be any different… unless it’s tied to a mega popular book and movie series? > [@RickJay](#): > > makes the fact they’re changing the sport’s name because they don’t like J.K. Rowling kind of, well, bizarre. Agreed. I’m guessing that the name change is probably going to make the sport even more niche and it’ll likely die out within the decade. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2022, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quidditch-usa-to-change-its-name-new-name-is-quadball/956383/114 "2022-07-22T18:23:08Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > The rules of a sport are not simply arbitrary restrictions imposed in order to define the activity. They are designed with significant thought and consideration as to how those rules impact gameplay. Holding a broom between your legs is ridiculousness and has nothing to do with improving game play or competition, it’s about Harry Potter. Exactly. My hope was that a name change means getting rid of parts of the game that don’t work well as a game, but rather only exist as ties to the original fictional game. I have zero interest in Quidditch. But I might have interest in Quadball if it turns itself into something viable. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2022, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quidditch-usa-to-change-its-name-new-name-is-quadball/956383/115 "2022-07-23T05:11:23Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Ditch the Snitch! Snitches get stitches? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quidditch-usa-to-change-its-name-new-name-is-quadball/956383.md?page=5)