FAQ

 

Frequently Asked Questions

This is a comprehensive list of question which are asked by users once in a while. Feel free to contact Knew The News in case you think that there is still something missing.

General

  1. What is a Prediction Market, and what makes Knew The News special?

    On Knew The News, users submit questions, and other users make predictions about what they expect to be the outcome. The website is completely driven by the members themselves. Take the Tour to learn more.

  2. Whom do I contact if I have an issue with a specific question?

    Use the "Flag" function. You will be prompted to write a message, which will be send to the appropriate category editor.

  3. Whom can I contact?

    A: There are several ways to contact other people on Knew The News:

    • Use private messages
      • Any Category Editor or Super User can be contacted using private messages Navigate to their profile page, "Message" tab, and write the a message.
      • Any member can send private messages, if you have friended them
    • Start commenting on questions to discuss with question creator/others.
    • Send shouts on profile pages
      • You can post a public shout on any friends profile page
    • Contact Knew The News
      • Knew The News offers you various ways to do so on the Contact page.

  4. How can I organize my screen view?

    Some of the boxes on the context column of the page are hideable. You can arrange the boxes in any order to meet your personal preferences. Simply hover on the box with the mouse button and use the small 'hide' tab which appears to set the box invisible. Use the 'arrange' tab to drag and drop the box to any position you which within the context column.

  5. When do I get a different net worth rank?

    The colored bubbles displayed with the usernames represent the current net wort (sum of cash plus the total current value of any open prediction) of the user. There are 10 stages, each represented by its own color:
    Net Worth: 1M+ 1M+ Net Worth: 500K+ 500K+ Net Worth: 250K+ 250K+ Net Worth: 100K+ 100K+ Net Worth: 50K+ 50K+ Net Worth: 25K+ 25K+ Net Worth: 10K+ 10K+ Net Worth: 5K+ 5K+ Net Worth: 2.5K+ 2.5K+ Net Worth: 1K+ 1K+.

  6. Who are the Category Editors, and what is a Super User?

    Cateroy Editors and Super Users are members which are active on the site and have proven their understanding of the game. Both statuses grant additional privileges on the site, and also more responsibilities. Category Editors are responsible for one or more categories, and take care of suspension, clarification and settlement of questions.

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Gameplay

  1. Why is there a 10% fine when I sell a prediction?

    The fine applies to make selling predictions less attractive. You can still sell your predictions to free up cash but you should consider keeping the stakes until the question settles.

  2. What are the methods to gain money?

    There are various ways to gain some cash.

    • Winning questions (obviously)
    • Gaining value if others follow your bets, and selling positions (caution: 10% fine on selling value)
    • Daily Login gives you $25
    • Creating questions = $100 (the first 5 each) afterwards every 5th question gives you $250 (limited to the first 100 questions)
    • Each followed recommodation $250
    • ... watching out for special promos!
  3. How can I bet other amounts than the ones in the dropdown?

    In the settings section of your profile, you can define which amounts should be included in the dropdown. You can define your own values. It isn't possible, though, to manually enter values on the question details page.

  4. What time does the site use?

    By default, dates and times on the site are shown in GMT. A user may change this to meet his personal time zone on the users profile settings page. Question suspend dates are set by the users who create the question, using their specific time zone. If not specified otherwise, it is assumed that the settlement should occur depending on the timezone of the event location.

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Question Creation

  1. Who creates questions?

    The users - that's you.

  2. How do I successfully create questions?

    That's basically described on the Question Creation section of the Tour.

  3. What is the intend of the publication date?

    Sometimes, a question should not be available for prediction on creation. Using the publication date, you can set a specific date for the question to become available. This is the value using to build the "recently published" question list. Created question with future publication date a marked "pending".

  4. What is a "Hot Topic"?

    Apply this option if you want to highlight your question. "Hot Topic" questions should cover topics which are currently developing or where developments are expected to happen on short term. Of course, a "Hot Topic" should be something which is heavily covered in mainstream media. Please do not overly use this option...

  5. How does "in play" work?

    "In Play" means that the question is open for betting even during the event which will lead to settlement. In sports, this means that betting is still allowed while the match (or race) is already taking place. The question should be set to suspend before the result is finally known, using a reasonable margin. In "in play" market index questions, like the DJIA daily change, the suspend date should be 30 minutes before stock market close, at least.

  6. What are the rules for question creation?

    Although question creation should be fairly easy and open for a broad range of ideas, there are some limits. In the first place questions should cover mainstream media topics addressing a broad audience, and since English is the site language, any posted question should be written in English. And of course, questions may not be offending or unethical. Other important rules are: Rules (section 4).

  7. Where do I take good starting percentages from?

    A rule of the thumb: chose the percentages in a way that you yourself, with your deep knowledge of the case, would be in doubt on which option you would bet on. But there is an even easier way: Using bookmaker odds.

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