The Game Show Forum
The Game Show Forum => The Big Board => Topic started by: 14gameshows on December 03, 2012, 05:33:58 PM
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Few questions about Wheel of Fortune?
I've always wanted to know this but how does the lighting on the wheel work? In essence did Ed Flesh create a special lighting system that controlled the chasing pattern of the lights on the wheel in correspondence to the speed of the wheel spinning?
Should the dollar value of buying a vowel be increased?
Could the shopping version still work today?
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The last two have been discussed before, but for question b) IMO, increasing it doesn't really add or take away anything. It would keep up with inflation, but losing a maximum of $1,250 in a round still creates a risk. If it were to ever go up, maybe make it $500, but I'm cool with it either way.
As for c) some of the shopping segments and descriptions took several minutes, which in turn takes away from gameplay.
A while ago, I came up with the idea of a shopping round, where you have to land on a space worth say, $1,000 per letter, which then goes onto a "gift card" of sorts. Solve the puzzle, and you use the gift card to "shop". No On Account or anything, just a small incentive for solving a puzzle, while going old-school. It wouldn't even have to be done everyday. There's more kinks to iron out with the idea, but I get off work in 8 minutes. ;-)
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Possibly, yeah I guess, hell no.
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While I suspect it'll never come over here, France's early prime-time version of Wheel a few years ago had a spot called "Caverne" which allowed you a roughly 20-30 shopping spree to pick out prizes. It worked in their frantic version - not sure it would fit in with Pat and Vanna.
R.
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No way in hell would shopping work now. There's just no time in the show for that. I've seen shows so pressed for time that they had to hack it to bits even with Round 4 beginning as a Speed-Up. (One of the Military Week episodes a few weeks ago ran so long that they had to cut out the special intro segment and the "retro" bonus puzzle after Round 2.)
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the special intro segment
But you still watched, because you know this.
/What "special intro segment"?
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the special intro segment
But you still watched, because you know this.
/What "special intro segment"?
My observation that Wheel is sometimes super-mega-edited for time was not a complaint, and I apologize if it came off otherwise. Unlike a certain someone, I'm generally fine with the show in its present state. The few things that irk me about the show now don't detract from my overall enjoyment, and it was kinda stupid for me to bitch about things like contrived bonus puzzles in the first place.
Also, the "special intro segment" on the aforementioned Military Week was a roughly 20 second military montage before Jim's intro.
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What I'm saying is that there's obviously some point where the lack of content is going to turn off viewers. If the winner of the $1,000 Toss-up puzzle goes straight to the bonus round, that's kinda silly, isn't it? For you personally, they're not at that point yet. For me the ship sailed a while ago, and the only Wheel of Fortune I see is the five minutes that come before Jeopardy every day. I would prefer that there was more content (by my definition, that's spinning and solving) and less stock footage of the car on offer and whoever is sponsoring the Jackpot Round.
The other thing, this is the place to complain about things that irk you. Lord knows I've made an online career out of it.
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The other thing, this is the place to complain about things that irk you. Lord knows I've made an online career out of it.
Even "Some of the bonus puzzles lately feel more like two random-ass words thrown together than a coherent phrase" or "80% of the Prize Puzzles seem to have the word BEACH in them"?
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Absolutely.
/I think I'm going to make that a Probe variant. "Your category is Two Random-Ass Words. Go ahead and draw a card to kick things off."
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The other thing, this is the place to complain about things that irk you. Lord knows I've made an online career out of it.
Even "Some of the bonus puzzles lately feel more like two random-ass words thrown together than a coherent phrase" or "80% of the Prize Puzzles seem to have the word BEACH in them"?
"Your category for round 3 is 'seaside resort', and what a surprise, it's the prize puzzle!"
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The other thing, this is the place to complain about things that irk you. Lord knows I've made an online career out of it.
Even "Some of the bonus puzzles lately feel more like two random-ass words thrown together than a coherent phrase" or "80% of the Prize Puzzles seem to have the word BEACH in them"?
"Your category for round 3 is 'seaside resort', and what a surprise, it's the prize puzzle!"
My question, I guess, is there some kind of edict from the higher-ups that mandate the prize is a trip? What's wrong with "Watching the Super Bowl on a HDTV", or "Subwoofers, Speakers, and Tweeters"? Speaking for me personally, I'd rather have something useful than some trip to a fru-fru resort.
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My question, I guess, is there some kind of edict from the higher-ups that mandate the prize is a trip?
Trips are cheap, electronics are expensive. Bottom line.
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Easy fix: Just don't theme the puzzle to the Prize. That way you're not handcuffing the writers to the 4000th permutation of sun/sand/beach/relax/travel/suitcase.
Back when the Prize Puzzle cycled among the rounds, it made sense for the answer to be themed, to make the connection clearer. But now that it's always in Round 3, it just seems redundant to theme it. I'm sure no one will complain if they're suddenly solving something like ROASTED GARLIC TRISCUITS for another trip to the Caribbean.
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The Prize Puzzle as a whole irks me, as it seems to be just a way to give out a non-cash prize at some point during the show and seems to go against the point of "earning" what you win (I saw a few players who, with about half the puzzle still unrevealed, decided to solve with no or very little money/prizes). This isn't a problem in runaway games, but over the years I've seen several people win a close game because they won that particular prize.
Continuing from what Twentington posted about the writing, the Prize Puzzles in particular tend to sound unnatural, like things nobody would say -- especially if Google shrugs its shoulders in response.
That aside, I haven't really watched the show all that much for a couple of years now (I rarely get the station in anyway), mainly because Wheel has changed so much that it doesn't really interest me anymore minus the occasional episode or clip -- part of it being that, like what Travis said, there's just not enough content there for me.
My question, I guess, is there some kind of edict from the higher-ups that mandate the prize is a trip?
Trips are cheap, electronics almost every other kind of prize under the sun are is expensive. Bottom line.
Fixed that for you.
/c'mon, not even a boat?
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The show jumped the shark for me (I think that phrase has also jumped the shark, but I did just use it twice) when they started having puzzles such as the category "things" while the puzzle was "television and a danish".
As for shopping--it wasn't working, people wanted more puzzles in a show, so it was dropped.
As far as current editing, I would be happy to see one less puzzle per show for the ability to have a better play at home experience.
When they had more time, you would see the puzzle on the screen for longer periods of time, now it flashes on and off the screen very quickly. You can hear how bad the editing is when the wheel is spinning at full speed and suddenly is stopped.
When it comes to the game itself, I think the prize puzzle should be dropped. The game is WHEEL of Fortune, not Solve Puzzle #3 of Fortune. It almost begs a study to determine if the person who solves puzzle #3 wins the game because of that automatic bonus, and if that person does, it brings up the idea to see who solves any puzzle the most--the person who spins 1st, 2nd or 3rd. If it's anything but 3rd, it sure gives credence to the strategy to not solve the 2nd tossup, giving yourself a better shot at solving the prize puzzle. Prizes are fine, IF they are won by spinning the wheel, not just happening to solve puzzle #3.
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My question, I guess, is there some kind of edict from the higher-ups that mandate the prize is a trip?
Trips are cheap, electronics are expensive. Bottom line.
But they're owned by Sony- lord knows they could have used the advertising for that tablet of theirs. I really am confused as to why that relationship isn't utilized more often. Even outside of the Prize Puzzle, the prize wedge doesn't always have to be a trip either. You can give someone a decent TV or a nice A/V package for $5,000.
I'm fairly certain that the Prize Puzzle is a Mad Libs creation- (gerund) on a (noun) of (adjective) (plural noun).
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Even outside of the Prize Puzzle, the prize wedge doesn't always have to be a trip either. You can give someone a decent TV or a nice A/V package for $5,000.
Alright, let me try this again:
Trips are cheap free, electronics are expensive cost money. Bottom line.
Better?
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It almost begs a study to determine if the person who solves puzzle #3 wins the game because of that automatic bonus...
There are some results on this front, but keep in mind that it is only for last season. Still, it's pretty shocking when the totals are laid out in front of you.
Out of 195 maingame winners from last season, 137 (70%) solved the Prize Puzzle.
For 42 of those winners, the Prize Puzzle was the difference between them coming in first and some other position.
So for last season, about 21% of the winners sent to the Bonus Round were done so strictly based on the value of the prize given away for solving a puzzle.
...and it brings up the idea to see who solves any puzzle the most--the person who spins 1st, 2nd or 3rd.
Again, results are only based on last season. A maingame puzzle was solved by the first spinner 331 times (39%), the second spinner 299 times (36%), and the third spinner 212 times (25%).
I'm the second to act in Round #3 if I win the second tossup, and the percentage between first and second spinner is quite small so I would definitely go for it.
The absolute worst position is actually if the person who typically acts before you solves the tossup, because it would force you to be last during the PP round.
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Is there a stat for people who solved the puzzle who started with control and kept it throughout the round?
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Is there a stat for people who solved the puzzle who started with control and kept it throughout the round?
No, sorry. By the way, for anybody interested in the source (and more data!) you can check it out here: http://woftracker.wo...eason-analysis/ (http://\"http://woftracker.wordpress.com/2012/06/15/61512-full-season-analysis/\")
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I was not aware that "Lach trash" had a meaning on Wheel. Please enlighten me.
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When it comes to the game itself, I think the prize puzzle should be dropped. The game is WHEEL of Fortune, not Solve Puzzle #3 of Fortune. It almost begs a study to determine if the person who solves puzzle #3 wins the game because of that automatic bonus, and if that person does, it brings up the idea to see who solves any puzzle the most--the person who spins 1st, 2nd or 3rd. If it's anything but 3rd, it sure gives credence to the strategy to not solve the 2nd tossup, giving yourself a better shot at solving the prize puzzle. Prizes are fine, IF they are won by spinning the wheel, not just happening to solve puzzle #3.
Did it bother you when Round 1 had a Top Dollar Value of $1,000 but Round 3 had a Top Dollar Value of $3,500?
It's only natural for a game to increase the stakes as it moves closer to the climax.
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Did it bother you when Round 1 had a Top Dollar Value of $1,000 but Round 3 had a Top Dollar Value of $3,500?
It's only natural for a game to increase the stakes as it moves closer to the climax.
I guess a counterpoint to that would be that Round 4 followed with a $5,000 space. Round 4 now doesn't give too much chance to overcome the prize puzzle without a $6K speedup.
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Did it bother you when Round 1 had a Top Dollar Value of $1,000 but Round 3 had a Top Dollar Value of $3,500?
It's only natural for a game to increase the stakes as it moves closer to the climax.
not at all, because a player had to land on the space, it wasn't just handed to them because they happened to solve a particular puzzle. It's WHEEL of Fortune, not SOLVE PUZZLE 3 of Fortune.
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Did it bother you when Round 1 had a Top Dollar Value of $1,000 but Round 3 had a Top Dollar Value of $3,500?
It's only natural for a game to increase the stakes as it moves closer to the climax.
not at all, because a player had to land on the space, it wasn't just handed to them because they happened to solve a particular puzzle. It's WHEEL of Fortune, not SOLVE PUZZLE 3 of Fortune.
And there are two other rounds where you can build up your score without HAVING TO SOLVE PUZZLE 3 to win, aren't there?
I'd actually like to see the stats of how often people who solve the prize puzzle don't win the game.
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It's WHEEL of Fortune, not SOLVE PUZZLE 3 of Fortune.
Yeah, this made no goddamn sense when you said it the first time, too.
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I'd actually like to see the stats of how often people who solve the prize puzzle don't win the game.
Well that would be the opposite stat from earlier in the thread, 58 out of 195 or about 30 percent from last season's games.
Many game shows have pivotal moments where one question, spin, answer, etc. determine the outcome, so how is this any different?
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Many game shows have pivotal moments where one question, spin, answer, etc. determine the outcome, so how is this any different?
Because it's a little anti-climactic when that moment happens in the middle of the show.
Look, I don't have my panties in a bunch over this, but I agree that more often than not the viewer knows who's going to bonus land once the prize puzzle has been solved.
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Which is, again, fine. The fact that the final round isn't always played for $6,000 per letter makes it all the more dramatic when it is.
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Many game shows have pivotal moments where one question, spin, answer, etc. determine the outcome, so how is this any different?
Because it's a little anti-climactic when that moment happens in the middle of the show.
So if someone bets big on a DD early in Double Jeopardy and takes a huge lead or happens to find both of them early and locks up the game, you'd tune out because the outcome is basically a lock? I don't find myself thinking damn, he got the prize puzzle so they're gonna win, what else is on.