The Game Show Forum
The Game Show Forum => The Big Board => Topic started by: Jeremy Nelson on December 17, 2018, 05:44:20 PM
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Over the years, we’ve seen shows make it harder for contestants to win the big money, but can you think of any instances where they made it easier? I can specifically name two- removing opposites as illegal clues on Password, and the five second increase in Fast Money (but I think that was partly due to asking longer questions). Can you guys think of any others?
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Push rule in the Money Cards. Also changing one card anywhere on a line from CS '86.
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Spotting players the RSTLNE and giving them four more. Even with the 5-second reduction, that's a big advantage.
I think I've heard others here say requiring Jeopardy players to wait until the whole clue has been read resulted in more accuracy.
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TPiR: Adding a second chance on Hole in One to make it Hole in One (or Two).
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I think TPIR could potentially have numerous changes it made to help contestants along the way (perhaps more in the way of range adjustments for inflation). Another change I thought of was changing the format of Gas Money from having to play "1 Chance Five Price Tags" to "1 Prize Danger Price."
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It didn't always apply, but Classic Concentration added 5 bonus car seconds as a prize.
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The immediate first example I thought of was the original TJW with the Joker's Jackpot. Originally, you had to win 5 games in a row to claim the Jackpot, but it was later shortened to 3.
Another: On syndicated $ale, reducing the lot win from $830 to $750.
And still another: GSN's Chain Reaction (Season 1) making the target numbers of correct answers to double and triple your team's winnings from 7 and 10 to 5 and 7, respectively.
One more for four (that rhymes!): On Million Dollar Password, if a player made it to the $250,000 level, he/she could go for the million with no risk in Season 2, while he/she had to risk that money (well, all but $25,000) to do so in Season 1.
Anthony
P.S. Thanks for the brief distraction from grading final papers! :)
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Forgot one...Scrabble dropping the spelling rule. :P
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While the change to "Gas Money" has no affect whatsoever, TPIR made "3 Strikes" easier when they started putting only one strike chip in the bag at a time. (It still should be that way.)
In "Let 'Em Roll," they give you a free roll--at first, didn't one have to earn all three? They also built a taller platform for the player, making it easier to spill the dice down the ramp.
Password's Lightning Round became easier when with "Alphabetics" they started giving the initials.
The Jack Narz Concentration included games where players called three boxes in a turn.
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In "Let 'Em Roll," they give you a free roll--at first, didn't one have to earn all three?
No, that's been there since the beginning. You might be thinking of Pass the Buck, which originally had 3 sets of grocery items and no free pick, plus 8 numbers on the board to boot (instead of the now-current 6).
-Jason
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While the change to "Gas Money" has no affect whatsoever
I'd disagree if only because once you picked a price in Gas Money that you thought was the price of the car, under the original rules, you were stuck with that choice. The current rules allow you to change your mind while playing the game if the audience or something else sways you a different way.
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Some others that made it easierto win:
Dream House... originally seven wins to automatically win house, soon changed to five (then later to six).
Original Battlestars... bonus game at first picked three numbers to reveal of famous face. Later you got to choose an additional number of your choice to reveal.
Tic Tac Dough... Bonus Category and Double or Nothing made it easier to win the game.
Celebrity Bullseye... eventually question amount max went from $400 to $500.
Wheel of Fortune... $1,000 added to Par’s final spin.
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$ale: adding the $10 and $15 money cards to the Fame Game.
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MG/HS: Allowing a player to win HS on an opponent's error (not a change during the run of the show but certainly a change over the Marshall version).
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General observation: any rule change that applies to both players equally might make the game faster / higher scoring / etc., but does not make it easier to win.
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In the Ruta Lee edition of High Rollers, insurance markers for rolling doubles was only offered in the Big Numbers round. In the later incarnations, any double earned an insurance marker for good rolls in regular matches as well as a free roll if the double was a bad number.
And between the CBS daytime run to the end of the syndicated series of The Jokers Wild, questions went from Jeopardy caliber-level to multiple choice and/or "The Father of our country is George Who??" level questions.
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Idiot Savants increased the time limit for the Grand Savant Round from 45 seconds to 60 during its brief run.
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And between the CBS daytime run to the end of the syndicated series, questions went from Jeopardy caliber-level to multiple choice and/or "The Father of our country is George Who??" level questions.
Do I gather you were referring to "The Joker's Wild" here?
JakeT
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And between the CBS daytime run to the end of the syndicated series, questions went from Jeopardy caliber-level to multiple choice and/or "The Father of our country is George Who??" level questions.
Do I gather you were referring to "The Joker's Wild" here?
JakeT
Yes. Fixed. Thanks.
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Push rule in the Money Cards. Also changing one card anywhere on a line from CS '86.
Minor quibble here, but couldn't it be argued that it possibly made it more difficult? It changed to one card per line briefly after you could change a card anywhere multiple times, if you had enough changes to do it.
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General observation: any rule change that applies to both players equally might make the game faster / higher scoring / etc., but does not make it easier to win.
I thought about adding this disclaimer when I first posted, but figured people would post what they were going to post anyway. The items that really fit the subject fall in line with bonus round and pricing game rules.
Push rule in the Money Cards. Also changing one card anywhere on a line from CS '86.
Minor quibble here, but couldn't it be argued that it possibly made it more difficult? It changed to one card per line briefly after you could change a card anywhere multiple times, if you had enough changes to do it.
You could definitely argue that, but considering how player friendly even those rules were compared to the Perry run, I’m sure there weren’t a ton of quibbles.
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Bullseye: In the earlier episodes out on "Bonus Island", one could elect NOT to freeze the Bullseyes in any window and continue to spin for more money with a greater chance of hitting the lightning. By the end of the run, Bullseyes were frozen automatically.
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The option changing on P+. If you didn't solve the puzzle on the fourth clue, you were likely screwed because your opponent was going to get the option on the fifth clue.
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If it's limited to "winning the big money," here's an obscure one; the initial number of points needed to earn the bonus "moneyball" (which earned $1 a point) on The Magnificent Marble Machine was reduced from 15,000 to 13,000.
On Catch-21, they added an extra chance to pass a card in the bonus round when the show got a sponsor.
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BtB '76 - awarding the box to the opponent with a wrong answer (except in the case of a win)
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BtB '76 - awarding the box to the opponent with a wrong answer (except in the case of a win)
Did this actually make the game easier, though, or just faster?
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BtB '76 - awarding the box to the opponent with a wrong answer (except in the case of a win)
Did this actually make the game easier, though, or just faster?
I would say both. Example - I control a single $100 box and then lose control of the board. My opponent then locates another $100 box and answers incorrectly - I now just have to find the last $100 box.
Speeds up the game, and makes it easier for me to win (only need one correct answer now as opposed to two).
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BtB '76 - awarding the box to the opponent with a wrong answer (except in the case of a win)
Did this actually make the game easier, though, or just faster?
I would say both. Example - I control a single $100 box and then lose control of the board. My opponent then locates another $100 box and answers incorrectly - I now just have to find the last $100 box.
Speeds up the game, and makes it easier for me to win (only need one correct answer now as opposed to two).
But if the roles are reversed, it's easier for your opponent to win. The effect is net zero.
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And this is what Chris was referring to earlier in the thread- main game rule changes don’t really count because the rule change applies to you and your opponents.
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'Zackly. What it does is make the front game more susceptible to the whims of chance. Which I suppose in a game of skill makes it easier to win if you're an idiot, but otherwise all players are playing under the same set of rules.
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'Zackly. What it does is make the front game more susceptible to the whims of chance. Which I suppose in a game of skill makes it easier to win if you're an idiot, but otherwise all players are playing under the same set of rules.
It's simultaneously easier to win and easier to lose.
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And this is what Chris was referring to earlier in the thread- main game rule changes don’t really count because the rule change applies to you and your opponents.
And I didn't catch that - mea culpa. Apologies for throwing things off track.
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How did we all miss the obvious one - TPIR changing the Double Showcase Winner amount needed from $99 to $250?
Also, on Groucho Marx's You Bet Your Life, adding the $5000 number to the bonus round wheel (at first, the contestants chose one number, worth $10,000, and the rest were worth $2000; later, they chose a $10,000 number and a $5000 number).
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'Zackly. What it does is make the front game more susceptible to the whims of chance. Which I suppose in a game of skill makes it easier to win if you're an idiot, but otherwise all players are playing under the same set of rules.
It's simultaneously easier to win and easier to lose.
Right. Which makes it more random.