[quote name=\'Modor\' post=\'162345\' date=\'Aug 30 2007, 10:03 AM\']Looking through the Wiki, it seems that Mark Goodson was plenty capable in most areas except for one: Scoring.[/quote] I would make the case that he spent so much time making the game good so that the scoring would be secondary to enjoyment. The problem is that when you're comparing "game balance" to "good TV that people will watch," it should be absolutely no contest that watchable TV wins out every time. And if that means round three starts with a $5,000 space on the wheel, so be it.
As to the practice round, there's no better way than to stick it at the beginning. You can't have a zero round, because that would confuse and/or piss off your viewers. And how interesting would it be to have all "single" value questions on
Family Feud? "It's 47 to 39 on the way to 300...let's play the Feud!"
Giving players a chance to play a low-stakes game in the actual environment is a much better way to do things than to say "Well, you played the game once with tap bells and some warm-up hack already, so the team that wins this question plays for $50,000. Here we go!"
I used to have the "game balance hang-up" too, but most shows manage to find a good way to walk the tightrope.
[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'162390\' date=\'Aug 30 2007, 03:39 PM\']Would you rather WWTBAM skipped the first five questions, too?[/quote]If I was playing? Absolutely. Five questions with complete silence in the background, and 200 people waiting to see if I'll screw up, as opposed to some number less than five? Sure. But I understand why it's part of the show.
[quote name=\'Robert Hutchinson\' post=\'162410\' date=\'Aug 30 2007, 06:33 PM\']Louie Feud . . . I have a hazy memory of at least one instance where one team had a commanding lead (maybe 281 to 0). The trailing team won control of the Triple question, but lost it on a strike. Dramatic moment--except that there were fewer than 281 points in the bank, so it didn't matter whether or not the steal was successful.[/quote]I remember something like that. The "strike" buzzer sounded, followed immediately by the "end of game" music, and Richard fumbling through an explanation of "they couldn't catch up even with the steal, so the game is over."
Yawn.
There is no reason that a game of
Family Feud should end like that.
Oh, and I thought Showoffs had a good scoring system--basically, it was The Joker's Wild scoring system. (first past X, and in the lead, at the end of a round)
How many rounds did a game of Showoffs take? A race to seven when teams can score five or more in a round seems like it would be over quickly.
