Wheel of Fortune Contestants

[Matt Ottinger]

Yeah, nobody is saying that $25,000 isn't a lot of money, or that contestants aren't happy to win it.  But the "reveal" is supposed to provide us another jolt of jumping-up-and-down excitement, and it's not surprising that this second jolt isn't quite as electrifying when the player learns that they've won the absolute minimum they could possibly win.  

The first reaction is "Yay, I've won at least $25,000!"  When it turns out that you've won exactly that, the typical reaction is more like "OK, cool."  No one's making a face, or throwing it back. They're just not more happy because they didn't win any more.  I don't think that's greedy of them.  Like Steve says, this is all happening in the span of a few seconds, and there's just nothing motivating that second jump-up-and-down moment except a larger than expected amount.

[Kevin Prather]

[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'164424\' date=\'Sep 20 2007, 08:13 PM\']
No, I see Steve's point. The Moment of Winning is passed. The moment you're seeing a tepid reaction to is the Moment of Winning More. Which is why I propose burying that moment to before the puzzle.
[/quote]
Another option is to go back to one cash prize and several merchandise prizes. When they see they've won a prize, they're first thought might not be "That's the lowest valued prize." But yeah, since it's basically been a HOMGZ MO MONEY show, prizes probably wouldn't be the way to go.

[TLEberle]

[quote name=\'whoserman\' post=\'164429\' date=\'Sep 20 2007, 09:22 PM\']Another option is to go back to one cash prize and several merchandise prizes. When they see they've won a prize, they're first thought might not be "That's the lowest valued prize." But yeah, since it's basically been a HOMGZ MO MONEY show, prizes probably wouldn't be the way to go.[/quote]Not now, no, but I wouldn't have a problem with $5,000-$25,000 in cash, and various prizes that fall in that range. The problem with that is that Wheel of Gimmicks has one gadget per round that can win $10,000. If they were scaled back, and maybe round three is the Gimmick Round, with a rotating special thing, $25,000 would be swoon-worthy.

[Craig Karlberg]

It's possible that a car whose value is less than $25,000 is hit as a bonus prize win.  Even the main game cash may or may not cover any taxes on that car.  I guess $25,000 means diffrent things to diffrent people.  A low or fixed income person winning that much may think of winning $25,000 as "life-changing" while those in the middle class & higher up see it as just a mere "life-enhancer".  By that I mean, $25,000 means nothing more than either paying off any debts that occurred or simply something a little extra to store untill it's needed.  Granted $25,000 to me is just like winning say, $5,000 back in the 70's & 80's.  It's either life-changing or life-enhancing depending on your income & perception.

[TimK2003]

A lot of the problem of the emotionless winners goes back to the contestant coordinators.  The CCs are so adamant of spending their time telling their robotic contestants to yell out their choice of letters/vowels a certain way, I think they forget to tell the contestants that no matter what they win, they should ALWAYS show positive hyper-excitement.

A simple solution  to the bonus round:  State at the beiginning of the round that a correct guess will net $25,000, then you can decide to 'risk it' by picking an envelope on the mini-wheel that can either raise it anywhere from $30,000 to $100,000, or can lower it from $5,000 to $25,000 (have one BANKRUPT card in the mix), or will add a prize (like a car, trip, etc...).  Then we'll see more people who will be happy to take home $25K.

There should be an element of risk in the final round just like in the main games.

[tpirfan28]

...or just make sure the CC are telling them to be excited regardless.

...or get better CCs.

[uncamark]

It seems to me that they went to the five envelopes before the mini-wheel 17-some years ago because when left to their own choice, the contestants almost always picked the $25,000--and back when the switch was made from shopping to all-cash, the $25,000 was, like today, the *lowest* value of any of the end game prizes.  Times have changed.

[DjohnsonCB]

Right now, I'd be thrilled to have $25,000 in the bank.  I'd probably have to look for a different place to live, as per the income-related guidelines they have at the complex I'm at now, but at least that amount would pay some big bills and get a couple of big-ticket purchases paid off at last, with plenty still left over.

Not to veer too far away from the subject, but even though Set For Life wasn't much of a game and that you could watch the whole hour in 15 minutes without missing anything essential, it would have been a helluva deal for me to be a contestant on.  Even to get just a year's worth of big monthly checks would put me in better financial shape than I'd ever been.

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'uncamark\' post=\'164451\' date=\'Sep 21 2007, 08:28 AM\']
It seems to me that they went to the five envelopes before the mini-wheel 17-some years ago because when left to their own choice, the contestants almost always picked the $25,000--and back when the switch was made from shopping to all-cash, the $25,000 was, like today, the *lowest* value of any of the end game prizes.  Times have changed.
[/quote]
Exactly the case. Because even then they realized that cash > prizes.

Frankly, it entertains me a little when I ponder it and realize that WOF's rush towards Mo' Money is biting them in the ass now, even in this small way.

[Clay Zambo]

How 'bout a set of puzzles, varying in difficulty according to the prize that's chosen.  Spin the wheel, you see your prize--and you know how tough your puzzle is going to be: if $25K is the minimum they want to give away in the bonus, fine--then that puzzle is easier than the $100K puzzle.  If there's "disappointment" to be shown at only getting the $25K, Pat can manage it: "Okay, you can do this--this should be easy..."

Or, alternatively, have the CCs remind these greedful hoo-hahs that they could be playing Merv's other word game, where all their winnings could be taken away by somebody who answered exactly one question all day...

[uncamark]

[quote name=\'Clay Zambo\' post=\'164455\' date=\'Sep 21 2007, 10:40 AM\']
How 'bout a set of puzzles, varying in difficulty according to the prize that's chosen.  Spin the wheel, you see your prize--and you know how tough your puzzle is going to be: if $25K is the minimum they want to give away in the bonus, fine--then that puzzle is easier than the $100K puzzle.  If there's "disappointment" to be shown at only getting the $25K, Pat can manage it: "Okay, you can do this--this should be easy..."

Or, alternatively, have the CCs remind these greedful hoo-hahs that they could be playing Merv's other word game, where all their winnings could be taken away by somebody who answered exactly one question all day...
[/quote]

Or tell them that if that they want really big money, they can go on Drew Carey's New York show-also owned by Sony.

[Mr. Armadillo]

[quote name=\'Clay Zambo\' post=\'164455\' date=\'Sep 21 2007, 10:40 AM\']
Or, alternatively, have the CCs remind these greedful hoo-hahs that they could be playing Merv's other word game, where all their winnings could be taken away by somebody who answered exactly one question all day...
[/quote]
Or, alternatively, that they can go on Merv's other word game and win the game just by answering exactly one question...

[Clay Zambo]

[quote name=\'uncamark\' post=\'164459\' date=\'Sep 21 2007, 11:52 AM\']
Or tell them that if that they want really big money, they can go on Drew Carey's New York show-also owned by Sony.
[/quote]

Bad idea.  There, you have people who win $100K and have a host tell them it's not enough.

[wheelloon]

My comment: if you get on Wheel, and you're not happy with $25k, get over it, and  regret you tried out for Wheel in the first place. Next time, try out for Millionaire, if you want some easy big money. You could've always sat in the audience for TPIR, where you'd have to get doubly lucky to (1) get on stage, (2) then win money by either playing one of the cash games and (3) winning big there or (4) getting lucky spinning their own big wheel, for $11k tops. When's the last time somebody's won $25k in cash on TPIR? *Thinks back* Not in my recent memory...

However, IN EFFORT to play along and try to fix something that doesn't require such, I offer this for WOF. You solve the puzzle, Pat opens the card, and he reveals $25k. NOW, Pat says, "Great, you can walk away with your $25k or if you want, you can come back tomorrow and try to improve on that, and possibly win $100k in the bonus then..."

However, by coming back, you risk everything you've won for the first day. Now we'd really see who'd bit** about winning $25k. You could even throw in some extra big money cards the next day for players who wanna be risky, giving them more of a incentive.

Another solution? Bring back the returning champs format. People should be ecstatic they'll be back again anyway, I'd believe, so maybe the whiners will be happy enough their "dissatisfaction with $25k" won't show. Nevertheless, returning champs always sounds like a good idea for Wheel to have again...

However, I wouldn't change a thing about that bonus round at this point, if I had my druthers. There's no need.

[BrandonFG]

[quote name=\'wheelloon\' post=\'164496\' date=\'Sep 21 2007, 03:52 PM\']
However, IN EFFORT to play along and try to fix something that doesn't require such, I offer this for WOF. You solve the puzzle, Pat opens the card, and he reveals $25k. NOW, Pat says, "Great, you can walk away with your $25k or if you want, you can come back tomorrow and try to improve on that, and possibly win $100k in the bonus then..."
[/quote]
Lousy idea, IMO. Yeah, it adds suspense, but if I worked my butt off to rack up $25,000 and then some, I'd be pretty pissed about giving it up, esp. with a game that's 90% luck. It was different on $ale, when you at least controlled your own destiny. You could have one really good game, and the next day, hit Bankrupt or Lose A Turn on every single spin.

Won't argue with the returning champions format though.