[quote name=\'14gameshows\' post=\'237492\' date=\'Mar 13 2010, 09:23 AM\']Should Wheel of Fortune increase the value of "buying a vowel" to like $1000?
The reason I ask this is because $250 is nothing compared to what it was back in the day and back when they were doing the "shopping element" of the show.
What do you think?[/quote]
If I were running that show, here's how I'd do it:
1. The first vowel is offered free of charge.
2. Subsequent vowels are charged at the current vowel rate, which is the lowest amount on the current wheel configuration, multiplied by the number of the vowel (i.e. the third vowel called for is multiplied by three).
3. Any player who actually lands on that lowest amount space while spinning the wheel is entitled to purchase vowels not at the lowest amount multiplied by the vowel number, but the lowest amount divided by the vowel number. (So, if the lowest amount on the wheel is $500, the third vowel will cost only $167, rounding up to eliminate cents, of course.)
4. Each round features a secret "Super Vowel"; the first player to call the "Super Vowel" in any given round has a chance to go to the "Super Vowel" board and select one of seven numbered consonants. If the numbered consonant contains a vowel, that player wins one free vowel of his or her choosing; if not, the other two players each have the chance to purchase as many vowels as they like for the lowest amount on the wheel multiplied by the number of the numbered consonant chosen by the player who called the "Super Vowel".
5. There's a new space on each wheel: the "B_nkr_pt" space; if any player lands on the "B_nkr_pt" space, Vanna goes through the puzzle and turns off all of the vowels already displayed. The player landing on the "B_nkr_pt" space earns back any money he or she spent on vowels, minus a 14% commission for the house. (If no vowels have been called yet, Vanna starts turning off consonants. However, the used letter board will not reflect this.)
6. At the end of each puzzle, the winning player is charged for any remaining vowels at a special solved puzzle vowel rate; in order to determine the special solved puzzle vowel rate, each of the three players spins the wheel, as do Pat and Vanna. (In special weeks in which we have pairs of contestants, only one player from each team will spin; having everyone spin would take too long.) The five spins are put up on the Big Board; all of the even numbers are then removed from the Big Board, and the remaining odd numbers are added together. If the total is a multiple of the number of odd numbers remaining on the Big Board, then the winning player is charged a special solved puzzle vowel rate equal to the total of the odd numbers per vowel. If the total is not a multiple, then everyone re-spins the wheel. This process is repeated a maximum of three times, after which the special solved puzzle vowel rate will be the total of all three totals of odd numbers in the three attempts.
7. Each round features a "Special Solved Puzzle Vowel Rate Super Dice Disc" on one of the spaces on the wheel; should a player land on that space, and purchase the "Super Vowel" on that turn, that player picks up the "Special Solved Puzzle Vowel Rate Super Dice Disc", and if the player can solve the puzzle without calling any more vowels (or landing on Bankrupt or B_nkr_pt, of course), that player's special solved puzzle vowel rate will be determined by a trip to the Special Solved Puzzle Vowel Rate Super Dice Board, where we have a pair of dice; whatever number the player rolls is multiplied by the number of vowels called in that round to determine the special solved puzzle vowel rate.
8. Any vowels left uncalled are sent forward into the next puzzle.