Author Topic: Minor Wheel of Fortune Gameplay Change for Season 27 (Read 45731 times)

knagl · « **on:** July 20, 2009, 07:19:37 PM »

I had the pleasure of attending the taping of the first three episodes of Wheel of Fortune that will be airing this fall (scheduled to start on September 14th). The taping was done at the Sands Expo Center attached to The Venetian casino/hotel in Las Vegas.

The "big" change for this season is the elimination of the "Free Spin" disc -- it's gone for good. There is now a trippy flashing-colored wedge on the wheel in its place called "Free Play". If you land on this space, you have a free guess at a letter. Consonants are worth $500 a piece, vowels are worth nothing, but do not cost anything if you call out a vowel on that spin (you only get one free vowel call per time you land on the wedge -- if you wanted to call another vowel immediately you'd have to buy it like normal). Additionally, if you call a letter that is not in the puzzle, there is no penalty and your turn continues.

It was a great time being in the audience, and I'm glad I had the opportunity. Once I get them off my cell phone, I'll post links to some pictures I managed to take inside the "studio."

chad1m · « **Reply #1 on:** July 20, 2009, 07:32:51 PM »

Okay, so let me clarify so I can make sure I/we understand. Please correct me if wrong:

- Free Play is its own wedge that stays on the wheel.
- When you land on it, you may call any letter.
- Correct consonants are $500/letter, correct vowels cost no money.
- An incorrect guess does not penalize you and you may spin/buy/solve again.
- If a contestant lands on the wedge again, he may call another letter, but he must buy a vowel.

knagl · « **Reply #2 on:** July 20, 2009, 07:48:50 PM »

[quote name=\'chad1m\' post=\'220606\' date=\'Jul 20 2009, 06:32 PM\']Okay, so let me clarify so I can make sure I/we understand. Please correct me if wrong:

- Free Play is its own wedge that stays on the wheel.
- When you land on it, you may call any letter.
- Correct consonants are $500/letter, correct vowels cost no money.
- An incorrect guess does not penalize you and you may spin/buy/solve again.
- If a contestant lands on the wedge again, he may call another letter, but he must buy a vowel.[/quote]

All but the last point -- sorry if I was unclear. Each time you land on the wedge you guess one letter at no risk to losing your turn and no cost to call a vowel. There is no obligation to buy a vowel at any time. IF, however, you landed on the wedge and called an "A", and then without spinning wanted to buy an "E", you would pay for the "E" (like normal) and lose your turn if there was no "E".

chad1m · « **Reply #3 on:** July 20, 2009, 07:51:22 PM »

[quote name=\'knagl\' post=\'220609\' date=\'Jul 20 2009, 07:48 PM\']There is no obligation to buy a vowel at any time.[/quote]Oh, what I meant by that is if he chooses to call a second vowel on his second instance of landing on that, he cannot get it for free, it must be purchased.

TheLastResort · « **Reply #4 on:** July 20, 2009, 07:59:37 PM »

Sounds ridiculously complicated. What the hell was wrong with a free spin??

tpirfan28 · « **Reply #5 on:** July 20, 2009, 08:00:24 PM »

What happened to the old saying "If it's not broke, don't fix it?"

knagl · « **Reply #6 on:** July 20, 2009, 08:05:31 PM »

[quote name=\'chad1m\' post=\'220610\' date=\'Jul 20 2009, 06:51 PM\']Oh, what I meant by that is if he chooses to call a second vowel on his second instance of landing on that, he cannot get it for free, it must be purchased.[/quote]
You could call one vowel for free every time you land on that wedge. You get one no-cost letter guess each time you land on the wedge.

knagl · « **Reply #7 on:** July 20, 2009, 08:07:43 PM »

[quote name=\'TheLastResort\' post=\'220611\' date=\'Jul 20 2009, 06:59 PM\']Sounds ridiculously complicated. What the hell was wrong with a free spin??[/quote]

It sounds more complicated than it really is. I don't know what was wrong with having the free spin disc, but from Pat's (on-air) comments about it, it seems like the show staff never cared for it. No idea why.

Don Howard · « **Reply #8 on:** July 20, 2009, 08:34:43 PM »

[quote name=\'knagl\' post=\'220615\' date=\'Jul 20 2009, 08:07 PM\']I don't know what was wrong with having the free spin disc, but from Pat's (on-air) comments about it, it seems like the show staff never cared for it.[/quote]
Then the staff is welcome to go screw themselves. Perhaps they'd like to find work elsewhere if the placement of a Free Spin disc troubles them so.

aaron sica · « **Reply #9 on:** July 20, 2009, 09:32:32 PM »

I miss the days of the contestants collecting Free Spins like they were Pokemon.

WilliamPorygon · « **Reply #10 on:** July 20, 2009, 09:49:49 PM »

At least a contestant hitting this new "Free Play" space repeatedly won't break the game as much as the old Free Spin wedge did, but still, there was nothing wrong with the way they had it before. And the new space sounds needlessly confusing, especially when you start throwing free vowels into the equation.

Though this does mean (I believe, correct me if I'm wrong) that for the first time in the show's history, a vowel could potentially be the first letter revealed in a regular round's puzzle.

BrandonFG · « **Reply #11 on:** July 20, 2009, 09:56:30 PM »

I'm honestly curious as to what the staff members found so bad about a rule that's been in effect for nearly 20 years (gaining the Free Spin upon calling a correct letter). Hell, I'm wondering how many have even WORKED on the show for 20 years?!

I'm all for change for refreshing the show, but this one makes no sense. The Free Spin as we knew was on a low end space ($300 IIRC). Why not just move it to the $500 space, and keep the Free Spin, but still give credit for any letters in the puzzle?

Between this and watching Larry King Live, I've got one hell of a migraine.

Jeremy Nelson · « **Reply #12 on:** July 20, 2009, 10:25:10 PM »

[quote name=\'WilliamPorygon\' post=\'220637\' date=\'Jul 20 2009, 08:49 PM\']At least a contestant hitting this new "Free Play" space repeatedly won't break the game as much as the old Free Spin wedge did.[/quote]
How did it break the game in the first place? Land on it, call the letter, pick it up, and move on.

[quote name=\'WilliamPorygon\' post=\'220637\' date=\'Jul 20 2009, 08:49 PM\']Though this does mean (I believe, correct me if I'm wrong) that for the first time in the show's history, a vowel could potentially be the first letter revealed in a regular round's puzzle.[/quote]
Yeah, unfortunately. It's official- the Wheel of Fortune vowel has gone from being a high class hooker to a Maury guest who gives it up for a cheeseburger.

/Gives a whole new meaning to "Land on me, and you can have me for free"

chad1m · « **Reply #13 on:** July 20, 2009, 10:37:47 PM »

[quote name=\'rollercoaster87\' post=\'220642\' date=\'Jul 20 2009, 10:25 PM\']How did it break the game in the first place? Land on it, call the letter, pick it up, and move on.[/quote]As he said, the old Free Spin wedge, as in the ability to rack up Free Spin after Free Spin after Free Spin after Free Spin...

Jeremy Nelson · « **Reply #14 on:** July 20, 2009, 10:53:57 PM »

[quote name=\'chad1m\' post=\'220644\' date=\'Jul 20 2009, 09:37 PM\'][quote name=\'rollercoaster87\' post=\'220642\' date=\'Jul 20 2009, 10:25 PM\']How did it break the game in the first place? Land on it, call the letter, pick it up, and move on.[/quote]As he said, the old Free Spin wedge, as in the ability to rack up Free Spin after Free Spin after Free Spin after Free Spin...
[/quote]
Oops...my bad.