WWTBAM: Moveable Milestones

[TLEberle]

I've thought about this for a while, and think it's worth tossing to the group:

Let's imagine that for Millionaire, that the milestone points aren't every fifth question, but instead each player can set two points that they'll get to keep the money should they reach that level.  You have to place them before you start the game, and can't change them after they're set.  I think I'd set $4,000 and $64,000 as my safe points.  

What about you?  Would anyone out there set their points as $250,000 and $500,000?

Travis

[JayC]

I think they're just fine the way they are, but...

$2,000 and $64,000 perhaps

[Steve McClellan]

That's a terrific question. Going into my appearance, I think I would've set mine at $2000 (since I ended up spending about $1200 to be on the show) and $16,000 (since that's where a *lot* of people have been winding up this season, it's a respectable amount of money, and it'd give me a free guess at $32K, where I feel the questions have been disproportionately hard this year).

[Steve McClellan]

[quote name=\'gameshowsteve\' date=\'Dec 27 2003, 10:33 PM\']That's a terrific question. Going into my appearance, I think I would've set mine at $2000 (since I ended up spending about $1200 to be on the show) and $16,000 (since that's where a *lot* of people have been winding up this season, it's a respectable amount of money, and it'd give me a free guess at $32K, where I feel the questions have been disproportionately hard this year).[/quote]
Then again, if the first were set at something easily attainable like $4000, you really wouldn't need one again so soon, so maybe $64,000, because a free guess at $125K would be *really* nice.

That must be a good question---you've gone and got me talking to myself here.

[Robert Hutchinson]

[quote name=\'gameshowsteve\' date=\'Dec 28 2003, 01:33 AM\']$16,000 (since that's where a *lot* of people have been winding up this season, it's a respectable amount of money, and it'd give me a free guess at $32K, where I feel the questions have been disproportionately hard this year).[/quote]
Of course, it stands to reason that the $32K questions have been disproportionately harder because that's a milestone level, and the producers are watching the budget.

[Steve McClellan]

[quote name=\'Robert Hutchinson\' date=\'Dec 28 2003, 01:44 AM\'] Of course, it stands to reason that the $32K questions have been disproportionately harder because that's a milestone level, and the producers are watching the budget. [/quote]
 I thought of that later, as well. Just goes to show you that, not unlike J! wagering, there's a lot more to this question than is apparent at first.

[Peter Sarrett]

I'd put them at $32K and $250K, and I'm fairly confident that answer is not influenced by what actually happened when I was on the show.

The $64K questions are very often a lot more difficult than the ones that came before, and so a plateau at $32K is essential to give yourself license to guess at $64K.

$250K seems like the most desirable place for the 2nd plateau.  Assuming you get there, it gives you a free guess at $500K which, if you get it right, allows you to at least see the million dollar question.

  - Peter

[Speedy G]

Wow!  There's a lot more work involved in this question than I thought!

The primary factor for me would have to be what the difficulty of the questions are.  On Regis Millionaire, I'd easily put one at 8K or 16K, and the second at 125K or 250K.  If this were closer to the syndie in terms of difficulty, I'd probably go for 2K and 16K.

On the other hand, the question difficulty would probably be changed to a more gradual climb if this were put in place, as opposed to the staircase jumps they do now.  And if I had no idea what the difficulty would be coming in, I'd probably stick to the show's safe havens, give or take a question.

But I can always walk away!  How far up the ladder would I feel safe taking a gamble with a seemingly obvious answer?  How far up the ladder do I expect to go?  Do I care about that, or do I just place them based on the situation I'd like/expect to be in at that point?  Where would I run out of lifelines?  GAH!

Sorry if that seems a little stream-of-consciousness, but every time I think I have an idea where I'd put them, I think of something else!

[Jay Temple]

[quote name=\'gameshowsteve\' date=\'Dec 28 2003, 12:33 AM\'] That's a terrific question. Going into my appearance, I think I would've set mine at $2000 (since I ended up spending about $1200 to be on the show) and $16,000 (since that's where a *lot* of people have been winding up this season, it's a respectable amount of money, and it'd give me a free guess at $32K, where I feel the questions have been disproportionately hard this year). [/quote]
 My thought process is based on the same thing--Figure out how much it's costing me to get there and set the first one a little above that.  As to the second one ...

If they did this, eventually the producers would notice where people were opting to place their second milestone and make that a tough question.  (They might only look at the people who actually get the question right for the second milestone.)  So, for the first season, there's probably no point in observing where the "tough" questions fall.

If I were planning to try out the second season that they did this, I'd track it through the first season.  If they were placing it at $64,000 or lower, I'd stick with the current $32,000.  If they were placing it at $125,000 or higher, I'd place it one level below that.

[thgames65]

The ability to set your own "safety net" was one of the features I liked about playing "It's Your Chance of a Lifetime".  (If you don't remember this short-lived game on FOX, then you are not alone.  It may help you to go to http://www.fortunecity.com/business/shares/1385/id16.htm for a review of the rules.)

After I had to use my first "Second Chance", I stopped wagering everything and kept a little "Consolation Money" in case I crapped out, but as long as I still had the opportunity to change the question to one in my favorite category, I felt comfortable going for big bucks.  Other players were more conservative after reaching just 5-10K, even though there were no travel expenses involved in coming to the show since we all lived in the LA area at the time.

Tim H.

[gameshowguy2000]

[quote name=\'thgames65\' date=\'Dec 29 2003, 03:38 PM\'] The ability to set your own "safety net" was one of the features I liked about playing "It's Your Chance of a Lifetime".  (If you don't remember this short-lived game on FOX, then you are not alone.  It may help you to go to http://www.fortunecity.com/business/shares/1385/id16.htm for a review of the rules.)

After I had to use my first "Second Chance", I stopped wagering everything and kept a little "Consolation Money" in case I crapped out, but as long as I still had the opportunity to change the question to one in my favorite category, I felt comfortable going for big bucks.  Other players were more conservative after reaching just 5-10K, even though there were no travel expenses involved in coming to the show since we all lived in the LA area at the time.

Tim H. [/quote]
 Hey, Tim! I didn't see your episode, but I must say, you won a ton of cash!

Here are my milestones: $8,000 and $250,000.