WOF Season 32 changes...

[clemon79]

Right, I don't remotely disagree with you, but it at least gives some reason, stupid as it may be, rather than no reason at all.

That's fair, I did ask why.

[PYLdude]

I think if there really was an issue with so many people winning the $30,000, maybe they should break up some of the monotony, no? You shouldn't bitch when you load the wheel with more cards displaying that amount than any other...

[Mr. Armadillo]

Raising the minimum dollar value on the wheel to $500, while continuing to refuse to add any 'regular' four-digit spaces to the wheel, bothers me.  It's like they're tacitly admitting that the 'regular' spaces on the wheel don't matter and it's all about the 'goodies'.

$900 used to mean something when there was still a chance of hitting $100 or $150 on the wheel, but when it's less than double the minimum?  Yawn.

I feel like this proves that they are never going to change the price of vowels - this would be the ideal opportunity to raise the price to $500, and they still didn't do it.  Fifty years from now, when the smallest number on the wheel is $3,862, vowels will still cost $250 each. 

[aaron sica]

Couldn't agree more with the vowels statement, Mr. A (mind if I call you Mr. A?). For the sake of argument, starting with the 1975 daytime wheel (in the first configuration that the "Buy A Vowel" space was removed),  8 out of 21 spaces were at or above the $250 level in the first round. so even with guessing multiple letters it was harder to raise enough money to buy vowels. Now, with the minimum value being $500, even just guessing a letter that pops up only once means 2 vowels can be bought.

Every year when the topic of changes in the new WoF season comes up, I always wait to see if the price of vowels are going up, and they don't. I really hope one of these years they do. To me, this dilutes the game a bit.

[Matt Ottinger]

I think if there really was an issue with so many people winning the $30,000, maybe they should break up some of the monotony, no? You shouldn't bitch when you load the wheel with more cards displaying that amount than any other...

Let's be clear, Brian Henke only imagined that Harry Friedman had a problem with a lot of $30K wins.  Friedman runs two wildly successful gold mines.  You can bet he's intelligent enough to grasp basic probabilities. 

[clemon79]

To me, this dilutes the game a bit.

*This* is what's diluting the game for you? The show's bordered on homeopathic for a solid decade at the minimum.

[aaron sica]

To me, this dilutes the game a bit.

*This* is what's diluting the game for you? The show's bordered on homeopathic for a solid decade at the minimum.

Well, that's just one. Toss-ups too, I've never been a fan of. And I realize *why* Vanna is still on the show but the moment I saw that puzzle board fill in letters on its own (not talking the Toss-up but for a solve, by example), I laughed.

[TLEberle]

Thought that hasn't come up; if the value of the Prize Puzzle prize stays the same but everything less than $500 on the wheel is increased, that does balance the game a little. I doubt that the changes are designed to bring in viewers, and nobody sane is going to look at that list and say "I stuck by the show for this long but the Same Letter bonus tears it! I'm watching something else from now on."

[BrandonFG]

Well, that's just one. Toss-ups too, I've never been a fan of. And I realize *why* Vanna is still on the show but the moment I saw that puzzle board fill in letters on its own (not talking the Toss-up but for a solve, by example), I laughed.

I don't necessarily mind the Toss-Ups, but I think there's one or two too many of them. You have the pregame Toss-Up, contestant interviews, then another Toss-Up. Eliminate that second one, and maybe keep the one right before the Final Spin, as sort of a catch-up maneuver.

As for the board, I thought it made Vanna pretty useless myself, but because she's become synonymous with that show, she's pretty much there to stay. What's interesting is that the computerized board's tenure is slowly creeping up on that of the manual board (17-1/2 years vs. 22). And Vanna's now been "touching" the letters longer than she turned them (17.5 vs. 14 and change)!

/Two gray hairs popped into my beard as I made this post
//Get off my lawn

[clemon79]

You have the pregame Toss-Up, contestant interviews, then another Toss-Up. Eliminate that second one, and maybe keep the one right before the Final Spin, as sort of a catch-up maneuver.

This. The "who gets to be interviewed first" toss-up is one of the more idiotic things on the show. "Good luck to all three of you, Bob, since you won the toss-up you'll start us off." Simple.

[TLEberle]

I happen to like the toss-ups because they're more of a pure game, and the change I'd make is that you do one before each round but the reward is starting the forthcoming round; no money for it.

[Kevin Prather]

As for the board, I thought it made Vanna pretty useless myself, but because she's become synonymous with that show, she's pretty much there to stay.

If you think of it in terms of practicality, Vanna was useless with the old board too. You could always have a stagehand behind the puzzleboard turning the letters. (Remember even the Shopper's Bazaar puzzleboard was run standalone.) Vanna's only purpose, just like Susan's before her, is as a presenter and a model.

[knagl]

I think if there really was an issue with so many people winning the $30,000, maybe they should break up some of the monotony, no?

Well, that's a good point.  They could replace just under half of the $30,000 cards with $35,000 and accomplish the same result, without having an odd "$32,000!" win.

[BrandonFG]

If you think of it in terms of practicality, Vanna was useless with the old board too. You could always have a stagehand behind the puzzleboard turning the letters. (Remember even the Shopper's Bazaar puzzleboard was run standalone.) Vanna's only purpose, just like Susan's before her, is as a presenter and a model.

I forgot about Shopper's Bazaar. But yeah, she's absolutely there as the model, and I'm willing to bet that if the show had used pull cards, trilons operated backstage or even a Ferranti-Packard board, Susan and/or Vanna would've simply been on set modeling the prizes elsewhere on stage, just like in the bizarre Bazaar pilot.

[J.R.]

I happen to like the toss-ups because they're more of a pure game, and the change I'd make is that you do one before each round but the reward is starting the forthcoming round; no money for it.

Only thing I don't like about this is the possibility, granted wouldn't happen often, of someone never getting a chance to spin the wheel. (I like the Toss-Ups too, mostly because I like how it spreads the money around. Always nice whenever a struggling player reels in the $3000 one)

As for the vowel price, it's fine as it is. The show has long cemented its "comfort food" status as an breezy, casual game and any sort of "strategy" or tough decision making probably wouldn't be received very well.

ETA: I think the idea of "I'd like to buy a vowel" being ingrained into pop culture furthers this. Good to give them as many opportunities as they can.