WWTBAM doing their own "Million Dollar Mission"...

[TLEberle]

[quote name=\'rollercoaster87\' post=\'224430\' date=\'Aug 29 2009, 09:51 PM\']My verdict? This isn't a tournament. It's a "Second Chance Special". They were the 10 best players in a 45 day period, none of which could go the whole way. A game show of Millionaire's caliber shouldn't be giving away the lot like this....it cheapens the moment.[/quote]If I have my choice between Millionaire Warp Zone (and ten points to you for that!) and Return of the Zero Dollar Winners, I pick the former.

I think that the excitement will be during the main game, where players have to decide if they want to move up a step (or more) at the risk of being wrong and falling back and possibly out of contention. I think you'll have more people playing the $100,000 question than before.

I'll pose this to anyone who says that a Fast Forward to Question 15 is so awful: how do you feel about specialty weeks? There are more big money winners during Movie or TV week than during regular play, and yet no one says anything about that; instead the reaction seems to be positive. Or what about special weeks where contestants win bonus prizes just for showing up/being a member of a particular demographic?

[mcsittel]

[quote name=\'chad1m\' post=\'224419\' date=\'Aug 29 2009, 09:07 PM\']Matt, if there is a $1,000,000 winner in those 45 shows, do you know what happens? I mean, isn't the $1,000,000 considered a "safe haven" just like the $1,000 or $25,000 values? It's highlighted in gold (and pre-2008, white) just like those other amounts. I would guess there are three potential situations if we get a $1M winner:

A) There's a clause in the rules saying $1,000,000 winners cannot participate.
B) If they don't consider $1,000,000 a safe haven, no contestant is going to give up their money just to try to win it back.
C) If a $1,000,000 winner plays and answers incorrectly he loses no money because they consider $1M a "safety level." If he answers correctly, he wins $2,000,000.

Some ideas are clearly more inane than others, but they're all possible.[/quote]

A, final answer.

There would be no 2nd million dollar chance-if you win $1 million you're ineligible for the tournament.

[mcsittel]

[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' post=\'224416\' date=\'Aug 29 2009, 08:42 PM\']"thanks for the extra night in NYC."

Unless the idea was to have meaningful questions all the way along, in which case it would be even less likely that players would reach the upper levels.[/quote]

You wouldn't even say that-they don't pay for ANYTHING on the daytime version.  They simply said "if you have to come back, stay at the Lucerne, they have a discounted rate for Millionaire contestants", which is apparently $175 given the 'bill' I saw when I checked out.  

We were lucky in that they paid for our 2 extra nights in the Lucerne and return travel but did not give us the extra $64 per diem for the 2 additional days we had to stay.

As for the questions, without divulging game play, the earlier questions sure seemed more difficult, as if they had been kicked up a notch for the anticipated change in the money ladder.

[Setsunael]

[quote name=\'chad1m\' post=\'224413\' date=\'Aug 29 2009, 08:55 PM\']And here's a mock-up of what the graphic for the new money tree would have looked like.[/quote]

That would more look like a good Millionaire Hot Seat money tree than something else .

[Don Howard]

[quote name=\'TLEberle\' post=\'224431\' date=\'Aug 30 2009, 01:03 AM\']I'll pose this to anyone who says that a Fast Forward to Question 15 is so awful: how do you feel about specialty weeks?.....Or what about special weeks where contestants win bonus prizes just for showing up/being a member of a particular demographic?[/quote]
Don't like them, either AND don't like them, either.
With the exceptions of Scrabble and The $100,000 Pyramid, I become a non-viewer during the tournament periods.

[CarShark]

[quote name=\'TLEberle\' post=\'224431\' date=\'Aug 30 2009, 01:03 AM\'][quote name=\'rollercoaster87\' post=\'224430\' date=\'Aug 29 2009, 09:51 PM\']My verdict? This isn't a tournament. It's a "Second Chance Special". They were the 10 best players in a 45 day period, none of which could go the whole way. A game show of Millionaire's caliber shouldn't be giving away the lot like this....it cheapens the moment.[/quote]If I have my choice between Millionaire Warp Zone (and ten points to you for that!) and Return of the Zero Dollar Winners, I pick the former. [/quote]I choose neither. Just making the questions easier for two weeks is the simplest way of going about it.

I think that the excitement will be during the main game, where players have to decide if they want to move up a step (or more) at the risk of being wrong and falling back and possibly out of contention. I think you'll have more people playing the $100,000 question than before.

...and losing. Joy. That's a great way to save on the budget...again.

I'll pose this to anyone who says that a Fast Forward to Question 15 is so awful: how do you feel about specialty weeks? There are more big money winners during Movie or TV week than during regular play, and yet no one says anything about that; instead the reaction seems to be positive. Or what about special weeks where contestants win bonus prizes just for showing up/being a member of a particular demographic?

1) Are you really equating someone still having to answer all 15 questions (even if it was their chosen subject) and risking their five- or six-figure payday again and again by answering Questions 12, 13 and 14 to someone who may not have done either? You don't risk anything to go for $50,000, and how many people hit that level in a 45-day span? Above that? One slow month, and all of a sudden you've got someone who eenie-meenie-minie-moed on Q11 having just as much a shot of winning the million as someone who scratched and clawed their way to $500K. I understand you hating "right place, right time", but not enough to justify something this crappy.

2) Is the question difficulty raised during those weeks, to make up for it? If so, then I don't mind. If a $100,000 question for me (who watches maybe a movies a year) is a $100,000 question for a film buff, then I'd have a problem with that.

3) How big are the bonus prizes during these special weeks?

[chad1m]

[quote name=\'CarShark\' post=\'224468\' date=\'Aug 30 2009, 04:21 PM\']3) How big are the bonus prizes during these special weeks?[/quote]Nothing like a new car. A year of Netflix (Movie Week) or a gift card to Walgreen's (Teacher Week).

[CarShark]

[quote name=\'chad1m\' post=\'224469\' date=\'Aug 30 2009, 04:29 PM\'][quote name=\'CarShark\' post=\'224468\' date=\'Aug 30 2009, 04:21 PM\']3) How big are the bonus prizes during these special weeks?[/quote]Nothing like a new car. A year of Netflix (Movie Week) or a gift card to Walgreen's (Teacher Week).
[/quote]
Meh. Not enough to ruffle my feathers.

[TLEberle]

[quote name=\'CarShark\' post=\'224468\' date=\'Aug 30 2009, 01:21 PM\']I choose neither. Just making the questions easier for two weeks is the simplest way of going about it.[/quote] And I said why they're not going to do that.

...and losing. Joy. That's a great way to save on the budget...again.

Not if they know the answer. That's the whole thing about why Millionaire is a great format. It's real money, and it's BIG money. For me, risking $25,000 to win another $50,000 is a BIG deal. It will be a big deal for most of the people who mount the Hot Seat. To ask people whether they want to play another question for 50,000 more points on the way so that they can try two more questions before getting to the money is just silly.

1) Are you really equating someone still having to answer all 15 questions (even if it was their chosen subject) and risking their five- or six-figure payday again and again by answering Questions 12, 13 and 14 to someone who may not have done either? You don't risk anything to go for $50,000, and how many people hit that level in a 45-day span? Above that? One slow month, and all of a sudden you've got someone who eenie-meenie-minie-moed on Q11 having just as much a shot of winning the million as someone who scratched and clawed their way to $500K. I understand you hating "right place, right time", but not enough to justify something this crappy.

I really don't understand your point here. I'm not joking; I really don't get it.

2) Is the question difficulty raised during those weeks, to make up for it? If so, then I don't mind. If a $100,000 question for me (who watches maybe a movies a year) is a $100,000 question for a film buff, then I'd have a problem with that.

Beats me. The $250,000 question I remember from Movie Week was "What was the movie where Michael Bolton got the idea to rob Initech in Office Space?" (no, not in those words, but that was the jist of it.) Once you get beyond the realm of about $50,000, question difficulty is so subjective for anyone that I think it reaches irrelevant.

3) How big are the bonus prizes during these special weeks?

Teachers got a $1,000 CVS gift card. Movie Week players got a free year of Netflix. Wedding Week couples won a prize such as having the dress bought for them, a honeymoon, a dinnerware set, and so on. And if there were couples that didn't get to play that week? They still won the prize chosen specially for them.

[Jeremy Nelson]

[quote name=\'Don Howard\' post=\'224457\' date=\'Aug 30 2009, 01:03 PM\']With the exceptions of Scrabble and The $100,000 Pyramid, I become a non-viewer during the tournament periods.[/quote]
You skip the Jeopardy! ToC? If so, you're the first I've seen.

[Don Howard]

[quote name=\'rollercoaster87\' post=\'224476\' date=\'Aug 30 2009, 05:33 PM\'][quote name=\'Don Howard\' post=\'224457\' date=\'Aug 30 2009, 01:03 PM\']With the exceptions of Scrabble and The $100,000 Pyramid, I become a non-viewer during the tournament periods.[/quote]
You skip the Jeopardy! ToC? If so, you're the first I've seen.
[/quote]
I'll watch the two-day finals, but that's it.

[CarShark]

[quote name=\'TLEberle\' post=\'224474\' date=\'Aug 30 2009, 04:56 PM\']And I said why they're not going to do that.[/quote]I replied why they should. If they are so intent on giving away the million, 10 or 11 people going a level or two higher can't hurt them too much. Question difficulty may be subjective, but it can be controlled. I don't think it's a stretch to believe that a question originally valued at $100,000 will be answered correctly less often than a $25K question. If you revalue it at $25K (and do the same down the line) for a week or two between sweeps, you can get the budget back on track.

Not if they know the answer. That's the whole thing about why Millionaire is a great format. It's real money, and it's BIG money. For me, risking $25,000 to win another $50,000 is a BIG deal. It will be a big deal for most of the people who mount the Hot Seat. To ask people whether they want to play another question for 50,000 more points on the way so that they can try two more questions before getting to the money is just silly.

True. But this tournament wrinkle adds an artificial second carrot, almost a distraction. It's the main reason I didn't like $100,000 Pyramid way of qualifying for the tournament. It wasn't enough for you to go up to the top. You had to speed things up. With a tie between $25K and $50K winners being likely, time now becomes a more important factor, as well.

I really don't understand your point here. I'm not joking; I really don't get it.

Let me try again, then.

If you were on during Movie Week, even though you have your favorite category, you still have to get all 15 questions right to win the million. You still have to risk $475K on the final question to win it. However, this could be a tournament:

Player 1: Won $50K first time out
Player 2: $50K
Player 3: $50K
Player 4: $50K
Player 5: $100K
Player 6: $100K
Player 7: $100K
Player 8: $100K
Player 9: $250K
Player 10: $500K

Everyone's playing for the same million dollars, but Players 1, 2, 3 and 4 would risk only $25,000 to answer, compared to Player 10, who'd have to risk $475K. Also, Player 10 will have to answer a 15th question correctly to win the million, whereas Player 1 will have only answered 12. How is that possibly fair? Player 10 has risked their money 3 more times than Player 1. How can you have less of a problem with that than someone answering 15 arguably slightly easier questions? Essentially, I was trying to add to Matt Ottinger's point. If I've made a mistake somewhere, please correct me.

Teachers got a $1,000 CVS gift card. Movie Week players got a free year of Netflix. Wedding Week couples won a prize such as having the dress bought for them, a honeymoon, a dinnerware set, and so on. And if there were couples that didn't get to play that week? They still won the prize chosen specially for them.

Again, that's not enough for me to raise a stink.

[TLEberle]

[quote name=\'CarShark\' post=\'224482\' date=\'Aug 30 2009, 04:31 PM\']replied why they should. If they are so intent on giving away the million, 10 or 11 people going a level or two higher can't hurt them too much.[/quote]But it will, because they cannot afford that. They're giving away $25,000 a head. For ten people to move up a level, you need ten more people to go for it and be wrong. There just isn't that kind of time.

Question difficulty may be subjective, but it can be controlled. I don't think it's a stretch to believe that a question originally valued at $100,000 will be answered correctly less often than a $25K question. If you revalue it at $25K (and do the same down the line) for a week or two between sweeps, you can get the budget back on track.

And now screwed the players who were unfortunate enough to draw that tape day. Not only didn't they get the easy stack, but they have to fight that much harder to win the big money.

These are not just abstract numbers and shadows of people. You have to work within the boundaries of a budget, and know that there are real people looking to win real money here.

True. But this tournament wrinkle adds an artificial second carrot, almost a distraction. It's the main reason I didn't like $100,000 Pyramid way of qualifying for the tournament. It wasn't enough for you to go up to the top. You had to speed things up. With a tie between $25K and $50K winners being likely, time now becomes a more important factor, as well.

Really? What would you have done differently? I thought that it was a great way to do it.

Let me try again, then.
...
How is that possibly fair?

How is it fair that some players get to play Plinko, and some get to play Double Prices? Or that some people get on a show and the jackpot prize is a foreign holiday while the next group plays for a trip to Florida. Game shows are not an egalitarian exercise, and sometimes you do things that aren't fair just because they look good on TV.

Again, that's not enough for me to raise a stink.

That's fine. I still don't like that you can show up, not play, and still win a spiffy prize just for being the right kind of contestant. Whether it's being in the Oprah audience when she decides to give away space stations, or Deal or No Deal awards the entire audience the value of the deal done, I don't like it. I get on with my day just the same, but I don't like it.

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'TLEberle\' post=\'224491\' date=\'Aug 30 2009, 05:31 PM\']Whether it's being in the Oprah audience when she decides to give away space stations, or Deal or No Deal awards the entire audience the value of the deal done, I don't like it. I get on with my day just the same, but I don't like it.[/quote]
"YOU get $63,000 and a pony! YOU get $63,000 and a pony! YOU get $63,000 and a pony!..."

[vtown7]

[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'224511\' date=\'Aug 30 2009, 09:49 PM\']"YOU get $63,000 and a pony! YOU get $63,000 and a pony! YOU get $63,000 and a pony!..."[/quote]

I lol'd.

/how much taxes does one pay on a pony?