WooWho
Made It and Played It Producer 
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"They better NOT be booing me!"
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Post by WooWho on Jul 28, 2015 16:55:05 GMT -5
Previously in the Evaluation series: Express, Free Play, and 1/2 Car. Please see those threads for discussion of those game elements, and feel free to voice your thoughts on those elements as well. In the next installment of the Evaluation series, we debate the merits of an element that literally says, "Throw it in!" One that, if my ears are to be believed, several of us have come to despise ever since its inception, which is actually earlier than you might think. Cue the chimes, it's the dreaded...  Image courtesy MarioGS.HOW IT WORKS:
- About as simple as it gets. An extra chime sounds after the category chimes, indicating that the puzzle is a Prize Puzzle. The contestant who solves that puzzle wins an additional prize on top of whatever they've won in the round, no strings attached. It is almost always a trip, and counts towards the player's score.
WHAT WE KNOW:
- These days the Prize Puzzle is always Round 3, in the same round as Express, but has jumped around in the past.
- If a player solves a Prize Puzzle with no cash in his bank, the player only wins the prize for that round; he does not win the $1,000 house minimum.
- Similarly, if a player solves a Prize Puzzle with less than $1,000 in his bank, he wins that cash plus the prize; he is not bumped up to $1,000 before being awarded the prize.
- The Prize Puzzle actually debuted way back in September 1997 and appeared only on Fridays. The puzzle was the prize itself; it is not known when it was disposed of.
- When it returned in Season 21, it appeared randomly throughout the week, and the prize was now RELATED to the puzzle instead of being the puzzle outright. In recent years, this has caused some...how shall we say...CREATIVELY GROUNDBREAKING PUZZLE WRITING, as I'm sure one of our admins would be quick to point out?
- There have only been THREE instances in the Prize Puzzle's history where the prize on offer was not a trip.
- From a contestant's perspective: The producers actively encourage players to keep spinning to rack up more money, even if they know the puzzle...unless the puzzle is a Prize Puzzle, in which case they encourage solving as soon as possible.
WHAT WE WANT TO KNOW:
- We get it, the Prize Puzzles are terribly written. Write a better one, and explain what defines "better."
- To that end: would it be better if the prize wasn't specifically tied to the puzzle, even if tangentially?
- We get it, the Prize Puzzle often determines who wins the game. They're clearly not going to change it to a format like the bonus categories of old, but if it's as gamebreaking as you say it is, how do you fix it without retiring it outright? (Ignore Express for the purposes of this question--we've covered that already.)
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Post by tlc38tlc38 on Jul 28, 2015 17:40:25 GMT -5
I don't like using the word hate but in this case I will.
I hate the prize puzzle.
The main reason for my dislike is almost always the puzzle contains the words BEACH, OCEAN, COCONUT, PINEAPPLE, SAND, etc. There's only so many places they can go with these puzzles when they're always related to the trip.
Also, if they insist on keeping the PP, they should go back to making it random between rounds 1-3 and not always in round 3.
Even better, make the PP have nothing to do with the trip. Just make the puzzles like normal puzzles.
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Post by toasty on Jul 28, 2015 21:02:41 GMT -5
I don't like using the word hate but in this case I will. I hate the prize puzzle. The main reason for my dislike is almost always the puzzle contains the words BEACH, OCEAN, COCONUT, PINEAPPLE, SAND, etc. There's only so many places they can go with these puzzles when they're always related to the trip. Also, if they insist on keeping the PP, they should go back to making it random between rounds 1-3 and not always in round 3. Even better, make the PP have nothing to do with the trip. Just make the puzzles like normal puzzles. Even, even better, don't tell anyone it's a prize puzzle until after the puzzle is over. It's a super secret until the puzzle is solved. (I don't even know if I'm being serious right now or not  ) |
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lousan92
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Post by lousan92 on Jul 29, 2015 15:24:37 GMT -5
I don't like the Prize Puzzle. At least, when it is played: playing it in R3 really breaks the game, because in most of the games R4 begins as a Speed-Up round, and if Pat doesn't hit $5,000 (and it's hard taking account of the position of the Wheel when R4 starts) or someone of the other players has won the $10,000 of the Mystery Round, the Prize Wedge or the Car, it's almost impossible to win that player who has won the Prize Puzzle (and we must mention that R4+ puzzles are shorter than R1-3 ones). But if we play it in R3, with also the Express Wedge in the Wheel, I would play the Prize Puzzle as Ryan ( gamedude2330) does in the Game On section: with an special wedge which can give the players the option to win the prize giving them some kind of tag (all players could have a tag, and they could be lost in Bankrupt). I don't like how some players don't spin in that round and win a $7,000+ prize only for solving the puzzle. Having this wedge, it would make the prize harder to win, and it would give more emotion to this round. About the puzzles themselves, I really don't care about that (I suppose that it's because most of La Ruleta's puzzles are humoristic, about daily situations or simply stupid): they are simply puzzles which have to be solved, and I see that sometimes they are harder than the others, contestants have to call more consonants because they don't get some parts of the puzzle. |
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WooWho
Made It and Played It Producer
Panel Quizmaster
"They better NOT be booing me!"
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Post by WooWho on Aug 2, 2015 11:34:36 GMT -5
I don't think I'd mind the Prize Puzzle if the prizes were more varied. After all, when the show started, they boasted a wide array of prizes on offer...surely they could go back to their roots a bit? Yeah, trips are nice, they're rather healthily priced, but I think that's the problem...they're a little TOO healthily priced. And this is largely the reason why I don't like the Prize Puzzle--it encourages cautious play for far too large a payoff. Whereas everything else in the game has some element of risk involved, this one...you either lie in wait for your opponents to screw up when there's one or two letters yet unrevealed, or you solve at the right time.
When it was introduced, Pat explicitly said the prize would be associated with the puzzle. What a missed opportunity, then...you could do stuff like, REFURBISHING THE KITCHEN as a WAYD? and have the prize be new kitchen appliances. Or, like during a Teen Week, SAVING MONEY FOR COLLEGE and have the prize be a $5,000 savings bond or something. There was a lot of potential, I just think they got lazy over time.
I'm looking at some of the ideas about slapping a Prize Puzzle wedge on the wheel...wouldn't that effectively be the same thing as the old Surprise wedge, just for one round? If you're gonna go that route, why not bring that back? The plug structure would be the same, and they could still get in a sponsorship opportunity. Far more interesting than the Gift Tag, am I right?
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gamedude2330
March 17th, 2014, Round 3
Fond of Chuck
Posts: 2,200
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Post by gamedude2330 on Aug 2, 2015 13:57:25 GMT -5
I'm looking at some of the ideas about slapping a Prize Puzzle wedge on the wheel...wouldn't that effectively be the same thing as the old Surprise wedge, just for one round? Almost. With the Surprise wedge, if one player picks it up, then it's pretty much out of play for the other two players. On the other hand, with the Prize Puzzle wedge, at least with the way that Javier would do it (and also how I structure it in my HYO's), if you land on it and call a correct letter, instead of picking up the wedge, you would receive a token (sort of as a throwback to the old Free Spin wedge). This way, ALL of the players have a chance at winning the prize. Either way, like Javier said, it would certainly make the prize harder to win. Plus, it would feel much more rewarding to win the prize. |
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WooWho
Made It and Played It Producer
Panel Quizmaster
"They better NOT be booing me!"
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Post by WooWho on Aug 3, 2015 16:07:50 GMT -5
I like that idea, but I'm getting thoughts in my head of, "there's already so much cardboard on the wheel and you want to add ANOTHER one?"
Maybe if you make the face value $1,000, like Express. There's too many $500 spaces already.
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WayoshiM
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Post by WayoshiM on Aug 3, 2015 18:34:01 GMT -5
What is there to evaluate with this? lol
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Post by willdj on Aug 4, 2015 7:28:12 GMT -5
I guess they could do what Aussie Wheel did and make the Prize Puzzle a toss-up round, that way they could give away prizes maybe around the 2-3000 range and maybe have a trip on the Wheel or more expensive holidays in the bonus round (away from the Carribean etc...) but obviously they get these trips and its an easy way for them to get sponsors on the show ($$$) so that will be why its there and predictably "CHilling with my homies on the beach scoping out babes" type puzzles. Which i suppose is better than "Sitting next to someone with body odor on the plane"
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WooWho
Made It and Played It Producer
Panel Quizmaster
"They better NOT be booing me!"
Posts: 2,533
Airdate: 04/28/2014
Winnings: $41,400
SPIN ID: JW1336114
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Post by WooWho on Aug 11, 2015 17:25:23 GMT -5
This begs the question in my mind...does anyone actually LIKE this thing? |
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Post by couponboy on Aug 14, 2015 8:40:55 GMT -5
Like I mentioned before, the prize puzzle can easily be fixed by doing what the UK version did in Round 3: have a Puzzler related to the main puzzle that the contestant must solve to win the prize. And like I said, if the plug is a need, it is NOT a crime to plug a prize that hasn't been won, as several other game shows do it regularly.
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Post by tlc38tlc38 on Oct 12, 2016 16:50:30 GMT -5
Like I mentioned before, the prize puzzle can easily be fixed by doing what the UK version did in Round 3: have a Puzzler related to the main puzzle that the contestant must solve to win the prize. And like I said, if the plug is a need, it is NOT a crime to plug a prize that hasn't been won, as several other game shows do it regularly. I kinda like the idea of having a puzzler. Here's how I'd do it.. Ok, first you solve the puzzle for the normal cash in the round. Then, in order to win the trip/prize, you must solve another shorter puzzle related to the prize. This way, not everyone would win the prize and it'd make for more fair gameplay. LOL...I'm basically thinking of MORE ways for Sony to save money. |
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WooWho
Made It and Played It Producer
Panel Quizmaster
"They better NOT be booing me!"
Posts: 2,533
Airdate: 04/28/2014
Winnings: $41,400
SPIN ID: JW1336114
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Post by WooWho on Oct 12, 2016 22:16:41 GMT -5
^ MarioGS or WarioSajak, didn't they do that once upon a time, for something like $3,000? |
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Post by Bryce L. on Oct 12, 2016 22:25:57 GMT -5
^ MarioGS or WarioSajak , didn't they do that once upon a time, for something like $3,000? They did, it was called the Puzzler. Worth $3,000, used in Seasons 16-17, retired at the same time the Toss-Ups were introduced. Good memory! |
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Post by pannoni1 on Mar 15, 2018 13:27:07 GMT -5
When you play Wheel of Fortune, the main objective is to be the only player to have the opportunity to play the Bonus Round, where the big money and cars are offered. That said, the link below shows that the vast majority of forum members want reformation to the current situation of the PP, with a few even retiring it altogether. buyavowel.boards.net/thread/9808/prize-puzzle-pollThe problem is that for many players, its about score first and prize second. First off, in the early years, some prizes included furniture, jewelry, or electronics, and given how varied the merchandise was during the shopping era, I wouldn't care if I won a ceramic dalmatian sculpted by Lladro. Although many of these trips are nice destinations, they are subject to peak season rates for all legs of the journey, and may include "add-ons" like spa treatments or resort meals that many wish to not be included since many of those destinations have viable alternatives. The result is inflated tabs on many of these trips, often enough where the amount taken after taxes is around the amount that you could spend when traveling at an off-peak time or at more frugal accommodations. This also inhibits the puzzle writing to a degree, with a few even mentioning our host PAT in a few puzzles. So many players just spin once, maybe twice, buy a few vowels, and then solve the puzzle, usually winning a small amount of cash despite playing a "perfect round". Also, the crossword clue puzzles are always used in Rounds 1 and 2, and since those puzzles usually have more duds, allowing them in Round 3 (or in Round 1, see below) could have more variety with regards to the destination. For example, "JAMAICA" could have REGGAE, WARM, BEACH, and KINGSTON in the same puzzle, and in away could echo those old Password Plus/Super Password puzzles in terms of building up towards the eventual solution. Leave the other two rounds for the bigger, easier puzzles. That said, still have some tangential relationship at least with regards to the prize, otherwise the Prize Puzzle isn't really necessary. In terms of gamebreaking, it's all about having a certain limit to the prize. Those loaded, five-star all-inclusive resorts have got to go, and those should be reserved for the prizes on the Wheel. And since that first prize does appear in R1 along with the Gift Tag, having the Prize Puzzle also in this round truly serves up a theme, with the Gift Tag a nice inexpensive gift, the PP bonus a nice moderate boost to your score ($4,000-$7,000), and the Wheel Prize $7,000+. That way, based on just the PP alone, there is still plenty of game play for opponents to build upon so that they can truly play to win, even if some are satisfied just for solving and winning just a modest amount, though of course I'd always play to win. But I'm not alone in moving it to the opening round, as R3's Express can allow players to truly catch up or pull ahead, along with the 1/2 Car tags in R2 & R3. |
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Post by gameshowfandanny on Mar 8, 2020 11:34:56 GMT -5
"We get it, the Prize Puzzles are terribly written. Write a better one, and explain what defines "better." (")
I don't mind the Prize Puzzles, but they could do Song Title - SURFIN' USA for a trip to the Bahamas.
"To that end: would it be better if the prize wasn't specifically tied to the puzzle, even if tangentially?"
I like the prize being tied to the puzzle because it makes fans able to predict the prize after they figure out the puzzle.
"We get it, the Prize Puzzle often determines who wins the game. They're clearly not going to change it to a format like the bonus categories of old, but if it's as gamebreaking as you say it is, how do you fix it without retiring it outright? (Ignore Express for the purposes of this question--we've covered that already.)"
I would do the Prize Puzzle every other episode and on episodes without it, the contestant who solves the puzzle would win an extra $10,000 because that way nobody would win with just $5,100.
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Post by jarvisabrodie89 on May 27, 2022 22:20:33 GMT -5
Hello, Fellow Wheel Watchers! It's great to be back with you once again as I bring to you a new thought for tonight, which happens to be...the Prize Puzzle!! Over the years, since its PERMANENT debut back in the mid-2000s, the Prize Puzzles have always consisted of a wonderful trip to places like Costa Rica, Hawaii, Mexico, etc. Don't get me wrong, the trips are very nice. But there always comes a time when you'd want to see or try something different. You know what I think they should do differently with the Prize Puzzles, especially for next season? They should consider playing for a prize other than a trip. Maybe a new Car, a Trailer, or a Cabin Cruiser just to name a few examples. As far as I know, NONE of those things have ever been played for in a Prize Puzzle before. So, who knows? Maybe the new Executive Producers will reach that conclusion and try something different with the Prize Puzzles for next season! There's only one way to find out.
What do you think?
Do you think it's time Wheel play for something different in the Prize Puzzle other than trips?
And what new prize suggestions do you have for the Prize Puzzle?
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wheelfan910
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Post by wheelfan910 on May 27, 2022 22:27:35 GMT -5
The prize puzzle is already enough of a golden snitch and using any of those prizes would make it worse and even more imbalanced.
I don’t see the show ever getting rid of it solely because it is usually sponsored, having the extra ad spot within the show is more profitable than outright scrapping it.
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germanname1990
I am the King of Live Play. Wheel with it!
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Post by germanname1990 on May 28, 2022 3:02:28 GMT -5
If it's going to be sponsored, make it worth less than $5000 or at least give it much less of an impact on who goes to the Bonus Round. I love it whenever someone wins the Bonus Round and leaves with an all-cash total. It's a rare treat that could happen a little more often, not too much of course because you want to keep moments like those nice.
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Post by woffan9821 on May 28, 2022 3:45:53 GMT -5
Talking about the prize itself, trips are fine. Maybe I'd want to lean into the wackiness of Press Your Luck, since they find zany prizes in about the right price range. If there should be more variety, either the trip value should remain about where it is right now, if not lower, or a major overhaul needs to happen on the wheel itself. I kind of wish it just weren't around at times, especially when the Collete trips get into the 14k range.
Yet, part of me feels that the Prize Puzzle has been around for too long to get removed. Not having it count toward the final total is too counterintuitive, so an easier hotfix would be to move it to Round 1, which awards the player who solves TU2, allows the Mystery and Express to act as comeback mechanics, and incentivizes the other two contestants to not solve the non-PP rounds with $500-$2,000 in their bank.
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