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Studio 41 - Play Along => CSS -- Chatroom Showcase Showoff => Topic started by: BuddyTom on September 13, 2006, 10:35:48 PM

Title: CSS Rules: Season 3
Post by: BuddyTom on September 13, 2006, 10:35:48 PM
As we quickly approach the 35th Season of The Price is Right, it is my great pleasure to present:

OFFICIAL RULES FOR THE CHATROOM SHOWCASE SHOWOFF GAME -- SEASON THREE
Robair's Rules, revised by BuddyTom

The Chatroom Showcase Showoff (CSS) will be played every day in the 2005-2006 season (Year 35) in the Golden-Road.net chatroom, during all first-run East Coast daytime telecasts of "The Price Is Right" on CBS during the Showcase, occurring around 11:45AM Eastern time. A special version of the game will be played during Million Dollar Spectacular broadcasts. The game revolves around the Showcase on the TV series, and chatroom participants will bid on the showcases as the stage contestants do in an attempt to be the day's best bidder. There are more opportunites for multiple scoring this season, in addition to double scores/double money Friday and Gatorman's Plinko Doubler, there are also two new cash game prediction doublers!

The season will kick off on Monday, September 18, the first show of the 35th year of "The Price Is Right" on CBS and will include all first-run daytime shows. Any MDS or other prime time shows will be played for fun, but will NOT count towards the year's overall standings.

GAME OFFICIALS
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BuddyTom is the official CSS host. In his absence, NCC-2000, Jordanar18, Robair, Gatorman, PaulMiller, or FPGWillyT will preside over the gathering of scores. If none of the seven is present, there is no official game for that day.

OFFICIAL GAMES
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The CSS is played during all first-run episodes of "The Price Is Right", both daytime and Million Dollar Spectacular versions, which air in the Eastern time zone (though MDS' do not count towards the standings, see above). Between 160 and 165 games will be played during a typical regular season.

The CSS will not be played if...

1. The program is not a first-run episode from the current season
2. Any part or all of the Showcases are interrupted by break-ins or pre-emptions to the network. Isolated local incidents are not grounds for cancellation; members may request a readback in the chat room if they cannot see the Showcases for whatever reason.
3. There are problems with the chatroom such as freezes or other failures during the showcase
4. There are spoilers emanating from network press releases or local newspapers which divulge winning amounts and/or items in a particular showcase for a day's program
5. No game leader or equivalent is present in the chat room.

If only the price reveals are pre-empted on a telecast, the game will be official if the ending of the showcase airs in another time zone.

All golden-road.net members who attend tapings of the show are honor-bound not to participate in that day's CSS nor to divulge details of the show to other members.

ELIGIBILTY
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All people in the chatroom may participate in the CSS, including the game leader and moderators. In order to play the CSS, you must be in the room (or have been in the room) before the "CSS LOCK" is posted after the sixth pricing game. If you are going to be late for a valid reason (classes, appointments, work), please do your best to let the CSS host know before the show and you will be exempted. Pre-emption of any part of the show renders this rule void. (i.e.: President speaking during the first twenty minutes, you may justifiably go for a drink at the local bar and come home at 11:48am, in time for the Showcase, but after the lock. Fine with us). :-D

Also, the two contestants on TV compete as a combined entity known as the "Stage Player." This competitor is a constant foe of all chat room participants, and as such is the only player to be represented in each game of the season.

GAME PLAY
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Chatroom players will watch the reveal of the first showcase, and as if they were on the show, will calculate a bid in whole dollars against the actual retail price of the showcase. This bid is then private-messaged in the chatroom to the game leader, who will record each bid. If the game leader chooses to play, he or she must PM his or her bid to an appointed second (one of BuddyTom, NCC-2000, Jordanar18, FPGWillyT or other substitute) who will then verify the bid is correct when the results are posted. DO NOT USE THE MESSAGE FORUMS PM FEATURE. Bids may be accepted until a second or two after the TV contestant has made a bid, owing for lags in the chat software and differences in broadcast services. It is the game leader's call to determine whether to accept a bid that is slightly late. This process repeats for the second showcase. It is the player's ultimate responsibility to make sure both bids come in on time, or else the entry will be invalidated (as shown on the days' scoreboard as a FOUL) and the player will be marked as OVER for the day, scoring zero.

Any bid that comes in after another player openly divulges their bid in the chat is an automatic FOUL, and that player is over for the day.

Bids may only be accepted during the actual play of the showcase on the show. They may not be messaged at any other time in advance of the show, whether it be one day, one week, or ten minutes in advance of the showcases. This feature keeps the game fair and valid for all and prevents otherwise absent contestants from "proxying" bids to stay in the game.

Once a bid comes in for a showcase it cannot be changed. Most players in the chatroom will know when a showcase is over, but if any player submits an early bid for a showcase and an additional prize is subsequently revealed, the bid stands. The exception for this rule is obvious typos like bidding $150,000 when it was obviously a $15,000 bid.

Chatroom players' differences on the showcases will then be calculated based on the actual retail price (ARP) the TV host reads for each showcase (and as verified by the official Joe Capitano recap). Scores are then recorded for each player. These results generally get posted after 2PM Eastern on the same day the episode airs.

SCORING
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GAME SCORING -- POINTS
----------------------

The day's winner is the player with the highest point score, which represents a percentage of the player's bids against the ARP of both showcases. Important: For a player's score to count, the player must bid under the ARP on each showcase. If a player is over on one or both showcases, that player's score for that day is zero. Over on one, over on both.

DOUBLE POINTS & DOUBLE VALUES
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— The point and money values for the day will be doubled on Fridays, as per tradition.
— The point and money values will be doubled if the show is a "perfect" show (all six pricing games won).
— The points will be doubled with special procedure for the following pricing games:

— Plinko Doubler

Anyone wishing to participate will PM the CSS host their guess as to how much money will be won in Plinko after the last SP, i.e.: after we know how many chips will be dropped. The closest player(s) to the actual score without going over will have points doubled.

— Punch-a-Bunch Doubler

Anyone wishing to participate will PM the CSS host their guess as to how much money will be won in Punch-A-Bunch. Participants must PM before punching begins; timing does not matter as with only one punch the maximum or minimum amount can be won, including any "second chances." The closest player(s) to the actual amount won without going over will have their points doubled.

— Half-Off Doubler

Anyone wishing to participate will PM the CSS host which box they think holds the $10,000 AT THE BEGINNING of play, before any are taken away. Thus everyone has a 1 in 16 chance of doubling their points.

— DSW. If the player scores less than $250 away from the ARP of one showcase, WITHOUT GOING OVER ON THE OTHER, they will have their points doubled and receive the money score for both showcases. If this happens on a day when points are already doubled, they will receive 4x points. If they have also won one of the money game doublers, they may receive 8x points!

— QSW. If the player scores less than $250 away from the ARP of BOTH showcases, they will have their points quadrupled and receive double the money score of both showcases.

— BLITZ. If the player is the ONLY player to receive points that day (STAGE PLAYER must be over as well) then they will receive double points.

— Host Blows It. If EVERYONE (including STAGE PLAYER) scores points one day, but the CSS host goes over, everyone gets double points.

GAME SCORING -- MONEY
-----------------------

For each showcase, there will be a designated "showcase winner", who will receive the ARP of that showcase added to their money score. The "showcase winner" is the player who has the highest acceptable bid on each showcase -- without going over on the other. Just like with the points scoring, nobody who goes over has the opportunity to win money. The showcase winner for each showcase also will receive the ARP of the other showcase if that player is $250 or less away from the ARP of that showcase. If the player has the best bid on each showcase and both are $250 or less away from the ARP's, in essence the player wins twice the ARP of both showcases.

Money scores will double on Fridays and on perfect show days. Money scores DO NOT double on a CSS BLITZ win or with any of the game doublers.


WEEK TO WEEK RESULTS
--------------------

Daily results will appear in the Play Along forum every day the game is played sometime after the Joe_Capitano recap is posted, as these results will include Stage Player differences that may act as spoilers. The table will be sorted by point score, and will also denote the two showcase winners for that day and their money scores.

Statistics for the game period will be kept and tallied throughout the season. Every Friday night (or so) there will be a new leaderboard released featuring the cumulative point and dollar scores. The chart will track average score based on number of games played (as we go on there will be a minimum number of games to qualify for this), number of daily wins, number of Double and Quadruple Showcase wins, number of times over, lowest difference for any one showcase (which will include days a player is over on one showcase and makes a great bid on the other), single best daily difference, and money score. Every week's chart will be accompanied by "The Lowest of the Low", spotlighting the three best bids of the week (determined on individual showcase bids, possibly including days when the player is over on the other) and the three best daily differences for the week, as well as a recap of the week's action.

POSTSEASON
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In June 2007, there will be a tournament or playoffs. This may be in the 16-slot seed form that we used in 2006, or it may be in a new "Open" format to be determined later. Jordanar18 will be in charge of the final seeding or format. More information will be available for your input as we approach that time of the season.

(this thread is locked)