Author Topic: Simple Questions & Answers Thread  (Read 254578 times)

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Offline blozier2006

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Re: Simple Questions & Answers Thread
« Reply #120 on: October 15, 2019, 06:44:39 AM »
One thing I'm curious about, simply because of it being noted in the Timeline when it does happen... why is it so rare to see a regular car game, or a small prize game, or a grocery item game, in the fourth slot?

Offline ThomHuge

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Re: Simple Questions & Answers Thread
« Reply #121 on: October 16, 2019, 07:47:17 PM »
One thing I'm curious about, simply because of it being noted in the Timeline when it does happen... why is it so rare to see a regular car game, or a small prize game, or a grocery item game, in the fourth slot?

Presumably because the fourth PG leads into the second half of the show. Play a car game fourth, and the second half of the show has already hit its peak, and viewers will tune out until the showcases. Play an SP or GP game there, and you have the opposite problem--a lackluster start to the second half can make viewers tune out just as fast, since they already got their "fix" with the first half.

Offline RatRace10

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Re: Simple Questions & Answers Thread
« Reply #122 on: October 16, 2019, 10:22:34 PM »
Which pricing games currently use the "foghorn buzzer" (AKA "MRRRRP") under any scenario? I know some of them changed recently with the change in the sound system, with some games using the regular buzzer now using the horn buzzer. Obviously, all the timed games, plus Plinko if $0 is won, but can someone list the rest of the games that use it as of now?

Offline Counterpoint

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Re: Simple Questions & Answers Thread
« Reply #123 on: October 19, 2019, 09:24:57 AM »
Two travel related questions:
1.  Do you really have to travel from LA when you win a trip, or is that just how the value is calculated?

2.  If you win "a trip around the world" that has 3 different destinations (like on yesterday's showcase), do you really have to take all those trips at once or could you spread them out?


Offline ooboh

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Re: Simple Questions & Answers Thread
« Reply #124 on: October 19, 2019, 10:11:20 AM »
Which pricing games currently use the "foghorn buzzer" (AKA "MRRRRP") under any scenario? I know some of them changed recently with the change in the sound system, with some games using the regular buzzer now using the horn buzzer. Obviously, all the timed games, plus Plinko if $0 is won, but can someone list the rest of the games that use it as of now?

Last time Plinko was completely lost, the regular buzzer was played but it was followed by the losing horns.
1) Any timed game, meaning Bonkers, Switcheroo, Time is Money, Clock Game, and Race Game
2) Card Game (originally, the game used the regular buzzer even if the contestant went over)
3) Check-Out
4) Danger Price originally had the foghorn buzzer, but it switched to the regular buzzer
5) Dice Game
6) Grocery Game
7) 1/2 Off
8) Most Expensive
9) One Away
10) Pocket Change
11) Rat Race (if none of the rats finish Top 3, if I recall correctly)
12) Secret “X” (though there are a few occasions where they play the regular buzzer after the board is flipped)
13) 3 Strikes
« Last Edit: October 19, 2019, 04:01:36 PM by SteveGavazzi »

Offline geniusinmath

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Re: Simple Questions & Answers Thread
« Reply #125 on: October 19, 2019, 10:34:19 AM »
Which active or retired pricing game is the hardest and easiest?

Offline tpir04

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Re: Simple Questions & Answers Thread
« Reply #126 on: October 19, 2019, 11:04:33 AM »
Which active or retired pricing game is the hardest and easiest?

By "easiest" and "hardest" I would assume that you mean the greatest and least probability of winning the prize on offer. Easiest would obviously go to Double Prices, as it's a 50-50 shot, and even better if you have a general idea of the prices.

Hardest, however, can go two different ways. My first instinct would be to say Stack the Deck, but when you think about it, any of the luck-based games (Plinko, Punch, etc.) are much greater offenders. Stack can at least be won with an astute knowledge of cars, but on the other hand, Plinko requires you to first win all five chips, which isn't always accomplished, and then have each land in the center slot. Sure, you're gonna win something, but as for winning the full $50K...don't hold your breath.
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Offline LiteBulb88

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Re: Simple Questions & Answers Thread
« Reply #127 on: October 19, 2019, 11:25:28 AM »
Two travel related questions:
1.  Do you really have to travel from LA when you win a trip, or is that just how the value is calculated?

2.  If you win "a trip around the world" that has 3 different destinations (like on yesterday's showcase), do you really have to take all those trips at once or could you spread them out?

1. You can take the trip from anywhere in the US (and possibly the world.) Airfare is calculated out of LA. IIRC from the conversation I overheard in the room where they explain the winnings to each contestant, the contestant who wins the trip doesn't have to worry about whether the price from their home city is more or expensive than the airfare from LA; the show will cover it.

2. I have no inside info on this, but my instinct is that an around the world trip is considered 3 separate trips from LA (or whatever the contestant's home base is.) I don't think you have to take them back to back.

Offline gamesurf

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Re: Simple Questions & Answers Thread
« Reply #128 on: October 19, 2019, 12:35:44 PM »
Which active or retired pricing game is the hardest and easiest?

Clock Game—just do basic binary search and it’s all but a guaranteed win, especially if you already know all prizes are $500-$999. Practice with a friend picking any random number in that range and you should consistently be able to hit it under 15 seconds.

Hit Me (but ONLY if you know there’s always an Ace/10 on the board)—seems like nearly every playing, you could get an instant win picking the only product ending in zero + the only product ending in nine

Magic #: it’s $3,000. Congrats on the win.

Hardest to win is Plinko—you have 99.943% odds of losing after winning five chips and committing to drop them all from the center. (That being said, I’d happily lose if that’s what losing is)

Hardest to win something has to be Bullseye I (especially its first rule set with neither a range nor a rounded price). The only pricing game that never gave away anything.
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Offline gamesurf

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Re: Simple Questions & Answers Thread
« Reply #129 on: October 19, 2019, 01:00:29 PM »
Easiest would obviously go to Double Prices, as it's a 50-50 shot, and even better if you have a general idea of the prices.

I don’t think that’s obvious; Double Prices is far from the only 50-50 game, and there are games with better odds—including a few where you’re far more likely to win than 50-50.

One more “guaranteed win” is Now or Then. Pick NOW on any 3 items in a row without regards to the price. Either 1) you’ll win, 2) you’ll find two THENs (which means there are no more THENs on the board and you will win by picking NOW on the other three), or 3) you’ll find one THEN and be able to use logic and process of elimination to make sure you get the price opposite the one THEN correct and get three in a row. Just pray the time you get up isn’t the first time in decades the producers use more than two THENs.
Quote from: Bill Todman
"The sign of a good game, is when you don't have to explain it every day. The key is not simplicity, but apparent simplicity. Password looks like any idiot could have made it up, but we have 14 of our people working on that show. There is a great complexity behind the screen. It requires great work to keep it simple."

Offline MSTieScott

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Re: Simple Questions & Answers Thread
« Reply #130 on: October 20, 2019, 09:25:54 PM »
2. I have no inside info on this, but my instinct is that an around the world trip is considered 3 separate trips from LA (or whatever the contestant's home base is.) I don't think you have to take them back to back.

I don't know how fulfillment works these days, but for Around the World showcases, the airfare is always listed in the paperwork as one retail price (using the example given, as Los Angeles to Costa Rica to Iceland to Thailand to Los Angeles). And four airplane trips are going to be less expensive than the six airplane trips that would result if the contestant visited each destination separately.
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Offline RatRace10

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Re: Simple Questions & Answers Thread
« Reply #131 on: October 20, 2019, 10:08:30 PM »
Last time Plinko was completely lost, the regular buzzer was played but it was followed by the losing horns.
1) Any timed game, meaning Bonkers, Switcheroo, Time is Money, Clock Game, and Race Game
2) Card Game (originally, the game used the regular buzzer even if the contestant went over)
3) Check-Out
4) Danger Price originally had the foghorn buzzer, but it switched to the regular buzzer
5) Dice Game
6) Grocery Game
7) 1/2 Off
8) Most Expensive
9) One Away
10) Pocket Change
11) Rat Race (if none of the rats finish Top 3, if I recall correctly)
12) Secret “X” (though there are a few occasions where they play the regular buzzer after the board is flipped)
13) 3 Strikes

One of the total Plinko losses (before the sound system was changed) used both the regular and foghorn buzzer at the same time, the former to signify the $0 hit and the latter to signify the game being completely lost.

1) I imagine Hot Seat would use it if the 35 seconds expires as well.
5) Dice Game used to use the regular buzzer
7) As did 1/2 Off (on both wrong SP guesses and empty box reveals)
10) Pocket Change does use the regular buzzer if a $.00 card is revealed unless it's the final card, yes?
11) Rat Race: What about if someone gives a bad guess to the third prize and fails to earn any rats?


I recall these games using the foghorn buzzer in the Barker and early Drew eras. Did those games change to the regular buzzer as Danger Price did?

- Balance Game ('06)
- Barker's Bargain Bar (not sure if the foghorn carried over to Bargain Game)
- Check Game (even if the total was under, not over)
- Gas Money
- More or Less
- Take Two (only if lost on the second pick, first wrong pick uses the regular buzzer)

I know I could just go on YouTube and search for lost playings of these games, but I have sensory issues and certain game show sound effects don't sit well with me. I can handle the regular buzzer just fine, but not the foghorn buzzer, so when I watch, I have to mute during certain games, second spins in the Showcase Showdown (I used to think they also sounded the foghorn if someone lost with a total too low - I didn't realize they didn't sound any buzzer at all until just a few years ago), and the Showcase reveals. So that's why I am asking all this, and I appreciate the answers.
« Last Edit: October 23, 2019, 11:53:35 PM by SteveGavazzi »

Offline Counterpoint

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Re: Simple Questions & Answers Thread
« Reply #132 on: October 23, 2019, 08:40:29 AM »
1. You can take the trip from anywhere in the US (and possibly the world.) Airfare is calculated out of LA. IIRC from the conversation I overheard in the room where they explain the winnings to each contestant, the contestant who wins the trip doesn't have to worry about whether the price from their home city is more or expensive than the airfare from LA; the show will cover it.

2. I have no inside info on this, but my instinct is that an around the world trip is considered 3 separate trips from LA (or whatever the contestant's home base is.) I don't think you have to take them back to back.

Thanks!

Offline LiteBulb88

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Re: Simple Questions & Answers Thread
« Reply #133 on: October 23, 2019, 09:05:37 AM »
Thanks!

No problem, but make sure you read Scott's message which was below mine:

I don't know how fulfillment works these days, but for Around the World showcases, the airfare is always listed in the paperwork as one retail price (using the example given, as Los Angeles to Costa Rica to Iceland to Thailand to Los Angeles). And four airplane trips are going to be less expensive than the six airplane trips that would result if the contestant visited each destination separately.

He used to work for the show, so you should trust his post much more than you trust mine :).

Offline ooboh

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Re: Simple Questions & Answers Thread
« Reply #134 on: October 23, 2019, 10:32:53 AM »
One of the total Plinko losses (before the sound system was changed) used both the regular and foghorn buzzer at the same time, the former to signify the $0 hit and the latter to signify the game being completely lost.

1) I imagine Hot Seat would use it if the 35 seconds expires as well.
5) Dice Game used to use the regular buzzer
7) As did 1/2 Off (on both wrong SP guesses and empty box reveals)
10) Pocket Change does use the regular buzzer if a $.00 card is revealed unless it's the final card, yes?
11) Rat Race: What about if someone gives a bad guess to the third prize and fails to earn any rats?


I recall these games using the foghorn buzzer in the Barker and early Drew eras. Did those games change to the regular buzzer as Danger Price did?

- Balance Game ('06)
- Barker's Bargain Bar (not sure if the foghorn carried over to Bargain Game)
- Check Game (even if the total was under, not over)
- Gas Money
- More or Less
- Take Two (only if lost on the second pick, first wrong pick uses the regular buzzer)

I know I could just go on YouTube and search for lost playings of these games, but I have sensory issues and certain game show sound effects don't sit well with me. I can handle the regular buzzer just fine, but not the foghorn buzzer, so when I watch, I have to mute during certain games, second spins in the Showcase Showdown (I used to think they also sounded the foghorn if someone lost with a total too low - I didn't realize they didn't sound any buzzer at all until just a few years ago), and the Showcase reveals. So that's why I am asking all this, and I appreciate the answers.

1) Once a player nearly ran out of time on Hot Seat and I heard the end of the song. I wouldn’t be surprised if there isn’t a buzzer at the end of the track.
5) Yup, now they changed it.
7) Yup. I almost think it’s a matter of time until games like Stack the Deck and Cover Up do that too.
10) Yup, Pocket Change uses the regular buzzer uncovering the $0.00 card on Pocket Change, but the foghorn plays regardless of the card revealed if the game is lost
11) I imagine it would be akin to Secret X. I’ve seen playings where Secret X players got both small products wrong, thus not being able to reveal the Secret X and hear the foghorn, and they heared the regular buzzer followed by the losing horns.

1) Balance Game 2006 uses the regular buzzer to the best of my knowledge.
2) I’m fairly certain Bargain Game uses the regular buzzer, although I’ll have to check.
3) Check Game now uses the regular buzzer for both underbids and overbids, but I just wanna make sure.
4) Gas Money uses the regular buzzer.
5) More or Less? uses the regular buzzer, played with the losing horns if the player loses on the first prize.
6) The most recent playing of Take Two had the regular buzzer played both times.

Certain sound effects don’t sit well with me either, and I’m not particularly keen on the foghorn buzzer either.