I've often thought about how strikingly inconsistent the Block & Tackle starts were for the 6/8 dungeoneers who experienced it in Series 4. It's not just about the angle and point of entry into the room; it's also about how far into the room the dungeoneer walked (or in Giles's case ran) before stopping.asrl07 wrote: ↑22 Apr 2022, 22:34The problem they had was the dungeoneer entered at a 45 degree angle pretty much facing the left exit, so that likely motivated them to send him forward quickly to that exit, unfortunately he had no chance of getting there before the floor fell away. It was a rotten starting position for the dungeoneer. Is this part of the artificial difficulty element, to make the same rooms vary significantly in difficulty for different teams?s4t8brett wrote: ↑16 Feb 2016, 17:13 Thanks, Evelyn!
The team who failed to complete the Block and Tackle in this episode (we met them before and afterwards) did seem to have their dungeoneer continuing to walk forwards towards the wrong exit when the floor fell away. Had the dungeoneer sidestepped to the right they might have made it through. But I agree with what you put about the unfairness and duress caused when encountering the room for the first time!
Here's a rough image I've put together showing every dungeoneer's starting point in the Block & Tackle:
Helen (Team 1, light pink top) has the clearest advantage, starting well to the right of the first hole and well in front of the sliding blocks. Giles (Team 8, yellow top), Jeremy (Team 7, green top) and Vicki (Team 5, purple top; obscured) are at a disadvantage. Helen was the first dungeoneer to face the Block & Tackle; Vicki, Jeremy and Giles were the last three.
I've included one dungeoneer twice in the image. The dungeoneer in the red top is Simon (Team 4) before being told to sidestep to his left. The dungeoneer in the bright top is Simon after being told to sidestep to his left. Here's the clip. It seems likely that the sidestep was done (or recreated) in a separate take. The physical differences are such that I'm wondering whether they used a different person, not Simon, to film the sidestep. In any case, had Simon's starting point been the same as Helen's, his sidestep left would not have taken him down the hole.