Why you always gotta be such a sour puss?

His tickets arent gonna get cancelled.

Part of the logjam does seem to be dozens of groups of 5 people all trying to log on and buy tickets for the same 5 people at once and then not really knowing what to do when they actually got In.

I think these mass group buy black ops teams need to try to streamline and polish their assault a little bit.

I was almost lured into a couple of these and just decided it would be easier to go it alone.

Another thing people don't realize is when they organize these super secret conspiracy cabals to have 8 people all try to buy 5 tickets and then have no idea what to actually do or who to buy tickets for when they actually get 5 tickets in their basket is that you are basically competing against yourselves to get tickets in the first place. I'm not sure it actually works out in your favor mathematically.

Just buy your own tickets folks. If you strike out you can get on the wait list ASAP rather than calling 8 people and trying to figure out what to do at 12:02.

Well, that's a boom!

To be fair, Todd is a big guy and probably needs two spots.

But aren't you now competing with more "buyers" in the first place, since there are 10 of you all trying to log on and buy tickets?

I hate math!!

But I'll take your word for it.

All I know is I spend the week before Replay tickets drop politely declining offers to get involved in ticket buying syndicates and it always seems to work out for me.

That's a much better idea than a headlamp. But I'd have to see it in action to see if it's distracting to other players.

Yeah the hundreds of people who are staying downtown without cars are dying to spend an extra hour or two hiring cars to drive around the Pittsburgh area to register. After all, pointless inconvenience is what pre-reg is supposed to be all about!

It's a good thing people who actually understand how to put on a pinball show are behind PAPA instead of clueless rubes.

Yep with games on free play. Most of the games will be available for play except those in finals banks. So that leaves at least a few hundred plus whatever is in the vendor areas. Plenty of vids too.

It's time for the unofficial 2019 Pinburgh Fantasy Pinball League!!!

Fun! Free! Completely legal! Also awesome! And even more fun than watching the wait list or crossing out days on the calendar before the big event!

The full rules can be found here, but it’s pretty simple. Every player has a value. You pick 5 players to be on your fantasy team. The value of those 5 players combined cannot go over $400 in imaginary cash (let's call it 400 Quatloos!). Then, throughout Pinburgh the players on your team earn points based on their finishing position. All entries due by Wednesday 7/31/2019 8:00 AM EDT
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ZnzUAggW2uUmUwtZSO-NxDEi9xmDfaGWRgT5XLysTVU/edit?usp=sharing

Once you’ve got your team, you can use this form to submit your picks. Once Pinburgh starts, scores go live! We will post a link to the results in this thread. Follow along throughout the tournament to see how you do!
https://forms.gle/aM5D7X1mkFFAZ8Ct8

I made a separate topic for discussion with more info, and where to get a breakdown on the field and value picks. This is going to be a lot of fun and has some serious growth potential! CHeck it out here:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/announcing-fantasy-pinball-for-pinburgh-#post-5098560

There's no parking lot so there's no parking lot deals. This isn't really a buying/selling show so if you plan on buying or selling a game I'd try to have a deal set in advance.

Probably a good idea. Remember when their Titanic capsized?

Insurance costs probably prohibitive.

INDOOR ROLLERCOASTER!!!

These guys?!?!

globe (resized).jpg

I think all concerned decided against it this time.

You can get dinner. And pick up your Replay FX pass.

"if I could give it a zero I would" is the "for that price that pinball machine should have sex with me" of yelp reviews.

I'd clarify this clarification slightly to say that the majority of games open up on Saturday evening. Even the A finals are usually by done by 9pm, and the show runs late, giving everybody at least a few hours run of the place.

There's gonna be 7 Stern JPs there. That's a pretty big attraction.

It's literally the only place in the world a civilian can play the game this weekend.

Here's a hint: If you have stumbled across a huge bank of pristine pinball machines and there are zero people or only a smattering of people playing them, it's probably the competition bank!

They are pretty well separated so shouldn't be an issue.

The sound seemed pretty good to me during finals if you were in the "chair section," any further back and it sounded more garbled and annoying. The sound was better than last year, with room for more improvement. The number of spectators probably had a lot to do with the varying sound as well - with the entire seating section full for the end of A finals, the sound was much better and less echo-y than during WIPT when there were more empty seats bouncing sound around during the smaller Sunday session of Replay FX, or during the early rounds of A finals. I didn't check out IG so can't say about that.

I'm sure they'll continue to tweak this formula. Players I talked to said the sound didn't bother them - remember the speakers weren't pointed at them and that makes a huge difference. It's worth the continued effort to promote and develop pinball as a live spectator experience and this will have to be a part of it.

It would be great also if a large screen (if not the audio) were at the opposite end of the hall, so that all show attendees know that a couple hundred yards away the world championship is in progress.

He's fine. He chose not to play in B.

He's a world champion and in conversation for top 5 most accomplished player of all time. Don't blame him.

If your group is crowding around a game while a competition game is being played on the machine right next to you, you are indeed in the wrong. That can be terribly distracting and wouldn't be acceptable at any tournament, much less a World Championship. It's happened to me many times over 5 pinburgs and it always sucks. It's not just the "peripheral vision" its having someone's back 2 inches away from your hand while you are flipping.

I politely ask the offending group to move and they always do. Shouldn't be a big deal, many players at Pinburgh are new to tournament pinball and don't realize they shouldn't crowd a player who is playing a tournament game, and they get it when you point it out. Nothing remotely "ridiculous" about that ask.

There are plenty of places to write scores down rather than on the glass of a machine directly next to one being used by fellow competitors. A table...a machine NOT next to one being played on; there are plenty of both at replay FX.

Shoulda got a TD

Seems silly to me too but I understand it. Some players are touchier than others with this stuff.

I'll say I didn't run into a single bad interaction with anybody this year at Pinburgh which may have been a first. People seemed pretty mellow and amenable and nobody seemed to be looking for a fight.

Since this is the defacto "suggestion box thread" I'll give my two cents as I do every year (with the obvious caveat that it's a great event as is and everybody did a great job)...

The video game side has amazing lighting, lasers, music, etc. It's a real Magfest style party.

Walk a few dozen yards over to the pinball side and it seems like a swap meet. Just flourescent lighting, no music, no lasers, no nothing.

It makes pinball seem lame and staid in comparison, and doesn't do anything to draw younger people over or create a fun environment. After the tournament is over Friday night, it would be cool to see the pinball side match the atmosphere of the arcade side. They did at least dim the lights at one point on Saturday I believe, but it could be so much more immersive.

The tournament itself is great but I'd like to see more production improvements for the Finals. Bring back the confetti...add some pyro..some music...some lasers...some announcements...some excitement. I'd also put a large screen in the back of the convention center showing the stream (arcade side) so that people know a hundred yards away there is a world-class pinball tournament they could come check out. The sound was better this year and I assume will continue to improve, but the lighting should also get a look at. It's too bright in the tournament finals staging area, not only makes it look staid, but washes out the projection screens, which otherwise would present really well. Better (more dramatic) lighting of the stage would also be befitting of a World Championship pinball finals.

All this stuff would elevate the pinball side of the show, in a big way, budget permitting.

You don't really need ambient lighting, pinball machines are well lit, you'd be able to play in the dark just fine, especially with all the machines on in the area.

The Maiden thing was cute but hearing the same 5 Queen song clips over and over again wasn't really doing much to match the atmosphere of the arcade side.

I feel like people are paying the $70 vig to get their ticket 30 minutes earlier and go back to sleep. The lounge isn't really necessary.

They should just auction off 100 tickets early on and rake in the cash, and dispense with the VIP area (or keep it, whatever). They could raise a huge amount of money doing this, and since they have had their first taste of the joys of self-scalping, I don't see why they wouldn't consider it.

I never had any trouble finding a place to sit between rounds. Lots of tables and chairs.

I think instead of the VIP thing as done this year (marking up tickets $70), an all-out auction would accomplish two things:

1) Raise a shitload more money for Replay
2) allow a better opportunity for deep-pocketed people to obtain a "VIP" (early/guaranteed entry) ticket. The VIP scramble was just as /more brutal than the regular onsale this year, and it wasn't because people were clamoring for the VIP lounge. They simply wanted tickets as early and securely as possible.

Since the "VIP overcharge" ticket barrier was finally breached this year - with pretty much no negative feedback - I think it would be accepted and even welcomed by ticket buyers this year. If you think it's a "bad look," a percentage could go to Project Pinball or pretty much any charity.

Just something to think about. VIP raised about an additional $3000 for replay this year. I'd bet you'd clear well over twice that auctioning off (or simply self-scalping at twice the price) the tickets. I've bought a lot of concert tickets. This stuff works.

It's hard to say. "splitting up" the tickets as they do (replay ticket/pinburgh ticket) does a little to distract from the sticker shock. But you'd have to raise the Pinburgh ticket while not raising the replay ticket much as you don't want to scare away showgoers.

So no idea really. I bet you could get away with an extra $20-30 without pissing off too many people.

But again, letting would-be VIPs spend as much money as they want while only raising the "regular" ticket a few bucks might work better. I know for a fact there's plenty of people who would happily pay $300 for their pinburgh 2020 ticket tomorrow if given the chance.

What's your take?

Discretion maybe bruh?

I agree. Got a good thing going at Replay, I'd hate if I couldn't smuggle in some beef jerky.

How do you feel about "keep most low, sell some high?"

Do you consider the $230 it cost in 2019 to be "low?"

Raising the ticket prices / selling some at a premium isn't to "keep people out," it's to help pay the bills. None of us are privy to the financials but it's incredibly expensive to put on an event like this, and of course you have people like me clamoring for more money to be spent on production. I personally think that spending more on the production and adding significant pizazz to the pinball side of the event would do more to "draw people to pinball" than keeping prices low.

Others want to see higher prize pools for all divisions. Others want some of the jankier EMs replaced with good ones, or more games added so the number of participants can rise even higher.

All of this stuff takes money, so they'd be wise to consider all options.

A LOT Of things can cause a "random tilt," up to and including actually tilting the game. One Facebook vent thread is pretty slim evidence to declare that Pinburgh games are tilting due to the oddly specific issue of a defective cap.

Also EM games don't have this issue, and I'm pretty sure Williams SS games don't either. That's a Bally thing. Also a defective cap is gonna cause random switch closures all the time, not just when two people are playing the game.

I love your "friend," he's a great player and a distinct personality. But he's also an incredibly aggressive player, and he also hates losing more than anybody hates anything on the face of the planet. It may have colored his recollections of this particular tilt.

Generally the elite wisely kept these passes out of view, lest they incite an uprising from the peasants!!!

At one point I was rattling the gates of VIP, threatening the frightened bourgeois inside with a coming revolution, before being promptly removed by their massive gatekeeper.

YOU CAN'T KEEP US OUT FOREVER!

WHY DON'T YOU PUT NEW CAPS ON YOUR EM TILT SWITCHES?!?!?!

It's a known issue by god!

100 percent of the time when someone turns to me and says "I didn't even touch it!" I nod in agreement and say "yeah that blows." What else am I supposed to say?

Does the 800 computers thing really work? Aren't you in effect competing against yourself?

I also missed the Wok station!