(Topic ID: 220291)

2018 Pintastic-post show reviews and comments

By Grizlyrig

5 years ago


Topic Heartbeat

Topic Stats

  • 198 posts
  • 67 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 5 years ago by oilspot
  • Topic is favorited by 14 Pinsiders

You

Linked Games

No games have been linked to this topic.

    Topic Gallery

    View topic image gallery

    pin4 (resized).jpg
    pin9 (resized).jpg
    308def18a235c4e5c4afbcfe431ce90b045cc7e6.jpeg (resized).jpg
    20180628_232429 (resized).jpg
    BFC46AFD-793E-412D-9558-45E485AA361B (resized).jpeg
    0FB230EF-BE05-4B1C-8101-22FDFA549431 (resized).jpeg
    A4AA9792-FAC5-4494-BAC5-E39F78DD18A1 (resized).jpeg
    D3204562-A948-4EDA-9848-30B73DF05F67 (resized).jpeg
    F9DB107C-2ABA-487A-8D70-AC6633066285 (resized).jpeg
    749C8FAC-7B57-457F-B6DD-4400A27FA026 (resized).jpeg

    There are 198 posts in this topic. You are on page 2 of 4.
    #51 5 years ago

    Replying briefly to a few items at once.
    Game-bringer doesn't want their game played for 50 hours: bringing it Friday morning is a possibility, though not what we prefer. You could hold the exposure to 28 hours over 2 days if you left it from Friday morning to Saturday just after the prize awards.

    Big Bang Bar on coin play: yes, that was for charity. The Worcester County Food Bank was one of our beneficiaries in the past. The game is from the Spring Lake Arcade in Burrillville, RI.

    "...the hotel staff seemed friendlier...": We have several supportive people on the hotel staff, some of whom got their friends and family to attend the show. Being a major event for them helps, too.

    "....I thought Dave and or Gabe said last year that they were going to have an event calendar on a tv somewhere....": That was probably me. We have several ideas for kiosks, but not enough time to implement everything. There are ideas for IT-type projects that would help the show in many ways. PM me if you have skills and want to help.
    .................David Marston

    #52 5 years ago

    The Good: The seminars were very good, the auction had a lot of interest, the rain held off a bit on Thursday. I had several people hold open doors for me and actually had John Borg load a game back into my truck. The back corner of Wedgeheads held up very well for the amount of play they got. There was more traffic to the outdoor flea due to the new location, thank God he had a tent and a cooler of beverages. The hotdogs next to Yankee Spirits are very tasty and he's a good dude and not overpriced. I like to go out of the show, clear my head, take a walk, lots of local food close by.

    The Bad: Too many pins were broken down, and not the fault of the repair tech, his hands were FULL. I am with others, this special lounge is making this into a have and have nots social breakdown. One flea vendor... however I've met him before, solid guy,not his fault, and he sold a TON of stuff, good for him. The parking lot spaces are tight, real tight, I have a full sized GMC with an extra cab and an 8 foot box and I am respectful of others vehicles. Didn't see Marco, I usually buy stuff from him.

    The Ugly: Bad behavior and just plain ignorance. It's okay to nudge but lifting games, that's bullshit. People starting a game, playing a ball or two then walking away, that is beyond rude. At least a dozen times I had to correct someone from ramming the ball lift because the ball was banging the glass in the shooter lane. I demonstrated how to do this repeatedly. Those EM's were built to last, but a lot of us have countless hours in restoring them and setting down your beer on a game is a douchebag move. To the lady who used my pin as a writing table and put a box on top of it, I asked her to remove her crap. It was a new sheet of glass, I'd like to keep it looking that way.

    Overall a great show, free play game total was down, I counted 124 in the free play room with 20 off, Saturday around 2 PM. However, after watching these animals whoop on these games I doubt I will bring 3 next year. I do not like the gamebringer set up, all 3 of my games were for sale but the original ticket said they were not. Take a look at Rich's York Show registration form, much simpler, easier to navigate. To the people looking to play DMD games in free play, hey good luck with that. The cardboard pinball guy paid his money, I saw kids enjoying it, I think it is different and unique to Pintastic. I liked the weekend after the 4th much better than this late June date. Not sure how Sunday worked out, but I feel 4 days is overkill, (TPF is only 27.5 hours and there are 500 pins.)

    I like the idea of signage, instructions on how to start a game and what NOT TO DO.. ( a list of common courtesies)
    I will be back in 2019 with one or two games, I had a good time and a good experience.

    #53 5 years ago
    Quoted from kamenoi_ostrow:

    Regardless, he was still rude & Cointaker should have intervened.

    Did you tell cointaker while this was going on? I'm betting not as I've seen him (and his staff) on more than one occasion intervene in situations just like this.

    When the guy said "Just one more game." Did you say something along the lines of:
    "You are more than welcome to join us as a 3 player if you'd like." (assuming nobody was waiting behind you)

    I'm sorry if this sounds rude but people have to start standing up for themselves vs just running to a forum to air their gripes (which your comment feels like).

    I promise you if you went to Cointaker and said, "I've got cash to buy a Houdini but before I buy the game I want to get a couple games on it first to see how it plays but this mouth-breather wont allow others to play." he would have gone over and ensured you got time on the game.

    #54 5 years ago
    Quoted from 80spit:

    Had a good time at the show, mostly meeting old and new friends, brought 3 pins, sold 1 was disappointed in the low amount of pins for sale, felt it was hard to see on the cards if the were for sale also. I felt the points system was very slanted, how my Farfalla only got 1 point for what I consider a rare pin was puzzling as my Vegas got 2 points??? Blew off the EBL , was allowed in after 10 but by then I was wiped out. Still a great show, great time

    Really wish you had your phone# on the for sale ticket. Farfalla was fun to play and very colorful- wife liked it as well. Maybe some other time.
    -Mike

    #55 5 years ago
    Quoted from Multiballmaniac1:

    The abuse was insane. See my thread
    Short guy in sanctum t shirt by tournament area was rude.

    Multiple places you’ve brought this up and I’m still trying to get to the bottom of this as I take pride in our tournament and the whole show. I’ll paste what I said elsewhere you posted this...

    Are you referencing me? I’m the short guy running the sanctum and the tournament. I had a Sanctum shirt Thursday and Friday I think. If it was me I’m baffled as to why you would of thought I was rude? Anyone who knows me, knows I pour my heart into this community for the sake of the love of it and all the great people.

    10
    #56 5 years ago

    And I’m still catching up on life and work and my body recovering. I know the negative always outshines the tons of positive feedback. As a part of the show I just want to say we are working for a year straight to do the best things we can for everyone. We learn every year. And many people put waaaaaay more time than I do in and I put a ton of time and effort in with a lot of the other staff. Everyone we have helping has their role and position and it all is wonderful. I hope people don’t read everything hear and think everything about the show was so negative. We love getting feedback but please just be curtious of how you are presenting this and really think about what you are saying. It really crushes a lot of us to come home after destroying our bodies for a week and spending so much time over the year just to hear people mostly talking about negatives. As much as something may of disappointed you like a long line for a popular game the almost attack level of some comments really crushes us and our enthusiasm and passion.

    -Jim Swain, The Sanctum

    #57 5 years ago
    Quoted from raisindot:

    Let me preface by saying that I worked on promoting the first Pinstastic NE and give Gabe huge amounts of credit for putting on a good show. I've been to PNE every year, and, until this year, had a great time.
    But this year I was really turned off by a number of things, really none of which had to do with the way Gabe ran the show and more to do with just the way things went. I went on Saturday, when usually I go on Friday, and maybe that's the difference.
    Good things:
    1. The folks who brought all of the JJ games there. It was great to be able to try out POTC and Dialed-In, games you almost never see in the public.
    2. The Cointakers folks for bringing Houdini there. But they did a lousy job of trafficing play (more on this later)
    Bad things:
    1. The freeplay room's selection was the worst it's even been. It's been going downhill each year, but this was by far the first. Very few A-list DMD games there. The only real surprise was the Cactus Canyon, and I'm amazed that the owner would actually allow such a rare pin to be subject to the abusive play of player (see below). If you are into EMs or 80s era games, it was perfect. But if you were looking to play top-notch DMD-era games you had little selection.
    2. There were fewer games in the vendor area than in past years, and the lines for most of these were long.
    3. The quality of the vendors seemed to decline. Far too many people selling non-pinball stuff like old video games, plush toys and tschoches. And, really, do we need to have the same old maker of cardboard games there year after year?
    4. The pure selfishness of many players. This was most evident with the Houdini and JJ games. I waited in line for 45 minutes (with many people behind me) while a foursome of clearly expert players averaged about 10 minutes a ball. after 45 minutes, they were finally getting to the third ball. I couldn't stand it any more any more left. Every time I came back there, more "experts" were hogging the game. I never got to play it. The Cointaker people should have managed this better--either giving one ball per game per player or telling the hoggers to get away. Similar things happened with the JJP games. Okay, we know that some people are great players, but it's really rude if you're sitting there playing one ball for 10-15 minutes while others are waiting.
    5. The pure abuse of games. I saw machines lifted, hit, slammed and shoved around--mainly by the same "expert" players who were hogging the top-notch new games. I also saw a number of people putting full plastic cups of beer right on top of freeplay games--how obnoxious! And the cockiness of these people was terrible. I was playing one game--the only TSPP there--and a guy next to me, playing a LOTR, obnoxiously kept shouting, "I have the high score! I dare you to try to beat my high score!" To which I replied, "I'm not here to compete, I honestly don't care about your score." But he wouldn't let up.
    6. I realize the "VIP lounge" is a money-making enterprise, but I really feel is wasn't sure for the best games (usually the great ones Gabe brings) that in past years have been accessible to all to be kept in a place where your only way of playing them is to buy an expensive weekend pass. It creates an "us vs. them" situation that just leaves a bad taste, especially given that Gabe's games are usually the best ones in the house.
    6. There were just too many people. Lines for the few top-notch games there were long, and, as said before, the experts hogged them to oblivion.
    The experience me feeling depressed, something I've never felt at a PNE event before. I honestly think this will be the last one I will go to. It's just not worth spending the money to play, at best, 10 games on the machines you want to play because of limited selection and boorish, untrafficed behavior.

    Thank you for you review. We will be taking note of your concerns and tweaking things as we always do to make the Pintastic experience the best it can be for everyone. We like giving people options and we sometimes make mistakes. The hours of access to Premium ticket holders will be extended and we will talk about a one day Premium package. But those mistakes help us grow to give everyone the best show experience possible. One think I would like to directly comment on is the long lines on games in the vendor hall and people playing 4 player games as a single person. If you see issues that are obviously causing people to get upset we encourage you to come to the ticket booth info area and report the problem directly to Gabe or Gerard. I would have gone directly to coin-taker and addressed the situation by either asking them to set up another Houdini or put the Houdini that was in there booth on 2 ball play with no extra balls. By the way that Houdini was mine that I purchasing from Coin-taker.
    Also as far as the abuse of games. We will be printing up more code of contact banners around the vendor hall, free play and EBL. Describing the rules in more user friendly detail which should address your concerns. Also we may encourage vendors and free play bringers to tighten up on the tilt a bit to keep abuse from happening. Again thank you for you comments and concerns and we do listen to all of them and compile a detailed list and address each end every one to make Pintastic one of the best shows in the country.

    #58 5 years ago
    Quoted from dannunz:

    I agree and we will be opening up the EBL to premium ticket holders earlier next year.

    Woo-hoo! As if I needed another reason to go again!

    #59 5 years ago

    I had a blast this year. I've been to Pintastic every year so far.
    Not sure what he's talking about, but i thought the Sanctum team did a great job running the Tourney. I've yet to make the cut, but I'll keep trying.

    I'm torn about the EBL and the tiered system.
    But if it continues I think game bringers need to be higher up. Should be something like

    Staff/Volunteers
    Celebs
    Game Bringers
    Vendors
    Paid VIP

    I brought moe.pinball Even though it was an obscure theme, I got some great feedback from those that played it.
    I started a separate thread to chronicle the restoration process for those that are interested

    https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/moe-at-pintastic-2018-explained-and-restoration

    Rob

    #60 5 years ago
    Quoted from Grizlyrig:

    I'll start this off with a THANK YOU to the organizers and everyone else involved that makes Pintastic the show that it is. With that being out of the way,
    I would have purchased three 1 day premium passes if available.
    Seminars are very good, so keep them coming.
    I saw more than once new pinball players not knowing how to start an EM and walking away. I showed more than one person the little faded red button on coin door for a Gottlieb machine.
    Maybe we can have a poster showing different coin doors of machines pointing to the reset/start-up button. Some of the SS machines have a push button wired to coin up switch dangling out the coin door to put credits on.
    Bathrooms- much cleaner than last year.
    Not to offend anyone but there was a lot LESS alcohol being consumed and made for a better experience.
    I don't think multi-player games should be allowed during prime hours,waiting till later in the evening would be better so that no one is standing there for an hour to try a machine. I understand friends want to play together and it's fun but this is a show to share, you guys are not at home.
    I'm overall very happy with the time I had at show and look forward to next year. Thanks again.
    -Mike

    Good idea with showing the start button..also an idea to label the apron or have people warch for 5 ball games. Many of the older games run 5 and not the more modern 3 ball. Some of the less experienced people left at ball 3 on 5 ball games.

    #61 5 years ago

    Personally, I didn't witness much bad behavior but for sure there's always going to be some. Someone said it best here in the thread already - the show-going community needs to help itself. If you see someone banging the games unnecessarily, say something or notify a staffer. They were pretty obvious with their orange badges. It's not rude to do so. Same thing for setting drinks on games, etc. Don't just ignore it. What if it were your machine? In fact, a good rule of thumb is to treat every machine as if it were yours.

    If you have a problem with a machine, or see one with an issue, report it. They had a nice QR-based issue reporting system going and there were enough staff to tell someone personally if you didn't have a smartphone. It takes only a minute. Be part of the solution, not part of the problem. I mentioned to one person that putting drinks on machines was a bad idea, and explained why. They seemed happy to understand the reasoning and put theirs on the floor. I notified the staff several times of people in the EB Lounge who didn't belong there. They graciously allowed them to finish the game they were playing and escorted them out.

    I don't buy the "us vs. them" argument for the EBL. It was clearly available to everyone (they even had some left for purchase IIRC) and it was a personal choice to buy an LE badge or not. A friend of mine bought one just for the EBL even though he was only there Friday and Saturday. Premium badges got in at 10 PM. I wouldn't have a problem with that time moving to 6PM, but I rather liked that as an LE holder I could get away from the crowds and heat in the EBL during the day. I hope daytime hours stay reserved for LE badges. I also had pretty much 24x7 access to a TNA, Houdini, DI and Iron Maiden, among others, for the price of admission. I'm definitely doing it again.

    I didn't queue up to play anything in the vendor hall, so I've not much to say on that other than to say I'd agree with a previous poster that if someone notified a vendor's staff of someone hogging the machine, they'd take care of the problem. There will always be jerks - if you let them ruin your enjoyment by doing nothing, that's on you. The staffers can't be everywhere all the time. A guy plays two or more games in front of me then turns around and says "One more game", he's going to get a firm "No, you've played two already, it's my turn" and if he ignores that, he's getting a staff member in his face. Same thing with a single starting multiple games. No excuse for that. Play your one game and move on, or at least check if anyone behind you wants to play. If so, move along or see if they'd like to do a multi-player game. There's a lot of fun to be had meeting and playing with new people.

    Personally, I've got no problem with a group playing a multiplayer game. It's still 2, 3 or 4 players whether they play together or one after the other. I'm still waiting in queue the same amount of time. Complaining about that is just whining. Same thing with good players having long games. They paid their money to play just as I did. If I don't feel like watching and learning something from their game, I'll move along and come back. That's a non-issue to me too.

    I really enjoyed the show again this year. It's the highlight of my summer. I think I got maybe 9 hours of sleep between Thursday and Sunday. I'm a night owl anyway and I made very good use of the LE badge, often at 3 and 4 AM, then off to bed and back up at 8! I put in an entry for the Rumble and the Charity TNA Co-Op tourney, with no chance of winning either one, but we had a kick-ass time doing it. Many thanks to the Southern New Hampshire Pinball Club crew, whose room was THE place to be at midnight Friday and Saturday for Pinball Ninja Warriors. That was a howling good time and if you missed it, you did yourself a disservice. The Vermont Pinball Co-Op crew was there in force and if you heard any Randy Savage "Ohhhh Yeaaaaahs!" it was probably us.

    Thanks to Gabe and the crew for the wonderful event and it just keeps getting better! Already counting down to next year...

    #62 5 years ago
    Quoted from kamenoi_ostrow:

    Above post snipped for brevity.
    I attended this show with friend who is not a pinhead, but was there to buy/play Houdini. He's into the Houdini theme like no one I've ever known and he loves my pin collection so this would've been a "gateway" pin for him, lol. He brought 14K with him in cash. I informed him that it was 2x what he needed but he replied that if he REALLY liked the pin he'd buy 2! We directly went to Cointaker's booth to play.Some mouth-breather wearing Crocs was hogging the pin forever, playing game after game. Finally when he tired of it we were next in line to play, he's turns around and say's " Just 1 more game" . We left. No sale. No Play. So I agree that some action should be taken regarding game hoggers. BTW, we cut the hogger some slack since I believe he was on some type of spectrum. Regardless, he was still rude & Cointaker should have intervened.

    Please Please Please next time ANYTHING like this happens you need to report it to our Box Office staff (Gabe or Gerard) immediately. They would have called me on the radio and I would have stepped in right away and addressed the issue. This type of behavior will not be tolerated.

    #63 5 years ago
    Quoted from 80spit:

    Had a good time at the show, mostly meeting old and new friends, brought 3 pins, sold 1 was disappointed in the low amount of pins for sale, felt it was hard to see on the cards if the were for sale also. I felt the points system was very slanted, how my Farfalla only got 1 point for what I consider a rare pin was puzzling as my Vegas got 2 points??? Blew off the EBL , was allowed in after 10 but by then I was wiped out. Still a great show, great time

    Hey Gary thanks for bringing those games. Detailed rules of what points are awarded for each type of game is on our web site. We may need to add a category for Italian pinball machines lol. As far as access to the EBL as a free play game bringer. We will be tweaking the hours of entry for this so they can enjoy it earlier.

    #64 5 years ago
    Quoted from 1974DeltaQueen:

    The Good: The seminars were very good, the auction had a lot of interest, the rain held off a bit on Thursday. I had several people hold open doors for me and actually had John Borg load a game back into my truck. The back corner of Wedgeheads held up very well for the amount of play they got. There was more traffic to the outdoor flea due to the new location, thank God he had a tent and a cooler of beverages. The hotdogs next to Yankee Spirits are very tasty and he's a good dude and not overpriced. I like to go out of the show, clear my head, take a walk, lots of local food close by.
    The Bad: Too many pins were broken down, and not the fault of the repair tech, his hands were FULL. I am with others, this special lounge is making this into a have and have nots social breakdown. One flea vendor... however I've met him before, solid guy,not his fault, and he sold a TON of stuff, good for him. The parking lot spaces are tight, real tight, I have a full sized GMC with an extra cab and an 8 foot box and I am respectful of others vehicles. Didn't see Marco, I usually buy stuff from him.
    The Ugly: Bad behavior and just plain ignorance. It's okay to nudge but lifting games, that's bullshit. People starting a game, playing a ball or two then walking away, that is beyond rude. At least a dozen times I had to correct someone from ramming the ball lift because the ball was banging the glass in the shooter lane. I demonstrated how to do this repeatedly. Those EM's were built to last, but a lot of us have countless hours in restoring them and setting down your beer on a game is a douchebag move. To the lady who used my pin as a writing table and put a box on top of it, I asked her to remove her crap. It was a new sheet of glass, I'd like to keep it looking that way.
    Overall a great show, free play game total was down, I counted 124 in the free play room with 20 off, Saturday around 2 PM. However, after watching these animals whoop on these games I doubt I will bring 3 next year. I do not like the gamebringer set up, all 3 of my games were for sale but the original ticket said they were not. Take a look at Rich's York Show registration form, much simpler, easier to navigate. To the people looking to play DMD games in free play, hey good luck with that. The cardboard pinball guy paid his money, I saw kids enjoying it, I think it is different and unique to Pintastic. I liked the weekend after the 4th much better than this late June date. Not sure how Sunday worked out, but I feel 4 days is overkill, (TPF is only 27.5 hours and there are 500 pins.)
    I like the idea of signage, instructions on how to start a game and what NOT TO DO.. ( a list of common courtesies)
    I will be back in 2019 with one or two games, I had a good time and a good experience.

    I was confused about the free play total being down myself. We had 190 pins registered but the heavy rain on Thurday set up may have hurt those totals.

    As far as pricing on games. Were you sent a game registration log in about 3 weeks before the show? If so you would have been able to add a price on your game ticket. We apologize for the confusion on this and will address the situation again next year. Thanks for bringing those great EM's.

    As far as DMD games in free play. We give massive incentives to people who bring the newer DMD games. If you take a closer look around free play there were a bunch of DMD games all show and on Sunday all the games from the EBL came into the free play room which gave us over 45 DMD games in there.

    #65 5 years ago

    One big thing i would like to drill into people is if you see a game issue, one that can harm the game....ie stuck ball and game in endless ball searches please shut it down. The same can go for parts that come loose or get knocked out.

    Sadly my Monster Bash got a nice scratch due to a rail that came loose and people kept playing it after a ball was stuck up there. I was able to fix the rail and return it to play but the brand new pf now has a good scratch in the clear. I think i can fix it. This is one reason many other collectors wont bring higher titles.

    We did have several higher titles in vendor hall for a reason. We want people to go down there...visit vendors. 5 dmd titles with pin stadium, 8 to 9 in the middle near pingraffix qnd automated.

    I had a monster bash, tron, avatar, pinball magic, austin powers, and twister. Gabe had 4 or 5 there as well....all dmd. These were availible for anyone to get to with a wrist band as well.

    The vendors help us make the show and one way we are trying to help them is to drive people into the vendor hall where they may shop and buy at least a little something.

    #66 5 years ago
    Quoted from raisindot:

    Let me preface by saying that I worked on promoting the first Pinstastic NE and give Gabe huge amounts of credit for putting on a good show. I've been to PNE every year, and, until this year, had a great time.
    But this year I was really turned off by a number of things, really none of which had to do with the way Gabe ran the show and more to do with just the way things went. I went on Saturday, when usually I go on Friday, and maybe that's the difference.
    Good things:
    1. The folks who brought all of the JJ games there. It was great to be able to try out POTC and Dialed-In, games you almost never see in the public.
    2. The Cointakers folks for bringing Houdini there. But they did a lousy job of trafficing play (more on this later)
    Bad things:
    1. The freeplay room's selection was the worst it's even been. It's been going downhill each year, but this was by far the first. Very few A-list DMD games there. The only real surprise was the Cactus Canyon, and I'm amazed that the owner would actually allow such a rare pin to be subject to the abusive play of player (see below). If you are into EMs or 80s era games, it was perfect. But if you were looking to play top-notch DMD-era games you had little selection.
    2. There were fewer games in the vendor area than in past years, and the lines for most of these were long.
    3. The quality of the vendors seemed to decline. Far too many people selling non-pinball stuff like old video games, plush toys and tschoches. And, really, do we need to have the same old maker of cardboard games there year after year?
    4. The pure selfishness of many players. This was most evident with the Houdini and JJ games. I waited in line for 45 minutes (with many people behind me) while a foursome of clearly expert players averaged about 10 minutes a ball. after 45 minutes, they were finally getting to the third ball. I couldn't stand it any more any more left. Every time I came back there, more "experts" were hogging the game. I never got to play it. The Cointaker people should have managed this better--either giving one ball per game per player or telling the hoggers to get away. Similar things happened with the JJP games. Okay, we know that some people are great players, but it's really rude if you're sitting there playing one ball for 10-15 minutes while others are waiting.
    5. The pure abuse of games. I saw machines lifted, hit, slammed and shoved around--mainly by the same "expert" players who were hogging the top-notch new games. I also saw a number of people putting full plastic cups of beer right on top of freeplay games--how obnoxious! And the cockiness of these people was terrible. I was playing one game--the only TSPP there--and a guy next to me, playing a LOTR, obnoxiously kept shouting, "I have the high score! I dare you to try to beat my high score!" To which I replied, "I'm not here to compete, I honestly don't care about your score." But he wouldn't let up.
    6. I realize the "VIP lounge" is a money-making enterprise, but I really feel is wasn't sure for the best games (usually the great ones Gabe brings) that in past years have been accessible to all to be kept in a place where your only way of playing them is to buy an expensive weekend pass. It creates an "us vs. them" situation that just leaves a bad taste, especially given that Gabe's games are usually the best ones in the house.
    6. There were just too many people. Lines for the few top-notch games there were long, and, as said before, the experts hogged them to oblivion.
    The experience me feeling depressed, something I've never felt at a PNE event before. I honestly think this will be the last one I will go to. It's just not worth spending the money to play, at best, 10 games on the machines you want to play because of limited selection and boorish, untrafficed behavior.

    I had the complete opposite experience. This was my second year in a row. First for my wife and son. We spent all day and night Saturday and left late morning on Sunday. The entire conversation going home was about how amazing the event was. Everyone we saw was super nice, maybe pumped up and over the top in some cases but kind non the less. Vendor hall seemed to have more games rather then having 4 of the same NEW title. Vendors themselves were super helpful and let me browse behind there counter on several occasions. Now i know this is a pinball convention but to hate on the folks who brought a couple arcade machines or novelty games is sad. where would you like them to setup there booth? Outside. Better yet where would you like the money they paid for there booth to go? Game times probably did run long for several players but i cant imagine that being a bad thing as those are most likely the people with the highest percentage of purchasing a NIB pin. After all the vendors are there to sell. I personally didn't see much game abuse but also am not foolish enough to think it did not happen. Nature of the beast there. As for there being simply "too many people" that just sounds crazy. They want the absolute most people they can get to walk threw those doors each and every day the event is open. To hope for anything else is not want the event to succeed.
    I think I'm a full 180 degrees in the opposite direction on opinion of this years Pintastic show. I have already seen the people involved trying to reconcile your disappointments which is great because that reaffirms the fact they care and no matter how crazy someones perspective may be they are still open to hearing it.

    Thanks
    Blake

    #67 5 years ago
    Quoted from Whridlsoncestood:

    And I’m still catching up on life and work and my body recovering. I know the negative always outshines the tons of positive feedback. As a part of the show I just want to say we are working for a year straight to do the best things we can for everyone. We learn every year. And many people put waaaaaay more time than I do in and I put a ton of time and effort in with a lot of the other staff. Everyone we have helping has their role and position and it all is wonderful. I hope people don’t read everything hear and think everything about the show was so negative. We love getting feedback but please just be curtious of how you are presenting this and really think about what you are saying. It really crushes a lot of us to come home after destroying our bodies for a week and spending so much time over the year just to hear people mostly talking about negatives. As much as something may of disappointed you like a long line for a popular game the almost attack level of some comments really crushes us and our enthusiasm and passion.
    -Jim Swain, The Sanctum

    Jim thank you for everything you and the Sanctum crew do for the show. I have NEVER see you to be rude in any way. Always calm and cool during hectic times.

    #68 5 years ago
    Quoted from dr_spidey:

    I had a blast this year. I've been to Pintastic every year so far.
    Not sure what he's talking about, but i thought the Sanctum team did a great job running the Tourney. I've yet to make the cut, but I'll keep trying.
    I'm torn about the EBL and the tiered system.
    But if it continues I think game bringers need to be higher up. Should be something like
    Staff/Volunteers
    Celebs
    Game Bringers
    Vendors
    Paid VIP
    I brought moe.pinball Even though it was an obscure theme, I got some great feedback from those that played it.
    I started a separate thread to chronicle the restoration process for those that are interested
    https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/moe-at-pintastic-2018-explained-and-restoration
    Rob

    We are thinking of a system were you can get into the EBL as a game bringer earlier with points you gain. But over all YES game bringers will be granted earlier access next year to the EBL. Thank You for your comments and concerns. We are listening and will be discussing options soon.

    #69 5 years ago
    Quoted from 80spit:

    Had a good time at the show, mostly meeting old and new friends, brought 3 pins, sold 1 was disappointed in the low amount of pins for sale, felt it was hard to see on the cards if the were for sale also. I felt the points system was very slanted, how my Farfalla only got 1 point for what I consider a rare pin was puzzling as my Vegas got 2 points??? Blew off the EBL , was allowed in after 10 but by then I was wiped out. Still a great show, great time

    That Vegas was really nice! It was in top consideration in best late 80's category.

    #70 5 years ago

    This was the first year I brought a game and wound up with two games on the floor by Saturday night. The old WW2 era pre-flipper Bumper game got a ton of plays and I actually checked on it every couple of hours since it hadn't been used that extensively in 80+ years. There were some small issues but I managed to keep it up and running all weekend and people really seemed to dig it.

    As usual I brought the family up the entire time and they all had a blast playing the games, enjoying the pool and the entertainment Gabe had set up and we will be back all four days again next year.

    As for some of the comments above, here are my suggestions:

    * Facebook is not a great way to communicate updates and schedule changes. The algorithm they use could push or even eliminate posts from peoples timelines. Use Twitter if you want to communicate changes, anyone can see the Pinside account and all the posts are in order. (cue complaints about technology now)

    * Take a page from sporting events and set up a text number for attendees to send issues on the fly. Have one staff member carry the phone and check on any texts that come in and respond. That way people do not have to leave the line or event they are at to report an issue. It could be as simple as someone texting about the Houdini "One more game" player and the member could a) address the player directly and/or let Cointaker know there is an issue. The staff member could simply instruct or guide the situation from there. You can set up a temporary text number just for the weekend or invest in 800-Pintastic. The good thing about this is there is a data trail for repeat offenders such as people who are abusing machines.

    * A couple of rope stanchions leading up to the newest game titles with a sign explaining one game per trip would work wonders.

    * Invest in printing up a lot of magnets of an arrow with "Press Start" printed on them and put them on coin doors when needed.

    * As a buyer of the LE package I have no issues with letting in all pass holders at 6pm when the admission price drops. 6am-6pm is plenty of time for the LE package.

    #71 5 years ago

    Just a few comments:

    First - absolutely awesome experience...just top notch! I stayed from Thursday morning at set up until Saturday morning when I broke down my Firepower. This was my second time attending, first time participating. My brother and I had a great time, and, although sometimes there were a few lines, for the most part we did not have an issue getting to play any certain machine that we wanted to. It was also just a blast to see so many people having fun on my machine and enjoying the work that I put into it.

    I would like to thank Gabe for making all of this possible, and especially for allowing my brother to volunteer on Thursday, thus allowing him to help me set up things before he would have otherwise been able to enter. That was a huge plus for me.

    My thanks also to the repair staff. I encountered an issue on Thursday evening where 80% of my solenoids wouldn't function, and, thankfully it was an easy fix and they helped me track down the problem. I also thank the people who were dedicated to keeping their respective machines running.

    Special When Lit party was great...good food, good atmosphere. Timing was good, too...just the right time for that post-dinner meal!

    Seminars were great as well - the TNT video comedy show was a blast. Their board-cleaning techniques were also very helpful; I learned some techniques that will help me with old computer repair, another hobby of mine.

    Second - Some things that could have been better: machines that were never even usable. Some guy brought machines in on Friday evening in the one corner of the free play room...and they never worked once from start to finish. Four of them: not one worked. I realize that this was a ticket into the show (mine included), but I hope something was done about people pretty much freeloading their way in.

    The area in between free play and the vendor hall is a little bit confusing...in the sense that it it somewhat of a netherworld. Perhaps a little redesign would help, in the sense of other things being sold there (perhaps more vender space other than art), making the console video games a bit more meaningful (i.e. perhaps have a tournament. Some of us around my age - I'm 34 - grew up on video games but also love pinball). Something like a Nintendo 64 GoldenEye tournament would be fun.

    All in all, a great time. I will come again next year (sans machine - that was a lot of work, it's the only one I have, and now I have to do some repair because of all the play it got!), but I will hopefully be bringing more relatives as well. Gabe, I am sorry that I did not get to meet you in person while there, but thank you very much none the less for a wonderful time.

    #72 5 years ago
    Quoted from dannunz:

    We are thinking of a system were you can get into the EBL as a game bringer earlier with points you gain. But over all YES game bringers will be granted earlier access next year to the EBL. Thank You for your comments and concerns. We are listening and will be discussing options soon.

    The point system definitely needs work, I didn’t use mine as nothing enticed me to do so.

    190 games registered but many no shows , not on you Gabe, but it did hurt the overall show.

    I like your thinking of rewarding game bringers more. These are the guys who risk a lot in wear and tear and damage .

    DMD I don’t even play them not my cup of tea but thanks for providing expensive and desirable games

    To the general comments about reporting game users and hogs I made several people aware what they were doing wrong and why. And to the people who pay the gate 25$ -175$ that’s great but that money won’t buy much in today’s parts market. Really liking the signage and maybe a few More patrolling the free play area. (Something in between the tasers at Allentown and the shortage in staff you experienced. )

    Gamebringer notification , truthfully I didn’t get jack and it’s not as easy to navigate as other shows. My $.02

    #73 5 years ago
    Quoted from Matesamo:

    As a buyer of the LE package I have no issues with letting in all pass holders at 6pm when the admission price drops. 6am-6pm is plenty of time for the LE package.

    If you're a night owl. I'm falling asleep by 8:30 normally to be to work for 3:00am.
    I would gladly pay for a one day "I'm special pass" if the time for entry was earlier, and the price wasn't outlandish.
    I thought about coming back Sunday but my feet were dead. Gonna buy better footwear for next year.
    -Mike

    #74 5 years ago
    Quoted from 1974DeltaQueen:

    The point system definitely needs work, I didn’t use mine as nothing enticed me to do so.
    190 games registered but many no shows , not on you Gabe, but it did hurt the overall show.
    I like your thinking of rewarding game bringers more. These are the guys who risk a lot in wear and tear and damage .
    DMD I don’t even play them not my cup of tea but thanks for providing expensive and desirable games
    To the general comments about reporting game users and hogs I made several people aware what they were doing wrong and why. And to the people who pay the gate 25$ -175$ that’s great but that money won’t buy much in today’s parts market. Really liking the signage and maybe a few More patrolling the free play area. (Something in between the tasers at Allentown and the shortage in staff you experienced. )
    Gamebringer notification , truthfully I didn’t get jack and it’s not as easy to navigate as other shows. My $.02

    Another important note. One of the perks of being a volenteer is access to the EBL for a period of time determined by how long you have volunteered.

    #75 5 years ago
    Quoted from dannunz:

    Another important note. One of the perks of being a volenteer is access to the EBL for a period of time determined by how long you have volunteered.

    Didn't know that. I must have read right over that and never looked back. That sucks.
    -Mike

    #76 5 years ago
    Quoted from 80spit:

    Had a good time at the show, mostly meeting old and new friends, brought 3 pins, sold 1 was disappointed in the low amount of pins for sale, felt it was hard to see on the cards if the were for sale also. I felt the points system was very slanted, how my Farfalla only got 1 point for what I consider a rare pin was puzzling as my Vegas got 2 points??? Blew off the EBL , was allowed in after 10 but by then I was wiped out. Still a great show, great time

    Vegas looked great btw

    #77 5 years ago

    Frank and I so much enjoyed this show...we each signed dozens and dozens of autograph cards, and met lots of first time to a show people, including children! The seminar went great (will be a separate video posted soon) and the separate regular 2 hour video of the show and the auction too! The surprise hit game at the show for me was the new Total Nuclear Annihilation. Its just terrific---I only got to play it late Friday night and just loved it...I filmed quite a bit of it for you to see in the long video going up in a couple weeks. Please watch now the live YouTube 45 minute video I made walking around on Friday late afternoon...its unedited and a continuous shot Frank filmed for me on my trusty cellphone. As the Wi-Fi in the building varies, the video quality varies...but it at least gets the jist of this fun show! The video is already up to 7 thumbs down--probably my usual loser subscribers stuck at home in the basement of Mom and Dad's basement, unemployed and overweight, waiting for Mom to tell him their Hot Pockets are ready!
    But at least Frank and I had a great time--and so many others did too!

    #78 5 years ago
    Quoted from Matesamo:

    * Facebook is not a great way to communicate updates and schedule changes. The algorithm they use could push or even eliminate posts from peoples timelines. Use Twitter if you want to communicate changes, anyone can see the Pinside account and all the posts are in order. (cue complaints about technology now)

    I agree. I didn't check facebook even once. It's a bloated platform these days, and isn't really designed to present users with the latest info--just what facebook decides what you might be most interested in. It's a good marketing tool, but not a good tool designed for instant communication any more.

    Twitter is better for notifications, but not everyone uses that. I rarely do.

    Opt-in show alerts might be the best option. There are plenty of those texting services available. And, there are APIs you can even integrate into a web application, such as Nexmo. Using a texting service might also help supplement PA announcements. Half the time, I couldn't hear them.

    When one of my games was down for an issue on Friday (a loose flipper bat), I didn't get any alerts, texts (yes, my number was on the info sheet), or emails or anything. Someone just left a note on the game, so I only found out about the issue when I passed by the game.

    Quoted from 1974DeltaQueen:

    The point system definitely needs work, I didn’t use mine as nothing enticed me to do so.

    Maybe have the goodies/rewards available at the registration table when checking in?

    Quoted from Matesamo:

    * A couple of rope stanchions leading up to the newest game titles with a sign explaining one game per trip would work wonders.

    Nice idea. Maybe spread those out around free play as well. Maybe also mention something about not starting 4-player games, needing to only press the start button once, and a sign near the EM games about 5-ball play instead of the usual 3-ball play.

    Quoted from Matesamo:

    * Invest in printing up a lot of magnets of an arrow with "Press Start" printed on them and put them on coin doors when needed.

    That's a really neat idea--I might have to use that one.

    Additionally, some "press to add credit" magnets could be useful as well. Some games modified for free play use a separate button to add credits, such as the coin reject button on EM games, or on System 80B games, often times one of the arrow buttons is used to add credits. I saw a number of people walk away from 80B games confused as to why the game wouldn't start.

    Game bringers could even make something like this themselves if they really wanted to. Get some printable magnet sheets, print out the arrows & words, and cut the shape.

    #79 5 years ago
    Quoted from ForceFlow:

    When one of my games was down for an issue on Friday (a loose flipper bat), I didn't get any alerts, texts (yes, my number was on the info sheet), or emails or anything. Someone just left a note on the game, so I only found out about the issue when I passed by the game.

    Our Repair Team was very busy, which means they don't patrol looking for notes posted on the glass. We had lots of signs around telling people about the online system, but we should have left more of the old paper repair tickets in the Repair Station for those who don't want to go online. Even so, the repair ticket (half of it) should go back to the Repair Station to get into the queue for Repair Team attention. The Repair Station is that tall red assembly in the Southwest corner of the main Free Play room.
    .................David Marston

    #80 5 years ago
    Quoted from 1974DeltaQueen:

    The point system definitely needs work, I didn’t use mine as nothing enticed me to do so.
    190 games registered but many no shows , not on you Gabe, but it did hurt the overall show.
    I like your thinking of rewarding game bringers more. These are the guys who risk a lot in wear and tear and damage .
    DMD I don’t even play them not my cup of tea but thanks for providing expensive and desirable games
    To the general comments about reporting game users and hogs I made several people aware what they were doing wrong and why. And to the people who pay the gate 25$ -175$ that’s great but that money won’t buy much in today’s parts market. Really liking the signage and maybe a few More patrolling the free play area. (Something in between the tasers at Allentown and the shortage in staff you experienced. )
    Gamebringer notification , truthfully I didn’t get jack and it’s not as easy to navigate as other shows. My $.02

    With points you could have gotten all kinds of cool stuff. Like a free breakfast buffet, $50 gift card to the oxhead tavern. You got to eat right lol. We also offered smaller incentives like a multiple shirts and a very cool key chain and beer glass. Let me know if you still want to cash in your points. We can hold on to something for you. We are talking about offering the option for people to transfer there points to next year so they can accumulate them for the larger items. Think that would be cool? Maybe come up with some large $$ items to strive for.

    #81 5 years ago
    Quoted from dmarston:

    We had lots of signs around telling people about the online system

    A few people stopped me about issues with games, and I told them about how to report issues since they weren't mine. They didn't understand how to use QR codes, and were either confused or didn't want to take the time to enter the URL. For non-tech savvy players, this system was a little too high tech or too time consuming for them to figure out, so it didn't seem to work for them. They just wanted to quickly tell someone about the problem and move on to other games.

    Quoted from dmarston:

    Even so, the repair ticket (half of it) should go back to the Repair Station to get into the queue for Repair Team attention

    The repair station didn't look welcoming for people trying to report a problem--there were no obvious directions visible from 10 feet away that you could leave a note there about a game, and there wasn't usually anyone near by when I checked. Maybe post a big sign that says "report game problems here"? It didn't seem obvious enough to casual players that it was a customer service area, and not a staff-only area.

    Maybe add stands at the ends of rows with repair sheets people can fill out? Or tablet kiosks? I've used vidabox enclosures before, and they're solid and not *too* expensive. Then, in kiosk mode on the tablet, show a page that shows a "tap here to report a game issue", ask for a game name and/or number, show a couple of common issues, and a comment field, and submission button.

    #82 5 years ago
    Quoted from ForceFlow:

    A few people stopped me about issues with games, and I told them about how to report issues since they weren't mine. They didn't understand how to use QR codes, and were either confused or didn't want to take the time to enter the URL. For non-tech savvy players, this system was a little too high tech or too time consuming for them to figure out, so it didn't seem to work for them. They just wanted to quickly tell someone about the problem and move on to other games.

    The repair station didn't look welcoming for people trying to report a problem--there were no obvious directions visible from 10 feet away that you could leave a note there about a game, and there wasn't usually anyone near by when I checked. Maybe post a big sign that says "report game problems here"? It didn't seem obvious enough to casual players that it was a customer service area, and not a staff-only area.

    People will realize that all they need to do is download the QR code reader app. Scan the code and check off one box. I did it many times myself over the weekend. Takes literally 13 seconds, I timed it. A lot faster than trying to find someone or filling out a paper ticket.

    #83 5 years ago
    Quoted from dannunz:

    People will realize that all they need to do is download the QR code reader app.

    I tried. I got the typical flustered "I don't understand this stuff" response you usually get with tech challenged individuals and they didn't want to proceed. I wasn't going to force them.

    #84 5 years ago
    Quoted from dannunz:

    With points you could have gotten all kinds of cool stuff. Like a free breakfast buffet, $50 gift card to the oxhead tavern. You got to eat right lol. We also offered smaller incentives like a multiple shirts and a very cool key chain and beer glass. Let me know if you still want to cash in your points. We can hold on to something for you. We are talking about offering the option for people to transfer there points to next year so they can accumulate them for the larger items. Think that would be cool? Maybe come up with some large $$ items to strive for.

    I like your thinking, I’ll def Spacebank those points if you’ll allow it. I like FF’s idea of putting the keychains & hats at the register table . Food yeah , breakfast he’ll yeah ! Oxford Tavern not so
    Much since it’s not local for me and I’m not up there often enough.

    JR said I won a 50$ gift card and you’re mailing it to
    Me ??? That’s very much appreciated I stuck around for the cash giveaway but split right before you pulled my name.

    #85 5 years ago

    This was my second year at Pintastic and my first year spending multiple days. We arrived Thursday and left Saturday afternoon. I had the LE badge and would definitely buy it again. I loved being able to play in the empty EBL in the morning and afternoon, and took full advantage of staying in the hotel by playing in the free play room until late and then hopping over to the EBL. My gf is only sort of in to pinball, but she loved all of the EMs and couldn’t stop playing Strikes n Spares! We both loved our trip to Tree House Brewing and being able to get Rapscallion on draft. My only disappointment of the weekend is that I ended up leaving without a new pin. Almost made an offer on that Domino, but managed to talk myself out of it...!

    #86 5 years ago
    Quoted from dannunz:

    People will realize that all they need to do is download the QR code reader app. Scan the code and check off one box. I did it many times myself over the weekend. Takes literally 13 seconds, I timed it. A lot faster than trying to find someone or filling out a paper ticket.

    I downloaded a QR reader on Thursday night to try to find the owner of a game and it just led me back to the game list that was on the website. No owner information or anything else. I understood later that it was updated overnight into Friday but by that time I was annoyed with the QR reader app as it was giving me all kinds of spam. I think this needs to be low-tech with the owner's phone number obviously on the game and possibly a tech number that people can text. When I have to download an app to basically send someone a text I lose interest as I'm sure as I'm sure many other people do also.

    #87 5 years ago

    One other suggestion is to move the thankyou raffle away from the door where people were trying to roll their pins out after 10 PM . Way too
    Much congestion and I kept asking people to step aside . It was nerve racking and difficult to navigate through the traffic. Nobody wants to hit or be hit by a 250 lb. moving wooden box

    #88 5 years ago
    Quoted from Whridlsoncestood:

    Multiple places you’ve brought this up and I’m still trying to get to the bottom of this as I take pride in our tournament and the whole show. I’ll paste what I said elsewhere you posted this...
    Are you referencing me? I’m the short guy running the sanctum and the tournament. I had a Sanctum shirt Thursday and Friday I think. If it was me I’m baffled as to why you would of thought I was rude? Anyone who knows me, knows I pour my heart into this community for the sake of the love of it and all the great people.

    I have no idea who it was but the guy snapped at me for trying to play Elvis. I had no idea I couldn’t access tournament area. It’s no big deal I am over it now. I will delete my comment

    #89 5 years ago
    Quoted from 1974DeltaQueen:

    Nobody wants to hit or be hit by a 250 lb. moving wooden box

    Or even a thirty pound one like my cooler! Man, what bad timing that guy had sitting down on the curb just as I was passing by with my cooler. He was obviously snookered, but I think I whacked him sober!

    #90 5 years ago

    Thanks for all of the great feedback on the registration system and tech notification process. I know those of us involved in these facets of the show were “real-time” assessing what was working well and tweaking what wasn’t, and we’ll definitely keep in mind this feedback as well!

    #91 5 years ago

    I had a great time at the show! It's the first time I've brought games to one of these - the process was easy and the games held up pretty well. The few times they had issues, someone texted me to give me a heads up which I really appreciated. It was also the first tournament I've ever entered. The guys from the Sanctum were really helpful and answered all my newb questions. Tournaments aren't so intimidating anymore, thanks to them. The Extra Ball Lounge was great and we got to play TNA, Maiden and all the other new games as much as we wanted. I only went to the George Gomez presentation and it was amazing. I even won $100 in the thank you raffle. Can't wait till next year!

    #92 5 years ago

    The show was fantastic for us. My cohorts and I were vending out of the Rage Tilt booth in the vendor hall.

    We ran into quite a few old friends and made a whole bunch of new ones. Since we normally vend closer to home, everyone at our local shows already knows who we are and what we do. It was nice to be far from our stomping grounds and get approached by actual fans of our stream who we've never met before. Makes you feel kind of "famous with a small 'f'".

    As far as the setup of the show, I couldn't have been more pleased.

    The Freeplay Room: I liked the variety. Different strokes for different folks I guess, but I thought the spread was great. Plenty of games from every generation. Sure, some went down, but that happens at every show. I really liked that "moe" retheme of Space Shuttle. I have no idea what moe is, but it played great. Cactus Canyon, Time Fantasy, Creech, Lost in Space, Farfalla (how did no one buy that?), there was a glut of quality games. I didn't see any of the wanton abuse described by others and I spent plenty of time in freeplay. Every show is going to have a few turds who abuse the games, if you see it happen, just say something to them. It really sucks to see folks run to the forums and tell others to not bring games. Keep the scare tactics to the nightly news.

    The Vendor Hall: I thought it was great. Gabe and the organizers did a solid by us vendors by putting the newer games and DMDs in the vendor hall. This pulled people from the main freeplay room and got them commiserating around the sales booths. More than a handful of paying customers never would have even seen our booth if the games weren't there to draw them in.

    The After Party: It's the first show that I've gone to that provided dinner for vendors and guests. It was awesome and made me feel appreciated.

    The Pingolf Room: It was Southern New Hampshire running the pingolf room, right? I didn't participate in the tournaments, but I did take some time to play their games and it was great. They were super friendly and I loved the selection of games. Doodle Bug? RoboCop? Cleopatra? LOTR? Hell yeah man.

    I didn't go to any seminars, but I heard they were great. I also appreciate that the EBL games were brought out onto the freeplay floor on Sunday morning so I got a few games in before I hit the road. The tournament was well-run and the men and women from the Sanctum did an excellent job at making sure everything ran smoothly.

    As for the facility, it was well laid out, bathrooms were clean and line-free. There was a plethora of food and drink options in the hotel and nearby. People were friendly and the fact that actual pinball celebrities were there *and accessible* was awesome. Hell, I took a break and got to chat with John Borg, I had breakfast with Todd Tuckey and Paul Faris showed up while we were eating. It was awesome!

    Thanks Gabe and crew for putting on a fantastic show, we'll be sure to be back next year!

    #93 5 years ago
    Quoted from MattG:

    I really liked that "moe" retheme of Space Shuttle. I have no idea what moe is, but it played great.

    Thanks. I started a seperate thread if you want to read more about moe. And also to see the transformation process.
    It got 699 plays on it over the weekend!

    https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/moe-at-pintastic-2018-explained-and-restoration

    #94 5 years ago

    I'd like to publicly thank the volunteer members on the 2018 Pintastic repair team: Eric B, Samuel B, Gary D, Andrew G, Ashlie G, Brian McC, Paul P, and Andrew V. These folks worked LONG shifts (and extra shifts), and were kept busy chasing after the myriad issues that crop up in the free play areas; they all deserve a (virtual) pat on the back for their efforts.

    The QR code-based repair ticket reporting system may have had its birthing pains, but it really did make it a LOT easier for the repair team to keep track of issues, and I believe we received a LOT more tickets than last year (I'm sure Dave Marston will have those details available for me shortly ). We'll continue to investigate ways to make it easier to report problems with games (such as trouble reporting kiosks).

    And a special thank you goes to the game bringers who spent the time before the show to get their games shaken out and dialed in. Excluding stuck balls, the majority of games were remarkably trouble free.

    #95 5 years ago

    Another Pintastic in the history books and I cannot thank Gabe, along with the team of 17 Dave’s (joking) enough for another spectacular year. Special thanks to Tony and the boys for helping out with fixing games as both of my games went down at one point. Seminars were awesome as always, everyone killed it!! I got lots of time on Pirates, TNA, Maiden, Dialed In and Houdini......Talk about 5 incredible pins, I was stoked! I definetly understand some of the concerns regarding the free play room, but I have no doubt Gabe and the team will take care of this 100%! Heck it hasn’t even been a day after the show and he is already pitching ideas on how they could improve it next time......The guy doesn’t stop! There is no doubt this show is run by passionate people that care. Lastly, the VIP lounge was off the charts amazing, what a beautiful collection of top 50 pins and every game played like it was NIB! Shout out to Bundy for bringing the beautiful Getaway he restored and also one to Brian for putting his Batman 66 LE in the free play room. What a great community of pinheads we have in the North East! So excited for 2019!!

    0FB230EF-BE05-4B1C-8101-22FDFA549431 (resized).jpeg0FB230EF-BE05-4B1C-8101-22FDFA549431 (resized).jpeg749C8FAC-7B57-457F-B6DD-4400A27FA026 (resized).jpeg749C8FAC-7B57-457F-B6DD-4400A27FA026 (resized).jpegA4AA9792-FAC5-4494-BAC5-E39F78DD18A1 (resized).jpegA4AA9792-FAC5-4494-BAC5-E39F78DD18A1 (resized).jpegBFC46AFD-793E-412D-9558-45E485AA361B (resized).jpegBFC46AFD-793E-412D-9558-45E485AA361B (resized).jpegD3204562-A948-4EDA-9848-30B73DF05F67 (resized).jpegD3204562-A948-4EDA-9848-30B73DF05F67 (resized).jpegF9DB107C-2ABA-487A-8D70-AC6633066285 (resized).jpegF9DB107C-2ABA-487A-8D70-AC6633066285 (resized).jpeg
    #96 5 years ago
    Quoted from jadziedzic:

    I'd like to publicly thank the volunteer members on the 2018 Pintastic repair team: Eric B, Samuel B, Gary D, Andrew G, Ashlie G, Brian McC, Paul P, and Andrew V. These folks worked LONG shifts (and extra shifts), and were kept busy chasing after the myriad issues that crop up in the free play areas; they all deserve a (virtual) pat on the back for their efforts.
    The QR code-based repair ticket reporting system may have had its birthing pains, but it really did make it a LOT easier for the repair team to keep track of issues, and I believe we received a LOT more tickets than last year (I'm sure Dave Marston will have those details available for me shortly ). We'll continue to investigate ways to make it easier to report problems with games (such as trouble reporting kiosks).
    And a special thank you goes to the game bringers who spent the time before the show to get their games shaken out and dialed in. Excluding stuck balls, the majority of games were remarkably trouble free.

    Tony thank you and your team for an amazing job with keeping games going all weekend especially mine lol.

    The one time you were on a dinner break I had a big issue with TNA shooting out continues balls. We needed the game for the TNA seminar Eric Bundy was on duty and was able to figure out it was a cold solder joint on my kick out solenoid. Got it fixed and moved with 3 min to spare before the seminar. Amazing work!

    Tony you are the head of a great team and with out you guys the show would have been a disaster. Andy informed me today that we had 192 games between the free play room and vendor hall free play not including any VIP games or vendor games.

    Your team responded to 213 repair tickets. Just a FYI to everyone who thinks its easy to keep the games up and running for one of these massive events.

    #97 5 years ago

    I brought my two sons and we all had a great time. Nothing is perfect, and you can't please everyone, but thanks to Gabe and everyone who worked very hard to make it as perfect as possible, and who will work even harder to make it more perfect next year.
    No complaints from me about the show itself because I know I couldn't come close to doing it better on my best day.
    Of course the human element is always present in a public venue. Those who are ignorant (they don't live and breathe pinball as we do), and those who are just plain inconsiderate of others, can make these events a little trying at times. Luckily, theIr effects are more than nullified by all the friendly and courteous people who attend.
    Many thanks also to all who brought games, especially to Mr. La Porta who brought his one and only game, an outstanding example of Williams "Firepower". It was a blast to play!
    Thanks for sharing that great machine with us.
    JR

    #98 5 years ago

    Regarding the QR codes... they wouldn’t work for me. They scanned, but would not load (may be the app I was using). I submitted paper tickets for a few games.

    A suggestion for the “rules” list. A game I was playing locked on an upper flipper coil. I turned the game off, and walked ove4 to fill out a trouble ticket. By the time I got back over to the game, someone had turned it back on, and was playing... with the flipper still locked on. Perhaps a “if the game is off don’t turn it back on” rule is in order.

    #99 5 years ago
    Quoted from drsfmd:

    Regarding the QR codes... they wouldn’t work for me. They scanned, but would not load (may be the app I was using). I submitted paper tickets for a few games.
    A suggestion for the “rules” list. A game I was playing locked on an upper flipper coil. I turned the game off, and walked ove4 to fill out a trouble ticket. By the time I got back over to the game, someone had turned it back on, and was playing... with the flipper still locked on. Perhaps a “if the game is off don’t turn it back on” rule is in order.

    If I see an issue with a game i turn it off and than unplug it till the repair team is able to get to it. This seems to keep people from trying to turn it back on.

    #100 5 years ago

    ForceFlow writes:
    "The repair station didn't look welcoming for people trying to report a problem--there were no obvious directions visible from 10 feet away that you could leave a note there about a game, and there wasn't usually anyone near by when I checked. Maybe post a big sign that says "report game problems here"? It didn't seem obvious enough to casual players that it was a customer service area, and not a staff-only area.

    Maybe add stands at the ends of rows with repair sheets people can fill out? Or tablet kiosks?"

    I think we'll do both. We had paper forms last year. Andy does kiosks for some of his clients, so he's confident we can create something along the lines you're thinking. Then we take photos of the main Repair Station and the satellite kiosks and make up some signage to spread around.

    I think we won't put the contact info for the game bringer out in public on Not-For-Sale games. We would prefer to have our Tech Team intervene first, and we would prefer to go through the ticket system so that redundant reports are automatically compressed into one problem report. This allows the bringers to be undisturbed except for repair issues where owner intervention is required. The paper handout for game-bringers spells this out. I would like our game-bringers to be able to enjoy a seminar in full and not have smartphones making various noises in the Seminar Room. Or they can play in the tournaments, haggle in the Vendor Hall, swim in the pool, etc., etc. All we ask is that they check to see if there is an "owner call" out for them every 1-2 hours. Bringers who don't have smartphones can check the monitor on the Repair Station. See: we actually have given this a lot of thought, and we have a wish-list of new features.

    I plan to review all the game cards to see what annotations the bringers put on there. Sometime before the next show, I'll review all the repair tickets, too. Game bringers can PM me with their suggestions and preferences for how they would like to interact with the software (and the Free Play Registration desk) during the show.
    .................David Marston

    There are 198 posts in this topic. You are on page 2 of 4.

    Reply

    Wanna join the discussion? Please sign in to reply to this topic.

    Hey there! Welcome to Pinside!

    Donate to Pinside

    Great to see you're enjoying Pinside! Did you know Pinside is able to run without any 3rd-party banners or ads, thanks to the support from our visitors? Please consider a donation to Pinside and get anext to your username to show for it! Or better yet, subscribe to Pinside+!


    This page was printed from https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/2018-pintastic-post-reviews-and-comments/page/2?hl=colinize and we tried optimising it for printing. Some page elements may have been deliberately hidden.

    Scan the QR code on the left to jump to the URL this document was printed from.