Quoted from Isochronic_Frost:Agree, there are plenty incredible talented players who will change their playstyle against novice players to make it fun and friendly instead of demoralizing the new player by purposefully losing. Throwing a game because you’re more skilled than a new player makes them feel like crap.
What you can do:
Play dangerously, make the deadly shots, flip on the fly, don’t cradle! On modern games I’ve seen good players choose objectives that are “fun” or highly rewarding but extremely risky and dangerous when playing against someone new because it is very exciting to watch it, and it’s very easy for them to lose without throwing.
This what I USUALLY do when I’m playing less skilled players, not that I’m amazing in any way. I’ll be a little more sloppy and play faster to keep the ball times down so they aren’t waiting forever for my ball to finish and lose interest. If it’s a game they haven’t seen before I’ll use my turns to try to explain basics and maybe point out how to get to the game’s easiest multiball.
I had family visiting last weekend and my nephews immediately flock to the pinball machines, which I love. My 9 year old nephew won a game against me and was feeling a little cocky and starts to smack talk. He says “I thought you would have scored more points. You have all these machines in your house. I barely get to play…”
Now, to be fair, I love some good natured smack talking, it makes it all more fun. At the same time, if you smack talk, I think it is okay to take the kids gloves off. Next game he wanted to play GOTG and I put in an honest effort and beat him 400 mil to 30 mil. I told him “I just didn’t want you to go to sleep tonight thinking you could actually beat me…” He shot me a look, but he loved the back and forth and we kept playing, switching machines a few times, with him playing players 1 to 3, and me on player 4 until it was time for him to call it a night.
