standard here is
.25 per play on EMS
.50 per play on SS
.75 or 3 for $2 on classic DMD (some DMDs are straight .75 because of how they price)
New games are $1 when brand new. After a few months they typically go to 3 for $2
JJP and more expensive stuff is $1 straight or 6 for $5

Reality is that your .50 to play in 1992 is .84 in todays market.

I hobby operate, but I am also ALWAYS happy to play a nice game for $1 per play and am thankful for those that put out nice games and maintain them.

You are spoiled with those prices for sure. Hope you are buying plenty of beers to keep them in business cause at a quarter per play they aint cutting much and likely losing on many.

I have seen that model go 1 of 2 ways. Either to complete freeplay to try and beat the competition and the games end up going to crap real quick. Or they get smart and up prices to .50 per play across the board (when you dont have a split then .50 per play plus beer sales seems to be enough to keep things running)

In Chicago, Logans Arcade chose the second model and it seems that they consistently have better quality games to play. That to me tells all pinhead to be wary of the model you support. Happy to hear Tilt has gone to .50 per play on the new stuff (that is what likely allows them to bring in the new stuff and keep it going).

curious, are there no route players that are outside of the collector wordl in your area?

I used to think that was the case. Then we started putting games out and I quickly found out that the majority of regulars on route dont own any (or just 1) game, dont associate with the collector group, or are complete casuals.

I fully agree that good maintainence is key to any route (either hobby or those crazy enough to try and do it to make money), but just wanted to point out in my epxerience the hardcores are a small % of what I see playing around town.

outside perspective here. It is not what you are saying but HOW you are saying it and WHERE you are saying it. To me is sounds like PinballMike is readily accessible and tries hard to maintain good games and in good condition. I am just guessing that his number is readily available on all games and you could have contacted him directly if you noticed some issues or what you make it sound like, super tight tilts that make games not worth playing.

From what I am reading here, I would be interpreting it the exact same way Mike is. I suggest taking it to PM and possibly edit your posts if you dont intend them to come off the way they are. Right now, you sound disgruntled and like you purposefully are trying to bash him and his business, but I think you genuinely would like to just be able to play good games on route and feel they are not too your liking.

I can say from experience that in general, most people always feel tilts are too tight on route. I can also say that they are usually set at a reasonable amount to prevent some from abuse and it is more likely your play style causing the tilts than the actual game (just based on you tilting a bunch of stuff). I am guessing you either have very loose tilts at home and have grown accustomed to it OR more likely you just play heavy handed or with body weight on your palms/resting on the lockdown? I personally have seen lots of people that just dont realize they are playing in this manner and how it will make a tilt bob pick up momentum.

Again, I suggest taking it to PM if you actually want to help.

last thing, most operators (both hobby and pro) have realized that they want to treat all customers well, but there are some you will be happy to loose.

As a hobby operator we try to provide a variety and that would be my suggestion to anyone else wanting to try it.
The best location will have at least one .25 game (EM), one .50 game, one .75 classic, and one $1 new game.

I agree with vireland that the reality is different that what you state. Your opinion is valuable, just pointing out it is different than the majority based on the coin drop and watching people play. I want the variety on route, but the newer games get the most play.

I will say that I firmly believe in trying to help new people not feel cheated. We regularly turn up ball saver and I think that is one of the most important settings to change from default. It allows a house ball to come back to life and that is good for casuals to feel they are getting a value. The good players dont need it so it wont make their games any longer.

I would say that unless you live in an already thriving pinball town (i.e. Seattle) then you should expect to be paying $1 on all new games IF you want to keep seeing new games. I would say that if you are comfortable playing all older games in poor condition then continue to support the operators that provide that service. I personally want to bring new pinball to the masses and also provide options which all give them a good playing experience but also allow us to continue to add new stuff to the line up.

To put it as simply as I can, we are over 4 years in and have not taken a single quarter out of a game in that time. Every single coin dropped goes to split, game maintenance, insurance, fees, etc... and what is left over goes towards paying down the loans (slowly) or buying new games (both older stuff to fully refurbish and brand new stuff) to put on route for the community to enjoy. We have 3 members in our hobby operating group and all 3 of us spend considerable time every week to keep the games running. We dont take out a dime for our time and often make poor business decisions for the benefit of supporting the scene with new stuff (good business decisions would be to buy only old classics and never take a risk on something brand new that costs a bunch).

What am I getting at... Well if you look at it for the time invested, I would be smarter flipping burgers for 10 hours each week (that includes accounting for any possible value the games have once paid off) and I cant imagine anyone attempting to do this fr a living is getting rich. It is some degree of passion project for anyone attempting to keep pinball alive and growing (likely lots of passion, or is it obsession ) and to do it, games simply HAVE to be at $1 per play and NEED the support of pinheads alongside the casuals if you want to see it grow and continue. I would love to be in one of the select towns where the numbers possibly work out to be able to put stuff at .50 like it was 1994 and I also understand the tactical pleasure of dropping in 2 quarters and perceived value of doing so... Sadly the world has changed around pinball, and if pinball is forever perceived as needing to be .50 for pinheads (I assume if you are on this forum then you are way more of a pinhead than most) then it wont succeed in the long run.

Last thing I will add and LTG mentioned it, but it may be worth switching a little of that money from the food/beer fund into the pinball fund
It is always good to help support the bar where you play, but go for the tall boy instead of that $8 drink