Quoted from mbaumle:I think you're looking at it the wrong way. Example: I'm a musician, and back in college, I was the musical director for our A Capella group. We competed in the ICCAs (think: Pitch Perfect movie). Our small group would meet twice a year, and brainstorm songs we wanted to use in competition, and by extension, other performances. I was tasked with transcribing the music to the voice parts, and teaching it to the group. 75% of the time, I really disliked the songs our group would select. It was initially painful to sit there and listen to each song a million times to write my sheet music.
I found quickly though, that while I didn't have any attachment to the music that was selected, I found extreme satisfaction in creating music that would be enjoyed by others. I imagine that pinball programmers feel the same. Not all of them will enjoy all or any of the themes that they're handed, but to be able to create something that you can see other people enjoy for years and years is a fantastic feeling.
I completely agree with you but I already have a job with very competitive benefits and I get to work on things I love. Sure on occasion you get stuck on something that kinda sucks but that is pretty rare. I was not trying to attack Stern, its just the nature of the beast. They are in a very difficult position trying to get good programmers. There is just way to much demand on talent and that talent has way to many opportunities. What young talented Software Engineer is going to go to Stern to code the Munsters and pass on, the Tesla, Space X, Microsoft, Apple, Google... of the world?