I don't think I'll ever fully get out, just scaling back for a while. I'm not willing to abandon Voltron, and while WPT might be up on the block, work is going to continue while it's gone. I've got so much to do in terms of art, isolating video and audio assets, rules design, and learning python, I expect it to be 2 years before I need access to a physical machine, and I have the whitewood, so..

Superbly done! I truly hope that the "fartgument" will eclipse the "cargument" in 2017.

I love pinball. The game. Playing. The "scene" these days, not as much.

I used to hunt down, buy, shop out and restore games non-stop. That's over due to burn-out (not to mention local deals never pop up anymore).

Went thru my NIB phase, but that's over as I haven't liked anything Stern has made post-Metallica. That'd be fine, I don't have to like everything, but they've actively made me detest them as a company with their rising prices, poor QC, weird/unfinished code, and arrogance.

Then there's the money-sucking boutique failures of Jpop, Skit, and DP.

I like Spooky, but not their games.

I like JJP, but not their prices.

The new side of pinball has some serious rot...and the hobby side has too many "NIB sycophants" who are still cool with the way these companies operate & happy to throw crazy $$$ at them.

All of this makes me kinda loathe "the scene". I still like my games (although I want to whittle down), I still like my pin friends. It's all good in that respect. I just don't have mad passion anymore, and am spending most of my gaming time playing Nintendo Switch (Splatoon 2 Splatfest starts tonite! Wooomy!!!!).

LMAO! Maybe its because I haven't had lunch yet and my chilish side is kicking in but... hilarious analogy! Well put.

I haven't been on Pinside a very long time, but it's more positive than most forums, IMO. Also in person, all the people I've met through the hobby on average have been really nice and helpful and usually just want to spread love of the game. Although, I'm also into the game collecting scene, and its very easy for people to get trapped into "popular trends" of crapping on certain games or systems. Just comes down to you liking what you like and not worrying about what others think. It's your money and time! Hope you stay positive and dont let the few rotten apples ruin it.

Just gonna leave this here....
“The children now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise.”
― Socrates

Hey whoa, back up. Let's not get crazy now.

Do I like pinball ?

Hell, I worship it !

LTG : )

Games that eventually got great code like Tron and even Xmen. Those days where they would release massive updates to a game where it made the previous release feel very primitive. Getting pulled into a game frenzy to finally beat Tron by getting the ladder all lit. You want another "hit" of a pinball game to be in your house, but it never happened. Not all pinball is great. But having new pinball keeps the candle alive for a little longer.

Knowing that new games dont ever see improvements makes it hard to ride the nib train anymore.

A lot of the negativity in this forum does have an adverse affect on people who might otherwise buy a machine. If a person doesn't have access to try a machine out in person and all they read is a vocal minority disparaging a game (and in most cases, prematurely and unfairly), then they'll usually look to spend their money elsewhere.

Dialled In went through a horrible period where the game was mocked after the reveal. GOT has been raked over the coals for the artwork. Both games have turned out to be better than they were initially assumed to be. Star Wars is going through the same thing now, and I'm guessing it will turn out to be better than it was initially received.

Expectations in this hobby seem to bring about nothing but disappointment among passionate Pinsiders. Perhaps we should all learn to be a little more patient.

Forums always bring out the worst in people (I mean, just look at Reddit) and it's something I've seen in almost every hobby forum I've ever been on, where everyone gets whipped into a frenzy of demanding consternation and neediness thanks to the faceless echo chamber nature of posting online. The best thing you can do is play as much pinball socially as possible, I think - go play at a barcode, or have people over, etc. The more you focus on pinball in terms of a trading market, the worse it gets, I think.

While it can frustrate me, I typically love it as much as Life itself.

I have this posted at my gameroom website, and it about sums up my thoughts on pinball.

(This is how it started):
It all began in 1965 when – at the tender age of 8 – I was taken along by my Mother when she visited some friends who had a pinball game and a Coke machine in their family room – a very hip thing back in 'the Day.' I can still recall that as we left the house, I tugged on her coat sleeve and exclaimed, "... Some day Mom, I'm gonna have a house with a room just like THAT!"

In the late '60s and early '70s my parents were big into league bowling. Before the era of babysitters, what better place to stand around and watch the action? Our local bowling alley had a pinball machine and that cool Coca-Cola Vendo machine, that dispensed drinks in little triangular paper cups for 15 cents.

Bowling? Is there bowling going on in this place? Funny, I hadn't noticed.
"Can I have another quarter, Dad?"

(And this is where it's gone):
'I am indeed truly blessed.
In a world filled with so much poverty, hunger and illness, I'm able to - unlike many others - enjoy many of the games which delight me.

These colorful machines – with their detailed artwork and confounding principles of Physics – first amazed me as a young child. And they will amuse, confound, astonish and intrigue me until the very day I am gone from this Earth.

For almost ever, I found pinballs and arcade games - much like pets - to be a more agreeable and less confrontational sort of companionship than many people. (Especially during the cumulative two years of time I spent in hospital beds for knee surgeries, and the almost three years of time spent on crutches simply learning how to walk again).

Should I go, don't miss me when I'm no longer on the 'right side of the dirt.'
Just start-up a FREE PLAY GAME IN THE SKY for me, and know that I'll be just fine!'

skyrex

Ah. I hear you.

That is called pattern recognition. By paying attention to details in previous games that have been played and comparing/contrasting such to new unplayed games, it gives the individual an objective opinion of "yay" or "nay" regarding the game. Once they actually eventually play the game, they can then compare their previous predicted opinion to their new actual opinion. By doing such, their abilities to anticipate their own opinions after playing a game become better. As such, it assists them in their high-dollar purchases of games prior to their release, because most new games are paid for before ever being released.

TL;DR:

"If you don't like Stern's new Star Wars pinball, I question if you like pinball at all 'cause I bought an LE and I definitely don't regret my purchase...not even a little."

What... Out of the thousands of different titled pinball machines manufactured you can't like pinball if you don't like one that looks/plays like a hundred others?

You might as well add a poll skyrex. Let's see how many No votes you get.
I mean like, come on, we're on a pinball website. Should be mostly Yes votes.

Here's a few ideas to consider for a poll.

Do you actually like pinball?

* Yes
* No
* Usually
* Sometimes
* Yes, but only when I have some project machines to repair/restore.
* Not when the machines on location are in crappy condition, but they still have them set to take your money.
* Use to, but not any more. I'm getting cranky in my old age.
* Yes, as long as I can bitch and complain about everything.
* No, because I don't like the themes and prices of the new machines, and I'm too brain dead to figure out that I can just buy older machines that have cool themes at lower prices.
* I would like to, but my wife/girlfriend (husband/boyfriend) thinks pinball is stupid, rolls her eyes whenever pinball is brought up and nags me, so I'm not allowed to anymore.