(Topic ID: 279650)

Do you restart your game after a bad 1st ball?

By Chet_Hardbody

3 years ago


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    There are 165 posts in this topic. You are on page 2 of 4.
    #51 3 years ago

    Nope. I have that option turned off in the settings actually.

    #52 3 years ago

    I don't usually. One of the things I like about pinball vs. other arcade games is the fact that it doesn't really become more difficult (in terms of survival) the longer you play. I'm just as likely to lose a ball at the beginning of a game as I am at the end of a game. In arcade games, if you die early you'll often restart because you'll tell yourself you know you can get through that part without losing lives and that you'll need to those lives for when the game becomes more difficult. In pinball, that feeling doesn't exist.

    With that in mind I don't often restart after a bad first ball unless my first ball is a complete house ball or I'm only planning on playing a couple games and really want to try for potentially better ones.

    #53 3 years ago

    Sometimes, but not much. I used to do this a lot on Maverick because it's pretty much impossible to get into the poker championship unless you get some poker chips on those first balls. Of course, all my games are also set to 5 ball, so many would probably say I am cheating already.

    #54 3 years ago
    Quoted from Joey_Bada_Bing:

    I disabled the ability to do it on my pin. All it takes is one good ball to have a great game and sometimes it’s the last one!

    I did the same and it helped me break what I felt was a bad habit.

    #55 3 years ago

    No. That's cheating.

    #56 3 years ago

    Nope...For some of us Crazy Pinheads, Pinball is kind of a metaphor for life

    I always get turned off when I hear tales of dudes restarting BSD if they don't score Rats and Bats bonus on Ball One. WTF?

    It's all about coming back from adversity, Baby!

    It only takes one ball...

    #57 3 years ago

    I used to do it all the time way back when, now I just play it out (if I'm that annoyed at the performance on the first ball I just turn the game off and go do something else). Sometimes you get so pissed off at the first ball that it puts pressure on to play better.

    Mostly it came out of starting to play in tournaments though, because if you do a restart you get a zero (not that I haven't seen some top players 'sneak' a restart in, there are a couple of cheaters out there).

    I started to record all my scores on my games and keep it in a spreadsheet for a couple of reasons; one, to see if I'm *really* playing that title enough to justify keeping it, and two, to see if I'm actually getting better over the years. If I throw out 2/3's of games by restarting and not recording that score, how would I know if I'm getting better or not?

    It helps to not restart on some games that are really short players anyway because you're going to lose maybe a minute before you restart? Sometimes I'll have 10 minutes to play Stars or Mystic and play 20 games in that time!

    #58 3 years ago

    On newer Sterns you can end the game at any time by holding left flipper and start for a few seconds. Even if you are on ball 1 of a 4 player game. You need to enable it in settings.

    #59 3 years ago
    Quoted from Oneangrymo:

    how do you retart a game? Is there a way to do that on a Stern other then turning machine off and on again?

    On the start of the second ball you just hold the start button in for a few seconds. It will restart the game back to 0 points and ball one.

    #60 3 years ago
    Quoted from kermit24:

    On newer Sterns you can end the game at any time by holding left flipper and start for a few seconds. Even if you are on ball 1 of a 4 player game. You need to enable it in settings.

    Beat me to it, good answer. Anyone know what year Stern started that feature? not on Avatar.

    #61 3 years ago
    Quoted from ThisNotes4U:

    Beat me to it, good answer. Anyone know what year Stern started that feature? not on Avatar.

    this just in the last couple of years, it takes the game back to standby mode like you just turned on the game but didn't press start (not ball 1) unlike pressing and holding the start button which restarts new game.

    #62 3 years ago

    IIRC every time you restart the game after ball 1 it counts as a game played for the audits. Still keeps track of how many balls played as well.

    #63 3 years ago
    Quoted from DaveH:

    Never. There is absolutely no reason to. My score doesn’t matter unless I’m competing. So why would I need to artificially inflate it by removing the bad balls? If I have a house ball on ball 1, I want to see what I can do with 2 and 3.

    I am in this group; with the caveat I did "restart" my JP a few times to test out the raptor lock mechanism.

    So NEVER during play, if needed during testing, sure. That should be obvious but some people are super literal.

    To me I am stepping up to play a pinball GAME. 3 balls, maybe more. Part of that game is having a rough ball or two maybe. Doing what you can with the rest. Other opinions are valid, but I don't know why I would choose to rob myself of setting a new grand champion score on a single ball or whatever; some of my best games only have 1-2 real played balls. That's pinball baby

    #64 3 years ago

    Yes, sometimes. It's kind of a bad habit...

    #65 3 years ago
    Quoted from electricsquirrel:

    No. That's cheating.

    How is it cheating? All you're doing is starting a new game.

    #66 3 years ago
    Quoted from snowy_owl:

    How is it cheating? All you're doing is starting a new game.

    Depends if you are trying to "test" your skill and ability to bounce back from a bad ball, or just get coddled with constant do-overs. If you have fun only playing "good" games, do that. If you want a reality check that "sometimes you suck, and you should work to get better" that is fine too.

    If all I did in life was press reset button every time I screwed up, I would be much less careful and probably not be as good at a lot of things. No consequences etc. I think there was a Rick and Morty episode about that...

    Is life (or pinball ) without consequences meaningless? Up to you to decide...

    -1
    #67 3 years ago
    Quoted from BC_Gambit:

    Depends if you are trying to "test" your skill and ability to bounce back from a bad ball, or just get coddled with constant do-overs. If you have fun only playing "good" games, do that. If you want a reality check that "sometimes you suck, and you should work to get better" that is fine too.
    If all I did in life was press reset button every time I screwed up, I would be much less careful and probably not be as good at a lot of things. No consequences etc. I think there was a Rick and Morty episode about that...

    Is life (or pinball ) without consequences meaningless? Up to you to decide...

    Great post!

    #68 3 years ago
    Quoted from BC_Gambit:

    Depends if you are trying to "test" your skill and ability to bounce back from a bad ball, or just get coddled with constant do-overs. If you have fun only playing "good" games, do that. If you want a reality check that "sometimes you suck, and you should work to get better" that is fine too.
    If all I did in life was press reset button every time I screwed up, I would be much less careful and probably not be as good at a lot of things. No consequences etc. I think there was a Rick and Morty episode about that...

    Is life (or pinball ) without consequences meaningless? Up to you to decide...

    Awesome analogy. I agree.

    #69 3 years ago

    I don't restart games, but I am developing a bad death save habit. I can usually turn it off when the game isn't mine, but every once in a while it still comes out.

    #71 3 years ago

    I’d guess about 10 percent of my games I restart on a poor 1st ball.

    Something that kind of drives me nuts are the statistics on how many plays a pin has had equates to resale.

    While a world class PAPA champion could own a pin with an average game time of 15 minutes on a machine, Joe Laymen could have a 4 minute average game...then there’s us....we just can’t go on without restarting the game every now and again. Can’t help ourselves....don’t judge.

    #72 3 years ago

    I restarted a game because I suck at pinball and wanted to impress the wife. It takes a lot to get her going these days.

    #73 3 years ago

    Restating sucks. Play your 3 balls and wear it.

    #74 3 years ago

    Nope. Never. I’ve had many last ball killers

    #75 3 years ago

    Fuck fuck’n no

    #76 3 years ago
    Quoted from bangerjay:

    Fuck fuck’n no

    Well there you have it. If lionman says fuck no, you can put this to bed

    #77 3 years ago

    Love this topic. I did not know the ability to restart was a thing until Twitch. Turning a machine on & off was not an option in my gameroom. With my Elvira machine, if I didn't clear out 2 haunts on first ball I got in the habit of resetting. Since current code I have decided to play every game out for custom movie call out at end. Have found that some times I can triple my score on 3rd ball alone.

    #78 3 years ago

    I used to disable it so as to get better at dealing with beefy ball 1's in tournament situations. Then I realized always living that tourney life was sucking all the fun out of pinball.

    I restart games all the time.

    All you holier than though purists talking all this shit need to relax. I'm still a better player than you.

    #79 3 years ago

    sometimes and depending what machine i slam tilt them or hit start button

    But I have pulled off some rippers scores on ball 3 and generally wait for the match number as my machines are set to coin in the house

    #80 3 years ago
    Quoted from ectobar:

    I used to disable it so as to get better at dealing with beefy ball 1's in tournament situations. Then I realized always living that tourney life was sucking all the fun out of pinball.
    I restart games all the time.
    All you holier than though purists talking all this shit need to relax. I'm still a better player than you.

    I second that.

    -1
    #81 3 years ago
    Quoted from ectobar:

    All you holier than though purists talking all this shit need to relax. I'm still a better player than you.

    You seem to be the one talking crap here my man.

    How about this; if you can't take a bad ball, would you accept pressing a button combination to add say 20 million to your score on modern Sterns so you could "feel better and have fun"? Or would that be "dumb and pointless"?

    Alternatives could be giving yourself a stupid long ball saver, setting the game to extra easy etc. , all of those are equally valid options if you really can't stand that the universe could somehow give you a lousy ball now and then.

    But if you can't accept this happening to you, I doubt you are a "better player than me" on at least a few metrics...

    #82 3 years ago

    The reason I don’t play golf is everyone takes it too seriously. Pinball is different.

    #83 3 years ago

    More often after a bad second ball. Give the game a chance to redeem itself.

    #84 3 years ago
    Quoted from Electrocute:

    The reason I don’t play golf is everyone takes it too seriously. Pinball is different.

    Fair, but I think as is often the case it is a matter of perspective.

    Being able to have fun and walk away from a "bad" game is the definition of not taking it seriously IMO. Feeling an anxious rage ball because you are not always awesome seems like a person is "taking it seriously".

    So I really can't see what side of the coin you are on here, aside from "have fun", which is really the right side in all of this! Well done.

    #85 3 years ago

    It is a bad habit that I do occasionally. Mainly if I am high score chasing and having rough balls in a row

    #86 3 years ago
    Quoted from Electrocute:

    The reason I don’t play golf is everyone takes it too seriously. Pinball is different.

    Exactly.....I can't believe people are getting hot under the collar over some dude restarting his game at his house....ridiculous.

    #87 3 years ago

    N-E-V-E-R. Ever.
    It makes me try to play better + I like a good challenge.
    ~Steveo

    #88 3 years ago

    I occasionally will restart if the first ball is really bad on a game where you need a good first ball like Joker Poker, EBDx.

    The game doesn't approve of this and will invariably punish me with five more crappy balls....

    #89 3 years ago
    Quoted from kvan99:

    Exactly.....I can't believe people are getting hot under the collar over some dude restarting his game at his house....ridiculous.

    I don't think many people here are getting hot under the collar. It is okay for two similar minded groups to discuss something and not 100% agree. And sometimes people bring up interesting points like...

    Quoted from barakandl:

    It is a bad habit that I do occasionally. Mainly if I am high score chasing and having rough balls in a row

    If you are high score chasing and trying to be efficient, I can see doing this. Still not my bag, but I understand.

    #90 3 years ago

    No because part of the fun on pinball is having that one great ball..

    Things like restarting or setting your game to five balls just promote sucking.

    I am a decent player mainly because I like harder games and suck it up when they kick my ass.

    I also dont get people who mod their games so they dont drain etc either..... its pinball its supposed to drain and screw you over once in a while.

    #91 3 years ago
    Quoted from kvan99:

    Exactly.....I can't believe people are getting hot under the collar over some dude restarting his game at his house....ridiculous.

    Hot under the collar? Lol. It’s just a discussion thread. Internet forum. Opinions and stuff.

    #92 3 years ago
    Quoted from Elvishasleft:

    I also dont get people who mod their games so they dont drain etc either..... its pinball its supposed to drain and screw you over once in a while.

    I get a lot more enjoyment out of the game when it's playing mean. I used to not care about tilt settings if there was even a bob in there and had stuff set really easy. Got bored of so many great games that I wish I had back over the years.

    It's much more fun when the ball times are shorter. Although some games like BK2K that I tired to make harder just aren't..... you master the 2 shots back to the top playfield on that game and you're just going to play seemingly forever. I'm not after a game of pinball that takes 20 minutes+ to play. Probably why I don't like a lot of the newer games.

    #93 3 years ago
    Quoted from BC_Gambit:

    You seem to be the one talking crap here my man.
    How about this; if you can't take a bad ball, would you accept pressing a button combination to add say 20 million to your score on modern Sterns so you could "feel better and have fun"?

    Stern, if you’re listening, you need to implement this feature now! An extra 20 million would save me a trip or two per week to my therapist. Make it so.

    #94 3 years ago

    On PinBot you can abuse the game-restart feature to start a game with a ball already locked. I consider this to be a bug and have fixed it in the home ROM patch I am working on. Personally I never abort a game --- I've had too many high-scores started on ball three with a consolation EB lit. And some games are so crazy low scoring they make me laugh.

    #95 3 years ago

    Nope, play through. You never know what ball 2 or 3 will do.
    I’ve had many games where balls 1 and 2 were house balls. Then ball 3 I came back and had a good game.

    #96 3 years ago

    Still waiting to have a bad first ball . If it ever happens to me I will then be faced with that difficult decision .

    #97 3 years ago

    A number of points.

    People saying that they don't restart because it's cheating. Really? Who is it cheating? It's simply saving time by not expending energy on a game where you are already handicapped by a bad start.

    The argument than follows "but you might have a great 2nd and 3rd ball". Yes you may, but by restarting, those 2 great balls are now your 1st and 2nd of a new game with a 3rd to follow to potentially reach deeper into the game.

    The chances of you having a good ball are pretty much the same whether it is before or after a poor ball, what does change however is the game state after you have had a good ball, especially on the newer deeper coded games.

    If you are going to get really deep into a game you are likely going to need 3 good balls. Why waste time on a game that has little potential for you to get there?

    If I have a bad ball, restart, then get GC. Who has been cheated? The GC was set on a new game independent of every other game. All that has actually happened is that the 2nd game has been started earlier - not having time taken by completing the earlier game.

    Having a machine at home allows you to play that game however you want. If you want to set it to 10 balls, extras being given out like candy, every setting on extra easy, that's your choice - God knows you've paid enough for the privilege.

    There is an argument that it compromises your play when it comes to competition. Really? I will restart a game at home if I am aiming for a particular goal and the first ball ends without me having hit a nominal target before hand. I don't see how that effects my play in competition? I have come back from many extreme cases in competition on the last ball. That is about the players own mentality faced with a particular situation. That comes from rules knowledge, ability to play under pressure, etc. nothing to do with if you restarted a game in your own home.

    -4
    #98 3 years ago

    Good points above but imo it’s cheating is still my opinion.

    take the glass off, put on 5 balls, super long ball save, easy attainable EB award, restart game, no tilt bob, rubber band the out lanes. These all give you inflated scores.

    You can say some are cheating some are not but to me they’re all cheating just some less cheating than others.

    Say you are playing solitaire and you restart if you don’t get several Aces early. You will win more often but it’s not a valid win because you start with the deck stacked.

    #99 3 years ago

    I run to the garage and flip the main circuit breaker on the house in a fit of rage.

    #100 3 years ago
    Quoted from rai:

    Good points above but imo it’s cheating is still my opinion.
    take the glass off, put on 5 balls, super long ball save, easy attainable EB award, restart game, no tilt bob, rubber band the out lanes. These all give you inflated scores.
    You can say some are cheating some are not but to me they’re all cheating just some less cheating than others.
    Say you are playing solitaire and you restart if you don’t get several Aces early. You will win more often but it’s not a valid win because you start with the deck stacked.

    Would it still be cheating if I plunged the 2nd and 3rd balls and just let them drain? I don't follow the cheating logic at all on restart. I can literally plunge the two balls and not flip once... and if that's cheating then I guess a guy who doesn't run out a ground ball to first base is cheating too? You may think less of him and his hustle but he hasn't broken any rules, he's just lazy. Hate the restarters because they're lazy, not because they're cheaters is another way to look at it

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