I don’t think GOT gets a bad rap. Tons of people love that game. The only reason I don’t own one is the light show. The flashers give me a headache.

GOTG came out with bad code. It seems like it’s turning a corner now though.

You can turn the flashers down on GOT and the lights wont bother you at all. Its in the settings menu.

Please tell me how these 2 games are remotely connected. Alternatively I'd like to know what drugs you are taking.

That changes everything! Thanks!

Having never watched more than 3 minutes of GOT (I know, strange as it may sound, naked, alternative universe, warring factions just don't appeal to me...), the theme does nothing for me. The gameplay is confusing, and the machine just feels "clunky" to me.

GOTG is a fun, fast, shooter, but just looks "cheap" to me (lane guides being unplated wire, clear plastic ramps that "appear" to be paper thin, etc).

I don't agree with your comparisons at all, but I do enjoy both games. Both came out with bad code though, and I think that soured a lot of people. GoT doesn't have very good art either, and the layout wasn't what people were expecting from Ritchie. I think he did a very good job with it though. GotG had a similar layout issue, everyone thought it looked just like metallica/iron man and complained Stern were just recycling layouts, but it plays nothing like them to me.

can you please provide some detail here? Seems like the opposite of TZ to me (flow vs stop and go/ Ritchie v Lawlor/ nothing alike in code or gameplay to me)

Where / what setting is this? thanks

if anyone wants to disown their unwanted children at a steep discount, please pm me

Guardians of the Galaxy is a fantastic pin!

I want to love GOTG, it is basically a dream theme for me but it just looks so cheap. I want to love it but can’t justify throwing down 7k or what ever for one.
On the alternative I just bought Maiden and the theme does nothing for me but I played it and it just felt right.

They missed on Star Wars for me too. Which I was waiting on forever

GOT had a scoring system that rubs everyone's vag the wrong way, and the art wasn't good that turned their ovaries. The flashers make sense but people think their games aren't supposed to try to make you lose the ball for some reason anymore.
Nothing really like TZ.

GOTG was a total rehash of met layout after Aerosmith was a compete rehash of kiss that really got people Pissed off aboot rehashings. Code was shitty at the start they say which doesn't help.
Don't know how it's like ST though.

Some like me think GOT is terrible and a terrible theme. I really dislike the rules and that players all play the pin in the same way. I dislike every multiball is a strobe light show that you can't see the balls [Ghostbusters, too]. GotG is OK, but it's just rehashed other games to me and uninspired. Theme is a turn off on that one, too.
It takes all kinds though. I'm assuming you think they are better than IMLotB and that in my opinion is the best Stern game ever released. So.....

Twilight Zone was loaded with toys and things for the ball to interact with...GOT not so much. With the house system GOT is sort of a role playing strategy game mixed with a pinball machine. I had a premium but it just wasn't for me. GOTG was a dream theme for me as well. Top 2 or 3 theme for me personally but I played it with early code and it did absolutely nothing for me. I know that it's better now but I currently have Metallica and Iron Man so I don't think that I would own one anytime soon.

I have had my GoT premium almost 3 years now and still love it, one of the deepest games you will ever find. Winter has come multi ball might be one of best multi balls ever killing your left flipper if you don't make shots and making you hit center shot to get it back....genius. Great game never will leave my lineup

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I'll disagree with that. Even turned down, the light show was very bothersome to me. I ended up either playing it in bright light, or avoiding any Winter stuff (WIC, WHC). And goodness, an extra ball was like someone was shooting a flare gun into my eyes. The light show was one of my biggest knocks on the game when I owned it.

As for the OP, yes, these games followed the "basically complete at release" model with minor tweaks after that. It isn't that they are being treated as unwanted children, they are simply grown children that left home. Stern has done this with a few games, because we are never satisfied. If they give us basically complete games, we bitch. If they give us skeletons, we bitch. For games they want to release "complete", they should still release a skeleton version first. Then 4 months later give the code they would have given at release. That way we can bitch, they can satisfy us, and we all go home happy.

I don't really like either game. Never watched GOT but the theme integration still seems weak on GOT. Art is terrible and the display is not much better. I just don't get the whole house thing or what exactly you are trying to do in gameplay. I learned a few rules but nothing about gameplay feels very exciting. I get that it's like a big chess game or whatever but that's not what I want in pinball.

I like the GOTG movies but cannot get into the pin. It just seems like a chaotic mess. There just seems like a lot going on with whatever you are doing. Granted I don't really know the rules but just don't care for much of what I have seen. Probably a decent game.

I will have to look later but i promise you its in there and it makes a HUGE difference. The light show doesnt blind you at all when its turned down. I cant remember what the setting is called. Hopefully some of the GOT owners can chime in and post where to change it at. Im not at home to check right now sorry.

Are you serious Dave? The difference is HUUUUGE!

Haha... Don't know the theme at all but it's weak integration in the game

People seem to be falling behind with rules as games get more complex, if they really are which is debatable... Not to mention the theme whoring per usual.

I own GOT premium and enjoy it a lot and a lot of people that i know like it as well. I'm not a fan of GOTG just did not care for the rule set but i have heard lots of positive things about the latest code update so i will have to spend more time on it to see.

They aren't bad pins but they are nothing special eaither imo... they are very similar to many other titles in that the way they play.

GOTG isn't getting a bad rep anymore...at least not from people who have actually revisted it since the early code.

The layout has always been spot on (it's basically Metallica), it was just a matter of getting the software up to speed.

Drop in Cleland's sound mod, and you good to go!

What I hate most about GOTG is the ball always seems to hit the post between the left two inlanes and immediately bounces to the left outlane. I think it is an solid pin but I prefer the feel of the other pins it is compared to.

Ha! Try Ghostbusters sometime. That same spot is WAY worse on GB.

Gotg has the worst voices I’ve ever heard. Whoever they got to voice the chars needs to be fired. The entire pin, design and toys is straight copy and pasted from older pins. Groot head is a gimmick that for a lot of people including myself always seems to go straight down the middle. Want a pin with a head that eats the ball get a roadshow or funhouse.

Got isn’t bad just not my cup of tea doesn’t seem to have much staying power. A bunch of people I know sold theirs

Aren't they... scenes from the movie?

2edgy

Just talked to Chuckwurt and he said he thinks its in the standard settings and its called intense lamp effect. He’s kinda like DaveH, he doesnt think the difference is huge either but i think its a big difference. I have to turn the lights down for a friend of mine everytime that he comes over to play. He cant play it hardly if i dont turn the lights down.

I own both--GoTG Pro and GoT LE. GoTG is fun now. My first go-round with it wasn't so much fun, but thankfully, that was in an arcade. I dropped in the Cleland sound package and it's better. I do miss "A boboli bo," though. About a 7/10 pin.

GoT is a different animal. This one is cerebral, no matter whether you like or even know the theme. Strategy is everything. The rules are new and fresh, though they unfortunately seem to have started a NEW formula to be rehashed (SW, for example, though GoT doesn't require the constant brain-bleed of the multiplier/lockdown bar involvement). A new update to further integrate the UPF with the game would be much appreciated. Winning castles should be more important than 7.5M in bonus (though that ain't shabby). IMO, a 9/10.

I have GOT pro and everybody loves it. The grandkids what me to keep it. I play it and my forearms get sore because it is so intense.

Just a FYI that after winning the castle you now get mode progression shots via castle shots. That's kind of your extra bonus. You can exploit some scoring with this or use it to help defeat harder modes with safer shots. For example, Tyrel. The ramp shots are safe but the lock targets are super risky and they come every other mode shot. After collecting the castle you can shoot the right ramp and then a castle shot. When the ball comes back to the left flipper shoot that right ramp again. Tyrel just went from a very risky mode to an easy to complete one.

The only big improvement I would love to see with the upper PF is to pause the PF and/or shot multipliers or make the castle collect loop add time to them. Their is stuff to do up their but that is part of the risk of the upper PF if you have a good PF X or shot X running.

The setting change makes a pretty good difference but if that isn't enough owners can take the flashers out of the game. Just removing the ones over the slings will help a lot and shouldn't impact the overall lighting of the game much at all. Cosmetically looks better to (I relocated mine to the apron).

Not going to quote anyone on this next point as I don't want to offend anyone specifically thinking I'm calling them out. But, if you don't understand past the surface of GOT then you can't really effectively dismiss it as a bad game or the rules aren't good. Yes, their is some stupid complex rules strategy that can go on (one reason why I love it) but going past the basics and understanding each houses strengths as well as how to do more than just complete a mode then is really where this game shines. It's a lot like TWD. If you only understand the basics that game is not much fun but once you understand the core functions of the game it goes to the next level. TO ME, this is why GOT isn't one of the more appreciated games as I don't feel as many people have taken the time to understand the game and explore the rules.

For GOTG - This is 100% the crap rules at launch. They didn't even take the time to remove some of the AS callouts in it. The rules are much better now and as such the game is much better.

They were re-recorded for the pin, and NOT by the original actors, lol.

There is an EASY sound mod tho that fixes all that.

People like GOT fine. It's like 4 years old now you can't expect that "new pin buzz" to last forever. I'm sure the game sold well it's all over the place.

GOTG the consensus seems to be people think it's ok, but you can't expect people to get too riled up over what was clearly an uninspired slot filler, both in theme and layout design.

Neither game is in anywhere near "unwanted step child" territory, that's WWE.

thanks. I am super sensitive to flashing/strobbing of bright lights and this would be a big win.

Can the flashers be changed to regulars instead of LEDs? that would help also

Game of Thrones is a lot of fun, but for all its depth, there are only a couple of real ways to approach it effectively. I really like it though, and I'll always drop some quarters into one when I see it. The strobing lights and the dodgy battering ram are my only real gripes (if we're talking the pro).

Guardians of the Galaxy is just a big disappointment for me. It's a bad case of design recycling and lazy presentation. The art is great, but there's not much else to really get excited about. Metallica is a far better game in a very similar layout, so getting to hyped up by GOTG is hard. The sound package on GOTG is also aggressively annoying. It. Never. Shuts. Up.

I believe with Spike the voltage is about the same so it may work. May not help that much though. If you are sensitive to lighting like this I would first change the setting and remove the two spots over the slings (those are flashers).

I'd check for you which settings they are (their are a couple) but all but 2 of my games just went into climate controlled storage until our new house is ready in December. Already on pinball withdraw

Funny thing is that most people say this but I just played in a tournament and took 1st 3 out of 4 times (in 4 player matches) using the not so popular ways to play the game. Skill level was on par with the others so that's not the main driver. GOT is very situational. Playing it to blow it up or beat the game, yes their are 1 or 2 ways to play it. But in a match play event their are at least half a dozen ways to play it based off the people you are playing against and how the game is set-up.

Perfect example. All 3 of the players against me for every game played as Martel on a game set up hard enough to where HOTK was very challenging to reach. That is the wrong way to play GOT in that situation as that add a ball in BWMB is only worth 60-100 million extra on a GOOD BWMB. I can surpass that in one mode playing as Martel. Or if you still feel strong about BWMB then the Lanister Super Jackpot strategy (unlimted supers till you collect all standard jackpots) is far more lucrative than a single add a ball.

Well, each strategy has a right and wrong way to play it. If you choose Martell and don't know how to take stacked modes, and the best modes, into Blackwater, there's no point in extending your multiball anyway. If you know how to set that up and do it consistently, then that's your safest path to points in a tournament setting. There's very little risk. But yes, that's just one way, but you really have to do know how to do it right or it doesn't pan out.

If all else fails, why not stick some defusing gel or plastic over the end of the flasher?

Even something as simple as cutting 1” circles out of a plastic container (like the bottom of a frosted juice bottle) and putting them inside the flasher covers. That’d defuse the light ...

Haven’t tried it myself ... but it should work.

rd

good call. When I get the machine for myself, I will play around with this. I like the idea of just keeping the light form hitting my eyes so direct.

GOTG is miles better now than it was at launch and players are enjoying it now. GOT is a great game, best ROI I have had on any new pin over the last 8 years.

Both of these titles are evolutions of rulesets I really don't care for.

GOT is too similar to Star Trek, which we bought new and eventually got rid of. I don't like having to play in a particular "way" to get high scores. You can call it "cerebral" .. I call it a PITA to remember the current exact strategy, and then start the same modes and make the same shots every game. I want to play pinball, not manage a project. SW is the third iteration of this ruleset and is almost as bad... I want nothing to do with this style of game right now.

GOTG is the latest rewrite of Kiss and Aerosmith rulesets, and it's pretty boring as well. Tired of mode based games where all you do is shoot a random pattern of colored lights with a couple multiballs thrown in.

Lyman has spoiled me. The openness of TWD's rules is so refreshing compared to all those other games. All of the above games, you're playing to a script. TWD, you might start with a plan, but if the game is denying you some shots while others seem unmissable, it's MUCH easier to play ad-hoc and adapt to a new strategy. Hell, I've had games where I started Horde before Prison. Much, much more variety in gameplay when dealing with Lyman rules vs all the others at Stern. He's even made Batman 66 fun, and that's saying something considering the clunky toys and generic fan playfield.

BTW, while Maiden isn't Lyman's, it's still a very refreshing change of pace and something I would like to acquire for myself. All those others, i wouldn't even drop a couple quarters in at this point. Well, maybe GOTG as still has a chance to not suck...

Agreed. Playing blind has served me well. I don't know any of that stuff, nor do I care to.

I've had opponents choose GOT against me during league finals three times over the past couple years, and I've won every game by starting two houses, starting a multiball, keeping the balls alive and beating the snot out of that ram thing (when it works). My last game I'd figured out the houses involving standups and the ramps/orbits were good to stack with the multiball. That is as far as I ever want to dig into this game's ruleset .. I just don't find anything about this game - theme, layout, rules, sounds, art - to be all that great.

Yeah, but those guys suck

Don't get me wrong, it was a big difference. But not enough. If something is completely blinding and it moves down to just blinding... it is still blinding. Percentage of decrease of the blinding doesn't matter if it is still over the threshold of "I hate playing a game in my game room because it bugs my eyes".

I don't regret owning the game. I had a lot of fun on it. But I hated the light show in that game.

We have all been spoiled by TWD. If any game even comes close to how good that is, it will be Maiden.

What’s fun about this to you? IMO the ruleset has many parrallels to the codesets of GOT and SW.

Your opponents shitting the bed helps too. Haha. But seriously, at the end of the day in a competition, someone with better skills is more important than game knowledge. Unless we’re playing GB. Haha

You know.... I don't know. I just enjoyed it last time I played it at ALBE. Likely because I don't know the super deep strategy for it either, but it seemed there was more cues on what were the valuable shots than on GOT. I was definitely still just "shooting the flashing lights" but still got close to a bil. It seemed there was a lot more variety to scoring strategy. It may still return to "turd" status but I liked it better than GOTG or GOT.

Haha yea.. I will admit it was satisfying watching you setup Grand Strategy 1.0 and then faceplant on execution Being able to focus nearly all thoughts on keeping balls alive vs having to keep track on exactly where you need to shoot next... that's a bigger aspect to gameplay than many people would think.

And yea, Ghostbusters just sucks...

I dunno what drugs you guys are on - must be the hot weather!

GOT is nothing like Star Trek. Star Trek is like Kiss, As and GOTG. All those games are cut from the same cloth.

Bm66 is closer to those games than GOT. Probably somewhere in between the two groups.

rd