Quoted from iceman44:Simply zero excuse for delays on "release of code". Pins I get, code I don't.
How are you basing the deadlines to consider the code delayed?
(Topic ID: 145786)
Linked Games
Game of Thrones (LE)
Stern, 2015-
Game of Thrones (Premium)
Stern, 2015
Topic Gallery
Rockwall, TX
I can say with certainty that there will be no new release on the 21st, or this month for that matter.
There ARE some cool things that may happen this month, possibly, but those things will be announced when ready. I am excited.
As for availability, Stern is working around the clock to keep up with the incredible demand for games! Not a moment is wasted, there are orders for so many titles and their various versions being built every day. As updates based around those builds become available, they are relayed first and fastest to the retailers and distributors themselves. They know first, even before I would, which is why it is always recommended to call your Stern Retailer for the latest in availability and shipping estimates.
I highly doubt Stern will announce anything until the new year and maybe even a couple months in, GOTLE has just started shipping and the Pre will likely be announced soon. If SMVE isn't reworked using the comics or something else to stand apart from the original then I think its dumb and won't happen anyway, IMVE was made due to the low production numbers and high demand but theres plenty of SM's out there. JMO I would like to see LOTR's VE with hand drawn art and upgraded sound/lighting etc. time will tell. 
Stern buyers impatient about....a matter of weeks.
JJP buyers impatient about....a matter of years.
Zidware buyers impatient about....fuck it.
Quoted from Jared:As updates based around those builds become available, they are relayed first and fastest to the retailers and distributors themselves.
Well my distributor is STILL telling me as of Monday that the Premium is shipping Mid-December. I doubt they are getting the most recent and correct information since we all know it would be a Christmas miracle for the Premium to ship in a week to two weeks.
Quoted from kaneda:Stern buyers impatient about....a matter of weeks.
JJP buyers impatient about....a matter of years.
Zidware buyers impatient about....fuck it.
Too funny!!! and True!
Quoted from Willy39:Well my distributor is STILL telling me as of Monday that the Premium is shipping Mid-December. I doubt they are getting the most recent and correct information since we all know it would be a Christmas miracle for the Premium to ship in a week to two weeks.
The interesting question is what ships first: GOT premium, or the GOT topper?
Quoted from Willy39:Well my distributor is STILL telling me as of Monday that the Premium is shipping Mid-December. I doubt they are getting the most recent and correct information since we all know it would be a Christmas miracle for the Premium to ship in a week to two weeks.
Your distributor is wrong, he either hasn't checked in with stern or is not being honest as he may not want to lose a sale. They are building les. I picked up a few yesterday in the 180-200 range serial number. Premiums will be January.
Quoted from mnpinball:Can't blame Stern, JJP, Planetary MMR for lack of product if there is a shortage of parts to build the product.
Sure we can....and we should.
Good lord, we're not talking about rare or scarce resources... metal and wood.
THEY are the ones taking customers money, not the part suppliers. If manufacturers have shitty production planning practices and/or don't have the money to buy sufficient stock in advance (*cough* JJP) then THEY absolutely should be held accountable....
But, also don't discount the possibility that many of the "delivery promises" were completely unfounded bullshit from distributors that wanted to take your money...and told you what you wanted to hear.
Quoted from beelzeboob:The interesting question is what ships first: GOT premium, or the GOT topper?
Premium will ship before the topper.
Quoted from Willy39:All questions would be answered if Stern gave a quick and painless update instead of relying on info from distributors. Not sure what the issue is. A ballpark date would be nice! Or even December or January for prem.
Why do they need to? They never set a deadline to hit, they have always operated that when its ready to ship it ships. This is exactly why they do not do any type of preordering, its the distributors that are doing that to you guys.
Quoted from inhomearcades:Why do they need to? They never set a deadline to hit, they have always operated that when its ready to ship it ships. This is exactly why they do not do any type of preordering, its the distributors that are doing that to you guys.
You are right. They don't have to. I am just saying they know the schedule and instead of speculations and getting mixed messages from distributors they can just tell us directly. If I was making a product that someone purchased and I knew that the item was not going to be completed until next month, but the salesman who sold the product told the customer it will be ready next week, I would be pissed. Not only does it make the distributor/salesman look bad but also the manufacturer. It looks like incompetence and lack of communication especially on an items that cost over $5,000.
I guess since I am investing and pay a premium price on such an item, I would expect to be a bit more in the loop. When you go out to dinner, cooking time is an estimate depending on who is cooking or how busy the kitchen is, but you still as a customer expect an estimated time of when food will be ready. If the waiter tells you in 10 minutes and then 30 minutes goes by, you would be pissed even though you did not pay for the food yet.
Its just good business if you ask me. People just don't like to be kept in the dark. A little info goes a long way. Next time you take a flight and your are delayed on the ground or in the air, try to see how long you can wait for an update by the pilot before getting upset. It changes nothing on the situation at hand, but makes you feel a bit better that you were kept informed or even felt important enough to the pilot that you deserved an update on the delay. I can go on and on with example.
Quoted from Willy39:You are right. They don't have to. I am just saying they know the schedule and instead of speculations and getting mixed messages from distributors they can just tell us directly. If I was making a product that someone purchased and I knew that the item was not going to be completed until next month, but the salesman who sold the product told the customer it will be ready next week, I would be pissed. Not only does it make the distributor/salesman look bad but also the manufacturer. It looks like incompetence and lack of communication especially on an items that cost over $5,000.
I guess since I am investing and pay a premium price on such an item, I would expect to be a bit more in the loop. When you go out to dinner, cooking time is an estimate depending on who is cooking or how busy the kitchen is, but you still as a customer expect an estimated time of when food will be ready. If the waiter tells you in 10 minutes and then 30 minutes goes by, you would be pissed even though you did not pay for the food yet.
Its just good business if you ask me. People just don't like to be kept in the dark. A little info goes a long way. Next time you take a flight and your are delayed on the ground or in the air, try to see how long you can wait for an update by the pilot before getting upset. It changes nothing on the situation at hand, but makes you feel a bit better that you were kept informed or even felt important enough to the pilot that you deserved an update on the delay. I can go on and on with example.
I have no idea how Stern's production is scheduled but I would guess it is completely supplier dependent. When they have enough parts to build x amount of games, they probably go into production. If they are gong to switch a line over to build premiums, they probably want enough of everything to build all of the orders they currently have for premiums. I'm anxious to get my game, but NO ONE in pinball produces the games like Stern does when they have the parts. They don't want to tell you they are making premiums next week, then a vendor has a delay.
I like communication on status too, but until I see a pic of a premium on the line at Stern, I take anything with a grain of salt. Also, I wouldn't buy from a distributor that asks for full payment when the game is announced. Most of the distributors I've dealt with ask for a deposit and the balance when shipping.
Kitchener, ON
Quoted from Willy39:You are right. They don't have to. I am just saying they know the schedule and instead of speculations and getting mixed messages from distributors they can just tell us directly. If I was making a product that someone purchased and I knew that the item was not going to be completed until next month, but the salesman who sold the product told the customer it will be ready next week, I would be pissed. Not only does it make the distributor/salesman look bad but also the manufacturer. It looks like incompetence and lack of communication especially on an items that cost over $5,000.
I guess since I am investing and pay a premium price on such an item, I would expect to be a bit more in the loop. When you go out to dinner, cooking time is an estimate depending on who is cooking or how busy the kitchen is, but you still as a customer expect an estimated time of when food will be ready. If the waiter tells you in 10 minutes and then 30 minutes goes by, you would be pissed even though you did not pay for the food yet.
Its just good business if you ask me. People just don't like to be kept in the dark. A little info goes a long way. Next time you take a flight and your are delayed on the ground or in the air, try to see how long you can wait for an update by the pilot before getting upset. It changes nothing on the situation at hand, but makes you feel a bit better that you were kept informed or even felt important enough to the pilot that you deserved an update on the delay. I can go on and on with example.
This ^^^^. Wish I could thumbs up twice.
I've supported many Kickstarter campaigns that give regular updates along the build process and it's incredibly easing knowing what's going on.
I understand that stern is far from a Kickstarter campaign, but they do regular factory tours, so why have the secrecy. Just let people know what's going on. Send a Facebook post once a week with a list of games on the line right now. It would do wonders.
Willy and Luckydog, you're right. I've worked in two production environments that used multiple suppliers to procure parts and were build to order/minimum demand builds. Oftentimes there were waits in suppliers and delays. We had distributors. Either way, customers were always kept in the loop no matter how bad the news was. They always had an estimate on when to expect the order.
Someday, and I mean maybe a decade by now, Stern is only going to hurt themselves by not providing great customer service. Some company, JJP, Spooky, Dutch Pinball, etc....will find a way to break through, operate at a profit, meet deadlines, and provide excellent customer service, then Stern will struggle, and maybe adjust.
Just ask the taxi companies.....
Well damn, that changes things. About time, that kind of news is refreshing from them and needs to become the norm.
Quoted from FightNightFZ:Well damn, that changes things. About time, that kind of news is refreshing from them and needs to become the norm.
I'd rather know that my game will be delayed than Being left in the dark.
I agree. Communication is all we want. I thought that's what the Stern Facebook page was for but it appears to be more of just pics of new places to play pinball and all the basements full of every new Stern pinball released!
I guess I should have put two and two together when there has been no production updates for a few weeks and the Premium hasn't even had a sneeze of it being mentioned since those renders os so long ago!
Quoted from Willy39:You are right. They don't have to. I am just saying they know the schedule and instead of speculations and getting mixed messages from distributors they can just tell us directly. If I was making a product that someone purchased and I knew that the item was not going to be completed until next month, but the salesman who sold the product told the customer it will be ready next week, I would be pissed.
You're missing the point that the distributor isn't just your salesman.. they are the customer engagement entirely. Stern doesn't want to own the customer relationship.. and is pushing on Distributors do to their job. These are not supposed to be wholesalers - but actual distributors responsible for marketing, selling, and supporting the product.
Stern is trying to hold the line on the customer engagement.
I get that, makes total sense. Going with that line of thinking, my distributor needs to step up their communication game. I thought they were supposed to be the best, but the last two pins I've got from them have been great prices at the sacrifice of easy communication.
I was all excited we'd be getting tons of pics today, but then they went back to LE pics.
I wonder how long it was between the first empty cabinet pics of the LE game, and the first games getting delivered? Couldn't be more than a couple weeks.
Quoted from TigerLaw:This is a rare case where I disagree with mnpinball.
Consistent and recurring issues with parts suppliers is the fault of the manufactures, even for special purpose parts. This happening from time to time is understandable, but the fact that basically seems to always be occurring means they are not applying the right tactic in dealing with their own vendors.
You seen this right ?
Message body
From: [email protected]
Sent: 12/10/2015 3:33:39 P.M. Central Standard Time
Subj: Shipments
Dear Ladies and Gentlemen:
I apologize for the delays in fulfilling your many holiday orders.
We are experiencing an unusually high percentage of delays in the delivery
of parts to our factory.
We are working with our suppliers to correct this problem and expect to
have it fully resolved by mid-January.
We will continue to work to fulfill your orders expeditiously.
Please contact me if you have any questions at all.
Sincerely,
Gary
Gary Stern
President
Stern Pinball, Inc.
2001 Lunt Avenue
Elk Grove Village, IL 60007-5605 USA
Tel: +1-708-786-7036 Fax: +1-708-345-7813
Mobile: +1-847-278-1398
[email protected]
www.sternpinball.com
Now that we have some real pics to go off of. Hit this thread up if you hear any updates from your distributor!!
Quoted from Chambahz:I heard January from my distrib here in Toronto.
Doubt that Stern can get any out this week so that really doesn't leave much time with holidays coming up.
With the delays noted above looks like nothing's really going out until late January at least unless it was already finished before the parts issue came up.
I've doubted a Christmas miracle for a while, I was really hoping for a New Year's Eve miracle, but now it's looking like mid-late January.
Quoted from Luckydogg420:Chambahz - are you waiting for a Prem also? Our games should arrive on the same truck load.
To be honest, I'm on the fence. I'm not sold on the gameplay for this pin yet. I'm not a fan of the generic layout (very few shots are different from one-another, like StarTrek). I prefer TWD or Metallica in that regard.
Still, people seem to be enjoying it.
Finally had the chance yesterday to play an LE, put over 12 games on it and was not that impressed. Upper playfield is excellent, reminds me of a more advanced BK2K. Throne is cool, but the vuk had issues as others have stated. It was the lower playfield which was meh for me, the ball kept coming back at me abruptly from all the ramps, not good flow to me at all. Especially bothersome was the battering ram, would have been nicer to have 3 sequenced drop targets like MET.
Lighting was fine to me, not overwhelming like many have stated. Major problems for me were the DMD, which they might as well have put an etch-a-sketch in its place, just bad dots, most was just unreadable. The LE artwork was nice, but just not my idea of what GOT is all about. Thats why I was planning to order a premium for the Stark theme. The big fail IMO is the total GOT theme integration, it just was not there for me at all, artwork, music & dots. Anyone who is planning on getting a premium should definately play the LE first & decide for themselves. YMMV...I plan on trying to find a MET Roadcase instead.
My old STLE, IMO, was much more appealing to me than GOTLE even with the repetitive ramp shots.
Quoted from GGG:Finally had the chance yesterday to play an LE, put over 12 games on it and was not that impressed. Upper playfield is excellent, reminds me of a more advanced BK2K. Throne is cool, but the vuk had issues as others have stated. It was the lower playfield which was meh for me, the ball kept coming back at me abruptly from all the ramps, not good flow to me at all. Especially bothersome was the battering ram, would have been nicer to have 3 sequenced drop targets like MET.
Lighting was fine to me, not overwhelming like many have stated. Major problems for me were the DMD, which they might as well have put an etch-a-sketch in its place, just bad dots, most was just unreadable. The LE artwork was nice, but just not my idea of what GOT is all about. Thats why I was planning to order a premium for the Stark theme. The big fail IMO is the total GOT theme integration, it just was not there for me at all, artwork, music & dots. Anyone who is planning on getting a premium should definately play the LE first & decide for themselves. YMMV...I plan on trying to find a MET Roadcase instead.
My old STLE, IMO, was much more appealing to me than GOTLE even with the repetitive ramp shots.
The initial code on GoT is more interesting then anything shown to date on ST.
With STLE, you were immersed in the Star Trek franchise, with GOTLE, not so much at all. Even the best code is not going help GOT's gawd-awful dots. Theme is equally important to me as gameplay. Both ST & GOT are dream themes for me as I am a big fan of both franchises...but the license/theme integration on GOT is severly lacking IMO.
Quoted from smassa:Yeah nothing like those great dots of Kirk & McCoy running on the enterprise. Lets not confuse ST with a game that has great dots.
to be fair, ST does have good dots - vengeance modes, Nero, DTD, warps, combos, Klingon battle, are a few that come to mind.
Quoted from Eskaybee:to be fair, ST does have good dots - vengeance modes, Nero, DTD, warps, combos, Klingon battle, are a few that come to mind.
Didn't say they were terrible. But nothing that great to get all excited about.
Quoted from smassa:Didn't say they were terrible. But nothing that great to get all excited about.
The problem is they're stylistically inconsistent and were clearly done by 3 or 4 different artists. The best ones are the ones that have kind of a "comic book" look to them - like the pops animation & Nero.
Quoted from Luckydogg420:I wonder how long it was between the first empty cabinet pics of the LE game, and the first games getting delivered? Couldn't be more than a couple weeks.
I remember seeing pics of the LE cabinets Nov 3rd +- a day
And then seeing frolics post pic early December.
seeing that the LEs are still on the production line and stern makes all the LEs before going back to the pros or premium. I guessing premiums won't arrive until the end of Jan at the earliest.
Quoted from pinballophobe:seeing that the LEs are still on the production line and stern makes all the LEs before going back to the pros or premium. I guessing premiums won't arrive until the end of Jan at the earliest.
I'm hoping that the issues that stern is having with their suppliers is for LE parts. (I know its far fetched and probably a pipe dream, but I like to toke.) The only reason that stern would stop building the le's would be if their waiting for parts. MAYBE they ran outta engraved number plates?... Come on, bare with me, I'm grasping at nothing but hoping to have my game for New Year's Eve. (Having a party, if my game comes, your all invited.)
I sent my salesman an email today asking if there's any update. I'll let you know if I hear anything new.
Quoted from Luckydogg420:I got a reply
Nothing till January.
Just Premiums? Did they say anything about Pros? I haven't really heard anything on them really. That's what I'm waiting on. I assumed that after the delays were announced that I wouldn't get mine till mid late January but hoping for a December surprise.
Quoted from Luckydogg420:I got a reply
Nothing till January.
I think the good news is with the amount of LEs being reported that LEs sales are strong and the feedback has been great. That stern will see a demand for the premium and be motivated to get them out shipped out asap
Quoted from pinballophobe:I think the good news is with the amount of LEs being reported that LEs sales are strong and the feedback has been great. That stern will see a demand for the premium and be motivated to get them out shipped out asap
You would hope that they will want to fulfill many of the pro/prem/le orders before they announce a new game because if it is Ghostbusters or Star Wars many people will cancel their GoT looking for the latest and greatest game.
Quoted from Willy39:You would hope that they will want to fulfill many of the pro/prem/le orders before they announce a new game because if it is Ghostbusters or Star Wars many people will cancel their GoT looking for the latest and greatest game.
Don't assume that everyone is in the market for the same title. Stern has been successful by always having a catalog of titles available for customers to purchase. New games don't "steal sales" from other games. They'll all find buyers.
Quoted from chuckwurt:Just Premiums? Did they say anything about Pros? I haven't really heard anything on them really. That's what I'm waiting on. I assumed that after the delays were announced that I wouldn't get mine till mid late January but hoping for a December surprise.
My Pro just got here (Massachusetts) on Tuesday. I had thought with the delays it would be January, but I guess I got lucky. I forgot to check the "Build date", but I'll have a look when I get home.
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