I love Spooky as much as everyone here (HWN CE on order myself), but issues like this are partially of their own design.

Most people look at Stern and expect a pinball machine to spring to life fully formed with code and assets like Athena from the head of Zeus.

Spooky's model is more like watching a crew build a Frank Lloyd Wright building. Lots of WTFs and confusion, excitement and disappointment, until the final product takes shape and you can see what it actually is. So you have to be prepared to swing with the highs and the lows.

I never expected folks like Bowen or Scott (or even Eric) to be there full time. I always assumed they were "contracting" for the lifetime of a given game, since that's how Spooky does things, one game at a time. So he's not "contracted" for this game.

It's okay if they choose not to take his advice, as not every game needs to play like a tournament game say, and that's fine.

The only thing that concerns me is that Bowen says, "I no longer work with Spooky". Does that imply "bad blood" or something? That's my only real concern. If Spooky cannot retain proven talent over time (Scott, Bowen, Eric), then that's a real problem. I'm not suggesting they haven't, as folks might come back for contract games in the future. The thing is we just don't know.

So I don't think it's worth freaking out about just yet. Give it time and let's see what the building looks like when it's done.

^^ This. Hell, the wiring on my TZ is zip-tied to the plastic ramp on the right side. Sometimes, you just gotta do that.
That being said, I do like stability of components, and the wiring on that TZ ramp is super tight. Are the LED light strings that are zip-tied tight and stable, or wobbly? If they're wobbly, then that's bad.

The best part about programming is that you can have both. Once staging is programmed and working flawlessly, simply have an option in the menu to enable/disable the feature. Everyone can do what they want.

The real question here is if Spooky is going to be incorporating these wiring changes to new games being produced moving forward.

Where was this printed?

I like hearing this. I've also had some concerns. I got into HWN because I've been very happy with my other Spooky pins and I'm a huge horror movie fan.

A lot of the concerns folks have had around gameplay and uninteresting code concerned me as well. Hearing from folks that say they had concerns, played it, and are now satisfied to wait makes me really happy. I'm number 761 (I think), so I'll have Halloween in summertime.

I think Spooky tends to excel on theme integration, art, callouts, all that kind of thing. I sometimes think their layouts leave something to be desired, but the rest of it really make up for it to me. My issue has been wondering if theme was enough this time to overcome some clunkiness that comes with a non-traditional layout. When you add possible QC issues on top of that, it really makes some folks question if this pin will be all we want it to be.

Overall, I'm not super super worried, and am still looking forward to getting it. But I do understand some folks concern. What I don't understand is when people vehemently start throwing shade on the process and throwing spooky under the bus and announcing doom and gloom on the whole thing. I get we all want an awesome pin. If it doesn't work out for you, just sell your spot and leave. If I ever decide to get out, I'll just sell my spot and move on. I'm not gonna start bad-mouthing Spooky. They are obviously trying to do right by their product. Regardless if they succeed in everyone's eyes, you can't fault them for trying. They truly want to make us all happy and they want us to love their pins.

My R&M BSE (purple) and ACNC (blue) both look great as well, but they also aren't the powder coating that has the metal veins.
I'm really wondering if the metal vein either needs extra special layers to seal it in.

You've no idea the amount of times I've seen lugs that didn't have wire wrapped around it like it should from previous repairs.... makes me crazy.

Plus, you can see this giant lump where it was originally wound around the lug from the factory, broke off for some reason or another, and somebody just soldered it on top of the previous solder+wire lump. Infuriating.

Really like all these. That sanitarium pf seems so under utilized.

Bug says in the video that it's a new feature they added. Likely to help reset them to avoid unnecessary "Michael creep".

I dunno, I kinda like it. I don't have my game yet so I can't speak for what it looks like while playing, but from the video I like a little bit of extra movement and action in the game while you're playing. My opinion may change once I get the machine however.

They called me yesterday for #762 delivery today, but this morning I got a call saying the freight shipment had not arrived yet, and had to reschedule for Monday. Fingers crossed.

He has come home. #761. I already have some initial thoughts after about an hours worth of play. But most of my issues and criticisms have already been stated.

I will say it’s definitely fun. Not sure why folks wouldn’t like the layout.

D95F7528-D470-4111-9307-BEA6EF043AAA (resized).jpeg

Ha! I'm also on the EHOH *IF* train. It's a painful wait.....

Great time meeting the spooky team this weekend at Souther Fried Game Expo here in the ATL. Looking forward to their next endeavor.

D824512A-F0C2-484E-B023-CC4908494C80 (resized).jpeg

I’ll say I really like the game. Horror themes are my jam and I love John Carpenter. It looks amazing.

The layout is faster than you’d think, with some depth in the modes.

All that being said, I’m just not sure it’s that fun to play over time. I get frustrated because I complete modes and want to see the videos, but because there zero places to park the ball while a video plays, I miss lots of visuals. That’s my biggest complaint. Hard to see all of Linda when I’m flailing to keep the ball in play, you know? And given the layout, not sure this can ever be fixed.

Great theme integration, beautiful pin. But man, there’s something about it that makes me not want to keep playing. I dunno.

So I get why some folks are trying to unload. I’ve got the room to hold onto it for a while and see what happens. The market is saturated with FS Halloweens, so not much of a chance to sell and not lose money. I’d trade it immediately for a Monster Bash if I could. Lol.

Great discussion though.

Can you really be “pin poor” with 10 pins at home?

Is the presumption that along with talking about Scooby Doo in the SPooky Thursday live stream, they will also demo new Halloween code? I hope so. Would be nice to have a visual walk through of what is new/different.

Does anybody need a House + Pumpkin mod? I ordered it a while, never unboxed.

Since I'm selling Halloween, figured somebody that was still waiting for one could have mine? $225 shipped in CONUS.