Quoted from sto:

too easy??? wow, tell me , when you made it to "5 year Mission", the final mode!
I have never been there, while I reach "final frontier" on my STTNG (which is very fast too) every 2 maybe 3 games...
Own and love both games, but STLE is way more challenging codewise

Quoted from bigdaddy07:

Collecting all the artifacts first then reaching FF fully loaded, is much much more exciting IMO.

Quoted from GGG:

I sold my STTNG that I had owned for the last 15 years to make way for STLE with absolutely no regrets. STLE is the best new game I can honestly remember being addicted to since AFM.
I have owned at one time or another at least 80-90% of all system 11's and at least 75% of all WPC's.
So after around 350 STLE games I am totally hooked! In comparison, The only 4 other Stern games I have even liked on par with W/B games are FG, LOTR, RBION & Tron. (Not enough games on ACDC for me yet to add it to add to that list).
There are very cool subtle planned nuances in the geometry of STLE that you only see after playing it a lot and the software as it sits now (which of course still needs some work), is spot on IMO, aside from memory issues when multiple awards are achieved at the same time and of course, mode & wizard progression. I have gotten to Kobayashi Maru MB only about a dozen times and I equate it to the very rewarding wizard mode going to the circus in CV. I also have a feeling there will be much, more on the next software release.
STLE IMO is a ground breaking game for Stern (as much as I am ashamed to admit), being a long-time B/W snob.

Quoted from sepins:

I own 30 pins and have started to sell of half off my collection so I guess I would be stupid to post what I did? These posts DON'T change values. It is always...IMHO.
But I will say that most of the games getting shed by me are Wms./Bly. Others like Avatar LE,FG,Shrek, and Elvis will leave the building but most of the newer Sterns will stay. IJ and TZ are great but most of my friends are not pinheads and have no appreciation for the older games. It will be tough to sell some of the great machines but "it's only pinball".

Quoted from StevenP:

Don't know why you're bringing in ACDC and WOZ references here. Someone posted that STLE was "ground breaking" and I don't see it. Apparently some people think a pin with reasonable quality components (coated siderails, real backglass, fancy speaker covers--and you should expect this stuff at a list price of $8k!), more/brighter LEDs, admittedly poor/cheesy dots, a pared-down playfield with fewer types of shots that is--consequently--faster, and 6 non-innovative modes (with minor variation/progression on them to give "18") that re-use the same limited shots on the pf, qualifies as "ground breaking." I disagree. It is a lot of fun for many people (and, of course, the newest "best ever!" pin), but I see no real innovation here, and barely any progression over other pins. Wake me when Stern breaks new ground in pinball.
ST(LE) is a ot of fun for many people, and that's good for pinball. But Stern hasn't broken any new ground in a while, nor do they feel the need to, apparently. The groundbreakers are JJP, JPOP, Heighway, perhaps Spooky/Ben Heck, etc. Really new/different stuff coming from them, although not on a regular manufacturing schedule, admittedly.

Quoted from John_I:

STLE is an awesome game. I have really come to like it. It may some day rival ACDC as my personal #1 and I definitely put it in the top ten ever. I have a couple of anecdotal stories too...
My pinball savant friend Pete falls for one game a year and becomes obsessed. He has no idea what pinside is, could care less about fan boy pride, never heard of JJP and doesn't know what stacking or progression are. He just knows a great machine when he plays it. He has scored 55 billion on my AFM. He likes ACDC a lot, but STLE became the new go-to game for him on first play. Of course he put up the GC score on his second game and I now have no chance to ever put up initials until a new software revision is released.
I have a lady friend who comes by for an occasional booty call for the last four years or so. She will rarely play a game or two if she has been drinking enough but loses interest fast. The other night I showed her the new STLE and she played it for two hours straight. She says the colors and the whole package just sucked her in, plus she loves the movies. This was obviously not my plan for the evening, but on the other hand she called just a few days later to see if she could come over again.
So it may not be for everyone. NO GAME IS FOR EVERYONE, but STLE is new and exciting to *me*. One neat advancement on this game is the speaker/display panel. For 30 years we have had reflection from score/DMD displays on the on the playfield glass. Suddenly Stern gets the bright idea to angle the display more towards the player's view a few degrees and bam; no more need for a glare guard! I have been making glare guards for ten years now and for the first time I own a modern machine that doesn't need one! Small change that easily goes unnoticed, but it makes a big difference.