no

Yes. Your fear is unfounded. Cradle the ball as you see fit. Transistors are cheap and easy to replace. The replacements are stronger.

My skill doesn't erode, but my giveacrapness (new word) does go down if I have a bad 1st ball.

Man, how long were you cradling? That transistor was probably weak and about to fail anyway.

Definitely not here. Makes me better if anything.

Set the pin to a dollar-per-play, insert your coins to start a game, and give the coin-door keys to your wife. Problem solved

Was probably a fluke. but the upgraded transistors are stronger.

Let's not panic now!

I have two games but I mostly play on location. I agree, winning a free game or EB is more exciting on location with a little cash at stake, or maybe some people watching. But as for making you a worse player... overall I say no.

A home game means you can grab a few games any time and maintain your edge. It's also easier to really dig into a home game and play the hell out of it. A lot of the strategic thinking carries over to other games. Lastly, you can make your home games really really hard. Especially if you play in tournaments, it can be tough to find location games that are set up as hard as they are in the bigger tournaments.

8000 games / per machined owned - - - Math, it's what's for dinner!

Unless the game was given to you, your play is anything but free... Kidding ya, but I understand the attitude of the "thrill of victory" being less.

I try to put one credit on my Pinbot and see how long I can keep playing, earning free games. Its about 50/50 due to Pinbot being a drain monster, but occasionally I'll pop a credit, then earn up to 4 more depending on if I make the high score rankings.

Popping more than 1 credit still feels like a victory. Its also cool to just see how many games you can get out of it.

Unfortunately it's not a fluke. I've seen it happen multiple times on Stern games. In fact, I forgot who it was, but one of the players at the IFPA Championships this past weekend did exactly that on Spiderman.

I feel like i am a better player with my home collection.I'm always trying to beat my high scores

Investment wise .50 veruses 4,000 i will take the 4,ooo route any time. I can play when & whenever i want. And when i'm tired of the game I usually sell it for what I paid for it

I've had it happen on 3 new Sterns. I often trap on left and play the right flipper and it has always been the transistor for the left flipper that fails. I have not had a repeat failure on a replaced transistor.

Worst instance was on FGY when I was waiting to end a multiball to start Sperm Attack for my first time. Ended the multiball and had the last ball trapped ready to shoot, and the flipper died and the ball rolled into the drain. Game over. Dang.

I know the feeling.. when playing at home the drive is less to make the best of every ball.. when you start a bad first ball it's easy to press the start button again and start a new game.

Also had the fear doing certain shots, on my TZ I had replaced the slotmachine target and noticed for months I was afraid to shoot it.

Not a fluke. Happened to me on my 3 week old TF-LE. My friend was cradling the ball for at least 3 or 4 minutes while we were chatting about the game & the thing just blew.

Love this word.

I do not see skill erosion. It really helps me. Sometimes I will disregard my score and my progress through the game in favor of working a shot or two that I have been having difficulty with. That is not something I do on location.

Set goals for yourself. My wife can tell you I 'give a crap' how games go, she's seen my post-game tantrums... When you've kicked of Battle Royale multiball and you 4-ball drain without even collecting one jackpot, you care! For a while I was restarting balls on a bad ball 1, but I conditioned myself to stop doing it, since I'm trying to play better in a tourney setting.

-Wes

I put all my games on single quarter play at home. I use them like piggy banks (along with my roommates) and when I open them up to empty I normally just put the money into spare parts or upgrades

So let me get this right...

You guys play games on pinball machines after you get them working and shopped?

I missed the memo on this one!

i love getting a replay or special on my games. my wife thinks im nuts. she always says you won a game on a game you play for free. i just love to hear the sound of the knocker.or the stern chirp.

I noticed that I too become somewhat jaded when they're set to free games. Though I do like to occasionally just play a mindless game or two - swat the ball around while I ponder something else. But I do find I tend to care less how I do if I'm not paying for the game. Time to set them to need coins once I get the spare parts out of the cabinet and the coin tray back in.