I've had a couple people ask me why I cancelled my order. If you want to know why keep reading. If you don't want to know, don't care or a closed minded fanboy, then stop reading now.

First, let me say that this doesn't have anything to do with not having the money available. I am very blessed to have a good
paying job that I work very hard at which allows me to have the disposable income to dabble in this hobby.

There are 3 main reasons that I cancelled my order.
1. Up until now, the most I've ever spent on a pin is $3300. I've got a HUO LotR in that range and a lightly
routed PotC at that price (yes, it was a while ago). So, while $8000 for a NIB MM is a great price considering what routed machines were going for, it is still a significantly higher price than I've ever paid for a machine before. Even though I pre-ordered on the spot at the announcement, I've come to my senses in the weeks since. There are other titles out there available today for a lower price that I would much rather own.

2. I have pretty strong reservations about the electronics package of this game. The manufacturer has a very
poor history making pinball machines. I have no doubts that the game will work fine out of the box and for the
short term. But, after scouring the photos and video that Rick has made available, I am concerned about the
long term reliability and ease of serviceability. I also suspect that troubleshooting is going to be quite an
endeavor from what I can see. A pinball machine is a pretty harsh environment due to the
amount of vibration the playfield sees (mainly from the solenoids). It takes a lot of knowledge to design for
that environment. Remember, even B/W had a steep learning curve for these conditions (ie: think trough
transmitter and receiver boards for example). From what I can tell from the pictures (very limited), they are trying to
use off-the-shelf stuff where they can which isn't likely to be designed to withstand vibration. I think it's
going to take quite a bit of time (or high usage on route) to flush out the reliability of the design concept
and implementation of mounting all that to the bottom of the playfield.

That said, I hope I am completely wrong and it's more solid than the original. There are other likely titles
to be re-produced in the future that are much more appealing to me than MM. Since this approach will also be
used for those titles, I would love to see it succeed. But, I'm not willing to be the guinea pig/beta tester
for the platform for $8K of my money

3. The final reason is likely to be controversial. I have a very hard time giving money to Rick and PPS right
now given how they've chosen to address the guys doing custom/improved rulesets of B/W games. These guys are doing what they are with no profit motive and purely for the love of the hobby.

I do understand the requirements of copyright holders to defend their rights or lose them. And it is true that,
in an effort to improve the marginal or unfinished code of existing games instead of totally reinvent them, they
were apparently using video clips from the original code. So, PPS could have chosen to make their efforts legal
by giving them a license to use it as long as they did not sell anything or make a profit. By issuing a license, they are takingsteps to protect their copyright while still allowing the projects to exist and continue. Instead, they have
chosen to say "you need to take that out". Is that within their rights? Yup, it sure is. Just like not buying their product is mine.

This opinion is purely mine and not that of the developers. I am specifically referring to the work done to create
Cactus Canyon Continued and Demolition Time. In these cases, the developers were either required to stop
distributing key pieces (needed to make their stuff work) or completely change what they had created. The work
they have done has only improved and continue to advance this hobby. It is only in Rick's best interest to
support these kinds of efforts.

I am really hoping that Rick and PPS reconsider their position.

Jaz

Rick - I know more about patents and copyrights than I ever wanted to. I do understand the difference between owner and licensee. I also know more about the pinball quagmire than I ever wanted to.

You clearly don't understand (or choose to muddy the waters) what most of these 3rd party systems do. In the case of the games I mentioned, there is not one SINGLE piece of WMS code used in those games. They are based on completely different architectures with code written from scratch from the ground up. There is nothing they are doing that they need permission from WMS to use except dot patterns for video sequences that are copies of original game patterns. This is a completely different scenario than the ROMs, Nucore, and other issues of the past.

I also know that they were not told by WMS to take things down or out. It was by you. Maybe you'd like to share with us who the contact is at WMS that we should get ahold of since you suggested I take it to WMS?

I know you are trying to find ways that we can all work together, but your motivations are not purely for the benefit of the hobby. And that's OK, you're entitled to make a money in this hobby. But, on this subject please don't sit here and plead that it's all WMS. I personally heard you make the statement that CCC is a thorn in your side because it's going to make it hard for you to remake CC since no-one will want it without CCC. Well, you're off the mark a bit there because there aren't many buyers interested in CC as it was regardless of whether CCC existed or not. The stock game isn't that good.

But look, I believe I was VERY fair in my OP and stand by it completely. It also was not a Rick or PPS bashing fest. You do a lot of good things. But, on this subject, we obviously have a difference of opinion. But, you do indicate that you are TRYING to make things right for CCC. As I said, I hope that happens and my opinion will change when it does. But, I will then be watching very carefully how things are handled in the future.

Jaz

Rick, I am well aware of your background. As I said, you either don't understand or choose to muddy the waters. So, your saying it is the latter. In my OP I very clearly said that my beef was regarding the handling of video and audio clips. Your initial response went straight to code and code changes which has ZERO mention in this thread until you brought it up. I have been consistent since post one. My beef is the fact that you (in conjunction with WMS), have not been willing to give them a free, not for profit license to use the video and audio clips. Apparently you guys decided static artwork is ok but not moving artwork.

Jaz

EDIT: Oh wait, unless video is colorized and for profit, then I guess you can find a way to bless it.

With all due respect to Tiger and the mods, if this didn't belong in the PPS sub-forum, then what location SHOULD it have gone in? The PPS location isn't simply for PPS announcements, is it? If I had wanted to crap on Rick, PPS, and MMr, I would have made my post in the "Update/Announcement" thread. I specifically didn't do that. If you feel this thread belongs somewhere else, then feel free to move it.

And for those that take my post as a "crap on Rick" post, that couldn't be further from the truth. I think Rick is a very nice guy (although he has his moments just like we all do) and I have a lot of respect for him. He is doing a lot of good things for our hobby. But, as with most people, we don't agree on everything. IMHO, I made my points clearly and I don't think I disrespected anyone.

I wasn't sure that Rick would respond but, obviously, I knew there was a good chance he would. I was very disappointed when he decided to take it to the "you don't know what you're talking about", "WMS doesn't let us change code", and "we can just stop making things if people don't like it".

My decision to opt out of MMr was mainly due to #1 and #2, but #3 did play a factor. The issue at hand here is rights to use video and audio assets in a not for profit scenario. This issue was apparently satisfied successfully in a least one, very profitable scenario (ie: ColorDMD).

Jaz