Since I've been on Pinside I've never seen this amount of backlash over a change to a legimate pinball machine (excluding the well known fiascos of the pinball world).

Is the change from a 3x custom spinning disk mech a bummer? Yes. Does it mean Pirates by JJP is suddenly somehow worth less? No. Would this be a larger issue if the game shipped as is and issues started to arise with 3x disk mechs 6 months down the road? Absolutely.

I'll explain why, in my opinion, why I think JJP is still offering a ton of value with POTC. I did a lot of thinking about the changes over the past few days and realized at the end of it all that I may have overreacted, a bit, lol.

1. Pirates by JJP is still one of the most loaded pins ever created and only matched in terms of features by other JJP games.

As a JJP POTC customer you are still getting...

A. A large rocking / interactive detailed Black Pearl mini playfield with multiple shots, a canon that shoots across the playfield to a stationary ship which by itself offers a couple ranges of motion, integration with a lock down bar button and can be accessed through multiple shots. Theres even LED lit laterns on it. The mini playfield alone on POTC is more interactive and complex then 99% of pins toys.

B. A treasure chest physical ball lock that is integrated with a fork ramp.

C. Two subways, one of which offers 5 entrances.

D. Magnet area for mode selection

E. Star Map LED constellation toy

F. Two outlane ball saves

G. Tortuga Tom spinning pirate

H. Maelstrom ramp with diverter.

I. The new single spinning disk mech

J-Z (lol). Other features including color GI, camera (which likely will have innovative uses), LE models including invisiglass, shaker motor, high quality powder coat, external volume control, etc.

2. The amount of software, animation and audio work going into POTC is only matched by other JJP games. Without software any pinball machine is just a box lights. Deep and rich quality software adds value to a game. Other companies can offer cool layouts but at the end of the day it's the software that brings a layout to life and gives it legs for years to come.

A. 125 modes, 5 movie multiballs, 5 mini wizard modes and 1 super wizard mode designed by the greatest objective based pinball programmer of all time, Keith Johnson.

B. Industry leading HD LCD animations. No one else in pinball is matching the quality of JP's animation work. There is not another company offering the same level of animation quality. The new 3x map animations by JP are incredible and are a testament to JJP's desire to offer the highest quality pinball machines.

So let's all take a step back, look at everything the game is offering, watch the live stream Wednesday with the new spinning disk map, ideally play an updated game and then make a purchase decision.

Oh, check out at least the first half hour of Straight Down the Middles latest episode. Zach and Greg make some great points about the change which provide different perspectives on the situation. It helped change my own perspective about this topic.

Agree 100%. I hope JJP at least changes the decal being used as it's not visually appealing and doesn't blend well into the rest of the playfields artwork.

I can't help but to agree with a lot of your points. I'm sorry for creating another thread but I thinks it's worth it when we get a comment like the one you posted.

With JJP not having the rights to use the actors audio and video from the 5 films the pin has to rely more on its features. The features of the game are what made me, and many others, preorder the game in the first place. When you pull one of those features out this pin cannot fall back on other things such as licensed actor audio and video assets.

Personally I would not make a licnesed pin unless I had the ability to at least use the actors voices and actor video. I think one reason why a game like Dialed In is in part such as great pin as it's an original design with no license issues as the game can have every asset needed from audio, video, rules, etc created for its world.