All we need is a blue service hat with PPS Emblem, Blue zippered service jacket with a LTG : ) Name Tag, red bow tie, white shirt, and me.

LTG : )

Sounds like a plan

make-it-so-captain.jpg

ebay.com link: USAF US Air Force Officer Dress Blue Uniform Service Visor Cap Hat Bancroft

The hat.

LTG : )

Rick I like the way you operate
Good stuff!

http://www.zootsuitstore.com/Shopping/Catalog/product_detail.asp?ProductCode=WCDJT15B

The jacket 2XL NAVY.

LTG : )

The one in the link will fit.

LTG : )

ebay.com link: Red Pre Tied Mens Bow Tie

The bow tie.

LTG : )

Get one for prada too.

ebay.com link: NEW MENS WHITE SHORT SLEEVE DRESS SHIRT ALL SIZES

The shirt, 2XL

LTG : )

Disclaimer : Let her rip Rick !

Will your karma whoring know no boundaries sir?!

(I upvoted)

Really Rick? The first time you made this comment I thought ..hmm. Now you just seem a little cocky. I'm on the fence with purchasing a standard, but reading through this thread makes me hold back. You act as though you think have such a fantastic product that your doing us a favor. Maybe the 1000 preorders in one night has gone to your head? This is coming from a long time customer of yours.

Seems as though you are blowing off anybody who may have issues or concerns if they can't make a phone call. This is a forum and we all know the bad and good that can come of it. However my comment was based on this whole thread in general. Not a big deal and no I won't call you to discuss

nevermind

Squelching inaccurate speculative comments is cocky? Wouldn't you respond too if you were building a product and someone made those comments you knew were wrong? Rick expecting high quality is cocky? Giving out his phone number and offering to take the time to talk to anyone about concerns with the pin is cocky? If Jack or Gary would be more involved here (in Gary's case... at all) maybe we wouldn't have epic threads of ENDLESS speculation about WOZLE build delays or MET code updates.

If you think he has a cocky attitude and it turns you off, don't buy it.

And yes, he is doing us a favor by making the MMr... at least I think so.

I was at Gene's place when he was building BBB and he showed me the boxes of NOS boards he was going to use in them. I admit he made a few playfield changes but the OS and platform were as 100% as you can get.

And the 30 or so troll target assemblies that Wayne managed to build with everyone's money looked pretty spot on as well, but admittedly I didn't personally inspect the BOM on those...

As I have been saying all along Rick on the forum and offline in email with you, good luck with the project. Seems like you and your experienced team have everything covered.

So your concern is significant enough to trash them (with relative anonymity) on web, but NOT quite important enough to pick up the phone for real answers...... Mmmmmhmmm. Got it.

Btw, I'm sure others are equally "outraged" by Ricks willingness to answer questions/concerns head-on vs the crickets we here from other manufacturers..... Damn over-communicators!

Wow this is amazing ... this is really ridiculous IMO. You've put Rick in a no-win situation - he offers to personally field calls with any questions or concerns, and somehow that is turned into a negative? Everyone who uses the internet knows that it's MUCH easier, and faster, to call someone and talk through things than to go back-and-forth on a forum, where you can't judge the tone of the message. Just like in your instance where you think Rick is somehow cocky based on a post - that could completely change if you talked in person.

The person that calls Rick also has the option of posting the answers they received - why does it have to be a one-way street?

And who can't make a phone call? Is there someone on this forum that literally is completely unable to make a phone call?

I personally don't get the tone of cockiness at all - I *do* get that tone from other unnamed, relatively new manufacturers. And don't confuse confidence with cockiness - you've got to have confidence that you are going to build a great machine, or else you won't, as with anything worth doing. I've seen nothing but transparency and an over-willingness to communicate - something awfully refreshing. But I guess there always has to be "the one" that, no matter what you do, will find a way to make it into a negative.

Agreed.

The Maytag repairman reference is cute but here's hoping comments like that don't eventually bite you in the ass, Rick. I think most remember Jacks comments about never releasing a game with unfinished code.

eh the maytag thing wasn't being cocky about his game's quality - he was just saying he wasn't getting any (well, many) calls, like in the old maytag commercial.

There are a lot of Mr. Hyde sitting in front of their computer or driving in their car out there becoming quite often Dr. Jekyll when you talk to them in other situations

Gotcha. I took it to mean there will be no repair calls. And we all know how well that went for Jack too.

Sterns break, JJP games break, and PPS games will break. Nobody is saying it's not going to break, even with these Maytag references.

It's how they handle the situation when the game breaks that's important. I guess we'll find out.

I thought the very same thing . . . Help me help you.

i can't wait to get mine

Tron is going to be jealous, fur sure...

I've been collecting, repairing, and restoring pinballs for quite some time. I have owned some of the most collected pins out there, and I work as a technician for an amusement operator full time. I just wanted to say that I think Rick is doing us a great service by keeping us informed about the progress of the MMR project. I'm not sure why there is any negativity in this forum being directed towards him, as his transparency and willingness to answer questions has been unmatched by any one I've ever encountered in this business. He's even offered his cell phone number so we can call and ask him about any concerns we might have with the MMR. I am one of the LE buyers, and it seems like you guys have your act together and I expect you will produce a machine that is going to make a lot of people happy. Rick- God bless you and everyone working on the MMR project!

You guys are right. Rick, I am sorry for trying to read something into your comments that wasn't there. Please forgive my moment of stupidity. Thanks for not calling me names guys.

We already know.

PPS is putting in place now (help ticket system, phone access, factory technical support, etc). Rick posted here and on the Blog.

LTG : )

here's what I see...

Q: how is the development and efforts being proven reliable and on target
A: everyone involved is doing their best to make this a success

While the answer may be true.. that doesn't really qualify that the concern is addressed. No one is doubting the motivation or intentions of PPS/CG - but intentions do not guarantee results. That robust projects go through those iterative phases of development and test. Not to catch what you intended to be.. but to catch what you did not expect.

Somehow people questioning design choices or future scheduling is being equated to personally attacking Rick/PPS/etc.

It's one thing to say 'we know this path to be better' - it's something entirely different to have actual test data to back it up. Pinball history is litered with changes people made not because they were cheap.. but because they thought this was better or an insignificant change.. many of which failed or had new unintended consequences that make the choice inferior to the 'tried and true'.

I've seen far more attacks on people who are skeptical than those skeptics attacking others. The sad thing is the ammo people are using is faith.

I personally am happy that Rick/PPS have been flexible to date with the deposits and sharing info along the way. I'm not sold yet that all the changes are 100% for the better.. but if I want to buy the game 'new' and not wait for it to be proven in the field.. that is a choice I have to make for myself as a buyer.

Here's what I see:

Happy Hour started early somewhere....

Sorry, that was a bit difficult to read....

it's always happy hour somewhere

This. After buying a BBB and a WOZ, experiencing all the ups and downs of those projects, and seeing Wayne fail, I'm not quaffing the MMR kool-aid til the game is done. Maybe some sips here and there... Nothing personal at all (despite the best efforts of some others here to turn it that way with personal attacks). Just normal wait-and-see approach based from plenty of experience. I'm confident PPS will get it done, but that doesn't mean it *is* done yet.

If this thread isn't for discussing the project, what is it for? Isn't there an official, locked thread for PPS updates?

I thought about calling just to shoot the breeze, FWIW. LOL.

Actually, I may call you, because I'm wondering about a non-MM part that colors do not *appear* to be accurate on the PPS/BAA site..

Difficult?

Most anyone with a high school education should readily grasp what he wrote. It was articulate, to the point, spot on and without insult or malice.

Rick, if I call you can I beat your ear about reproducing the transparent targets for Medusa and Elektra..........again???

No, he is too busy thinking about how to make the bk2k repro playfields the best they can be.

It's more so some claiming to know where the project is at and how much time would be needed to ship out a quality working machine. Questioning is fine but indicating that PPS is somehow skipping steps or insisting that their timeline is way off without any information to back it up what so ever is another thing.

Discussing does not mean you or any other party taking over the thread. You can say your piece without trying to take over the direction of the entire thread man. Stating a stance over and over does not really add to the discussion it just adds to the number of times others need to read it over and over again. Your welcome to disagree but that is not going to change my stance on preventing members from trying to take over or troll threads on Pinside.

damn it!

Except that I have done none of that. I've posted maybe a couple dozen times (if that) in this 2400+ post thread, generally responding to points made by others. Please don't try to insinuate I'm trying to "take over" the thread when it's simply not true I own an MM, my boyfriend has an MMR on order, and I have experience with projects like this. I have a right to express my opinion just as anyone else - I have not called anyone names or insulted anyone, nor broken any forum rules. Just because you disagree with what I say does not give you the right to tell me to stop participating here.

JJP's support system is supposed to be the best also, but I've heard numerous stories of things not going so well. I'm sure Rick will do his best but we have no idea if that'll be enough just yet.

jalpert posted : It's how they handle the situation when the game breaks that's important. I guess we'll find out.

To which I responded : We already know.
PPS is putting in place now (help ticket system, phone access, factory technical support, etc). Rick posted here and on the Blog.

Never was any mention anything being the best. Just that things are in motion to have support.

No system is perfect. The main thing is if a person has an issue, they can reach someone who cares, and will work hard to resolve an issue.

LTG : )
Disclaimer : I'm the guy that cares.

Well.. when entire segments of the normal process aren't present in the discussion.. that is somehow taboo to mention? Simple point.. field testing. Even manufacturers who were building on all proven platform tech used it - yet there was no mention of it from PPS. There was talk of 'approval -> manufacturing -> shipment' - all book ended by a promised shipping window. Now, there is talk about prototypes being out there to ensure people are comfortable with the game. That wasn't part of the conversation earlier, nor does it necessarily address the concerns about the durability/serviceability of the new platform components. This isn't people with an ax to grind, but legitimate discussion around new product (and technologies) coming to market and being sold us. I'm happy that Rick is here and willing to address concerns that people have raised.

This isn't people coming out of left field and saying they know what PPS has done or not. This is educated discussion based on information being shared and common sense deduction like... there needs to be days on the calendar between two dates if something that takes time is supposed to happen.

Legitimately - I didn't get that from viper's posts and actually found people trying to shout him down (you included) to be far more off topic and repetitive. I found his posts to be bringing new elements to the discussion and with each post... not repetitive trolling like other 'opinions' that the site allows people to inject and derail threads. Just look at the responses to viper when people try to shout him out.. what are the responses based on ? Nothing but 'what do you know' 'you don't know' 'they are going to make the best they can' - basically just trying to discredit the question rather than answering it or even considering it.

That doesn't mean I agree with all he has posted - or how he went about it - but you should be able to look past the delivery if you want to consider the content itself.

Case in point... the last point about fiscal incentive and what does WMS legal approval really qualify anyway. Legitimate discussion topics.. don't agree with his delivery... but everyone honed in on that vs considering the point.

Its NONE of our business... but it is a curious and seemingly odd contractual arrangement with regards to licensing, approvals, economic incentives, etc. Again, none of our business! carry on. Look forward to the discussions regarding trim options, the "LE other", shipping dates, etc!