Quoted from DNO:I am an operator. I have connected all the games that came with IC, and one kit installed that someone gave me.
I have not bought any kits, and have not put up a displayed leaderboard. I did run 1 leaderboard (online only) when it was first announced, just to check it out.
My reason for not going “all-in” on IC is because I don’t want to spend time and money without knowing how much Stern is going to take or want for Pro games in the future. If it’s too much, I will take them all offline and continue as before.
I am not begging Stern for Operator-only features such as the leaderboard.
However, knowing they ARE Operator-only, I am actually more inclined to put up a screen and see if it gathers intrest.
That is exactly what Stern wants, Ops like me that are on the fence to start to commit time and money to setting these things up, thus making it harder to abandon when they start charging.
Stern knows how many games are online, how much money they make, how many players use/don’t use IC, what Ops are charging, etc…
It is probably almost too much for them to actually digest all this brand new information IC has given them, and figure out how the squeeze the most from Ops in the future. (All while still developing IC)
So they are slowly, methodically moving forward, keeping Leaderboards reserved for Ops.
If they gave then to Homes now, they will never be able to use them as leverage to keep Ops using IC.
There is TONS of MONEY they want to get from Ops, I don’t think they will change their plan because of a few home owner emails.
But hearing ‘23 as a date makes me think they will be trying to charge Ops sometime next year, then give homes Leaderboards.
Which sucks if you set up Leaderboards on location because they were exclusive.
As a small time op I can see one positive thing that I would support coming from this. Id be ok with a Stern revenue share thru IC if they gave a significant equipment discount up front like raw thrills does on buck hunter. That gives them much more incentive to drive business to the location and we both win. Locations can act virtually like showrooms for new pin buyers and they can just raise the price on home buyers to make up the difference.
