Im not sure flagging actually does anything and usually I'm not bothered in the slightest - I just don't like the way the game is being artificially down voted and ALL the positive reviews are being flagged, even some of the more thought out ones. Yes the negative ones are being flagged too, thats because there's no justification for it. If I review a game to be 4/10 it would have to have an awful lot wrong with it. So why not at least explain the rating?

On the other hand I (and others) take 20 mins to do a thoughtful write up detailing why we think its great, and some a-holes flag it? Why exactly? I thought I explained my rating pretty well, I didn't just slap a 10 rating on it with no comment (i didnt btw - it's not a 10/10 game, nothing is really, but this one is right up there).

I think there must be some kind of ratio because I’ve seen bogus reviews completely disappear after I’d say…about 15 flags?

I think that's just a default filter on the ratings view, I'm not sure it actually invalidates that score from the overall rating. You can view all ratings by turning off the filters (eg by default it only shows ratings with comments).

Well the trolls had their win, Alien on number 50 op top 100. Even the LV scores lower than the standard. Since they all left thier shitty ratings on the LV. That shows how bad this system is. I would not like to do this but if we could get 50 people to just bash godzilla with a low rating, that would be fun, just for fun sakes
Meanwhile the LV is now eternaly marked with shitty reviews and will never get anywhere the top 10.

The review hate-bombing is indeed disheartening, even though I know it doesn't really matter. Especially bothers me to see people who I personally know who have previously expressed a much more positive opinion give it a 2 or a 3. Really, you find this game to be, by far, the worst game you've ever encountered? And it was just in the past few days that you remembered how much you hate the game and you felt obliged to post that?

No. Please no one do this. Two wrongs don't make a right. Godzilla is an excellent game by most people's standards, please don't post a trash review for it unless you truly hate it.

Wouldn't really matter anyway, Godzilla has many more units out there, and therefore more reviews -- much harder to "move the needle".

You are off course right, but it just seems so unfair that these bullies always get their way over normal honost people. They just thrashed the system which can not be changed anymore. Maybe I am getting to old for this shit, I do not need this in my life. I also do not understand why I get so upset by this. I should not care so much about it....

I agree - GZ is actually a fantastic game - and I could never give it a bad review, plus besides that just makes us the same as all the idiots who dragged this game down for the hell of it. But the crap that's gone on for this one has really got to me, because it's genuinely a fantastic game and I really think it deserves to be in the top 10-20. Now I think it's actually lower than its ever been - so yes it does show the rating system up as being totally controllable by the wrong sort of people, which is a real shame.

We shouldn't care, but we do because we are passionate about our hobby. I know its only a top 100 list, but people have worked damn hard on this game and it deserves some plaudits... Plus, it's not just because of the low ratings, but to me it's also because it shows there are still such idiotic people around in this forum. It would have eventually settled into its own true rating, but now that's not gonna be possible.

This is the real shame for me. I truly value honest feedback, both good and bad, from players and owners. The only way pinball creators can improve their product is by doing more of what most people like, and doing less of what most people dislike -- that's pretty straightforward. But when the feedback is "you're not my favorite game / favorite company, so you suck and I'm gonna trash you", that's unactionable -- so these selfish people hurt games that they or others might enjoy. That sucks for the owners and players, past, present, and future. I guess these people just want a monopoly or duopoly that generates a few titles a year at constantly increasing prices.

Well, concerning the Top 100...it is obvious it is not a reliable useful tool, the rankings are irrelevant. To be able to bump a game to from number 1 to 50 in a week's time tells me the system is broke. What is usable are the comments...read them and take away what you feel you can use. If I were Pinside, I would put everything in alphabetical order and only have a comments section...remove all ratings and rankings. Change the name to "Players Opinions".

Non-owner here (but, this is a game I'd love to own some day... just a little skittish about the quality issues).

I think you guys are missing the point about ratings. F*** the numbers. What matters most is what you say in your review comments. Anyone using the actual rank of game to make a buying decision is a dolt. But, the Top 300 *is* useful for buyers that are looking to investigate the merits of owning a specific game.

Be honest about your experience, good and/or bad, and you'll help the next guy/gal make an informed decision.

I've just never seen such a blatanty concerted effort by a group (in this case GZ owners/Stern fanboys) to intentionally trash a game in an attempt to drag its rating down as I observed this past week on Pinside. Is Alien the GOAT/#1 of all time? Probably not but it is certainly better than #50.

Either way, the shenanigans we've all seen this past week expose the fatal flaw in the Pinside review/rating system. Not sure how to fix it but it needs to be revised.

Lmfao ,what a bunch of LOSERS!

Who cares , We couldn’t be any happier with this pin

The saddest thing about this is, these aren't teenagers, but rich 40+ year olds. This site really does make you realize how petty and selfish pieces of crap people can be. Thus best just to let it go and forget about that rating system. It will make your experience better.

I have played maybe a dozen games on a LV and it’s a great game. I have alway said if a game puts a smile on your face when you play it, then it’s a game for you. I have already started budgeting for a SE. So the top 100 bad reviews have not changed my mind, hell I also have a Ultraman and love it.

Yup, Ultraman and Halloween both criminally underrated as well.

I just posted a review on the SV, and since this system is broke I just gave it a 10. Maybe everybody who did not yet review the SV could do that, see where Alien ends up next week. The LV rating is lost. Just to show the system is completely broken. With 114 ratings we should get it up a few places ones a set of 10's come in. Come on Marines, let's start this bug hunt

I think the best way to handle this is to toss all ratings with 1, 2, or 10. IMO as a pinball fan, there's not a game out there that sucks bad enough to earn a 1 or 2, and there's no absolutely perfect game either. Those numbers are the tools used by rating trolls. At that point, we would see a clearer view of the accurate ratings.

I shall refer to this Website as “Sternside”

Have you played Thunderbirds?

I have but wouldn't know how to rate it since I walked away after the second ball ....

2 balls = 2 stars

I never go by the rating. I make the effort to go in and read the reviews. I am woefully behind on writing reviews for game I have owned. It's usually pretty obvious reading the reviews as to which are well thought out and which are emotionally driven.
I think (and hope) Alien will gain some popularity as more of them go out on location and the masses get a chance to play it.

I'm randomly surfing.... Just wanted to say those look friggin amazing!

Alien suffering from horrible reliability issues even if they have been resolved now will limit the amount of games on location. I know after my experience trying to keep it running I'd never attempt it again.

That's going to seriously hinder the exposure for the machine compared to a top tier title like GZ which is not only super reliable, but in locations all over the place earning tons of coin for operators.

Going to be hard to compete with that with Alien that has code that can't run for more than a few hours without locking up and being shut off.

That may have been true at one time, but that is no longer the case. I've not had a single problem with my machine on V3.0 in a month now. That is unprecedented. If someone is still having some lockup issues, it is likely not the code that is the problem.

Not to be a downer here, but there still is problem with the code. I gave my logs yesterday and was told they are aware there is still a lock up issue and they are working on it. These issues haven't disappeared with 3.0 update for everyone. I'm glad your game is 100% but there are some of us who are not having the same trouble-free experience.

I've had lockups with 3.0 still.

Well that's surprising.... maybe different revision playfield boards or something? Somethings different because mine has been rock solid stable... and it wasn't before 3.0.

When we looked at this the other day I confirmed I had Rev D boards, the same as you. I may have some other item that is older, but everything on my game is up to date (as far as I know) from targets to boards.

Another issue with location reliability is the poor design of the targets. I was constantly resoldering those SMD microswitches onto the boards. It's cool to see the innovation but it definitely needs to be more robust for production use.

If you have Gen 3 targets, it shouldn't be a problem if they are the same Gen 3 targets I have. I did follow the instructions I've posted several times in here to reinforce the large targets and bulletproof the smaller ones. I never have to touch them now... and they ALL light up. It's the little things that get me all excited.

brado426 what rev playfileld board#6 do you have working with target lights 3&4? Mine are not working and I tried both rev 2 and 3 lights.

83F6DCF3-8565-496C-BCB4-4104E9B960B4 (resized).jpeg

I have Rev D. Whether that makes a difference, I do not know. Of course, System Update 3.0 is required for that to work. I'm sure you're testing with 3.0.

They have surface mounted microswitches on the circuit board that fall off from ball impacts. Is there a design that doesn't have those microswitches? I'll dig thru my phone and see if I can find a picture. I've had to resolder them multiple times.

Have you followed these instructions?

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nAbEz6VHpTw8Kl0FMe9Gfh8GaA52Q2-uChS36ffJNn4/edit?usp=sharing

Since I did this, I have had zero problems with targets.

#186 is finally home.

53967 (resized).jpeg

Yup testing with 3.0 and a rev C board...

How would that prevent the microswitch from falling off the circuit board?

Screenshot_20221108-073942.png

Without bending that bracket, the target can bend way further back. This causes additional stress on that switch. The targets should only bend back far enough to activate the switch. That being said, I did have switches fall off on the Gen. 2 targets, but never on the Gen 3 targets, even before I followed those instructions... and I've had them for over a year now. I don't know why you're having trouble with Gen 3 targets.

Unboxed our SV last week, put the apron decals on last night. Decals are already starting to peel off. Is there a magic way to apply these?

I was told by PB support to warm them with a hair dryer as it reactivates the adheasive...worked for a bit but then they peeled back up again so they sent me a new set. Since I have the Apron mod I will just stick the new ones in the cash box.

I see. That makes sense that it limits the impact. Let.me try this.

I have the same issue. I was just going to drop down some additional adhesive as well.

See if any wires disconnected in the wire ramp.
This has happened to me 3x now. The first symptom is also balls launching half way up intermittently.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/aliens-lv-ratings-drop

How can none of those commenting not notice the connection that once the game hit #1, hit facebook, hit Kaneda's page, that the temporary spotlight caused others to assassinate the ratings on this game? This isn't because people feel so strongly in their opinion. I'm guessing a large portion of the low reviews have never even played the game.

I maybe different but I don't review a game I'm not familiar with. There are a ton of games I've walked away from disappointed, not knowing what others see in it, then come back months later and have one good ball and love the damn thing. I can't make a good judgement call on a pin after 10 plays. I haven't experienced enough or learned the game enough to make that judgement. Alien took me much more than 10 games to get the feel for it. I didn't really enjoy the game at all for the first month. That had nothing to do with any issues plaguing the game either. It just took me awhile to understand the flow, prevent the drains, start using the weapons correctly, and truly understand and be immersed in what the game was trying to accomplish.

There's quite a bit of animosity around this game to boot due to history, which I'm sure adds to it. I repeat. Grown men acting like children.

Hey all, just got my LV last weekend and really enjoying it so far.

A couple of questions that hopefully aren’t too common by now, this thread was too big to go through extensively!

1. Is there an option or mod for double contact flipper switches, i.e. being able to flip one or both flippers on a side depending on pressure/depression. I find that the upper left flipper exposes the drain more than I’d like, and a few shots are made much more difficult without better flipper control, in particular when trying to capture balls with the flippers. Maybe this is completely by design and I’m just not used to it yet.

2. Is there any capability for user-modified art, sound and music assets? Like if they’re just files somewhere on the storage system? I get that licensing probably prevented PBB from getting a lot of the iconic likenesses and music… but there’s nothing preventing us end users from adding them

Regardless, I’m loving the game and they really nailed the theme and atmosphere of both movies.

My game sometimes launches two balls into the trough. After a few normal strength kicks my game USED to do a final hard kick to eject the balls. Now…it just cycles soft kicks forever and never kicks the balls out. This is a major prob for location. Any thoughts/ fixes? Why would the game just stop doing the hard kick?