I witnessed this several times. And the single person that would play a four person game by themselves…

We live in a disposable society that unfortunately does not include civility towards others

At my events if a player got aggressive towards others like that he'd be out of here so fast he wouldn't know what happened.

LTG : )

We've witnessed this several times as well. They're just assholes.

Yeah that mf'er needs to be kicked out; threatening someone over pinball... what a beta

Did you report them to the show organizers? I would recommend doing that next time.

What a shame. You handled it well, that says volumes.

I noticed most of the players that had 4-player games going didn’t realize what they had done. On several occasions, I took the opportunity to talk with them and explain the game. In all instances, the players were accepting of the help - especially if I knew the rules of the game they were playing.

Although if a person becomes confrontational, they should be reported to event staff. Good on the OP for handling himself cordially.

Start recording a video on your phone before politely asking. Then if you get a response like that, show the video to someone in charge and delight at the jerk being escorted out the door!

Unfortunately this happens all the time, if you pay attention. It happens so much that it gets tiring to confront all of them. However, it is not good for the pinball community to let bad conduct go unchecked. I think it is always a good idea to politely confront them, and if they get belligerent, aggressive, or hostile report them to Event Staff. If people want to elevate their rudeness to violence - go for it - get arrested and get piled on by the 96% good people in the hobby.

Oddly enough many of the rude self absorbed players that I noticed were wearing "Good for pinball. Bad for Networks" shirts. I though it very ironic that rude ignorant people that are in fact bad for pinball and the pinball community were wearing "good for pinball..." shirts.

One of the people I confronted tried lying about how all his friends walked away (another act of poor pinball etiquette, if it had been true), allegedly leaving him to play a 4 player game by himself. I knew that was a lie because I was watching him for a while, when I said that was BS, he switched to something like - too bad, I'm gonna keep doing it. I lost my cool a little and used some rude language. He shuffled off to take off his sweatshirt (revealing his "good for pinball..." shirt) and put ON a mask for a little while - presumably because he noticed me leave the pinball line to engage Event Staff and wanted to change his appearance.

If I ran a show I would log complaints, have event staff follow reported offenders and be proactive about bad behavior and most importantly I would eject people that repeat bad behavior, or threaten violence, and I would permanently ban people after 3 or 4 incidents, or a single incidence of threatened or actual violence. Of course permanent bans would require checking ID at badge pick-up/purchase. Utilizing the location's Trespass laws would help deal quickly and aggressively with problematic people if they return.

Now balancing that out is that sometimes extra games by people were not their fault on the Connected Sterns. I had it happen multiple times to me that when I walked up to a game with one or more friends and pressed the Start button for our number of players, it would Start more games than that because the prior players had Logged In the Connected thing and so the first Start press would add 2-4 players and any additional presses would add more players (capped at 4 of course). I never did track down Gomez to offer suggestions, but I suggest that the Stern Connected thing add a Convention setting that automatically logs players out after the game. Additionally, the game should forget any scanned in player that doesn't start a game within a few (1-3?) seconds. I saw people walking around to empty games and scan in on as many games as possible without playing so that when others walked up they would likely get credit for those plays - for whatever benefit or honors that might impart, if any.

Unplug it for them

Some people are just dicks and there's no fixing that, but threatening physical violence is completely unacceptable.

Post etiquette cards on each game. We’ve never had a report of this behavior at Pincinnati and if it does happen, please come tell Jerry or myself.

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A lot of people simply are dicks. Anyone who turns threatening like that should be reported and removed from the show. As for the 4-player game started by "mistake" or left behind unplayed, any game can be cancelled on the newer Stern machines by holding left flipper and Start until the game returns to attract mode.

The ultimate dick move lol

If they started a 2nd game, i'd probably let it slide, especially if they're not playing very well in the first place. As shitty as it is, I'd let a few more minutes pass. No problem, but stay close as next player up.

Some "adults" act like brats, so you kinda have to navigate thru these social situations by having a cooler head and recognize that some folks wern't raised with common courtesy, so I'd just let it slide and let the overgrown children continue 1 more game.

If they have the audacity to push it a 3rd time, id make mention to them of others who are waiting. Usually theyre apologetic and concede the started game. This has happened to myself and some friends a few times. They never make it to a 2nd or 3rd game, nor has anyone lost their cool. I think they know it wouldn't be a good decision to do so.

Some doofus isn't worth getting into a fight and getting yourself kicked out, but id defintely let someone know if they act like a shithead with threats.

No. Don't be that person. We have enough of that everywhere already.

set up games to only allow one player games.
on newer games its an option, set it on free play, allow one player games only, done.

if its an older game:

Have it on money play and start with one credit (so no one has to actually insert money from the start).
-make a replay as low as possible winning one credit each time someone plays,
done.
yes, it sucks that you cant have 2,3,4 player battles, but if it helps with single players playing a 4 player game hogging games, so be it.

The single player four credit games were plentiful and sad to see but luckily it was just a few bad apples.

Next time find the little booth hidden in the corner and play ours, open most of the time!

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Uh, wait just a dag gum minute here... That dude threatened you! I would just very calmly tell him that I am calling the police as we speak! You were very accommodating in my opinion so much so that I would say he was a lucky dude.

Ohhh, I see now... less odd, just as ironic...

I had thought that the "Good For pinball, bad for networks" shirts had something to do with Sterns Insider Connected stuff. Now I see it is something else, and the inconsiderate behavior makes sense.

This ∆. Great idea. Some people coming out to shows just don't have a clue.

I had no issues with etiquette waiting to play pins but we did hang at FlipinOuts area for Godzilla mostly and it was more open than Sterns area plus they had a LE to admire .I did whiff a dead skunk waiting in line for EHOH40th though .It was God awful ! Minimum 2 days no shower with a hint of cheap burrito .Had to scat and came back when it was safe .Cudos for Stern throwing a bone to distros with this but 25k? Cmon man that’s a prem with 2k upgrades .To each they’re own

What am I missing? What does that actually mean? I thought it was about Scorbit and Insider too

I had a dude finish a game, look back and nodded and then started another game. I was going to shut the game off and then my wife got upset that that pissed me off and demanded I didn’t. Go figure

Total BS, asshole should have been tossed from the show immediately for threatening you.

Your totally in the right. They show no common courtesy. I would let them know my dissatisfaction and speak to someone in charge. Who knows at my age might turn the game off. Would they assault a senior citizen.?

I actually did this at a show once.

A woman started another game right after she looked back at me standing in line. I respectfully informed her that I was next to play. Her response? "I don't give a %$#*".

I usually avoid confrontation but for some reason I reached to the back of the pin and pulled the plug. She called me a few names and walked away.

I'm older and would never do that now but I have to admit, it felt pretty good at the time.

I was kind of shocked to see a guy playing a 4 player game of Monster bash (I think the only one there) with people waiting behind him.
I watched him take his sweet time since I was in line for CCr and a guy got like 4 extra balls and played for 30 minutes (2 guys playing a 2 player game).
I’d have never thought anyone would think that was okay.
I also wished they’d turn off extra balls on games like CCr where it’s the first time anyone can play them. Seems like moving the line along would give more folks a chance at them.

Just wanted to thank yall for being awesome. Almost lost my TMNT shooter rod to TSA, but lil man has been having a blast with your stickers.

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Brilliant!

OP great job keeping your cool. What a f'n asshole. Noticed the 4player "hack" as well and it was rude. I admit if i see a young kid or families I'll yield my next turn because this may be the only pinball they play for a long while and I want them to keep playing that could be a future customer and keep this hobby alive and well!

I lucked out this year had lovely 2, 4 player games with other groups. But I totally get if they want the single player experience as well.

I wish there was a delay for when a game is on free play and the start button is pushed. People are impatient and hit the button a few times.

Awesome, I love that! (Not the TSA part)

I once had a guy lose his crap at me at Sea World in front of his family and my family because I asked, politely, if they could remain seated during a show so my two kids could see the orcas.

Entitled jerks are everywhere. Sad.

I never understand playing a 4 player game alone. It’s not fun.

Disabling extra balls would be awesome. A bit of extra work for venders though .. probs won’t happen.

I had no issues with jerks at expo luckily. I’ve seen the behavior at other shows for sure tho, not sure what the solution is.

Here's another variation that can occur on the older EMs with a manual ball lift:
First player walks up to game and presses button. Game resets, but no ball is fed out. Person assumes it's broken and walks away.
Second player walks up and presses button, adding the second player on a 2-player game. No ball is fed; person assumes it's broken.
I walk up and see a fully reset game. Seeing scores at zero, rather than push the button, I try the manual ball lift, which works. At end of first ball, I see it go to player 2, ball 1. I play it through. Luckily for me, not many people want to play these older games.
.................David Marston

I had some jerk that was playing a two player game by himself on the stern Jurassic park outside the vendor area. It was about two pm on Friday, and the vendor area didn’t open till four, so it was the only Jurassic park available.

My five year old son wanted to play the dinosaur game, and he, my wife and I waited patiently for 15 min or so while he was finishing his game(s). On his “second” ball three, I said some to my son something to the effect of “ok, it’s his last ball, you’ll get to go next!”. The dude played a pretty long ball, got multi ball, etc, and then finally his game was over. My wife says, “alright Josh, it’s your turn.” Certainly the dude was aware we wanted the machine next.

The guy turns around, looks right at my boy and hits the credit button, Starts a new game. I couldn’t believe it! We rolled our eyes and decided to move on to another game. Seriously, Who robs a five year old of a pinball game?!? I said to my wife, for people like that, there’s a special place in hell where you get eaten by dinosaurs.

The rest of the show was great, we had a lot of fun and most people were respectful. Josh loved TMNT , WOZ and avengers.
But there’s always “that” guy. You can’t let it wreck your fun!

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I'm going to be intentionally vague, sorry, but if I am now right, I do not want to give further undeserved attention to the entity. It is now my understanding that these shirts are promoting some shock jock style, "famous" for being a jerk type, pinball podcast guy. I feel that my new notion makes sense because I thought the "bad for networks" line didn't make much sense in the context of what I assume is pretty low bandwidth for game play data. If I am still wrong (or am now wrong that I changed my theory), someone more current and informed please chime in - I have not been keeping up with pinball news & gossip for several years now.

Arrrgggg! That is why I feel I have to say something most of the time, because I know that there are so many people that won't (or don't feel it is safe for their family) to do so. I dislike conflict, but I am often compelled to do what is right, whether it stresses me out or not.

General etiquette signage might help. Little signs on every machine, maybe a little more. A staffer going around and looking for these things, warning people (and logging their names, maybe taking their picture), and kicking out repeat offenders would almost certainly curtail this despicable conduct.

My spin on an old saying - All that needs to happen for evil to thrive is for good people to do nothing.

I wonder if JJP could add a "show mode" to games with a camera where it won't start a new game if it sees the same face for two games in a row? Or maybe not kick the ball out for player 2 if it's the same guy as player 1? Not that it'd be a huge selling point, but I bet it'd be fun to design the call outs for insulting a dude hogging the game.

Imagine if people could go to amusement parks and hog roller coasters by refusing to get out of their seat at the end of the ride.

There should be a a show mode, i wouldnt think it would take much to code it. Maybe build in a 15 or 30sec delay between games so same person cant insta start another game. Maybe have a game is over come play me callout. Step right up and try your skill!

this

Or just hold people accountable for their actions. Most don’t know what they are doing and will immediately admit that and let the next person play.

If that doesn’t happen and especially if they get irate and make threats, get the staff involved. See something say something. That’s the best way to handle this.

And try to set expectations as clearly as possible to the attendees with rules cards so it won’t be a surprise if they get called out.

There needs to be signage as they walk in and through out.

If people waiting please limit to one game per person.

They do this a lot at Golden State and it really cut down on this behavior.

There should be large signs posted which state one game per person, please don’t be an asshole.

Sure, although that would be redundant.

And "if anyone is waiting" is required, or it sounds like the limit is one even if no one is waiting.

Wow, what a dick! Like my wife says all the time about these assholes "It's all about Me, Me, Me!" these days.