As I said on Tiltforums, ReplayFX will do what's good for ReplayFX that means they will be trying to keep us all happy - they are well organised, super professional and I trust them 100% to take care of this. They will announce or update when they can, in the meantime keep the faith, stay at home and play pinball.

I do not envy them. I just don't see how they could keep everyone happy. But don't worry, I'm not going to give them any crap if I'm in the group that is unhappy. Unfortunately this is the Kobayashi Maru, and half of us are stuck on there, while the other half has to decide to enter the neutral zone or not. And I don't think anyone is coming to reprogram the simulation.

Like all other major event organisers, they will be playing the game of "who blinks first". If Replay cancel, the venue breathes a sigh of relief and makes a claim. If the venue cancels, Replay breathes a sigh of relief and makes a claim.

Both are probably hoping government forces their hands.

Crappy situation to be in. Been there, done that.

Agreed.

Seems pretty obvious that it would be a bad decision for any gathering of 1200+ people. Reality is, that the gov needs to force a stop for canceling to be a reality.

Without being forced, it is surely a whole bunch of legal obligations and dollars lost.

I’m just sitting here with my tickets and a hotel reservation. I can continue to do the same for another couple months.

In other news NYCPC’s home, the skyline hotel, is housing health care workers currently!

Here’s an interesting data point. Another event held at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center called Tekko 2020 has been rescheduled from an early April postponement to June 25-28. It’s a four day convention that apparently focuses on Japanese culture and Anime. Their attendance in 2019 was over 11,000 people.

Sounds vaguely Replay FX like in scope though the social distancing aspects might be different versus playing pinball and video games. Based on that, maybe the show will in fact go on for Replay FX and Pinburgh two weeks later in July.

Interest times... hard be be certain of anything when the event is still almost 2.5 months out.

Yes, if the David P Lawrence center hosts an Anime convention with 11,000 people in June, I'm quite sure Replay FX will happen also a month later.

ANybody taking bets on if this Anime Convo happens?

what about ALL GAMES single player only? and then wipe down the games for each new player? Faster and less issues then wipeing them each turn in a 4 player game.

That’s a great idea.

Down the line. When things are open again.

Furries Convention the week before Pinburgh just cancelled.

I hope they carry the tickets over for you guys that have them if they have to (or just WANT to for safety's sake) cancel, and I say that as someone that could've been looking at next year as the first year it might be financially viable, FINALLY, for me to go. I can wait.

Well it’s official.

There goes my summer.

well it uses the same space as Replay and is much smaller. If they are being told they cant hold their show no chance Replay happens.
Please carry over our tickets!

I’ve learned something today.

https://www.anthrocon.org/

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One of my wife's friends was the gm of a large banquet/hotel/mini-convention center. They were the host location, of apparently, the WORLD'S largest furry convention (never cared to fact check it, lol). Figure the host hotel had about 500 rooms, and the 4 or 5 surrounding hotels housed similar numbers, and there is also a massive amount of air-bnb's as well. Apparently, the week of this sucker, every room and rental car in a seemingly 50 mile radius was sold out.

She told us some really twisted stories about this thing, ranging from entire families showing up dressed up as anime racoons (think 7 and 8 year olds, along with mom in dad in full regalia) to people full decked out in bondage type gear (complete with squirrel tails held in place with certain types of plugs, that rhyme with "rutt"...) all interacting and rubbing elbows together for a week of family fun and debauchery at an outdated venue. I won't share the real cringe worthy stuff she told us about it; I'm no prude, but there are some really strange people out there. Apparently a lot of them. And like any sub group, there is no shortage of predators within.

I always wondered where pinball people/pinball shows stood in the weirdo hierarchy of things, and it's not even close; not even in the same league. And I've met my fare share of weirdos playing pinball...

As to Pinburgh, I'm still cautiously optimistic about it happening. And for me, I will take the same basic precautions and common sense measures I do ANYTIME I'm in a large gathering: Sanitize/wash hands frequently (only touch my face after doing such if needed); respect personal space; sanitize phone and the few other personal affects I bring in with me occasionally; and even though it's tempting, not lick door handles and urinals.

Fingers crossed folks.

anyone on a pinball forum for a significant portion of time, probably should not be the one casting those stones.

check out superMagfest

Furries are there but not the main thing.

What you describe... but Like 20k people... 24/7 for 4 days...

Hey pal! I've got < 3 years here, haha!

Different strokes for different folks I suppose...example being: I have no shame or see no moral or legal objection to inviting friends and family, neighbors and their kids, even my coworkers or priest over to play pinball. In fact, I have, and do.

Conversely, as I'm guessing most would agree, the same could not be said about inviting the same cast of characters over to play dress up in bondage gear and shove tails up our butts.

I'm not sure how they do things up in Wisconsin, but even here in Connecticut, I'm sure that would be frowned upon.

And for those that can't tell, there is a certain amount of jest to this post, as well as most of my others.

From what I've seen, the percentage of folks who engage in such behavior is quite low. Meanwhile, here in pinball land, we have a longtime designer of much-loved games that turned out to be a pedophile.

Yea, might want to stop bashing other groups for no reason.

I've been studying cleaning guidance and watching what the experts the coin op industry has hired is recommending. Many of these cleaners need the contact areas to be wet with cleaner for at least 60 seconds.. Some as long as 10 min. Since this is a virus it must break down the fat layers the bind it, rather then killing it like you would bacteria. Still its doable

One of the few things we do know is that soapy water destroys the virus nearly instantly. Soapy water is cheap, readily available and won't hurt the games. No need for strong chemicals or cleaners and waiting minutes at a time.

Soapy water bucket at the front door for league. Engage when you arrive and leave! Haha

Well... with a reasonable soak.. like 20 seconds It's the entire rationale behind the wash your hands for 20 seconds. To enable enough time for the soap to break down the fats that make up the protective shell of the virus.

The demonstration in this video helps quantify this for people

Anthrocon was the largest in the world for many years. It's recently been surpassed by Midwest Furfest in Chicago.

I think you heard some tall tales (maybe with a kernel of truth). I'm a longtime member of the furry fandom and I go to conventions regularly, though not as many as I used to, since playing in pinball tournaments has grown to mostly take up the time I used to spend going to furry meets and cons. So I'm pretty qualified to tell you that conventions normally have very little tolerance for overt displays of the kind you're talking about. Costumes are required to be decent for public display. What people get up to in hotel rooms is their business, but for people who aren't into that aspect of the fandom, it doesn't force you to pay attention to it or be involved. I honestly would not be afraid to bring my mother to the conventions I go to. Most of what goes on are things like talent shows, music acts, dance competitions, trading sketches, playing board games, and so on. You might be surprised how much of it is rather wholesome and focused on community and friendship.

Anyway, I don't usually post here but I felt obliged as probably the only person present active in both communities. By the way, my SO and I have been watching Anthrocon as the bellwether of Pinburgh also.

of course we have a community that takes personal hygiene seriously !

Thanks for the input, it's appreciated.

I suppose most of my exposure to "furryism" has been sensationalized "documentaries" and second-hand stories. It seems every one has focused on the deviant aspects of it, which I now understand are a minimal part of it.

I also learned something new today.

My apologies to anyone I inadvertently aggrieved.

I sure wish more people would write like this on Pinside...

Both my kids seem to be into the furry thing and I remember reading a MAD magazine when I was a kid, where I learned for the first time the phrase "The Generation Gap". In that case it was talking about hippie culture.

So I'm mindful of my old fart status and that young people are going to be into things I don't get and that's ok.

Yes they did this to me as well

I came for the pinball... but I stayed for the furries.

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Nice video thanks for putting it out.

Looks like *that* Anime festival (Tekko) just recently had to cancel.

Pretty much everything even remotely large in size is canceling all the way out to August; earliest I now see for any gathering over 100 people.

Hey ReplayFX crew, any update on on status, what you are waiting on to decide, etc...?

Sure would help for those that have upcoming cancellation deadlines for airbnb/hotels to know before those 60 day windows hit in 2 weeks.

I would throw in events like ReplayFX into the same category as concerts, which right now seems like they’re not going to happen at all until there’s a vaccine.

I suspect the real problem though is the responsibility of who cancels what. It’s likely easier for everyone if this decision is taken out of their hands and that is what they’re waiting for.

Probably simply waiting on the govt. or convention center to shut them down in order to not lose a fortune for them cancelling. Just coming here and saying it isn’t happening could possibly ruin getting all that money back.
But you probly know that already.

But he'll keep asking

I'm sure glad I bought the insurance for my ticket.

Maybe one more time will do it.

other shows were very transparent about the process. Heck MGC even put out a public notice that until the state declared they must close, then they could not do/say anything. Any that is when things were much more fluid and all were scrambling to figure out the mode forward.

I dont see anything wrong with asking and honestly surprised there has not been some sort of response around their headspace.
I see no harm in speaking directly with your community of attendees to keep them informed.
I see benefit to people in doing so.

Its as if... people have no history with replay... and this is all new...

PA is releasing this document today. If I counted weeks right Allegheny County is opening 5/11, page 10 shows wave 4 being this.

Ten weeks and on, after the initial business openings, the businesses listed below could begin to reopen with any protocols listed in parenthesis behind the specific industry. Any interventions will push each phase back 3 weeks.
• All other businesses including amusement parks, performing arts, spectator sports, and related industries.

May 11th plus 10 weeks is after Pinburgh so by my estimation it would have to be cancelled. Assuming it falls under wave four.

There are certainly other ways to view this document and our governor hasn't had great success with being clear so take this with a grain of salt.
Reopening Pennsylvania Document.pdf

Even if it were to still happen...

How are people getting there? Flights? Border crossings?
Where will they stay? Hotels? AirBnB?
All these things are in limbo.

My guess is that even next year will be a tough sell as well.

Not the only one...someone else had brought this subject up a while back on Pinside, and I know that we've got one collector in Dallas that is as well. (No, it's not me. I just don't give a single flying f what people do with their personal lives as long as it doesn't impinge on my rights.)

I’m thinking when this all over I’m going full furry. Life is too short NOT to dress up as a giant animal.

I'm already furry. No need to dress up.

Well...so much for that. (Pretty sure I would have kicked Elwin's ass this year, though...)

It's the right thing to do.

Looks like they finally cracked under Hilton’s relentless pressure!

Good news tickets Carry over to next year (I read below.)
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Completely agree. I'm more bummed that I haven't seen my students...and won't ever see the graduating ones again. I would have made sure to say goodbye before the quarantine started.

As for pinball? Meh...there's always next year.