Here's an uber simple model that accomplishes all goals
- fair (no fastest fingers)
- supports and rewards loyalty
- keeps things within a specific boundary
- keeps process and overhead to small amount
- minimizes or avoids 'pre-ordering'

Simply post this kind of model...
"The new game is Rob Zombie!!! All previous AMH buyers will have the opportunity to upgrade their new purchase of Rob Zombie to a LE version of Rob Zombie but the number of LEs is limited to X. The LEs will only be offered to previous AMH buyers as a sign of appreciation for your support of SpookyPinball. Because demand may exceed supply.. we will hold a lottery to allocate LEs. If you are a previous AMH buyer and are interested in the LE version of the Rob Zombie pin, submit your intent to upgrade with your down payment. We will collect intents until date XYZ, and then we'll hold the drawing."

You shouldn't fret about people that would no longer buy the pin simply because they didn't get the LE version... and deal with those people on whatever your normal downpayment policy is.

This would keep the speculator angle down as well (in addition to limiting to previous spooky customers).
This would also scale to your next title as well if you want to offer a 'loyalty' program as well. Even angles like multiple purchase people get more than one entry.

Heck, you can even make the drawing into a marketing effort.. make it a party.. use the deadline to help drive downpayments, etc.

Lotteries with notice are the fairest way to balance limited opportunities -- especially if 'winning' is purely a bonus and does not exclude the person (in this case, they still buy the standard edition)

I hope they aren't done with loyalty offerings.. the concept is applicable even beyond this game, or LE versions of the game. Could be signed versions, swag, or whatever.

pimpin' ain't easy...

please please.. start form the start of the thread. Don't have to read the middle and end... but you're rehashing stuff made clear on like page 1

For a lot of people here tho... It is a casual thing..Don't be fooled... This side of the hobby frequently has more money than common sense.

I too was immediately thrown by the pf look and the insert "style". Ben clarifying he contributed kind of explains some of that but it still very much feels like it lacks a overall package. Filling out a play field on so many surfaces while meeting so many demands and needs is challenging and very different than just a print. Amh had some hat of the same problem, but manages to overcome it in the total sum of the game. So t,here is hope yet...

As for purchasing tho... You are in a good region for resale. Unless you're putting yourself out by having it, which is something you probably already considered befor getting on the list, you're probably better off just trying it. There is no foul,in selling a game on that didn't resonate. You don't need to keep it a year or more... Keep it in a temp spot, try it and then make the call. With the limited avail and slow roll out of inventory... It's pretty safe to assume there will be someone itching to have one "now".

There is a lot more upside than long term risk IMO

Are people not allowed to reply to people addressing them? He posted far less than people going on about if they got their mail or not... Sheez

If you don't want to consider what he posted just scroll on. Dirtbag has beat beating a dead horse... Aulrich just carried a conversation instead of repeating the same crap repeatedly

I would sum the pf art comment as... Barren.

Certainly the idea of a painting vs keylined cel-style art is a huge difference of course... But I don't find that to be what makes it stand out to me. The inserts seem lost out in the middle of the field .. Maybe if there were more elements out there... Bonus... States... Etc.

Even going back to games in the 70s where we may have far more area without figures, photos, toys, etc there would be things breaking up the space. Targets, inserts, etc.

Obviously you don't simply want a formula game... But I think this game reiterates that pulling together a full game art package is a much greater challenge than many would give it credit. Pinball art is more than just a single piece torn up and thrown around a pf. There is some creative magic unique to pin

Ffs... Let it go already. We don't need a thread 'conscious' giving blow by blow.

contact kanada... he seems desperate to buy friends and can help...

I find it funny that people are talking about how impossible or not it will be to get the switch hits... while the people ultimately responsible for making the decision if change is needed... are the only ones who have experience knowing how easy it is or not to achieve... and ultimately are the ones who decide how hard or not it is intended to be.

Instead of saying why it should be changed... why not ask Charlie what its intended to be and how its testing?

Played a ton again in Joes booth at replay. Thanks again Joe for continuing to make spooky accessible for us in this region.

I struggle to find a desire to play the game. I had not kept up on recent changes on the game so I was going in "clean"

I found the chop ball save consuming as it was hard for the player to connect the events together on why they were getting a ball save.

The minipf.... A snore. Give me something to mix it up or prompt me more to get some "return" for success.

The kind of blurry style for the display doesn't resonate with me... And readability was challenging at times. We liked the bloody scores tho.

Modes in general and the progression... I didn't feel success for doing things. The most fun we had was with the video mode but there I was still trying to work out which targets scored better or if I needed to avoid anything

Maybe it's the audio? But I had trouble knowing if my modes were done, close, etc. maybe progress indicators on the mode select screen could help too

Unfortunately it's like hobbit for me right now... Pretty but uncompelling to play when I have other options at hand. I found myself queuing up for got or gb without guilt.... Or seeking out papa games that are fun in their specific challenges. I've yet to find that mode or objective or payout in RZ or hobbit that keeps me coming back to try again

That compelling objective that taunts you and has the big return is what I really want to discover in this game. That's the subconscious thing that keeps you trying and again

Not really... more about objectives+payouts. The classic arcade formula is to lead the player to a goal, reward them some for incremental progress, but keep them desiring the larger goal.. so when they miss it, they immediately want to try again. They can't help themselves but to keep trying over and over because they have been lured to want the objective.

Example... getting that multipler plus big song jackpot on AC/DC. Getting that multiball on blackhole.. getting that vacation jackpot on WhiteWater.. getting a jackpot on Whirlwind, etc

Many of the solid state games have these difficult, but rewarding objectives to do, and trying to complete them is what keeps drawing me back in casual play. They are rewarding when you finally do it and you feel 'that was a great game'

I wasn't feeling that with RZ. I would play modes, I would make progress, I would get the add-a-ball thing going.. I'd have what.. 30million points or so.. and I'd just hand the game off to someone else to keep playing. The chop ball save is way too generous.. games would just on and on...

An interesting related discussion from Lyman's talk was in referring to questions around displays, player feedback, etc.. he talked about AC/DC. He said that game was done very quickly, they had about 4 months with it and really only one pass at the whitewood. So the game changed a bit from their initial ideas and some elements became more significant like the song jackpot. But because of the short timeframe, there was no additional pass at redesigning the playfield inserts and as a result the playfield doesn't necessarily reflect these important factors. He went on about how being able to directly communicate things to the player on the playfield itself was significant in helping guide players and give feedback (citing examples like having to find progress in the Info page in the DMD, etc). He mentioned if he could change anything about the game, he'd like to have another pass at the inserts on the playfield for this reason.

Sometimes we forget the old 'shoot for the blinking light!' guidance we had.. the more complicated rules get, the harder it becomes to effectively communicate needs, objectives, progress, etc to the player. JJP is trying to address this with the panels in their large LCD design.. it was just very interesting to hear Lyman speak on this topic of player communication and the significance of the playfield itself.

Seminar at replayfx. I don't know if people recorded it

If you aren't paying for 'inside delivery' - that's what you get. Usually asking if the guy will help you out for $40 or something will get them to dolly it in if they have one. Its liability tho, so its a matter if the guy wants to and your cash is purdy enough.

With freight, it's a paid service to have them to bring inside vs curb drop.

With my recent R+L deliveries, they've been happy to help bring stuff in.. but I've also tipped the guy. It will vary by who covers your area and how strict they are or not. They aren't obligated to unless you are paying for the extra delivery services.

It's a product sold over mail/phone/internet directly to end-consumers... for consumption by said end-user. Dunno what else you'd call it