Quoted from SpookyCharlie:

You really think every single AMH customer would be a repeat customer? We had a lot of people upset AMH didn't have a "family mode"... and it is very mild in the adult humor department with cute kooky ghosts as the villains. I had one guy cancel his AMH order because of this, and he told me to take him off our sales list because we "obviously don't care about people with children". Offering half the games as LE's isn't limited... it's half the run.
Look, we underestimated the demand... sorry. Our intent was not to create drama, it was to offer something special to those who supported us when we really needed it.
We had taken AMH to shows, waited until it was close to production ready... had over 100 people on the "I want it" list. When we sent that initial email out for sales, in the first 2 weeks we sold 1 game... Think about that... 1 GAME. After we poured our entire life savings and 2 years of insane amounts of work into this, with no plan B if Spooky failed. Know who bought that game? Joe Newhart. Then he took it to shows, and started to help sell them to help us. Not a "show game"... HIS OWN PERSONAL GAME.
We could be avoiding this by having no distributors and no LE's. We talked about just selling direct on this because we have sooo many distributors asking us all the time to give them games, and realistically at this level you can't afford to give up that much. At the end of the day, we couldn't do that to a guy like Joe. He busts his ass, he donates tons to charity, he puts games in children's hospitals... he cares... a LOT about pinball in general.
I'm glad we did this the hard way. Just makes me appreciate even more where we're at now. Really, it's all going to be the same playing game... our intent was not to cause drama. Trust me, I freakin' hate drama like you can't imagine.
Let the first world problems go... please. Buy it because you like the game, the theme, the art... whatever it is you enjoy about this game. Don't buy it because it's "limited". The 250 regulars are going to look bad ass, play just as fast and crazy, and be missing NOTHING where it matters... IN THE GAME.
Whew! Now I feel better. Go play some damn pinball!

Quoted from ZenTron:

I'm not going to sit here and write a novel about all the good things Spooky/their initial customers have done for Pinball. I just wanted to give my feedback/constructive criticism on the LE and how its being handled. It doesn't appear to be to off base as Charlie never liked the LE model from past talks but decided to make 50 for this pin.
So, if Charlie doesnt like LE's, they are only making 50, people are downplaying them as just different armor/backglass and nothing really special I just don't see the point in making them. They didn't appear to have a survey and collect feedback on who out of the 150 AMH customers would want an LE so they are rewarding just 50, what if 68 want one? The 18 are just out of luck? You see, this makes no sense and isnt fair.

Quoted from ZenTron:

I'm sorry you disagree w/ Spooky as they felt they did owe AMH buyers (atleast 50 of them) an opportunity to purchase an LE of their 2nd game.
Im done talking about LE's as the ink appears dry on the contract but I do sympathize with the AMH owners that missed out.

Quoted from ZenTron:

I upvoted your posted because I like your style.
I didn't buy an AMH but after playing one and really liking it I'm excited to see the progress of this pin and might be a buyer when they ship next year.
(you're right about wasting my breath, im not going to take up space on this thread with that topic anymore)
thanks

Quoted from Plungemaster:

I understand this view. But, why tell how many pins the limited run is, before you know how big the response and interest is?
Why dont keep that info for yourself? Then you always keep the option, after you have build the 300, and there is still demand, to look if anything is possible with the license. Why? Cause you sell more, is more money.
Now you closed that door.
Dont know, it could be an opportunity for you guys to do another run when a pin is really succesfull.

Quoted from Plungemaster:

Did you even read my post?
They could renew a license after it has expired and after they build the 300. And do another run if there is demand.
Now they cant anymore. Yeah, they still can do it, but then many LE owners wont be happy.
If you just dont tell how big the limited run is, you dont have that issue. And you keep a nice option to keep your 'assembly line' running after the initial run has been done.
And this aint critism, just a genuine question to Ben, why would you not consider this?

Quoted from ZenTron:

I had a question/respectful feedback about the 50 LE decision and asked if a shot map was going to be revealed prior to all the spots for the game being filled. I expected a little more respect and courtesy from a fellow North Carolinian.
A lot of the feedback I received from others besides Charlie has been pretty insulting. Instead of trying to out wise-ass each other for thumbs-up that means nothing you should try to be advocates for Spooky. Offer helpful respectful feedback and make new customers for them. Instead of trying to bring me into the Spooky customer pool ya'll are pushing me and im sure others away. It seems like its just easy for some of you to tell me to screw off and don't be a customer because you are simply lazy and angry.

Quoted from ZenTron:

I also had some questions to ask prior to sending an email and having a spot held for me. (You and others call this whining of course). If I was Charlie I'd send you a PM and tell you to chill out and don't tell people who should and shouldn't be a Spooky customer. If you want that ability you should start your own pinball manufacturing company. I have a couple of names on what you could call it..
I went ahead and sent an email last night to KT and will wait for a response but Spooky's site sucks when it comes to communication about this game. There is that small promo video and "To get on the sales list or check game availability, email:" . It says to get on sales list email them but it doesn't elaborate that they will hold a spot for free. Maybe they should setup a FAQ or maybe they don't care because there is enough demand for the game. I know Charlie posts here, on facebook and has a Podcast but the website should have official formal information including a timeline etc..

Quoted from PinChili:

I guess I missed that part of the announcement where ever it was said. What is the artist's name? Any examples of his artwork out there? I'd imagine if Rob requested it then he must have done some album cover artwork for him at some point?

Quoted from Crans:

Spooky is that wiring job. Prototype or not show some pride.

Quoted from iceman44:

I'm loving me some RZ but I'm quite sure you are going to be loving on some Stern in 2016 too.
I'm thinking some great changes are coming.

Quoted from dirtbag66:

When I first watched the reveal video, there was no way in Hell I thought, "I could see myself paying $6k+ for this!"
If I want art, I'll buy art. If I want a pinball machine, I'll buy a pinball machine. Seems easy enough.

Quoted from jwilson:

That's kind of my point, I was expecting better from Charlie than to just tell people to take it or leave it.
I find the playfield art muddy, indistinct and sparse. They've even somewhat admitted that the playfield is a bit of an issue given the artist's lack of experience. Everyone in the thread has been very supportive and moderate even in their criticism. I see no reason not to address the issue, as Ben has done for example, but instead he just told Aurich to turn off the computer and go outside. That's more like what Jack would say.

Quoted from extraballingtmc:

Bye Felicia!
Seriously though. Go find another thread.

Quoted from dirtbag66:

I've seen people saying there isn't enough to do. The robot, Captain Spaulding, mini playfield with one flipper, bucket of chicken, and one ramp.

Quoted from dirtbag66:

I thought this was frowned upon?

Quoted from dirtbag66:

AMH was a low production game. If you sold it for a profit, you essentially took someone else's place in line, bought it, then turned around and sold it at a higher price to someone who could have bought it and kept it.
Kind of a d**k move, if that's what you decide to do.

Quoted from dirtbag66:

Precisely.

Quoted from dirtbag66:

So if I come in here and lick Spooky's boot, that would be considered constructive?
I just don't think this game looks like it's worth $6k.

Quoted from Aurich:

I've decided to pass. Don't want to make a big deal out of it or explain why, but for some reason everyone seems to want to know, so there you have it.
I wish Spooky nothing but good luck and success with the game, the new facility that's rising before their eyes, and their future endeavors.
I'm still very much interested in the progress of the game, and will continue to follow it. I have friends getting one, and invitations to play, so I know I'll get to spend some time with it still, looking forward to it.

Quoted from goatdan:

I can tell you why - you stream-of-conscious-ed on here for probably 10-20 posts. Some people were annoyed, others (like myself) became interested because of your quantity of posts, as well as the views you had. I wanted to know to discover the end of the story - it otherwise would have been like reading a detective novel and at the end, after everything had been analyzed, the detective just says, "Well, someone did the crime, but we don't know who!"
Thanks for sharing. I wish you had the reason though. Now we know who did the crime, but not the motive. :-/

Quoted from jwilson:

I'm sorry you think I'm being elitist. Here, look at this in contrast, which I think is the best playfield I've seen since the B/W days.
big-lebowski-pinball-1.jpg
Inserts are well integrated. There's a sharp keyline defining the separation of images. It's 100% thematically on-point. It clearly conveys all shots and game progress. Also, the artwork is excellent.
It's not that the playfield art itself is "bad", but that it isn't a good choice for a playfield. It's dark, muddy, and isn't remotely integrated with the inserts or the game components. In that sense it's "bad".

Quoted from kpg:

None of you guys are worried that this title is made by a new company with no experience making pinball machines either? Just trying to see how this machine is a day one purchase at $8K+. Seems risky. But that's just my opinion of course.

Quoted from lordloss:

This does raise a good point. From what i've heard is that Rob was disappointed in two things. To him the pf looked sparse and now he is disappointed that nobody outside of pinside was able to get in on this game. The pinsiders love the pf, so the first complaint isn't as big a deal. But the second one is a pretty big problem
Is it really worth it to keep a pin so limited to 300 that you're going to make it harder to get cool licenses? I doubt Rob would be willing to let another pin be made if barely any of his fans could actually buy a pin.What I would do in the future would be to ask the people who bought the first two spooky machines and lock in their numbers, THEN I would add 300. With the current trend of hundreds of people from the previous game buying up every spot on the second game, the only real winner is Spooky. Lots of fans losing out.

Quoted from SpookyCharlie:

Here's a clear case of never going to make everyone happy.
ALL games will have a real backglass. You can't buy an LE translite and have your game suddenly be an LE. We spent thousands on getting that extra art made... the custom cut / powder coated metal side rails and printed backglass will NEVER be sold. Period. To use a translite in your game, you'll have to go out, buy custom thinner glass, buy the plastic side trim, cut it down... and you STILL won't have an LE.
If this isn't to your liking... sorry. We did our best.

Quoted from snakesnsparklers:

No!

Quoted from SpookyCharlie:

Because we can't get hi-def images on our display... so Ben Heck made the video mode look like a retro NES game. David & David put the effects and Dragula (8-bit version) music together... personally, when I saw it (I had no idea how it was going to be) I freakin' loved the Dragula NES sound! Ben did an awesome job on that mode, because Ben is awesome like that.
Game #36 is done and in the box for those keeping score. 5 more games from #24 to #31 are on the dock waiting for today's truck. The rest of the 50 LE's are on stands in final testing.

Quoted from Whysnow:

not worth it. Feedback is not wanted.
Spooky is amazing and everything is perfect!

Quoted from SpookyCharlie:

Hilton... you are a genuinely nice guy in person. And yes, we WANT feedback. Talk to us on Pinside like you do when I'm standing in front of you is all I'm asking. Constantly spewing opinions of every minor detail on every game ever made just becomes a wall of noise... be it good or bad input. You have a lot of good ideas. Nobody is perfect, no game is perfect, no company is perfect. We're busting our collective asses every single day to get better at this. It's a game to the rest of the world, but to us... it's my families entire future. I'm going to take things personally.
We're here for the long haul... might as well be civil to each other.

Quoted from WaddleJrJr:

Exactly. I'd love to sell this game to cheap for someone out of principle, but I just can't do that. To go back to the BBB example, if someone bought one for $4,500 and then resold it for $5,000, they would probably feel a little snake bit when the person who bought it off them for $5,000 goes and sells it for $20,000.
I've got a business to run, and want to get people in playing these machines. Selling this game and putting the money into say, marketing, will help bring in more players than having the game just sitting around not getting played much.

Quoted from WaddleJrJr:

100% false. Ask anyone in my local pinball community. I've been hyping up this game for ages. I watched the Dead Flip broadcast many times, I was every bit hyped for this game.
If my overwhelmingly positive reputation is not enough to speak on this then I guess you guys just won't believe anything.

I'm in here every second it's open, so I can see how everyone reacts to the games. Casual players just look at it and don't care, never even dropping money in unless they know the theme. Very few people from the pinball community have come out to even give it a shot. The local Ghostbusters launch party had a turnout of 50 or so people, the Rob Zombie launch party had a turnout of 7.

I did want the game, so I was absolutely going to wait it through and buy it. I had every intention of keeping this game forever just like my AMH. Of course, this was just going off of what I could see in pictures and videos, and now that I've played it, eh, I don't really like it.
Yeah, marketing is important. Most people in my city don't even know this business is here, let alone surrounding cities. People come in and are like, "Woah I had no idea this was here, when did you guys open?". Stuff like that. If I had the money to run some ads and get the word out I'd probably see much higher traffic.

Quoted from GhostThruster:

Anybody have any general tips on this game? I've had it for a few weeks now and it is difficult for me to even make the left orbit to start modes.. let alone finish them once I do start them.

Quoted from GhostThruster:

I may need to try this, thanks for your suggestion.

Quoted from extraballingtmc:

Anyone think the price on these will go back up or are they likely to settle at 5k?

Quoted from zombywoof:

Wow! That looks great. What color flasher did you go with? Any chance you can take a pick of how it connects to the GI? I've been on the fence on this, but now that they are finally getting into people's hands, I may have made up my mind.

Quoted from Hougie:

Man, that looks great. Can the brightness be adjusted up or down?

Quoted from davijc02:

Then this ball continually just gets kicked down the road. They will always be behind.
It’s time to get it finished and put in the rear view.
The code at current state of ACNC is sufficient enough for release. I’ve played it several times on location at an arcade near me.
RZ is a 2016 release. We’ve waited long enough. It’s not like ACNC is going to be code complete in a couple months.

Quoted from davijc02:

Charlie has spoke about improvements to the code. Spooky has things they have acknowledged that need addressed. Just do it and get it done

Quoted from greenhornet:

INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR / CONSULTANT
Generally (unless the consulting contract is for a specified term) can be let go by the employer for any reason, at any time.
Is not eligible for unemployment compensation benefits.
Is not eligible for worker's compensation benefits.
Does not receive employment benefits from the employer.
Generally provides consulting services to more than one company.
Sets his or her own hours.
Works out of his or her own office or home.
Works relatively independently.
Has the authority to decide how to go about accomplishing tasks, and does so without the employer's input.
Incurs the costs associated with performing the job.
Has acquired very specialized skills and comes to the work relationship with a particularized education and experience background.
Is not subject to tax or FICA withholding, but pays his or her own self-employment tax.
Is paid according to the terms of the contract, and does not receive additional compensation for overtime hours worked.
Usually is not protected by employment anti-discrimination and workplace safety laws.
Is not entitled to join or form a union.

Quoted from SpookyCharlie:

They also have to understand the entire code that has already been written, and try to adapt what we want done to it. While the new system is easier to learn, the PinHeck takes a bigger understanding. By the time we'd train them and sort it all out, we'd be on it again ourselves anyway.
That, and I don't like "using" people to get work done. I'd rather develop talent that can stick with the team, and that's what we're doing now.