Oh Jesus this again?

No, I disagree. Large numbers of votes should count for something, IMHO. I'd tend to trust 1000+ votes over 200 any day. But still not sure I understand the OPs premise ... is it to discard all votes that are older than a year?

nope, do not agree.

Longevity is important. Those titles have stood the test of time.

Regardless, the top 100 has little value aside from being something fun to look at and get broad generalizations. I get way more value from reading reviews by people liek Caucasian2Step. Guy is spot on for most games.

yes. end thread.

The ratings are an average. A game with 20 votes with perfect 10's will beat a game with 1,000 votes of 9.9's.

What a mess it would be to restart the ratings. Don't do it . Ever!

Top 100 tears, is pinflation over...it's one of them retro days on the boards

I'm not reviewing the same game(s) every year. My opinion isn't going to change that much, so it would be the same thing over and over again. All that will happen is the written reviews that I value will be non-existant.

In my opinion MM, TZ and AFM shouldn't even be in the top 3. My top 3 and your top 3 are probably totally different. I never look at the Top 100 list. Who cares really?

Why is it important for a modern game to unseat the classics?? We all understand what the list represents.

Look at it like a "Greatest Records of ALL Time" list. I love the latest Foo Fighters record. It's one of my favs. Should it be on ANY list ahead of St Pepper's?? I don't think so.

Stern's Metallica is a great example. It's the newest pin in my collection, and I love it more than anything I've ever played... Right now. It's got a GREAT ranking (though in my opinion it should be higher)... But who cares??!!

The trouble I see with the system is that many modern games are rated based on early and incomplete code. Perhaps that something that actually could be addressed?

Ultimately though... Who cares??!! The list is subjective, and riddled with inconsistency, but we all know that.

I don't think MM is the greatest pin of all time by a long shot, but I admit it's fantastic, and has stood the test of time, and has merited a wonderful remake. I don't want to own it, but I always enjoy playing it.

What am I saying? Nothing really. Move along.

There's a top 100?

Sorry Hasselhoff but that makes no sense...Was this you right before you posted this?

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This is an excellent point. Not sure I understand the OP's statement about mathematical impossibility.

It seems that resetting the rating each year is simply a run around that allows the team that "gets out the vote" best to win. I suspect the OP thinks that owners of "this years pin" will "get out the vote" more than the owners of older pin.

Do not want.

If you love modern Sterns then love modern Sterns. I love them too. But there's more to pinball than fast games with deep rules. New games get a lot of attention, it's easy to think that all anyone cares about. But it's really not representative of the whole pinball community at all. If a game is good it will rise up the rankings.

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OP, maybe it would help your battle if you had ever actually rated any machines.

Not sure how mush I agree with Caucasian2Step rating.
He has WMS Indiana Jones at 556 on his rating scale of machines yet El Dorado City of Gold is 104
Seems odd

How about get rid of the pointless ratings altogether so we don't have to hear about butt hurt every other day.

I rate games for myself to see how my tastes change from year to year as I get exposed to more games. It is just silly to rely on the opinions of others to decide what game is better than another. Doesn't your own opinion matter enough?

how about an option to sort the rankings based on review dates? One of the 'other view" options, perhaps.

"All time," "This Year," "Stern," "90s" etc etc...it might be a good way for people to apply their Desitin.

Great idea!

Give pinsiders a chance to sort the ratings the way they want on their login.
- Ranking in the past year, past 100 days, past week
- Ranking by a select group of pinsiders
- Rankings from 2000-2014

There is plenty of criteria one could have to choose from

Cool, I just checked the Top 100 for the first time. I didn't know this was different than the IPD Top 10 or whatever...

That said, I don't see the big deal. AC/DC has only been out two years and it's already cracked the Top 5. Star Trek has been out a few months and has already cracked the top 15, surpassing STTNG, which was a staple of the Top 10 for a long time.

I think like somebody else said, games that have stood the test of time deserve to be where they are. There is something to be said for a game being close to 20 years old and still getting great reviews today.

This is more a statement of our time. Everybody always wants to make lists and rate things, but the truth is... Everything new is the greatest... until the next greatest thing comes out. Time and perspective will be what seperates things.

Bring back bang for buck list!

Yep! the top games from the 90's were that good!

No!

The ratings will always be skewed... I vote to leave them alone.

The database should be able to extract a list based on dates of voting. That would allow for a best of 2014, 13, 12, 11 etc. it would be fun to look at and get some historical perspective on the hobby and Pinside without compromising the all time list.

You can leave the mods out of it. We dont have that power.

I know sometimes people think there is a grand conspiracy of getting a machine to the top for more money, but heck, NIB machines are already at the $8K limit so I really dont know how much more skewed it can be with some reviews and a ranking list. Us broke/normal people just play what we like and dont worry about status or what everyone else thinks is the flavor of the month. I did print out the top 50 list at one point before my first non-family pinball party, and people literally said "You mean there are more than 50 different pinball machines?"'

I would say that 99% of his ratings are explained plain enough to justify their spot. I REALLY appreciate his efforts on the ratings. I don't always agree but I do look for his write up on a pin before I even think about an overall ranking.

But, that's just my opinion, man.

Caucasian2step for ratings moderator?

No

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If everybody had to redo their ratings for every pinball he played on, it would stop real quick. I do not agree. Especially because new games get into the top 100 anyway. If a game is fun, it'll get in there, just look at ACDC, Spiderman, LOTR or Metallica (all 00's) or even WOZ, ST, or Tron (all 10's). Just give it time to get played more.

I still do like MM and AFM more.

nah, the ratings whores would still do them, and they would become even more worthless than they are today (if that is even possible)...

If the new guard (Stern, Jersey Jack, etc...) is truly taking over the old guard (Bally/Williams, etc...), then theoretically, people at the crossroads of it all (now) will stop rating the old games and start rating all the new ones. In about ten years, should the new guard stand the test of time and not be a flash in the pan, the ratings will reflect it... Right? What's the rush?

I thumb downed your second post so the first one doesn't get too deep in the negative

Says the women who has been in the hobby for a couple of years and has already amassed 10 games and has spread her addiction to her entire family

I agree 100%, I noticed that STLE has dropped out of the top 10 and that means MB, AF, AFM, MM and TZ are better pinball machines than STLE??? No way, I've owned the top B/W and yeah they are good but Ironman for me is better than any of those. I love that the newer pins from Stern and the few other manufacturers like JJP and SkitB even though just starting seem to be surpassing the games from 20 years ago that's the way it should be. I played a WW the other day and it just feels dated, like trying to play an old console game on the playstation with the PS3 or PS4 right beside it. I'm all for nostalgia and appreciation for where things came from but at some point it has to evolve into something greater and I think it has, I don't care what's in the top ten really but I agree that it's time to start over again.

^^^

perfect example of why they should not be reset, right there....

Worst idea ever.....If the newer sterns are that good then they will make their way to the top of the list, plain and simple. Jesus...what's next....book burning?

My vote is for who really cares. It's screwed up now and will be imperfect no matter what. Best to use your own common sense and judgment anyhow.

Classics are classics. I'd take Ocarina of Time on N64, NHL 94 on Genesis or Super Mario Bros. 3 on NES over anything that's currently on the PS4 right now. Fancy and new isn't always better.

I still think the way the Top 100 is scored is flawed, but can't see the point of resetting it each year. Kind of defeats the meaning of the word "all-time."

I've said a few times on here that the only pins I've actually paid for are Stargate and Jurassic Park. My parents bought the rest, and just "store" them at my house. Basically, my sister had a baby and they've been helping her out to the point of moving her back to town and helping her financially, so to "keep things even" I get pinball machines. Which works out great for me. Actually, I have paid for Predator now, so I'm officially "broke." lol

I do think it would be cool to be able to click on yearly tabs to see when things were ranked what, but it is such a dynamic system that I don't have any idea how practical it would be for Robin to do that.

Yeah. What does it even mean? You buy and play the games you like. No list should tell you what to do

It would actually make sense to gradually decrease the weight of old ratings - that can be mathematically adjusted. Not over one year, but may be 5. That would stimulate people from editing their own ratings once in while (which would reset the process), and check that what they wrote years ago is still what they think.

Disagree. I change my ratings every so often...just to see if my impressions have changed from what I've been playing lately. I think if people do this every so often it might keep the ratings more dynamic.

Your post doesn't make any sense. STLE made the top ten! And then fell out of it. In the afterglow of it being released it therefore took an undeserving place and has since settled back to reality. You think a refresh will help? There already was a refresh. Lol.

I agree 100%, the best titles did not come from the 90's...

The best titles all came from the 80's: =)

-mof

I like that you opened this thread.

Now for some unsolicited coaching on how to open stronger threads: (I'm going to assume your goal was NOT to have 30+ thumbs down on your OP, so bear with me if that was your goal...)

Unfortunately, your thread started with a conclusion, and not an open question. Also -- you run into troubles when you have a thread with two or more points:

1. A question
2. A conclusion

Now, the problem is -- people vote down your answer #2, and disregard the great question in #1.

If you start this thread over, you might re-work it as an open question:

"Has anyone thought of a way to make the top-100 ratings more relevant or accurate?"

And drop the mic and walk away...

Now I would thumbs up that question... and enjoy reading people's thoughts on sample size, and how to tickle people to upgrade stale votes, etc...

Now, if you want to form your own conclusion... Post it separately, after a few people have chimed in. Now more people will consider your open question which allows them to have creative input, without being distracted by your subjective conclusion which they may firmly disagree with.

Keep things short and separate, and you'll have better results.

-mof