I agree with what pinballcorpse and eskaybee and others said: ST is a nuanced game when it comes to planning out your strategy for maximum points. And depending on each game situation (especially when you're in a multi-player match), there are nearly infinite possibilities of risk/reward combinations to go after certain score levels.

The sad part about ST is its lack of breadth: there are only limited opportunities/modes that you can go for concurrently at any given time (especially relative to some of the great recent Stern titles and WOZ)

I agree on the kid comment --- also applies to any newbie players, because it's not a normal thing for a new pinball player to have the patience to allow the ball to roll near the tip of the flipper to hit the really wide shots. I typically see them get lucky bounces into the left saucer on the rare occasion that they get to start a new mode.

There is already a mission start difficulty adjustment, too! Factory default is easy, IIRC. But "easy" in this case only means that you get to begin your ball with a new mission selection (if finished with prior mission) instead of being required to shoot the mode start shot after your plunge.