Quoted from spinal:

Whenever the art sucks, we always hear from Stern that it was the licensing restrictions and I for one just don't buy it. Sounds like a convenient excuse.
Have you ever noticed that movie posters often don't suck? Well, they probably are under the same licensing restrictions. Also, license holders want the art to look as good as possible as well - it's not like they would have any interest in having their art look bad. I just don't buy it.
Look I'm not saying it's easy, I'm just saying they are not investing enough effort and cash into it as they should (my main example was AC/DC rerelease). They need to aim higher - this is 2017.

Quoted from spinal:

Anyway my main point is that Stern needs to take responsibility for their art and stop blaming it on license holders. There are artists who can hit it out of the park and in those cases, trust me, license holders become much easier to work with.

Quoted from Apollyon:

Licensing restrictions. I spoke directly to Steve Ritchie about this regarding Star Wars. Simple as that.

Quoted from kvan99:

And you believe that?

Quoted from kvan99:

Lol.....what? Come on Ice, my point is that if Stern takes a shit and puts in the box you will probably pre-order it.

Quoted from kvan99:

You got too much money for your own good Doug.

Quoted from Apollyon:

Licensing restrictions. I spoke directly to Steve Ritchie about this regarding Star Wars. Simple as that.

Quoted from Rarehero:

Licensing restrictions don't lead to bad art. Licensing restrictions may limit them to certain assets, but a good artist can then arrange those assets into something nice. Stern often has problems using assets in a good way. Look at the first version of The Hobbit playfield vs. the revised version. Two different artists take on the same licensed assets. It's night and day. When Stern Photoshops assets, they're generally pretty bad at it...and they don't stop production to revise like Jack did - factory's gotta keep churning product.
Anyway, "it's the licensor's fault" is only half the story. The other half is the artist assigned to the project and what they bring to the table. There's a reason most of Steve's games don't fare well in the art department - he doesn't have an eye for art direction & the artists he works with don't have any incentive to push themselves.

Quoted from Rarehero:

I own 7 Stern games. Games I consider KEEPERS cuz they're THAT good. I've owned lots of others that I still like, even though I've let them go. I was defending Stern and their games since '06 or so. Most pinball hobbyists and collectors HATED Stern and shunned them...to them, only Bally Williams were worth playing/owning. Stern has made some great games...but I have the perspective of a decade in the hobby to see where Stern was back then and where they are now. They were making full featured games with GOOD and either complete or relatively complete code for less than $4k. Updates came quick when there were bugs. Prices rose, but I understood and respected their Pro/Prem/LE business plan. I was OK with buying an LE like Metallica...it was $800 more than the Premium, and that seemed reasonable for the value you got with that version. Prices kept going up after that, but the games were getting more stripped down in quality.
Here's why I bag on Stern so much now...for me, 2016 was the breaking point. I was super excited for Ghostbusters, and put in an order on the Premium, and then we had "insert gate". My game was delayed because of the insert issue, and in the meantime - I actually went out and played the Pro...and just absolutely hated it. Couldn't believe how terrible it was designed and how awful the code was. I stuck with my order since I loved the theme so much and was told the ghosting issue would be solved by the time the Premiums were ready. I played 2 brand new Premiums that both had ghosting within days of being opened...so, not only was the ghosting fix a lie, I still hated the game. I finally cancelled my order...cuz why would I buy a game I not only hate, but basically falls apart when you open it? So - there was that - THEN - the absolute ARROGANCE and GREED of the Batman '66 situation. $15,000 for a STERN!?!?!?!? Right after GB showed they cheaped out on quality playfields!??!?!?! Then it comes out with pre-prototype code and is STILL unfinished almost a year later.
Then we had splitting cabinets, node board issues, reset issues, bare-bones Star Wars, more goofy code....
This is why I'm not into Stern right now. Prices up, quality and fun factor down. Simple. If they ever get their shit back together, I'd consider being a customer again...right now? No F'ing way. ...and, once again - me not buying product I don't like doesn't mean I'm "destroying the hobby". I'm having much more fun with $60 Nintendo Switch games, and that's given me even more perspective about how insane it is to spend $8000 on a GAME.

Quoted from Rarehero:

Licensing restrictions don't lead to bad art. Licensing restrictions may limit them to certain assets, but a good artist can then arrange those assets into something nice. Stern often has problems using assets in a good way. Look at the first version of The Hobbit playfield vs. the revised version. Two different artists take on the same licensed assets. It's night and day. When Stern Photoshops assets, they're generally pretty bad at it...and they don't stop production to revise like Jack did - factory's gotta keep churning product.
Anyway, "it's the licensor's fault" is only half the story. The other half is the artist assigned to the project and what they bring to the table. There's a reason most of Steve's games don't fare well in the art department - he doesn't have an eye for art direction & the artists he works with don't have any incentive to push themselves.

Quoted from beelzeboob:

It's because the game is so friggin' hard. And if the game you played was set up wrong there were a lot of cheap drains, I'd bet. (And even if it was set up right...there's some tweaking to be done!). I'm not surprised they weren't interested for long.

Quoted from Fifty:

This wasn't the case. My son actually had a better game and longer ball times than I did.

Quoted from beelzeboob:

Oh...well...then he just has bad taste.

Quoted from flashinstinct:

You know what they say "teachers are always right" but in this case "boob's got a teacher's pet" named sw. Lol

Quoted from jgentry:

You just listed things that you think an LE should be required to have and yet you bought either LE's or premiums of sterns last 2 releases? Why did you buy them if you are so pissed at stern? Your logic for pricing on the secondary market is also very off. JJP games have lost more value in most cases than stern games. A year from now you will be able to buy a DILE for $7500 and Hobbits for $5500 HUO.

Quoted from SheriffBarclay:

Still waiting on those $5500 Hobbits!
Came across this thread while deciding if NiB BKLE is worth it. Interesting read..

Quoted from Maken:

Theres nothing like a getting a warped playfield that you can't level which Stern won't replace