Do you have a verified operator account with Stern? They mentioned operators will have to be vetted by Stern, and they will have a different account for Insider.

Were you part of the web conference where they discussed all of this?

And there is no way to do this yet that i am aware of

So, is this a schrödinger's cat situation for Stern? Insider Connect for operators exists and doesn't exist at the same time.

It's a good thing you don't just deal in absolutes.

Agile methodology! Deliver the MVP (minimum viable product) and iterate from there. You guys are accustomed to being the guinea pigs for normal code anyway.

And this surprises … whom?

IC is an interesting idea, but I’m extremely skeptical Stern has the ability to take the concept and actually make it a success.

[edited for grammar].

Didn’t surprise me seeing we were told most features won’t go live until 2022.

signed up
Should there be a stand alone phone app?

App is coming soon, nothing else stated other than there will be an app. Really should have been app based at launch!

May be complications with apple wanting a cut of all their subs. Same deal with xbox and others

At some point consumers are going to have to realize they're part of the problem for going along with Apple's BS. Epic tried to remedy this issue, but made a poor case, and positioned their argument badly after agreeing to the contract and then violating it.

The solution is......per the courts... "Don't use Apple, unless you're cool losing 30% of your revenue, because that's not stifling anyone else from NOT charging 30%."

Or just complications with getting it approved and published. Apple is a pita with getting new apps through their process in a predictable time

No no...

"Whom."

(Sorry, couldn't resist)

Here is the link to the commercial operator section. It exists, it's just not available yet.

pro (resized).jpg

Privacy policy for IC was actually better than I thought it'd be. I was expecting clauses for selling your data straight up but that's not in the privacy policy yet. Two biggest red flags were geolocation collection and sharing your data for joint promotions. Geolocation is weird because they already know the location of the game so why track the player?

"Joint promotions" is a very wide open term. If anyone advertises with Stern or enters a "marketing agreement", they would be considered a "partner" this is one of the ways Facebook can share data across range of other companies. I'm not saying Stern is doing this, but adding that gives them carte blanche with anyone who pays.

So…I’m getting Godzilla on Monday and my location does not have wifi. Does the game itself need to be connected to wi fi or does insider just connect to your phone via the QR code?

The connect is described as a WiFi module so I would take an educated guess it requires internet connectivity. There’s really no way else to retrieve the data.

The game needs Internet access. Wifi or ethernet.

Take a video of the initial setup process without internet access. Will be interesting to see if users will have additional steps needed if not connecting.

I tried it last night on the Godzilla pro on location and I could not get it to work. I set up a insider account of the Stern website, went to the GZ game and scanned the QR code on the game but it didn’t track my play or progress at all. Is this working yet?

If I had to guess this is to support some of the badges you can earn such as, play Godzilla in Rome which was shown in the presentation. There were also planned badges for events like Expo. Geolocation would identify you at those locations, some of which time specific like Expo.

Yes it’s working. Maybe the game you played isn’t connected to the internet?

Time to spoof my GPS!

Should be showing a message about Insider Connected features not available at this time if the functionality isn’t available for any reason.

Not saying it does, but that could be an oversight on Stern’s part. Surely they wouldn’t store the scanned QR codes and associated game achievements assuming the game will someday be (re)connected?
Or would they?

I'm thinking the op can enable or disable the online features as needed, and it's expected that if enabled, there would be a way to upload the data. If enabled, the game likely caches the player data til an internet connection is established. If there's no internet available, the op should disable the features.

So I went on yesterday and created a profile so I'll be all set when my Godzilla Premium shows up in 6 months, and I can't read an entire article unless I pay $39.99 a year? Are you fucking kidding??

Not kidding. Serious as a heart attack bro !!!

No extra steps - didnt get to see if its part of guided setup or not.

You goto a net menu and network and IC are both in that subpage tho

For those curious.. a quick shot under the apron.

Qr reader and node board are one assembly. No other stuff under the PF except the rj45 daisy chain from the node board near the player end of playfied. Would go in the old spot that normally has the terminator plug in it.

Didn’t peek in the head at the spike board yet as we had people playing almost immediately

FD525293-2A41-45C4-A35E-62CB2C8ECFE1 (resized).jpeg

I own one Stern game privately. What does this gimmick really do for me? I don't get it yet. Can someone explain that in simple terms?

You can earn achievements and play against your friends and compare scores if they have the same game.

Achievements are goals to achieve in the game that are game specific outside of the typical goals of the game.

Think about Star Wars. One achievement could be to collect a 20x or more hyper space hurry up.

The $39.99 "All Access" pass is in a bit of a transition period right now...

- Old way: Pay $40/yr and get some physical swag/loot crate type stuff sent to you and get access to the exclusive content (kinda worth it)

- Current way: Pay $40 and get access to exclusive content. No stuff sent to you. (definitely not worth it)

- Future way: Pay $XX amount and get access to some exclusive downloadable content / modes / etc for games. Access to exclusive stern web content. (Probably worth it but who knows...no specifics have been given)

Bottom line...if you haven't paid the $40 previously, I would wait.

Agree, let’s see how this whole thing plays out.
I’m leaning toward buying a T-shirt for now.
E22A364C-3088-43D2-A217-B21F85124EFD (resized).jpeg

31F3F683-2317-4B89-BD7F-16A41A992FA4 (resized).jpegWifi dongle…

We have our operator account now too… so i can compare with personal too. Operator they call ‘pro’

Locations are there verse the single address for games in personal mode.

There are basic earnings metrics and connectivity status indicators.

Looks like they have a wifi setup wizard like there is in the game to setup qr codes for wifi i guess.

Setting up a game is basically the same as a personal game. Scan in your qr code, log into account to complete/accept the registration. The main difference is you assign the game to a location when you confirm it.

Pro accounts can be same login as personal accounts - you have a toggle of which view to be in

CanaKit Wifi Dongle shows a cost of $19.95 on the page link below. A search for Wifi on the site shows its $8.95 in the search index until you click to the item page.
https://www.canakit.com/raspberry-pi-wifi.html

CanaKitWifi (resized).png

CanaKitWifi2 (resized).png

So Stern will charge $100 …

+ an new SD card
+ the node board
+ E-net cable
+ others

I wasn’t talking about their price for the kit … just the price for the dongle

And there lies the one main issue with IC. First finding locations with the 4 models that have it then wondering if the operator cared to set it up and connect it to to the internet. Hopefully this is easy to determine from the app (ie zip code/proximity search). What a bummer getting a blown out GC and then not having it recorded

Main issue?

IC is simply icing on the cake.. if it's not there you have the same draw you had to play pinball last week. Your GC was recorded in the high score list same as it was the week before.

I get the interest in seeking out IC connected games, but main issue?? The lady doth protest too much, methinks

besides, it's something pinball map or the like can correct easy enough if Stern doesn't put a location finder in their product.. which seems inevitable.

This is a short term issue at best

the replay offer with the same players already logged in seems to be tied to having credits on the game. Presumably in freeplay it will do it after each game... I have not tested.

"12 character username limit, really Stern?" said the guy with the 13 character username.

Basically an xbox achievement system…
Online software upgrades (including automatic)
And in the future maybe additional exclusive content

Anything can be solved over time, so sure it will take some time to get adopted. I’m assuming Lethal_Inc considers this an issue after his experience, I would. But who knows, maybe this was fine for him

They do have achievements that are both per game and cumulative over multiple games.

Note here how this award is “lifetime” and it is counting my buildings for both verified and unverified games concurrently

A816AF16-0512-4C10-B4F7-1F4B49CA8768 (resized).jpeg

Eternity2M83

Thanks. That's what I figured and i honestly don't see the value. It's cool to connect the machines, but for a home owner to play against all those friends that have the same 10000€ machine... Uhm... To me it's never been about scores. It's been about enjoying together. Plus there's always going to be that glass-off idiot, wo Ruins the leaderboard for everyone.

The achievements maybe. But not for that money owning only one machine.

For that I'd maybe share one account with a bunch of friends, who all have different machines. We then all get achievements, nobody cares about scores and split the cost.

My All Access transfer to Insider worked fine. Not seeing where to get Operator access, etc. Want us to be verified, etc. Seeing some "locations" with Godzilla popping up on the Insider website so wondering how to do it. Anyone else?

From what I understand, achievements will only be "verified" if done at a coin drop locations, to try to thwart the glass-off idiots. I don't know how this will exactly work for hobbyist/at home owners of these games when we get an achievement. Is the achievement worth less points? Is there two totals for achievements "Verified" and "Non-Verified"? I dunno. Even at coin drop locations, you could have some ne'er do well tech stay after hours and "glass-off" the achievements. Not that I know or have ever known any ne'er do well techs of course.