(Topic ID: 299309)

Stern Insider Connected

By anathematize

2 years ago


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  • 728 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 42 hours ago by qbass187
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#3501 1 year ago
Quoted from Deez:

Have any of you used IC for an IFPA league or tournament? The players at my location are asking to do that and I'm not sure of best format or how to maximize points. Any help would be appreciated.

I have been thinking of how to use this for league play as well. So far my thoughts would be to run the leaderboard on X number of games per week. Set it to run like 3-4 hours on the day of league. Anyone can come in and play, only insider connected games will count as league games. At the end of the night you have your standings, you can award points how you wish. Run it for a certain number of weeks to set up some sort of playoff. Nice thing about this is no one has to be around to run it. I will probably be giving out random door prizes of some sort to all those who play and a trophy for the overall winner. Seems simple but you would be counting on STERN servers reliability.

#3502 1 year ago

For a single tournament you would need to create/schedule one just for that specific time then the top 10 on each game would be shown on a tv/url. Eh yes I like it but man is it cumbersome as it only keep tops scores of the single game for that time frame, so only useful if you wanted the top scores on single games. Not wins/ loss.

It is a great way to run a monthly high score tournament or league though. Like a selfie league without the picture needed

#3503 1 year ago
Quoted from flynnibus:

I wouldn't trust the outcome of my event to a system I have no control over, no support for, and no real history of reliable accuracy.
It should be nice eye candy - not what you make decisions baed on.

I can see your point but my players like it so I'm trying to utilize it. There were some bugs early on but I haven't heard any complaints about things that weren't ultimately corrected so I'm not worried about it. Also, I've invested in the system and I want to use it. I'm willing to work thru bugs and inform Stern as needed to help push the system forward vs just throwing it away or using it as a gimmick.

#3504 1 year ago
Quoted from Deez:

I can see your point but my players like it so I'm trying to utilize it. There were some bugs early on but I haven't heard any complaints about things that weren't ultimately corrected so I'm not worried about it. Also, I've invested in the system and I want to use it. I'm willing to work thru bugs and inform Stern as needed to help push the system forward vs just throwing it away or using it as a gimmick.

My point is you have no failsafe... nothing to fall back on.

Player says "my score didn't post!" -- you have zero to support or counter with
Stern IC becomes unavailable - you have no history, no way to progress, no way to declare anything.. you just give up and undo everything.

It's not a situation where when the cloud offer goes down, you just say "give it time, it will come back" - you can't just wait and hour or two mid-event.

I would have a backup if you are running anything more than just a casual 'high score contest' for an afternoon. Because you're completely at the mercy of a service with zero direct support.

#3505 1 year ago
Quoted from flynnibus:

My point is you have no failsafe... nothing to fall back on.
Player says "my score didn't post!" -- you have zero to support or counter with
Stern IC becomes unavailable - you have no history, no way to progress, no way to declare anything.. you just give up and undo everything.
It's not a situation where when the cloud offer goes down, you just say "give it time, it will come back" - you can't just wait and hour or two mid-event.
I would have a backup if you are running anything more than just a casual 'high score contest' for an afternoon. Because you're completely at the mercy of a service with zero direct support.

This is no different than if the power went out in the middle of an epic game. Tough shit. Play again.

#3506 1 year ago

How is IC going down any different than Match Play going down? Less than half of any tournies I play in have a paper back up. While I haven't been a part of a tournament where MP went down and it ruined the event, I've been a part of several where it was out long enough for the TDs to start panicking.

#3507 1 year ago
Quoted from ectobar:

How is IC going down any different than Match Play going down? Less than half of any tournies I play in have a paper back up. While I haven't been a part of a tournament where MP went down and it ruined the event, I've been a part of several where it was out long enough for the TDs to start panicking.

Match play is a paid service with an owner who is well known and ** reachable **. It also has a solid reputation and history.

TLDR - Your chance of recovery with matchplay is significantly higher.

#3508 1 year ago
Quoted from flynnibus:My point is you have no failsafe... nothing to fall back on.
Player says "my score didn't post!" -- you have zero to support or counter with
Stern IC becomes unavailable - you have no history, no way to progress, no way to declare anything.. you just give up and undo everything.
It's not a situation where when the cloud offer goes down, you just say "give it time, it will come back" - you can't just wait and hour or two mid-event.
I would have a backup if you are running anything more than just a casual 'high score contest' for an afternoon. Because you're completely at the mercy of a service with zero direct support.

Doesn’t everybody still just write down scores by hand anyway? You’d still have to do this if you weren’t running the Stern apps, it just saves you having to enter it to the software directly

#3509 1 year ago
Quoted from Deez:

This is no different than if the power went out in the middle of an epic game. Tough shit. Play again.

I feel there is a huge difference here. If I played a complete game and IC failed to record it, how is that fair to anyone that I get to play that game another time? If I had a crap score I have a good chance to improve it which is a disadvantage to my competitors, and if I have an amazing score I have a good chance of doing worse giving my opponents an advantage. This is a lot different than a game going down while you are in the middle of playing it and thus never had a chance to complete it.

#3510 1 year ago
Quoted from Smack:

I feel there is a huge difference here. If I played a complete game and IC failed to record it, how is that fair to anyone that I get to play that game another time? If I had a crap score I have a good chance to improve it which is a disadvantage to my competitors, and if I have an amazing score I have a good chance of doing worse giving my opponents an advantage. This is a lot different than a game going down while you are in the middle of playing it and thus never had a chance to complete it.

Pinball isn't always fair. It's what makes the game more fun than videos games. There are multiple elements of chance and low instances of repeatability. It's part of the fun. Players that try to sanitize everything and cry foul when everything isn't perfect don't understand the game and are better off sticking to playstation. In the long run, regardless of random elements, the better player with higher skill will always win.

#3511 1 year ago
Quoted from Deez:

Pinball isn't always fair. It's what makes the game more fun than videos games. There are multiple elements of chance and low instances of repeatability. It's part of the fun. Players that try to sanitize everything and cry foul when everything isn't perfect don't understand the game and are better off sticking to playstation. In the long run, regardless of random elements, the better player with higher skill will always win.

You do you but if you were running an event or league like that it may contravene the integrity of what would qualify IFPA sanctioning. If it is not IFPA then do whatever the heck you want but I would not be too impressed to see someone get a "do over" due to a software malfunction that happens outside of the game itself.

#3512 1 year ago
Quoted from Smack:

You do you but if you were running an event or league like that it may contravene the integrity of what would qualify IFPA sanctioning. If it is not IFPA then do whatever the heck you want but I would not be too impressed to see someone get a "do over" due to a software malfunction that happens outside of the game itself.

Running it like what?

#3513 1 year ago
Quoted from flynnibus:

TLDR - Your chance of recovery with matchplay is significantly higher.

Not if an outage goes to long that tournament time getting done in time is in danger

Even an 30 min - 1 hour outage is bad for some tournaments and for an flip frenzy even 15 min can really jam stuff up.

#3514 1 year ago
Quoted from Deez:

Running it like what?

By letting someone play a game again when they had already completed a full game on that machine. I feel there are other options to resolve this for tournament purposes other than a re-do but we're getting way off topic here.

#3515 1 year ago
Quoted from Smack:

By letting someone play a game again when they had already completed a full game on that machine. I feel there are other options to resolve this for tournament purposes other than a re-do but we're getting way off topic here.

That's within the rules. It's a catastrophic malfunction. Have you ever run a tournament before?

#3516 1 year ago

My insider connected worked for about two straight weeks after I made sure I secured the cable between the QR scanner and the plug beside the Ethernet cable but now it’s back to just flashing about every five seconds. I made sure the cables were secure again but no change this time. Any suggestions? This is the message I get even though the machine was NIB and came with IC already installed.

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#3517 1 year ago

My guess is the hardware failed. I would request a replacement from the dealer you bought it from. It is a very common problem with the initial units.

#3518 1 year ago
Quoted from CoachBacca:

My insider connected worked for about two straight weeks after I made sure I secured the cable between the QR scanner and the plug beside the Ethernet cable but now it’s back to just flashing about every five seconds. I made sure the cables were secure again but no change this time. Any suggestions? This is the message I get even though the machine was NIB and came with IC already installed.[quoted image]

power off and reseat both ends of the flexicable connecting the node board and the scanner board.

#3519 1 year ago

I have a friend who is an amazing coder who helped me set up a raspberry pi for my location. It cycles between a "here's the info" page with a QR code with tournament deets for the monthly leader board, the stern leaderboard itself, and then another page that scrapes the leaderboards for a points accumulation semi-pump and dump style to show who is in the overall lead (prizes given for 1st on each game, then point totals for overall where 1st is 10 points, 2nd is 8 points, 3rd is 7, etc.). The possibilities with this are huge, I just wish Stern would start implementing some stuff like this themselves. It is really crazy how slow they're going with all this. I still can't look at yesterday and see how many plays my games got!

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10
#3520 1 year ago

People are starting to catch on at our location. Only been opened about 2 weeks and already seeing lots of traffic coming for the games.

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#3521 1 year ago
Quoted from Chalkey:

I have a friend who is an amazing coder who helped me set up a raspberry pi for my location. It cycles between a "here's the info" page with a QR code with tournament deets for the monthly leader board, the stern leaderboard itself, and then another page that scrapes the leaderboards for a points accumulation semi-pump and dump style to show who is in the overall lead (prizes given for 1st on each game, then point totals for overall where 1st is 10 points, 2nd is 8 points, 3rd is 7, etc.). The possibilities with this are huge, I just wish Stern would start implementing some stuff like this themselves. It is really crazy how slow they're going with all this. I still can't look at yesterday and see how many plays my games got![quoted image][quoted image]

That is awesome. And agreed, surprising how slow Stern is to roll out some of these features.... even just the basics of leaderboards for home use.

#3522 1 year ago
Quoted from Mr_H:

That is awesome. And agreed, surprising how slow Stern is to roll out some of these features.... even just the basics of leaderboards for home use.

Painfully slow

#3523 1 year ago

Excruciating.

#3524 1 year ago

Ok i woke this morning to award prizes for our monthly to find two of our nine games missing from the leaderboards ! Our Godzilla game was being featured in a contest to win two tickets to the rockzilla tour coming to town here wed night ! wow this is frustrating when i go into the program it only shows 7 of our nine games . originally it only showed 4 ! when i went into to edit it it wont let me add Godzilla and led zep . Strange and frustrating ! We also had quite a few prizes from area businesses ! ugh

#3525 1 year ago

The only time I had that issue was with code updates. Sorry buddy.

I made sure to get screens of the results of our monthly last night after close of business in case of any programming shenanigans.

Holy shit I just looked and Godzilla and Led Zep are completely missing from our results now. Glad I took a snap!

#3526 1 year ago

@bookmark what a joke why would they send updates at the end of a month. and now i can do nothing to add them ! and when i look back at June only 4 of nine show. Some mess!

#3527 1 year ago

Wow… it’s like… we were just talking about this happening…

Just tell them to play again

Will likely be back after they complain to bulgaria

#3528 1 year ago

Yup and they have no answers so far ugh

#3529 1 year ago

There weren't any updates that I know of, I was just saying the only time I had seen that in the past was when the Godzilla code update got pushed, all the old results were wiped. I don't know why this happened with GZ and LZ but it's definitely something on Stern's end.

#3530 1 year ago

Hopefully one of our updates is not disappearing scores

SmartSelect_20220801-113418_Gmail.jpgSmartSelect_20220801-113418_Gmail.jpg
#3531 1 year ago
Quoted from rockfantasyman:

Ok i woke this morning to award prizes for our monthly to find two of our nine games missing from the leaderboards ! Our Godzilla game was being featured in a contest to win two tickets to the rockzilla tour coming to town here wed night ! wow this is frustrating when i go into the program it only shows 7 of our nine games . originally it only showed 4 ! when i went into to edit it it wont let me add Godzilla and led zep . Strange and frustrating ! We also had quite a few prizes from area businesses ! ugh

Oh man, I hope my Godzilla score didn't get wiped. I think I was #2 on that board.

#3532 1 year ago

Interestingly enough it looks like the scores were wiped right around 9:00AM about the time you posted (using a little detective work from when our scraper updated). I figured it would have either been midnight, or midnight GMT since the software isn't updating for time zones even though it knows where you are based on location (my brewery location page says GMT -4 right at the top even though it doesn't adjust).

#3533 1 year ago

For those with missing scores, is the common denominator among the leaderboards affected that they were set to end on July 31st?

I just played GZ at my local last week and their leaderboard runs until sometime in Sept and I can see my score as well as all of the others I remember from playing on Wednesday.

#3534 1 year ago

they sent me a spread sheet showing the scores at least ! Yes you finished second Undunn

#3535 1 year ago

Our end of July one went from 12 games to 8 games - after lots of messing around I got all 12 games to show again but the scores were wiped (took ages to get the games back as the system just would not allow me to re-enable the lost games).
I looked back at other past highscore tables and also our June one was missing 3 games, I re-enabled those games and luckily those ones kept their highscores.
We've really been pushing Insider the last few months and have gathered dozens of regular players who fight to be on the leaderboard for bragging rights, but if this continues there's no real reason to promote Insider - its been a year and so many of the promised features haven't arrived and the system is full of bugs.
We desperately want this system, its a big game changer for pinball.

edit: looks like the lost highscores have been restored now.

#3536 1 year ago
Quoted from rockfantasyman:

they sent me a spread sheet showing the scores at least ! Yes you finished second Undunn

Sweet.

#3537 1 year ago

So our July leaderboard ended and I went to go see the results... Can anyone view past results for ALL games? My July is only showing 1 game (munsters). My June is also only showing Munsters..... I wanted to post a screen cap of results for the local group :/

#3538 1 year ago

What is the current cheapest compatible wifi usb dongle available on Amazon?

Post update:
I see that these have worked for others and are only $10 so I ordered one.
https://a.co/d/047no43

#3539 1 year ago
Quoted from Brk_oth:

Our end of July one went from 12 games to 8 games - after lots of messing around I got all 12 games to show again but the scores were wiped (took ages to get the games back as the system just would not allow me to re-enable the lost games).
I looked back at other past highscore tables and also our June one was missing 3 games, I re-enabled those games and luckily those ones kept their highscores.
We've really been pushing Insider the last few months and have gathered dozens of regular players who fight to be on the leaderboard for bragging rights, but if this continues there's no real reason to promote Insider - its been a year and so many of the promised features haven't arrived and the system is full of bugs.
We desperately want this system, its a big game changer for pinball.

edit: looks like the lost highscores have been restored now.

Agreed we invested a lot of time into this and had a lot of prizes , concert tickets gift certificates from local restaurants Etc and had a lot of folks drop coin ! I was looking to really build on this ! It's very discouraging !

#3540 1 year ago

And yes, we only have 4 of 9 showing from June now! and it still will not show Led zep and godzilla from July! So, anyone logging in to check their standings will see nothing! I am holding off on starting a contest for August ! Iwas planning on ding cash prizes for top three on each game! Along with our random gift certificates .

#3541 1 year ago

Funnily enough Cineplex, the biggest distributor of pinball through their company player one in Canada, hasn't bothered to install insider connected into any of their rec room or movie locations that I've been to.

#3542 1 year ago

Looks like Home Team is in the new code for GZ, JP, Mando, Rush, etc. Check stern website for each game

#3543 1 year ago

- STERN INSIDER CONNECTED
- Home Team
The Home Team features allows Insider Connected players to log in
and play without scanning their QR code.

When the game is registered to a home location and set to Free Play,
Home Team can be enabled via Standard Adjust #51 or from Guided Setup.
Up to 8 players can be added to the Home Team from the Stern Insider
Connected Setup menu.

The Home Team can be shared across all games registered at the game's
location by enabling the Home Team Standard Adjustment on each game.
Players need only be added once to the Home Team. Players can be
later removed from the Home Team, and guests can be temporarily
added to the Home Team.

#3544 1 year ago

So for a home team, do you scroll through users on the machine? Can’t be just one user…. We’ll find out at the meeting today I suppose

#3545 1 year ago
Quoted from northvibe:

- STERN INSIDER CONNECTED
- Home Team
The Home Team features allows Insider Connected players to log in
and play without scanning their QR code.
When the game is registered to a home location and set to Free Play,
Home Team can be enabled via Standard Adjust #51 or from Guided Setup.
Up to 8 players can be added to the Home Team from the Stern Insider
Connected Setup menu.
The Home Team can be shared across all games registered at the game's
location by enabling the Home Team Standard Adjustment on each game.
Players need only be added once to the Home Team. Players can be
later removed from the Home Team, and guests can be temporarily
added to the Home Team.

do guests count as part of the max 8? and they can't just login?

-1
#3546 1 year ago

This thread (like most on pinside)
are peak 1st World Problems!

#3547 1 year ago
Quoted from Joe_Blasi:

do guests count as part of the max 8? and they can't just login?

I'd think so. Only 2 people live in my house, so I can have up to 6 VIP spots lol.

#3548 1 year ago

STERN PINBALL LAUNCHES NEW INSIDER CONNECTED™ FEATURES

CHICAGO, IL – August 3, 2022 – Stern Pinball, Inc. expands its award-winning Insider Connected platform with new features making it easier to access the service. With Stern Insider Connected, over 43,000 users track their scores and earn achievements on our network of more than 11,000 connected machines. New features launched today include an easier to use mobile ID card and Home Team system that will automatically log in home users. Code updates are available today for all 18 Stern commercial LCD pinball machines that include Home Team and additional improvements across titles.

Insider Connected now offers our players the ability to save an ID card with their personal QR code in their mobile wallet. It saves time previously spent retrieving a QR code by logging into the Insider Connected service on a phone or by finding a previous screenshot of your QR code saved somewhere in your photo library. These mobile ID cards can be used on connected machines.

With Home Team, users’ home pinball machines will remember them. Owners will be able to set standard home Insider Connected user profiles that are always available without needing a phone to scan in. Guests won’t be left out either. When guests scan into a Home Team enabled machine their profile will be temporarily remembered for rapid replays, until they log out or the machine is turned off. Turning on Home Team can be done through the service menu on free play machines and accessed by pressing the flipper buttons before starting a game.

For more information on how to set up your own Mobile ID Card and Home Team, visit sternpinball.com/support/faq/ where you will find:

Mobile ID Card Set-up Video
Home Team Set-up Video
PDF Mobile ID Card Set-up Guide
PDF Home Team Set-up Guide
Stern Pinball takes the safety of our customer’s data seriously. Stern works with both legal and security organizations to vet all aspects of Insider Connected for legal compliance and best practices worldwide. As part of this effort, our new machine updates will notify users if any third party code modifications are identified that may put data at risk.

Insider Connected enables users to automatically download and update code across their machines. All code updates and read me files are available at sternpinball.com/support/game-code/. Every new machine produced by Stern Pinball comes from the factory Insider Connected-enabled. Upgrade kits for earlier Stern Pinball LCD Machine are available through authorized dealers and distributors or at shop.sternpinball.com for both Pro and Premium/LE game editions.

https://sternpinball.com/2022/08/03/stern-pinball-launches-new-insider-connected-features/

#3549 1 year ago

Ok, so if Home Team doesn't require you to scan the code, can you you just add the wifi adapter yourself to get the connected features? The WiFi adapter they are including in the kit is $22 at Amazon. I can't see a reason to need anything more than that for home use. The scanner is irrelevant and doesn't warrant the $200 price tag (at least not for me).

So, can someone from Stern comment about whether I can do that? I will plan to watch the video they sent to see if they say anything...

EDIT: Since it looks like it needs to enroll you once with the scanner, guessing it would still be required. Seems like they could just do it by letting you enter your login credentials when setting it up the first time...

#3550 1 year ago
Quoted from Jazman:

Ok, so if Home Team doesn't require you to scan the code, can you you just add the wifi adapter yourself to get the connected features? The WiFi adapter they are including in the kit is $22 at Amazon. I can't see a reason to need anything more than that for home use. The scanner is irrelevant and doesn't warrant the $200 price tag (at least not for me).
So, can someone from Stern comment about whether I can do that? I will plan to watch the video they sent to see if they say anything...
EDIT: Since it looks like it needs to enroll you once with the scanner, guessing it would still be required. Seems like they could just do it by letting you enter your login credentials when setting it up the first time...

Unless things have changed, pretty sure insider connected doesn't work on a machine unless the MPU can see the scanner and its associated node board.

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