Quoted from Kobaja:
Guys, the Premium is designed without that post. Modifying it to your liking is your right as a owner, but its not how it was meant to be. Ask the designer. He's made the point and many other (pitch 6.5 i.e.) multiple times in interviews, on the forum and on facebook. If you can't deal with the frustration of playing the game as it was meant to be you might aswell close the outlanes alltogether and feel great about the inevitable highscores.
Everyone can do what he or she wants with his or her property, but unless you are doing this for your three year old, as a means to motivate him into eventually playing normal difficulty, any custom modification to ease the game that are beyond the design are and will always be cheating. Any score coming from it is a non-achievement.
I disrepect none of you as people, but this whole "how to cheat" post nonsense doesn't make you look all that great - and that doesn't change, just because you are here in numbers.
Aynway we're all here to have fun and share our opinions. This one is mine, sorry.
Definitely don’t agree because the left lane drain geometry is unreal and not necessary to be in and of itself, cheating us the players. It works fine for location, so people pump in more dollars, but in the home, it is not cheating to improve the geometry on a gimped design. If that were not so, the first pros off the line wouldn’t have had the post there. I know it is said it was there originally because they were stand up targets instead of drop targets. Don’t believe that was the issue and think it was taken out to be a better money earner on location. When asked directly, even SR thinks we should all put the left lane post all the way down in position 3, which by the way is still not much of a difference on the unusually wider gap on the left lane drain.
So SR did design that post originally and then took it out, because it made the game easier when it was installed (not just for 3 year olds, lol). But I’m here to say, it still drains well with plenty of challenge, with the improved post installed. No “cheating” as you call it is involved. What is nonsense is how bad the layout plays with that left lane drain so unusually wide open (no other layout to my knowledge, on any other machine is that wide open). It becomes an even wider open spot, when the drop targets are down. Only expert players can enjoy this machine without that post in and even they have very short ball times. How is it cheating to fix the geometry and balance the game???
The right lane doesn’t have this issue, because there are no bank of drop targets directly above it and it also has the force lane drop down diverter. Is that cheating too? That improved left post gives balance to the machine layout. Now drains are more evenly matched. Don’t know what SR was thinking by removing the post that was originally on the pro. Again imo, it is a must to fix the poor geometry on the unusually and overly high drain rate on the left side. The way the ball shoots out of the reduced shooter lane and into the 3 bank target and deflects and drains straight to the wide open left lane, even baffles the best nudgers in pinball. That poor left lane design is cheating us players out of fun and the reason this machine is sold by numerous people after owning it a while. Becomes too frustrating to play it that way. To correct and balance the left lane with the right lane: simply is not cheating as you call it. Makes the machine fun and enjoyable. Anyone can check in diagnostics to see how unbalanced the drains are on the left side versus the right side. After that improved post is installed, left and right drains become more balanced. SW then becomes one of the top games ever made, by this simple and improved post.