Non-owner chiming in - sorry Vid. I've already been chastised for commenting in the Owners thread when I'm not an owner, so I hope my comments are okay over here.

I played it a few times at ReplayFX, in its early stages and when it had been on the market for a few months. I found it beautiful but boring. "Floaty", as they say.

Then I came across it at the Fremont Arcade in Las Vegas. Didn't quite know what I was doing yet, but after being able to really play around with it for a while, I could tell there was something there. Plus, one of the staff members at the Arcade congratulated me on my play and that's always a lovely feeling

And then one day, during my habitual checking of Pinballmap, a Hobbit popped up for the first time in Southern California. Alas, it was at a bowling alley known for having some pretty beat up games. And it's 30 miles from my house. But it's the Hobbit!!

I've made the trip there and back at least a dozen times now. I'm infatuated with the goddamn thing. It's so immersive and strategic and just wonderful to play, that I can't get enough of it!

So, yawl, believe me when I say I love this freaking game. And understand that loving something sometimes means you gotta be critical of it. Constructively! Or as best as my layman self can.

First of all, I'm VERY curious as to how this rudebwoy plays on route vs. at home. There is just no way around the fact that this machine needs some TLC to work properly. I feel so incredibly awful when the ball hits a beast at just the last moment and the door closes on top of the ball, leaving it stuck there. It's quite a testament to the strength of this game that it just doesn't break then and there when that happens! So the ball eventually pops out when you drain or during a ball search and hey, it might even be a devious way to keep a MB going (that hurts my heart to do that, but as I type this out, I wonder if maybe next time...). Eventually though, stuff just stops working. The Warg target, for example, just doesn't wanna raise out of the playfield (so I can never beat Into the Fire! ). I don't know if it's an easy fix at home, you take the glass off, adjust some screws, voila? But on route, the player doesn't have much of a choice. I've heard 1.90 adjusts for non-working pop ups, but the one I play is on 1.31.

Another reason I wonder if this game is worth putting on route is how it tends to have pretty damn long ball times. Let's say I play ten games on The Hobbit during a visit. Five of them will be horrible, done in under 90 seconds. Four of them will be about 10 minutes long. And then I'll (hopefully!) have that one, epic, 45 minute game. I do my best, but I'm nowhere near a pinball champ and so I wonder, if someone IS an amazing pinball player, will they just be rocking this thing on one credit for hours at a time?

As immersive as this game is, I feel that the call outs tend to be repetitive. However, the incredible sounds of battle whenever you get into a Smaug Multiball or a mini-wizard mode more than makes up for that.

I don't like that the game shipped without a BOTFA mode, yet with an insert announcing its' eventual arrival. That's on the state of the industry though, and I'm already annoyed with being chastised for asking questions about the AC/DC Cannon inserts elsewhere so I'm not really interested in taking up arms about it. Just mentioning it. And if I understand correctly, there isn't anything in the code for beating all 31 modes?!?!? Come on now, that's some "we're sorry, the princess is in another castle" type letdown right there.

Please, don't take what I just said for me not liking the game. I think it's pretty obvious that if I'm willing to drive 60 miles on a regular basis to play it that I'm pretty INTO IT. Maybe someday I'll hit the lottery and be able to buy one. Or maybe Ron will get one in at Pinball Land. Whatever. This game is the absolute bees knees and big, big, big ups to all those involved with the creation of it!

PS I've killed Smaug twice now, and I don't know how the eff I did it!

PPS my highest ring score is 7000. Oooh every smack to the ring button feels so incredible when you're making those crazy points every time!

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IMG_5145 (resized).JPG

That's good to hear, oyvindmo ! Do your pop-ups need to be adjusted a lot?

Finally was able to get the Grand Champion score!! Two rounds of Barrel Escape, three rounds of Into the Fire, killed Smaug and had the ring valued at over 16k per activation! Holy cow, it was one epic game.

But now I'm to the point that I'm going to wait until they bring the code up to date and fix the pop-ups because I don't feel like I'm getting the full experience. Can't get past Into the Fire with a non-working Warg!

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I was down on the upper right flipper too at first, but now that I'm more familiar with the game, it's starting to make more sense. Some things it is used for:

*Hitting the Dwarf targets after the ball rolls out of the Bag End pops - it's how you kick a barrel over
*Hitting the captive ball between the ramps
*Hitting the ELF targets (it's not easy, but it's a lot easier than trying to hit them off your bottom right flipper)

and most importantly

*Killing Smaug! Although many others have observed, you can also get off the killing blow from the lower flippers.

Oh yeah, for sure! Feels so good when you pull it off.

A good way to get a high score is to make sure you never start a mode without having a ball locked for multiball. Start something easy, like The One Ring, where it's over after one successful ramp shot - then try to rack up as many lit shots as you can during the Treasure Hunt portion.

Also, don't sleep on activating the ring for the score bonus as much as possible! One good spinner rip is good for one, sometimes two activations... same goes for the pops. That score builds up quickly!

I have to admit, I find the screen overwhelming. I have to use the musical cues for Dwarf Frenzy and Super Spinner or else I'd never know they're happening. And even then, I usually don't realize it until there are only a few seconds left on the timer.

No, no. That I can handle. I mean looking up at the big screen, I'm usually too, uh, balls deep in a mode to look up at all the things happening on the screen. For example, I know it shows how close you are to starting a Beast Frenzy, but it surprises me every single time it happens.

I really wish the game had more call outs telling you where to shoot (but I play on 1.31, so maybe it has been updated). I know there are "shoot the __ ramp", "shoot the __ loop" and "shoot the bumpers" callouts, but does it ever call out the holes or the drop targets? Maybe it does, and I'm just too busy to notice it.

Oh and I don't know what the hell "they started without us!?" is supposed to signify, but man, I hear Bilbo saying that in my sleep!

(somebody might have to repeat this, cause I'm pretty sure ol' guy has me on ignore)

The mystery insert is always blue. The inlanes are indeed color coded by award type. First is the basic mystery award. Second is award + mode skill shot. Third is award + ring save. Fourth is award + add-a-ball.

Actually, you should just directly consult what I refer to as The Hobbit Bible:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/the-hobbit-rulesheet/page/3#post-3421626

Level 1/Blue – Mystery Target: Collect a random award
o Immediately awards one of the following:
 1,000/5,000 Points
 Add-A-Ball
 Add Book Time (can resurrect a timed out mode)
 Add Bonus Multiplier
 Add Feast Frenzy Time
 Add Feast Frenzy Value
 Add Tilt Warning (Can go beyond the normal threshold, allowing for
triple+ danger saves!)
 Advance Erebor (~3/4 of a screen)
 Light Beast Lanes (i.e. inlanes)
 Light Gollum (i.e. Preciousss)
 Light Kickback
 Light Thorin
 Spot Beast Hurry Up
 Spot Dwarf
 Super Jets
 More tbd
 Level 2/Orange – Captive Ball: Add a dwarf to the party
o Awards ability for a captive ball hit to substitute for a dwarf shot (awarding
collection of that dwarf).
 Level 3/Purple – Load Arrow: Start mode, shoot a MAN target for bonus scoring
o Awards ability to get a special award at your next mode start. Basically, after
hitting the right ramp to start a mode your ball will be diverted into the arrow
(left outlane). You then use the ring button to shoot an arrow and if you hit the
MAN targets you get a Windlance Award. These awards can be points (1000 or
5000), additional time (5, 10, 15, or 20 seconds), 2x mode scoring, 2x playfield
scoring, add-a-ball, light extra ball, and more tbd???.
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 Level 4/Green – Precioussss: Ring save
o Awards a right outlane ball save feature where you must time your ring button
press to fall within a specified window.

The only mode I had trouble with was the one where it tells you that the left shots unblock the right shots. I had to squint to see that. But other than that, I find the book easy to read, much easier to read than what's happening on the monitor.

However, I have quite a few issues with reading comprehension. Can't tell you how many times I'm hitting the left ramp and going WHY AM I NOT COMPLETING THIS MODE only to realize at the last second I was supposed to hit the left ORBIT. Totally my fault, not the games.