The one thing I absolutely hate in the current rule set is how Mystery can start song for you. This could be a result of spotting members or just “start song”. Given how much work I have to do to get decent song levels and not start a song before I’m done, it’s so demoralizing to have the song start before ready when the scoop isn’t lit yet. Wish there was a way to abort song start (at least for times when it’s starting out of my control. My own damn fault if I hit the scoop when it’s lit).

No power chords on the SE, so nope. Not applicable.

Toggle on the game will present you with a beta agreement to join the beta program. You accept the agreement by hitting start. After that, the game will look to the beta channel for updates -- you will just update to the beta code from the same wifi update mechanism as before.

You can also see the JJP beta post for how to join the beta chat, if you're so inclined: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/jjp-open-beta-program

It's pretty much impossible to answer #1 at this point as song value doesn't appear anywhere other than in the song. I think a few people have mentioned it's in the instant info, but if that's the case, I can't find it. But I think what Sevenrites posted is the best info we have.

Band frenzy does a switch frenzy mode to add value to the jackpot at a fast clip. All switches add value to the song jackpot. Getting the ball through spinners and in the pops is probably the best way to boost it in short order.

Since we keep talking about the magnet above the Axl lanes, what exactly causes that to grab the ball? it seems like maybe once at the start of the game and once after a song mine will grab it, but that's about it. Is there something that's supposed to get it to stop there?

It's anytime during the ball when the scoop is lit for an album mode. You can do it while the ball is still in the shooter lane.

They can be lucrative IF you can complete them AND you get a platinum record for that album ahead of playing them. But you're far better off skipping them. Sadly, like most modes in this game.

Minor/personal preference stuff:

- Some of the song modes have much harder shots than others and aren't score balanced for their difficulty.
- Song Level and its impact on score/jackpot escalations isn't shown anywhere (would be a nice add to the tutorials section).
- Some song effects leave the playfield completely dark. This looks "cool" but nothing more rage inducing than draining out because all 200 twinkly lights went out for 3s.
- Would be nice to have collected badges faster than instant info, would be great to line the ones you have above the score area for those of us who know them all by heart now.

Medium priority:
- Song scoring/difficulty pass. Hard shots should complete levels sooner, and be worth more points.
- Album modes need a score boost. Not worth playing at all unless platinum albums have been achieved, and even then, it's not worth the additional risk when songs give you more safety/ball save/points.
- Value increase of mini multiballs should be shown (jackpots award +x song level).
- Some lower quality badges could be rebalanced. Badge order could be balanced.
- I like Scorbit, but if you're ripping it out, you better have something similar for me. Nothing really there.
- Would be nice to optionally buy the newer power driver boards from TS4/Godfather that make flippers not feel like overcooked spaghetti. Precision flippers help but are not a solution.

High priority:
- Song Level isn't anywhere on the screen unless in song mode. At the LEAST it should be in instant info, but it really should be on the score section of the screen at all times. You can't determine if your song level is high enough for your liking before starting a song, or if you should work towards that last mini MB before starting your song. Very important in competitive settings.
- There absolutely should not be "start song" as a mystery mode. It's detrimental to be playing and not prepared to lock songs, and then you have to get out quick and requalify everything if the value isn't there. If you're completely averse to that for some reason...
- You need to be able to abort songs when going into the scoop. See above. Let me hold the action button and kick the ball back to me. Make me requalify some band members as a penalty if you must. Fine. Whatever.
- The game has absolutely no competition/remove randomness settings whatsoever. Players in a competition should have fixed order of scoop awards at the least, and some other minor settings would be appreciated as well.

It sucks because the game can do a lot of interesting and really rad things, but there's way way too many things that needed more polish. Not showing the most important scoring number anywhere before starting a song is just straight dumb. And I realize that most folks don't care about score balance and competition, but most every good game by any measure has them. This is an area where Stern, Bally, and Williams to name a few are just head and shoulders above JJP (and Spooky, but that's another thread).

I hope so! I know "coding is easy" is bs, but I'd really like JJP to take one more pass at some of the more egregious issues so that the game can be in a great place for the long haul. Here's hoping!

Yeah, I agree -- they are a bit bland for how important they are. I have a lot of new players play mine and go "what's going on? what do I do? WHY am I in multiball?!" but as a component to building song value they're important and -- dare I say -- fun in a competitive game. The biggest problem I have is the game doesn't tie/link them to the important thing you SHOULD care about, which is song level.

When you inevitably hit the action button too many times and scroll past the patch you want, you can hold the left flipper in and hit the action button and the patches will scroll in reverse. Can do it in game too, if you trap up on the left

I agree with jaygee on the patches for scoring. Nothing rockets jackpot value more than band frenzy. You may also prioritize Shirt/Poster for half decay of rock meter after the sets above.

My experience (not a confirmation) but it seems to be a static amount of time. There's for sure a time dilation/expansion effect in play when in a song, so I can't say for sure. I did look back on some super old streams I did and in songs where I survived the frenzy they seem to be about 19-20 seconds each regardless of progress, so ... I think you're spot on there.

Frenzy tip: hit the center spinner shot as a park/release valve as much as possible during frenzy. Switch hits all add up to the jackpot value, and nothing better than ripping that spinner and then flying right in to the pops. Good luck.

I'd add that this has to be the easiest game I've ever owned to accidentally sheer off the tip of the shooter rubber on when raising/lowering the playfield. If it sounds weird and is super inconsistent, just do a quick look at the shooter tip to see if it came off. I have to remind myself every time I lift the damn thing to be careful.

When extra ball lights it lights on the Axl lanes up near the pops. By default, if the ball hits the pops, the light turns off for a little so you can't collect it by having the pop fire the ball through the lane. Loops setting would also do it by hitting the loops I'd assume. Then the only way to get an extra would be a clean shot from a flipper through the X lane. Lit always would turn those features off.

1st hand anecdote and 2nd hand "Friend of a Friend of a ..." but I believe the number plates are someone random in the grand scheme of things. I have a friend who received her LE pretty early on in the run and it had something like 1700's number on the plate. I've also heard from others that the plates are essentially random -- they don't follow build order or serial number order or anything like that.

That's not to say JJP didn't build or sell through 5k of these (I don't think that's accurate myself, but that's just a hunch backed by nothing concrete), but the serial/build date is probably a better indicator (though those are hard to track on a grand scale).

I think there's a lot of people kicking the tires and hoping... that said, you should expect no major code changes. If nothing comes, you can be content with knowing that you felt that was the case. If something comes, what a happy surprise.