Rochester, NY
Quoted from the96stang:To everyone reading this thread:
First off, I mean this in the nicest way possible, but many of you locals (100 miles or less) need to step up your game to keep this show afloat. Here is what I mean:
I brought 12
Gabe brought 9
Mark Brought 9
Ed Brought 8
Dave brought 5
Thats 43 games brought by 5 people. If the 5 of us didn't bring any, there would have been a LARGE hole in that FP room. For years many of you complained about the distance to A-town. Gabe has done a huge service to this community getting a show going in New England. I personally have loved it, as many of you have.
Now, I am not asking for everyone to bring 12 games. Im not even asking for everyone to bring 3 games, but almost everyone in this thread has a vehicle that can haul 1 game. Most probably have the ability to haul 2. I ask that everyone reading this just bring ONE game to the show. 140 people have contributed to this thread. If everyone just brought one, thats 140 games right there. If half the participants of this thread could bring 2 thats 210 games.
Worried about people beating on your games?
Security was on top of it. I did not see any egregious behavior at any point in the show. (One guy smacked a lockdown bar one time, and was reminded that wasn't his machine, he profusely apologized.)
Worried about games breaking down?
Aardvark, super knowledgeable, super reasonable, and always helpful.
Think your games are too nice to bring for free play?
Fair enough, only you can judge that, but go grab a beater game off of craigslist, have fun fixing it up, get it playing well and try and sell it at the show. You have a year, plenty of time to find a good deal and get it looking great for the show.
Lets make this the best show in the country.
I agree with the sentiment, but practically, if you don't live nearby, bringing a game for freeplay basically necessitates getting a hotel room, getting days off work, driving home late at night, etc. I brought a game to Allentown for the first time and didn't get back home till well after midnight. Not that I want to complain about the 'keep the games there all day' policy, or that loading at any other time isn't a bad idea, but as someone who has no trouble loading a game or two in a vehicle, but only goes to the show for one day, the logistics just don't work out. On the other hand, the free play area was pretty full as it is. Sure, if one of the larger game bringers dropped out there'd be a hole, and there was some empty space around the edge, but I suspect that, to a certain point, the more room you have, the more games that will show up. People aren't going to go out of their way to bring games if the freeplay room looks packed. Now, if a week before the event next year, one of the organizers posted a call for games because they were below where they wanted to be, I, and some other people I'm sure, would put in some extra effort to bring some games. Maybe I'm misjudging the need (I'm not involved/up to date with any organization related discussion, so correct me if I'm wrong), and maybe they'd be happy if another fifty games had been registered, but I'm not getting up at 5AM to drive across the state if it doesn't look like there's a need. Now, I hate to be putting any pressure on you guys either though. Maybe a 'backup' freeplay registration, where people could say 'I can bring this game if you want me to', or something of that sort? To a certain point I fear this is just inherent to pinball shows though. There's just no good way for someone who isn't dedicated to being there from open to close (to be honest, I'm not sure what you do for all that time, strange as that sounds while standing in a room filled with free pinball) to bring a game even if they do want to support the show.
