Bowling Green, KY
To the naysayers the person did step forward....
(Topic ID: 245988)
Quoted from CrazyLevi:What makes him think the violator would check a random thread called "UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS?"
This same thing happened at Rock Fantasy recently and the offenders were given lifetime bans. No physical violence was needed.
The offenders had been changing game settings and loosening tilts. Ridiculous really. You can't give these assholes an inch!
Yeah, that would irritate me, too. Years ago I had people mess with my games and then I replaced the locks, that problem solved. Now i just have to deal with typical abuse and some asshole that likes to spin up the front leg levelers on some of my games. My games are not too steep, so spinning up the levelers messes up gameplay and I have to take the time to readjust everything and lock them in. If I see it happen again, I will make time to sit through a weeks worth of camera footage to nail the guy.
Quoted from jeffc:Disagree. The wallpaper is tremendous.[quoted image]
I agreed with the other guy until I saw this zoomed in image... from a distance (like in Bud's pic) it looks like something my grandmother would have had in her living room walls along with all her lace table cloths, frills and throw pillows.
Hopefully, in person it's way more obvious that it's super cool and not froufrou old lady stuff.
A different color palette would have made a world of difference. Maybe brown background with powder blue lines or some kind of dark/neon contrast.
Still wrapping my head around someone opening another person's pins without permission. In their home or on location makes no difference.
Reminds me of when someone who was unable to defeat the security measures on my bike (but did manage to take a nice bite out of the ridiculously heavy chain and u-lock combination with an angle grinder) decided to cut all the spokes as "revenge" (since they were obviously the victim in that case, not me the actual owner of the bike).
Last year, I told the bartender @tsskinne's location to turn off one of his machines (that had a minor loose playfield part issue I could easily have fixed) and put a note on it so it couldn't get worse/ruin another player's game. Then I followed up with Tommy to make sure he knew what was up. But the idea of opening it (without having him first call a manager at the location and granting me permission to do so) never would have crossed my mind.
Hopefully, this is a one time thing (whether the offender comes clean or not).
Upon further reflection, the closest I have come to doing anything like this is writing "would it kill you to update the code?" on one of the $1 bills I put in a location machine that was still at 0.84 code (despite the most recent version being 1.03.0).
Obviously not one of @Bud's or @Tsskinne's games though.
Quoted from CrazyLevi:The offenders had been changing game settings and loosening tilts. Ridiculous really. You can't give these assholes an inch!
I had this happen on two of my games, thought I was loosing my mind. It happened again a week later so I changed everything back.... and then one more time three weeks after that. All three times the games were set on easy and the tilt was all the way down or off.
After changing the locks it stopped happening. No money was missing from what I could tell, Just settings and tilt.
Quoted from Orko:I was always worried about someone pretending to be maintenance or changing out machines and they get stolen. Plus when I was checking insurance, it seemed that the actual location would have to provide coverage which was very iffy.
Had a place ten minutes from me get taken for almost 2k on their "grey area games". They said they were changing locks and the bartender and regulars didn't think anything of it. As far as I know, they never got caught.
Quoted from HighVoltage:I'm sure people who do this kind of thing will step right forward.
Will you ask them to turn themselves in so you can make it ugly for them?
This kind of thing sucks, but come on, these comments are pretty funny...
Typical pinside comments/outlook. I was not on a witch hunt, just wanted some answers.
The offender turned himself in this morning, he was very apologetic and was trying to fix a coin jam. He has pins and tried one of his keys and it worked. So I suppose that answers the skepticism.
Making it “ugly” was not referring to this offense, it was public notice for the next time something like this happens.
I’m pretty laid back and don’t get out of control to easily. People would be amazed at how much respect and compassion will get you.
Quoted from Orko:Plus when I was checking insurance, it seemed that the actual location would have to provide coverage
If you ever put games out. Never ever depend on the location insuring them. You have to get your own.
LTG : )
Quoted from Bud:Typical pinside comments/outlook. I was not on a witch hunt, just wanted some answers.
The offender turned himself in this morning, he was very apologetic and was trying to fix a coin jam. He has pins and tried one of his keys and it worked. So I suppose that answers the skepticism.
Making it “ugly” was not referring to this offense, it was public notice for the next time something like this happens.
I’m pretty laid back and don’t get out of control to easily. People would be amazed at how much respect and compassion will get you.
Your indignant tone made it sound like they did something way more nefarious, that's why the inquiries came across as amusing to me.
Congrats that your plan worked.
Quoted from herbertbsharp:You might be able to rig these up, it would probably scare the shit out of whoever is doing it.
amazon.com link »
I would scare them with some of these
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QNJMFQM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_6WefDb8N1D2ST
Quoted from Bud:The offender turned himself in this morning, he was very apologetic and was trying to fix a coin jam. He has pins and tried one of his keys and it worked. So I suppose that answers the skepticism.
Who in the hell carries pinball keys with them besides operators?
Kitchener, ON
Glad this worked out for you.
Quoted from Bud:he was very apologetic and was trying to fix a coin jam
I wouldn’t believe that excuse for one second.
To me this whole thread comes off as
4D819A58-3DBA-405B-A348-34C8903C7C80 (resized).jpegQuoted from Bud:Typical pinside comments/outlook. I was not on a witch hunt, just wanted some answers.
The offender turned himself in this morning, he was very apologetic and was trying to fix a coin jam. He has pins and tried one of his keys and it worked. So I suppose that answers the skepticism.
Making it “ugly” was not referring to this offense, it was public notice for the next time something like this happens.
I’m pretty laid back and don’t get out of control to easily. People would be amazed at how much respect and compassion will get you.
So they opened one pin and not pins as first stated
Quoted from BillySastard:Who in the hell carries pinball keys with them besides operators?
I do and I’m not an op. I use the 1382 locks on all my pins. So have one on my key chain. I also host a monthly get together and at least a dozen of my friends carry the same key because most their games run off the same key.
Quoted from RandomGuyOffCL:I would scare them with some of these
amazon.com link »
On the other hand, the J-Pop color scheme certainly ties that idea in with pinball!
Quoted from BillySastard:Who in the hell carries pinball keys with them besides operators?
I have at least 5 pinball keys on my keychain at this moment.
You can call me Snyder.
IMG_5001 (resized).JPGQuoted from BillySastard:Who in the hell carries pinball keys with them besides operators?
I also carry my pinball keys. And I am no op, just a hobbyist.
The operator of the games at our league location uses Tubular Cam Locks for his games. I don't think you'll find many people with matching keys. This might not be the right one for a pinball machine, but it gives you an idea of the type of lock.
https://www.amazon.com/Tubular-Cylinder-Chrome-Finish-Keyed/dp/B07622LKST
Quoted from Spyderturbo007:The operator of the games at our league location uses Tubular Cam Locks for his games. I don't think you'll find many people with matching keys. This might not be the right one for a pinball machine, but it gives you an idea of the type of lock.
amazon.com link »
Yes, just go with ace locks. Five different lengths, 3/8" to 1 1/2", $12 each. Get them all keyed the same.
IMG_5285 (resized).JPG
FYI, today's IndyStar has an article on this location:
At two-story 16-Bit Bar + Arcade, players will 'level up' in more than one way
Will check it out next time I am in town!
Quoted from CrazyLevi:You can call me Snyder.
I've seen your picture. You're more of an Art from Night Court.
Quoted from Tomass:I also carry my pinball keys. And I am no op, just a hobbyist.
Ok. Next question. Why the hell does a "hobbyist" need to carry around pinball keys? Are you hauling your pins around with you? Do you show them off to the ladies?
Quoted from BillySastard:I've seen your picture. You're more of an Art from Night Court.
Ok. Next question. Why the hell does a "hobbyist" need to carry around pinball keys? Are you hauling your pins around with you? Do you show them off to the ladies?
Am I supposed to get a seperate set of keys when I work on my machines? I have this ring thing and it holds all my keys in 1 place so I don't lose them. You should get one too.
Quoted from BillySastard:Who in the hell carries pinball keys with them besides operators?
I swallow a handcuff key every week just in case I find myself in a position where I’m being held captive. It’s called preparation come on man lol!
Quoted from TheLaw:You're supposed to remove the locks so you don't need any keys.
Now that's just silly.
Quoted from davijc02:I swallow a handcuff key every week just in case I find myself in a position where I’m being held captive.
The same key each time, or a new one?
And wait... you only shit once a week?
Quoted from RandomGuyOffCL:I would scare them with some of these
amazon.com link »
Now my amazon suggested products are going to be interesting.
Things employees or people who aren't ops don't realize:
-WMS games report the time of the last service credit, so you can tell if someone has been adding credits
-Stern games report the number of service credits (not time), so you can tell if someone is adding credits
You can of course compare the amount of money the game reports bringing in vs. the cash box to see if people are adding credits with the coin switches. I check all these things.
I tell my locations and their employees that the games are basically computers. Everything is recorded, even down to the number of flipper flips. I can tell if people are messing with things, and I've caught it.
I also empty my games quite often, usually daily. I can tell by how the coins sit in the cash box if they've been messed with. Certain games drop the coins in certain ways, you know when something isn't right.
I can tell if the glass has been removed by someone other than me.
I can tell if the bills in the changer have been messed with. I can tell if one of my changers has been opened by someone other than me.
At one of the locations where I service games, I could tell that employees were stealing quarters out of the cash box. The owner was also having bills stolen out of his change machine. I alerted him to both issues and we took care of it.
I tell the employees at my locatoins that this is my job. I know these games, and I know when something isn't right. It is like anyone that does their job correctly, you know when things aren't right or you are being messed with. So don't think you are going to get away with something or that you are some evil super genius like Wylie Coyote. You might get away with it for a little bit, but I'll probably catch it.
Quoted from TheLaw:It's actually really nice...very freeing. Give it a try on a game sometime you'll never go back.
That's almost as bad as drilling a hole for a freeplay button. I have a friends machine at my house that I am fixing that has no lock and it drives me nuts.
Quoted from Tomass:That's almost as bad as drilling a hole for a freeplay button. I have a friends machine at my house that I am fixing that has no lock and it drives me nuts.
Quoted from Tomass:I have a friends machine at my house that I am fixing that has no lock and it drives me nuts.
That you have to "finger it" to get it open? It can get old after awHile I agree. For me not as bad as pulling out a keyring and searching around like the school's janitor but HEY, at least neither of us make a large key ring holder for the wall to display all our "sweet" key FOBs
Now those guys are the weirdos.
Quoted from Bud:Typical pinside comments/outlook. I was not on a witch hunt, just wanted some answers.
The offender turned himself in this morning, he was very apologetic and was trying to fix a coin jam. He has pins and tried one of his keys and it worked. So I suppose that answers the skepticism.
Making it “ugly” was not referring to this offense, it was public notice for the next time something like this happens.
I’m pretty laid back and don’t get out of control to easily. People would be amazed at how much respect and compassion will get you.
I'm disappointed, I was hoping for a Vid1900 in the wild sighting...
Quoted from TheLaw:That you have to "finger it" to get it open? It can get old after awHile I agree. For me not as bad as pulling out a keyring and searching around like the school's janitor but HEY, at least neither of us make a large key ring holder for the wall to display all our "sweet" key FOBsNow those guys are the weirdos.
Lol
Quoted from Blackjacker:The same key each time, or a new one?
And wait... you only shit once a week?
Haha great question.
If I were to engage in such activity it’s gonna have to be the same key. Survival mindset. Waste not want not.
I mean hell Jim Jong-Un claims he doesn’t shit at all so I feel like once a week isn’t out of the question...right?
Quoted from stangbat:Things employees or people who aren't ops don't realize:
-WMS games report the time of the last service credit, so you can tell if someone has been adding credits
-Stern games report the number of service credits (not time), so you can tell if someone is adding credits
You can of course compare the amount of money the game reports bringing in vs. the cash box to see if people are adding credits with the coin switches. I check all these things.
I tell my locations and their employees that the games are basically computers. Everything is recorded, even down to the number of flipper flips. I can tell if people are messing with things, and I've caught it.
I also empty my games quite often, usually daily. I can tell by how the coins sit in the cash box if they've been messed with. Certain games drop the coins in certain ways, you know when something isn't right.
I can tell if the glass has been removed by someone other than me.
I can tell if the bills in the changer have been messed with. I can tell if one of my changers has been opened by someone other than me.
At one of the locations where I service games, I could tell that employees were stealing quarters out of the cash box. The owner was also having bills stolen out of his change machine. I alerted him to both issues and we took care of it.
I tell the employees at my locatoins that this is my job. I know these games, and I know when something isn't right. It is like anyone that does their job correctly, you know when things aren't right or you are being messed with. So don't think you are going to get away with something or that you are some evil super genius like Wylie Coyote. You might get away with it for a little bit, but I'll probably catch it.
"I can tell you I don't have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills, skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you"
Quoted from russdx:"I can tell you I don't have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills, skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you"
Now I want a story. Please share!
Quoted from Orko:Now I want a story. Please share!
Not a movie buff huh? 
Quoted from RandomGuyOffCL:I would scare them with some of these
amazon.com link »
my boss was right behind me when I clicked on the link...……. lol 
Damn it lol. Now I get it! I thought it sounded familiar but was hoping for something good. Oh well lol
Quoted from Orko:Damn it lol. Now I get it! I thought it sounded familiar but was hoping for something good. Oh well lol
Sadly my life is not quite as exciting as Liam Neesons.
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