Any News ?

Holding back tears of joy...

Wonder if the update will come out before I sell my game. If it does, and it's as awesome as we all hope, it will hopefully make my machine more valuable in that respect, haha.

Also, it would be nice to get to try it before I have to get rid of her.

I just hope they do something with the VUK that is special on the LE and Premium. Right now, I think the PRO is the better game. I'm hoping adding a VUK feature to enable it to go to the ramp or simply kick out is in the works for us that shelled out the extra $$, plus I'm expecting an insane light show and some extra features on the LE to light up the chase lights

I am afraid no matter how good this update is, it may not be good enough for the pinball community... MET is was well received out there after a long wait but this is the second go around for a long wait of coding and will the pinball community be as forgiving .

There has been a long delay since the promotion of this update from Stern and the expectations are now escalated through the roof. Here's hoping they knock this one out of the park and it is epic, or there will be a lot of disappointed collectors...

I don't find the pro to be a better game in any way, shape, or form.

The VUK does what a VUK does: It vertical up kicks lol. I really don't see any reason for it to kick out like the Pro…I mean if they think of one, cool…but it's not a dealbreaker. I like the flasher/soundFX/upkick to the ramp. How does kicking the ball out like a regular saucer make the Pro a better game? Different, sure…but better? Weird.

If the code is good no one will care. That's just reality. Metallica is Fing awesome now, and that's all anyone worries about with it. Will some people get gunshy about jumping on new games? Maybe, but there's always noise about that, proof is in the pudding when a theme people want is announced. Was easy to pass up Mustang, will they do that with Walking Dead or Maiden or whatever? Not like we didn't already go through this before even Metallica with Spider-Man or whatever. It's all talk until Stern sees the $$$ slow down.

We could have the code next week, we'll see I guess.

I sure hope so. I was thinking of retheming mine as a Groundhog Day pin. You just keep doing the same things over and over and over...

Funny!

VUK was going to be a possible hold for a multiball mode

oh man i was hopping it was the new update when i saw this thread again... oh well, i guess i'll go back and play some ac/dc.

I thought the point of the moving VUK was to allow it to feed ramp or eject it. Why make it move if it is only feeding the ramp. They could have made the ramp different and saved money

Fix a work around solution for the wide spread issue around the Vengeance Multi- Ball magnet problem . That is something if STERN can work around this troublesome issue I would be a happy consumer .

i dont understand why Stern is always so "TOP SECRET"

or why they have such a poor official comunication.

why they cannot post

update will be relaesed in August or Dezember ?!

also so many people know People at Stern
no Insider Infos?

why such secrets?

Remember, originally the VUK was supposed to shoot it up a wireform to the Warp ramp...so - the swivel-stopper was probably invented to allow the ball to go to the warp ramp or the the left ramp.

That's my theory, anyway.

I guess they could have taken the swivel-stopper out, too and just made a static one further back. I'm glad they kept it the way it is...I've never had one bounce-out from that shot & it always makes it to the ramp perfectly. When something works 100% on a new Stern, I'm not going to complain about it.

Deadlines are a bad idea; we saw that with xmen and TF. Steve Ritchie won't let this code be released until he's satisfied with it. They post on FB as they draw nearer to completion. But bugs are found and newly inspired ideas develop which makes deadlines another bad idea. What more communication do you want? They posted on FB that it's coming. Pinside forum thought process world happens much faster than writing actual game code. We should know that by now from looking at all the other pin companies popping up. Sterns communication is fine.

I'm content that they have been clear they are working on it.

What I don't like at Stern is that many games we have NO IDEA if they will ever have an update again.

Exactly. Everyone says they want more clear communication and release dates. But if Stern were to do that, all that would happen is that the vague complaints about unclear communication become numerous specific complaints about not meeting a deadline.

There is no communication strategy that generates zero complaints. Stern has learned from experience that their current strategy generates the fewest complaints.

Do you have a Cliffy installed? I never had any bounce-outs until I installed the Cliffy. Now, I get them every once in a while from a hard shot.

Giving firm dates can be a recipe for disaster. Take the whole WOZ fiasco, for example. Jack kept giving firm dates, and then continuously had to push them back. All it did was generate bad will towards the company. Jack's motives were pure, but it still bit him in the ass.

true, look what's happening with the predator.

By the way, what is happening with Predator?

Why can they just not post that its almost done, we started coding Star Trek poll some cool features they are talking about internally, get us on board.

Just keep people in the loop. 7 months is way way too long between code updates and now its becoming the norm.

I'm hoping Mustang gets another update as Ford Mystery Vault light, still does nothing. How bad would that be to abandon that game and the LE owners would really be shafted as that code is pathetic.

As it stands now, Stern stays silent for months on end. I think it's great that the MET update was such a banger. And I'm sure ST will be just as great. But that's no excuse for long delays and silence. The recent Facebook announcements have been a welcome change; they REALLY should consider hiring on someone to deal with community relations. With the whole resurgence thing going on, they'll really need to focus on communicating with their fans on a more regular basis in order to keep things moving forward.

My opinion, of course...

Nope. Didn't see the need for a cliffy there. Seems like wear is more likely to happen on scoops than a saucer like that.

I agree. I think it's a mistake on Stern's part not to have someone officially representing the company on Pinside. I know we can be a tough crowd at times, but the fact remains that a large percentage of Stern's customers visit this site regularly.

??? what firm date was missed with Predator???

It wouldn't be a bad idea to get a voice on Reddit, RGP, Pinside, and even the more local community forums (I know Florida has a site that's mostly all Florida pinball players...I'm sure there are more). Reaching out to the fans and the community is the best way to keep customers willing to give you money for your products. Nobody will argue that Stern doesn't put out a fantastic pinball machine - arguably the best out there. But with new designers popping up, track record and customer relationships are going to start playing a bigger role.

I think AMH, any title from JJP, and even boutique games like Time Shock and WOOLY are going to start giving Stern some real competition. That discussion is a whole different topic, but look at how involved Ben Heck and the WOOLY designer have been - updates, community involvement, pictures, etc. Those are all very important to keeping your fans loyal. If I had infinite funds, I'd actually fill my space with an AMH and put money down on a WOOLY before I'd pre-order the newest Stern.

Having said all that, we all know code is coming for ST. We all know it's going to be good (and all want it to be great). Stern just needs to get off their pedestal and realize that they aren't the only pinball manufacturer out there anymore - it's time to get their hands dirty with us consumers.

Still still waiting.

can't remember everything on the thread or the other one but didn't he said production was suppose to start a few months ago +/- or something.

but my point is about the lack of informations. no infos on shipping or production.

Pretty sure all "dates" have been met??? aside from them thinking they woudl start production earlier which was never a firm date to my recollection

They had a deadline for deposit (which was the one large change form what was originally stated) and I think June 28th (?) marked the start of part acquisition and production. That has all occured. You can go back to old threads but there are photos of all back alley parts built and reference of cabinet guys saying they were building cab, plus Kevin mentioning other parts coming in.

I think you meant WOZ.

Seriously? Go back to your "Mission Complete" email and in paragraph five it specifically says that production is on track to begin in early April of this year.

On a side note, why don't we leave this as a ST code thread and not another Predator thread.

I guess that did not seem like a firm date to me. "On track" infers they have an estimate. Either way, Apr and June are not a huge difference especially when dealling with a small company.

cool. Looking forward to ST Code!!!!

Is it here yet? ...darn.

Come on guys! They are actively working on it!

image.jpg

still hope in 2 weeks, my birthday, this is going to be an awesome gift, thanks stern!

The difference being that Stern has at least shown proof of progress via Facebook. Fingers are crossed, though!

I'm looking forward to the update but I'm not getting angry about it or thinking about selling my game. Maybe I just have more patience than a lot of people here. I may not have owned mine as long as some but new code isn't the be all end all. I don't need a set date or frequent updates outside of what they've been doing. When it is done it will be released and that's good enough for me as we all know it is coming. I'd rather wait than have it rushed and be potentially buggy as a result.

It is summer, turn off the games and go outside and enjoy some nice weather, do some stuff with your friends and family, etc. There's more to life than just pinball machines. The update will be here soon enough which will make for a fun winter when a lot of us are stuck inside because of the horrible snow and cold.

I don't think the second half of your post was necessary in the least bit. The issue isn't that ANYONE feels pinball is life...The issue is that the item we paid $4k+ for has received zero updates from the manufacturer for what, 7+ months? That's grounds for a bit of whining, no?

E: And while we all agree that waiting for a better, more complete project is worth it, the lack of communication from Stern is what bugs us. If they were giving regular updates with progress, issues, etc., I think everyone would be significantly more receptive to longer waits.

With their track record of releasing unfinished games and then taking many months, up to a year, before the code is complete then I feel the answer is no. This should come as no surprise to anyone. Knowing full well this thing has been going on for years you can't be mad because you had to buy a NIB game right upon release instead of waiting for a complete game.

Who said that? I never saw it. Certainly wasn't anyone with actual inside info.

I didn't buy NIB, but I don't think its OK that Stern remains silent. I am of the opinion that Stern needs to change their practices, though. Because that sort of thing is just crazy to me - complete radio silence? No thanks.

I agree with aurich. Where'd you get your info from? Only thing I remember happening 4 mos ago was Steve Ritchie acknowledging our discussion of code and what we'd like to say. But no reliable source said an update was around the corner. But now we got word from FB that Steve Ritchie is playing the new code and won't let it be released until he's satisfied with it - now that to me sounds like its 'around the corner'.

Any news bump.

Next week is possible, but I don't think anyone has a real date yet.

They have recently posted to their facebook twice that they are working on it so how is that radio silence?

Just seems to be a lot of frustration and people are venting. I am disappointed it didn't come today also but I would rather wait than have a buggy dysfunctional code that needs patching. I suspect they used the resources earmarked for ST to update IMVE, thus the delay. Just a guess. maybe.............next week