10k by xmas jokes….now it’d be a bargain.

people that care about pinball, now its all flippers and people out to fuck you for $1. Especially the 2 yr and under crowd.

I wanted to make a thread about this but felt I was too “green” to talk about it. I read old threads often and it really brings you back to this awesome camaraderie everyone seemed to share!
Wish we could find out what happened to that spark.
Was it the money?

The small hobby? (Only ~30k users back then. Now we are around ~85k users)

Or did people used to get to know each other more personally and exercise respect?

Perhaps old users had thicker skin and jokes/busting on people used to be acceptable and now it’s often misconstrued? (outrage/entitlement culture)

Wish we could bring some of that back to Pinside and pinball!

I actually like Pinside a little better now than before. The main reason being that they took the initiative to freeze out accounts of posters that would stir the pot at any given opportunity. I come here to unwind, not to listen to a bunch of adults act worse than a bunch of whiny children.

While I understand there are tools to personalize my own experience, I also would see others take the bait that had no reason to, other than they were attacked by an internet stranger.

I miss the achievements! It was just fun to see things get unlocked. No real value other than that but a neat little feature.

Unfortunately pinball (probably like a lot of other hobbies) seems to have gone from a “look what I scored for $500 bucks!” hobby to a “wow look at my $28,000 Elvira” hobby.

Personally, being firmly part of the former group, I’m sad to see it go that way.

rd

The manufactured tiering model over the last decade and recent popularity surge have made the site more investment than gameplay focused.

Same. It’s supposed to return I thought. Just don’t know when

I miss the infighting and pointless bickering.

This isn't really true, it's just the $ amounts have changed. Pinball online has ALWAYS been hyperfocused on prices and everything associated to it, as well over 20 years of "price bubble" threads can attest to. There's just more people and more money now.

Certainly more price bubble threads than ever!

For better or worse, Pinside was bit more juvenile 10 years ago. It was fun. You couldn’t visit a thread without crazy pictures or linked games that had nothing to do with the topic. Super tongue in cheek.

Those days are gone. What’s missing, I think, is a genuine love of the hobby. Sure, there are still super passionate hobbyists and collectors, but they’re being overtaken by opportunists and flippers.

It’s the same tired ‘kids these days’ argument, but I’m allowed to be grumpy because I’m getting older.

Crap now im the old man too

475306B4-9106-4C7E-8254-D34893777662 (resized).jpeg

I definitely miss having a decent supply and little demand. RGP and now Pinside helped usher in a ton of new people to grab up the supply of games. On the surface that's bad because I won't be getting any more un-shopped $1700 AFMs. The 1964 EM that I am considering buying is $1500.

On the other hand the incredible growth of the hobby has created a lot of good. When I got into the hobby there was one manufacturer left standing and now there are how many? Half dozen? Not to mention all the great games in the last ten years and the availability of parts has exploded. All these people also created a need for pinball shows all across the country. Look how many huge shows there are now. Free Play Florida is next week by the way. Speaking of which, there is an explosion of tournaments and local pinball venues in the last ten years too. All of these things came after the influx of people became a flood and not before. Finally the surge in home users has created the greatest evolution in pinball - the topper. (Just threw that in to piss people off, but I do love a well made topper).

Few, I just made it.

Do you feel that they've succeeded with that? I sure as heck don't. There's still plenty of people on here that are just completely incapable of having a debate about a topic without it turning into a toxic mess. Differences of opinion that we all used to shrug and laugh about now are practically a "You might ACTUALLY get dox'ed" moment.....or in Kaneda's case, some prick might actually contact your employer and try to get you fired. The intolerance of anyone that has different ideas than your own here is so high at this point we're having to quantify it with scientific notation.

And a lot of it is the same guys that have been here since....10 years ago.

It’s just the evolution of a hobby or an event that gets popular.

I used to be real into the Burning Man festival. Back in the day you could just stroll up to the gate with cash and hand and buy a ticket from the gate. Now is instant sellout and if you get a ticket it’s worth x4 the original cost. The people who went camped in tents and were from all walks of life. Now it’s mega rvs full of ppl looking for great instragram pics (not saying all guest are like that but they’re definitely there).

Either adapted to it or step back because you can try but you won’t be able to turn back to the good old days. I stopped going to Burning Man and am fine with it. Love the memories and friends I made there.

Back on topic…
I do miss the old days when 75% of Pinside arguments were settled in bikini pics.

Speaking of podcasts, I don't think there's much question that today's podcasts are slicker, more current, and really probably better for most part, personally though I miss the mellow no drama podcasts of old. I think it's pretty reflective of the overall change in the hobby as well. For better or worse (probably some of each)

People who have passed away and the simplicity of just wanting to help or learn and enjoy the hobby.

It seems like these days people look for reasons to get upset and offended, and there is much more of an "us vs them" mentality.

Years ago, if folks disagreed on something, they would just shake it off, shake hands, and then have a laugh together in next ridiculous thread that came along.

I’ve only been on here for about 5 1/2 years (wow! Time flies!). And it is markedly different here than it used to be. Part of that is I think the insane political stuff that people just can’t help but post (I’m guilty of this on occasion too), and part of it is a lot of folks have moved on for whatever reason. Prices being nuts perhaps

I’m not sure if this is just a US thing but we’ve got to be better about shaking it off, agreeing to disagree, and walking away from people who are just being d-bags because they get a kick out of it. Don’t engage.

Anyway, I’m still very glad for this site

Hey easy now!

I miss pinside before there was a forum.

It’s tough to be a causal Pinside user now, there is simply so much posted it makes following along to some threads impossible, but that said the volume of posts is indicative of how far the hobby has come and that makes me feel pretty good about it’s future.

I feel like they have done a ton better. It used to be really easy to know a users ID and know that person would usually be stoking a flame somewhere. Now, there may be a few users that are more outspoken, but nowhere near as toxic as the others in the past. And definitely not littering damn near every thread with their white noise.

When I first joined Pinside, it was all about new Sterns and late 90’s Bally/Williams titles. EM’s and early solid state games were looked down on as “outdated” with a reputation for being slow, shallow and boring.

Now I’m happy to say that older games are much more widely appreciated and many are in high demand.

i do not enjoy the "my whole collection is NIB LE's that are less than 5yo" that seems to dominate Pinside

I miss the baywatch thread with wantdataeast
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I miss @thehumanatee's great gifs from those threads

Mike Chestnut

o-din

And those that act as if nothing more than five years old is any good.

There doesn’t seem to be much appreciation for the history and evolution of pinball and that each generation of games has something special to offer.

Not Pinside as much as being able to get machines. 10 years ago you could sell a game you liked. If you missed it, you could just buy another copy. Now I wouldn’t dare sell a game I still enjoy playing, because I’d never get another, or I’d pay twice as much to get it again. That’s crazy.

As an example of that, Grand Lizard. I’d love to bring another back into the house. I’d have to pay more than I paid for my Stern Mustang to get it now. I’m sure it would hold its new value, but I just don’t want to pay that much.

So I’ll add a new game or a trade once in a while, but mostly I’ll play what I have. Fortunately it’s enough games that I don’t get bored.

I don't know when I first found pinside, but I know I lurked a few years before creating an account. I was on RGP as far back as 1995, the first time I had internet access as a freshman in college.

Pinside used to be a tight-knit group of people with a common interest that could joke around about anything and everything. It seemed nothing short of being illegal was off-limits. So many discussions were hilarious. Even though I didn't post much or at all, I felt like I knew a lot of the pinsiders. Early each day at work I couldn't wait to check out what crazy hijinks happened overnight on here.

At some point, Pinside became more of a monetary venture for Robin, and a lot of the new users. Content that was once allowed and even encouraged was now banned. We had to be policed in order not to offend each other and sensitive new users that could affect the revenue the site generates. The internet and society as a whole became more politically correct and easily offended by things that used to be laughed about or easily ignored if you didn't find them funny. A lot of message boards I frequented have died as they reached critical mass, changed what they were originally about, and died fairly swift deaths when the users found new places that were more like what their favorite sites used to be.

For me, Pinside isn't really enjoyable anymore. Sure I check it a few times a day, mainly to visit 3 or 4 threads I have saved as favorites, but other than that it's more of a habit that something I want to do.

Loneacer bout sized it up.

Agreed. I kinda feel the same about the whole world and people in general to be honest. But, can we change it? I used to be the same way- totally looking forward to the laughs and comradery every night, and "catching up" on all the stuff. Did we just "let them win"? Can we resurrect the fun with the old "gang" that's still here but has been beaten into submission? I don't know, but I'll start by saying Merry Christmas!!

For me the overall switch from a cheapskate to rich hobby affects every other part of pinball.

8500 machine with 1000 in mods for sale; 200 plays.

My old friends and good guys that aren’t here anymore for whatever reason.

A lot are still here, you being one Mark, but it’s totally different now. And not really in a good way

That's very true. It kills me when I keep hearing "that show would never get made today" when people talk about sitcoms from the 90s and 00s like The Office, Seinfeld, and Friends. Love them or hate them, were they really that offensive? What's that leave for future "comedies"?

I have not changed at all, this thread;

one of my first threads 9 years ago;
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/when-did-nib-collecting-become-mainstream

all three of those could stills be made today. All in the Family though…

All In The Family crossed my mind. It was before my time, and I've only seen clips, but I know what you mean. I've specifically heard it said about all 3 of those though. There's some bits of each that wouldn't fly today for sure.

Agreed - the “standard lineup” isn’t a new phenomenon. When I first joined, the basic collectors had a Monster Bash, Medieval Madness (“classics”), Tron and AC/DC (brand new at the time). Now it’s Metallica, MMr and three games from the last 12 months.

Pins are expensive toys and, as such, they’re status symbols. I think a lot of people would rather get what’s popular, rather than explore their individual tastes. Some folks might love a Stargate or a Gilligan’s Island, but would never buy one because of what people would think.

Bummer that PinSide has changed so much. Really miss Centerflanks antics (Stern box glory hole was fun). Shade will come my way, but Kanadas substance abuse rants were actually somewhat truthful and interesting; like watching the Titanic sink. Also really miss RotoDaves travels around the world (had visual in Durango and San Francisco). Who remembers the thread when BlondTail was congratulated for becoming a Mod? That was a tight community. Oh, we also only had Stern keeping things going, along with the extremely long wait for JJP WOZ.

Sorry, but now it is a bunch of bitching an whining about playfield quality and resale value, really, why? We all love pinball, that is why we are here.

They might return one day … when we can travel again.

rd

I search a lot for repair help and it’s always tough when I see a great topic filled with usernames listed as “inactive” a lot of knowledge has disappeared.
Some old threads you’d track down some great advice in 1-2 posts. Now we spend 2 pages arguing about fuse direction or the best multimeter. Without actually helping anyone besides saying “did you check for fuses” “what about a loose wire”