i would wait for one of the following....

SMVE
TRONVE
Ghostbusters

Lord of the rings honestly gets abit to much for me at times with the depth, an after a long grinding game I definatly don't want to jump back on, but saying that it's still my Grail pin an always will be. Times like that I get a serious kick out of playing my royal rumble, coz it's just plain fun an don't have to think heavy into it and maybe, just maybe I have a chance to complete it, I would seriously think about a game a little more lite hearted like a unliseced theme, like whitewater , roadshow or corvette.

And yet, here you are.

Kaneda don't you have a bunch of vids? Commit to pinball, put a video game in storage, keep LOTR and add another pin!

I've never played in a tournament so I don't care too much about tournament scoring but I do care about balance, strategy, and actually wanting to play all parts of the game based on the risk vs reward factor. Just because a game isn't missing major playfield features, is complete and playable doesn't mean that it is great. You're completely right that some people don't care about that which is fine but it's very misleading to people that do.

It's like saying a game has an amazing art package because the playfield art is incredible and just completely forgetting to mention that the entire cabinet is painted black. Sure, not everyone will care but people that like great art definitely will.

So if you want to look past the fact that the video mode runs a repeatable pattern, the neural zone modes aren't worth playing, you'll never use the majority of the launch modes, the best strategy seems to be not actually playing any of the modes, getting incredibly easy awards like a set of artifacts will give you 1 billion points while doing something reasonably challenging and risky like getting the hurry up the second it starts will give you 50 million points (I think?.. It's been a while), along with the slew of other issues then sure the code is "alright" .

PS if you want to go from a game like lotr which does have great code then my recommendation is for TSPP which also has great code. It's worth noting that while I personally like tspp better and feel it's the superior game, my guests barely touch tspp and all gravitate towards lotr.

Two of the following. One doesn't exist.

It's here:
http://papa.org/learning-center/directors-guide/?target=game-notes

When in doubt, follow Keith.

Save some cash and get a nice restored Eight Ball Deluxe! Best pin ever built.

Suckers are kind of tough to find. I agree with you 100%, but people hate giving those things up.

TZ is unique in my mind, it's like everything but the kitchen sink. It's got the best toy ever (sorry MM, sorry PotC) the gumball machine hands down and the power ball are genius. The upper PF is boss as well.

I owned one and have it rated as top pin of all time, while I know MM holds that spot, MM is same/similar layout to a lot of pins. TZ is a bit different with two shooter lanes, four flippers, magnets, power ball etc..

One thing people dislike is the pop bumpers which I think people try to avoid due to its 33% drain (or whatever). I think that's a fly in the ointment.

It's older, I had mine LEDed but didn't think it looked as nice with LEDs however I didn't know about OCD board at that time which might have toned the LEDs down some.

My machine had some intermittent power issue where if you were in multiball it would shut down sometimes I think it's a power issue that might be common, the clock is finicky and while I like mods, sometime I find people go overboard and put a crap ton of mods on (my pin as well) where you get to a tipping point from just the right amount of mods you need some but don't want to crap all over the PF with every singe mod known to man.

Great game (IMO) especially the upper flipper shot to the camera, the upper shot to the piano, the subways slot machine hole as well as the ball lock shot (robot) which is a fun shot to make and it's not a gimme since you need to hit it jsut right.

The call outs and music are great, I'm not sure about the rules don't think I ever really understood what was going on half the time.

It's just to me a hard machine to dial in and keep running, I had mine shopped by a pinsider and found it played worse (or different) than I was used to after the shop job I didn't like it as well as before so I sold it. I've played a few and they all feel different.

I hear ya. Running into space issues myself. A pin with smaller footprint like safecracker or revenge from mars?

Get it, it's the best f'in pin ever made.

It's no LOTR or WOZ in terms of code depth. Detractors will complain you can just railroad yourself to Lost in the Zone with 3-way combos, and it's true, but there are a couple of great multiballs along the way and the layout is just the sweetest.

Some games are great because they have 10 worthwhile unique modes, 4 multiballs, and 3 wizard modes. Some games are great because they have one slick spinner and it's the only thing you shoot in the game. TZ's lack of depth compared to the modern era is no issue for me.

If you want rules and a game that really is made by its code and (including call outs). TSPP is the one.

Even if you don't get the game it's worth reading the rules just to see how good and deep it is.

http://www.gamefaqs.com/pinball/919758-the-simpsons-pinball-party/faqs/26419

I'd agree with TSPP being one of the best rulesets ever, but you have to be able to cope with the music...it does get extremely annoying...

TZ is a special machine. I love mine but would never consider it if i could have only one pin. It does have a lot going on for it as was already mentioned but on the downside it's extremely stop & go, the rules are not really deep if you compare it to LotR or TSPP and it does not have "fun" written all over it. It's a very analytic take on pinball, not very catchy or approachable and sometimes frustrating in a bad way. The gameplay comes down to racking up points and knowing the rules, which are anything but self explaining. It's doesn't take you on a journey like LotR does.

Still, in a larger collection, it's a great pin and a must have in my book - it's just not for every day and i often find myself not playing it for weeks. But when i turn it on, it usually stays on the whole night.

Good point about TSPP. But the TZ music and sounds get annoying for me as well. And so does the game. (And hey! I've got the entire series on DVD, so I'm not trolling here...)

I'm in the same situation as the OP. LOTR is my only pin and I've gotten as far as my limited skills can go with it. I think the only two pins I've played that I'd remotely consider selling or trading up for are Star Trek Premium or Scared Stiff. GOT-Pre could be in the mix but I'd have to play it first to see if I love it.

If that is the case I would go Scared Stiff. You can't go from a game with the greatest most immersive code ever to a game with terrible lack lustre code like Star Trek.

I had lotrle and STLE side by side and STLE knocked it's shit back to yesterday. It's no secret lotr has one of the best rulesets for its time. But despite QG's religious hate for ST, the code is good and the strategies, gameplay, and feel more than make up for what code he feels may be missing.

Its just WAY too repetitive. Everything feels the same when you own it and play it a lot. ST is more of a casual player IMO. Maybe if you are a top 10 in the world pinball player like SKB then you can dig deeper into the code and find something different? Most REALLY good players seem to like it. But if you are more of a casual/novice player I would steer clear of it myself. Just my .02c

Top 10 player? Lol. I'm only good at it cause I've owned it for 2 years in a very small collection, so I have many plays on it and still love it. That should say something especially since pins typically don't last a year around my home.

Yeah it's not just ST though. You demolished Xmen and other nearly impossible titles as well. I mean you are the only person I know that legitimately made it to the ghost wizard mode on Xmen, and beat it Who are you trying to kid with your modesty

MET or WOZ

big bang bar. its you man.