Quoted from solarvalue:
I think Jack probably just wanted the fact that games were on the line and about to ship to be a surprise. If he had said "no comment", that would have not done anything to dampen the already-circulating rumors that they were on the line. I was personally pleasantly surprised when I heard that they were shipping and don't see anything wrong with a little light-hearted trickery to create some buzz.
Look...I like TWIP and appreciate everything they have done, but if you monetize your site by asking subscribers to pay for rumors, you have to expect that the manufacturers are going to troll you sometimes.
Definitely think that Jack was going for the "under promise and over deliver", and he nailed it. TWIP was used as a tool in that as he told me incorrect info to report.
Jack and JJP have been great to TWIP, providing translites and other items for the monthly giveaways, Jack is very responsive, and I have always appreciated it.
From my end, I was honored when JJP asked TWIP to help with the launch of Wonka. I took three vacation days from my real job to take photos and edit photos to get them ready for JJP’s use, and get the TWIP Deep Dive ready for the launch of Wonka. I didn't receive anything in return (except for exposure for the TWIP article). I reach out to Jack and other manufacturers out of respect to make sure info on TWIP is as accurate as possible. A lot of the time I get "no comment" or "it's on the line but don't report that". This time I got false info.
I reached out to Jack immediately when I saw the Facebook post that Wonkas were shipping, we talked on the phone. I wanted to hear what happened from his end and if there was confusion or if it was a misunderstanding, but it was not.
I'm not initiating discussion on this topic, but when comments on Facebook and such are saying things like "I remember like a week ago This Week In Pinball said they weren't even on the line..... Solid source for bad info", or dendoc asks above, I will respond.
So anyway, that is why I'm cancelling. It has all left a bad taste in my mouth. I loved the game when it was first revealed and still love it. Love the theme, love the layout, love the animations and toys, I really like Joe's vision of the rules (though I haven't watched enough streams to fully get into the rules, I like to be surprised while playing). I love the music, though I may be on my own on that. Don't particularly like the sound effects right now, and want to see more of which assets are in the game. I look forward to playing it on location.
On monetizing TWIP, it needed to happen to keep the site and the podcast and the TWIPYs going so I did it the best way I could think of - monthly giveaways and certain benefits at certain support levels. The LE/Insider weekly correspondence is part of that. If I write something up for the LE/Insider supporters, and I'm questioning I am giving away too much in it or whatever, I'll reach out to the manufacturer to have them review before I send. I've had Jack and others at JJP review stuff I was sending about JJP titles, talked to Scott Danesi this week before the most recent LE article, etc. Want to make sure to not burn bridges or cause issues for a manufacturer through the LE/Insider info.
On bias reporting going forward with JJP, you can make your own judgement on that, but I will continue to remain as objective as possible, as I always have. I'll continue to reach out to Jack out of respect for him and the folks at JJP that are putting their heart and soul into creating great games.
Apologies for the length of this post, probably my longest post ever on Pinside, but wanted to add one more thing to get this thread back on track. All the other crap aside, I am VERY excited that JJP was able to meet their deadline with the first truck of games going out, and from the looks of the photos of the factory it won't be long for the next batch to go out. It seems like 2019 is a very crucial year for JJP, and them not having delays on Wonka production and setting up this year to be able to get a second game revealed after Wonka is great for JJP and GREAT for the pinball hobby!
Jeff