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How many plays do you give a machine at home before deciding you don’t like it?

Jib

Jib

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Fran
I seem to go through a stage when I get a new pin of about 50-100 games where I think yeah this is alright or good but Im not loving it and then I begin to love it. So I know I take a little while usually to click with a pin, but i usually at least like them from the start.

I recently got a new game that I’m just not really enjoying. I feel like I’m forcing myself to play it in the hope that I’m going to start loving it.

I could cut my loses and sell but it seems a bit early but also I don’t want to play it anymore 😆

I’ll probably just give that game a rest and play something else and see if I get an urge to play it after a while but I was really looking forward to getting it, it’s disappointing.

Looking for hopeful stories from others that I might still end up loving it!
 
Pick Holder said:
Led Zeppelin. Didnt finish 2nd ball.
ToM. Wanted one first ball.
CV. Two balls.
CC. Had one for 2 days. Hated it. Now love the remake. Tastes change.

It doesnt take me long!

Also dislike games I have to repair alot!
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Lol poor Led Zep! I played my game on location enough to decide I wanted it but now it’s home I’m just not enjoying it like I thought I would
 
Jib said:
I seem to go through a stage when I get a new pin of about 50-100 games where I think yeah this is alright or good but Im not loving it and then I begin to love it. So I know I take a little while usually to click with a pin, but i usually at least like them from the start.

I recently got a new game that I’m just not really enjoying. I feel like I’m forcing myself to play it in the hope that I’m going to start loving it.

I could cut my loses and sell but it seems a bit early but also I don’t want to play it anymore 😆

I’ll probably just give that game a rest and play something else and see if I get an urge to play it after a while but I was really looking forward to getting it, it’s disappointing.

Looking for hopeful stories from others that I might still end up loving it!
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Which pin is it? And why aren’t you enjoying it? [EDIT: Is it Led Zeppelin?]

For example, there are a couple of pins (A:IQ, JJP G n’R). I’ve changed my mind on radically. This was because I didn’t understand the rules at first and, once I began to play with strategy, I began to enjoy the game. There are also games that are very hard at first and that can be really off putting (e.g. The Walking Dead). Both these situations are ones where it’s a good idea to keep exploring.

Obviously, if you feel like you’ve seen everything the game has to offer already, and you don’t enjoy shooting it, it might be time to move it on.
 
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VeeMonroe said:
Which pin is it? And why aren’t you enjoying it? [EDIT: Is it Led Zeppelin?]

For example, there are a couple of pins (A:IQ, JJP G n’R). I’ve changed my mind on radically. This was because I didn’t understand the rules at first and, once I began to play with strategy, I began to enjoy the game. There are also games that are very hard at first and that can be really off putting (e.g. The Walking Dead). Both these situations are ones where it’s a good idea to keep exploring.

Obviously, if you feel like you’ve seen everything the game has to offer already, and you don’t enjoy shooting it, it might be time to move it on.
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I didn’t want to say which game it was in case I got criticised for inviting offers. I also don’t want to get offers atm as I’m not 100% decided on getting rid of it as you can see. Also not sure what I’d get to replace it atm!

I’m sure there’s more to the game that I could do, I’m definitely not maxing out scores like I know you can on it but I have beaten the wizard mode. I’m just not sure whether to force myself to play it or leave it unplayed until something else comes up I fancy
 
Pick Holder said:
Led Zeppelin. Didnt finish 2nd ball.
ToM. Wanted one first ball.
CV. Two balls.
CC. Had one for 2 days. Hated it. Now love the remake. Tastes change.
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Eee that's about as impatient as we'll see in responses, anyone capable of topping Picky:)

I hated TZ, sold it for £1,850 after about 20 games donkeys years ago and have forever wondered (assumed) that I'd made a mistake in not giving it a better chance, I'd like to try it again now.
 
Jib said:
I’m sure there’s more to the game that I could do, I’m definitely not maxing out scores like I know you can on it but I have beaten the wizard mode. I’m just not sure whether to force myself to play it or leave it unplayed until something else comes up I fancy
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I think if you’ve beaten the wizard mode on the unnamed pin and you don’t want to play again, my feeling is you should probably switch it out for something else, unfortunately 😢 It’s like computer games. There are some where you finish the story and want to play again for all the goodies/completionism, and there are some that are once and done.

Marcel said:
I hated TZ, sold it for £1,850 after about 20 games donkeys years ago and have forever wondered (assumed) that I'd made a mistake in not giving it a better chance, I'd like to try it again now.
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I play TZ literally EVERY TIME I go to PBR in the hope that one day I will be a good enough pinball player to understand why everyone in the world seems to love TZ. I’m starting to come to the opinion that the theme and the toys were a big draw when it was released and I simply can’t recapture that magic in 2022… :oops:
 
Marvello said:
When you know you know (unless you don't know). I've never regretted selling a Pin as there are so many I've never played or owned. It depends how much money you may lose, if it's not a lot then sell it, if it's £1k then keep it a while longer to see if you can get any further joy out of it.
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I think I know, but maybe I don't
or maybe I do but tomorrow I won't...
 
Jib said:
I think I know, but maybe I don't
or maybe I do but tomorrow I won't...
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What I used to do/do with board games I’m not sure about is to play them multiple times in succession. So, for example, we used to do a 10 x 10 challenge each year (play ten games ten times) for the games we were kind of ‘meh’ about.

Usually, after playing a game ten times in quick succession (and board games are longer than pinball games, so it would be the equivalent of 10 hours of play), I would either find hidden depths/joy and keep the game, or I’d feel I’d rather projectile vomit for an hour than play it again. That usually made our decision for us about whether to keep/sell.

There’s only been one game in a decade that didn’t work for, which was a card game called Core Worlds. It ranks as one of my most-played board games because of the number of times we played it, deciding whether to get rid of it, and it narrowly kind-of scraped back into the collection. Thing is, board games take up less space than pins, so I’d definitely have gotten rid of the Core Worlds of pinball machines if that had been the decision I had to make.

In short, I’d play the pin loads of times and I’d play nothing else. Either you will grow to resent and hate the pin for taking time off your other pins, or you’ll fall in love with it.
 
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Some games grow on you. Others you know from first ball that you’ve made a mistake.
I had a T3 years ago. As soon as I pressed the trigger I knew it was never going to be for me.
At one time I had a policy of trying to keep games for a year to ensure I had given them a fair chance but that just ended up with lots of games that I never bothered turning on.
 
If I've bought the game, I know I like it. Simple as that.

I've had some on loan which i haven't really liked, but played through to completion just for the sake if it.

There has only been 1 game where I have known instantly - without even plunging the ball that I wouldn't like it . I plunged anyway and hated it. @strobey will tell you what game it was, although my signature should tell you.
 
The phased stereo effects on Hook and other dataeast games of that era are unmatched even to this day.

The purity of that BSMT synth chip is like nothing you've ever heard before, if you've played in a home setting with the sound cranked you'll know what i mean.

Modern compressed soundtracks are so flat and without any artistic flair. Cut & paste jobs

IMO
 
Hook was a great starter game for £500.
Would I pay 2k plus to have another now ……. Probably not.
 
Games I hated from new and still dont like include TZ and NGG . I've never had a complete game on Poopeye. Second hand games , I had one ball on bugs bunny and that was too much. glad it went to poland. motordome is the worst game ive ever owned but at the time I had "just" 3 machines so still played it. Games I like but know in my heart are rubbish include Millionaire and Party Animal.

All id say is never pre judge ANY game , give them all a try. if you like a game most folks right off as a stinker will means it going to be cheaper!
 
Marcel said:
Eee that's about as impatient as we'll see in responses, anyone capable of topping Picky:)

I hated TZ, sold it for £1,850 after about 20 games donkeys years ago and have forever wondered (assumed) that I'd made a mistake in not giving it a better chance, I'd like to try it again now.
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I wouldn't bother, you were right first time.
 
I disliked Road Show at first, obviously before owning it. But that was because I was still learning how to play pinball and games that weren't MM or AFM just seemed too hard 😆🤦🏻‍♂️

I can't say I've bought a game and disliked it. I might be easily pleased.
Saying that, out of all the games I have
the least favourite would be TMNT even though most would say it's better with the modern rulesets.
I don't miss it at all but I do miss Black Rose.

Funnily Black Rose was my joint first pin (along with Road Show) but I bought it thinking I wouldn't like it, I struggle to let go of things so this was my idea to get a pin to start off with that I could sell easily. But I loved it more and more each week. The more I learnt about it and the more I'd tweaked and fixed it the more I loved it.
Nearly all my friends hated it but a few slowly changed their mind.

Even a simple game can reveal itself to you over time.

I think if you don't get on with the theme and the sound or music design you'll struggle.
 
If the game is so hard that I have to read the rules to play, then that game is not for me
I picked up a LOTR, and after 3 months I could not get into it, so I read the rules, that improved the game a little, but if a game takes 45 minutes to play, then that is simply not fun for me

One game is enough
 
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David_Vi said:
I disliked Road Show at first
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I hope you covered your screen and checked there weren’t 2 sets of eyes on you when you wrote this

David_Vi said:
out of all the games I have
the least favourite would be TMNT
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My TMNT is your Roadshow. Even my husband who hardly plays quotes it. When he asks what have you been playing and I say turtles he comes back with ‘construction of the mousers is complete!’ Or some other line. Just something about Turtles I love even though I know it’s not my best game in terms of rules and layout.
 
Thread for Mr Barber.
Rolling Stones for me. Played 2 balls and that was more than enough. Sold Funhouse after a day, liked the game but way too easy.
 
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Did you have posts in the outlanes? :p
I've always found FH to be very challenging but maybe that's a combination of how it's set up and not knowing the rules inside out
 
@steve brum TZ didn't do anything for me either, got one that came with a TAF+TZ deal and the plan was to sell the TZ to effectively give me a free TAF.

Played it.

Got a jackpot.

My head exploded.

25 years later still got them both...
 
For me a pin has to have some kind of chase.

Have you got to LITZ wizard yet Andy?

I think TZ really shines but the lights need to be down low and the volume turned up.

Also it's got enough flashers to sink a battleship, so very definatley doesn't need LEDs and in fact you get much better/softer effects with lamps.

Little things might make a difference
 
strobey said:
For me a pin has to have some kind of chase.

Have you got to LITZ wizard yet Andy?

I think TZ really shines but the lights need to be down low and the volume turned up.

Also it's got enough flashers to sink a battleship, so very definatley doesn't need LEDs and in fact you get much better/softer effects with lamps.

Little things might make a difference
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I got to one wizard mode once , how many does it have ? To be honest I don't play so much in the summer I'm out enjoying the weather !
 
Pop Bumper Pete said:
I picked up a LOTR, and after 3 months I could not get into it, so I read the rules, that improved the game a little, but if a game takes 45 minutes to play, then that is simply not fun for me
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It's the 45 minute games that do it for me, I keep tissues close by and literally cry when I drain in minutes too often. Reaching wizzard mode several times but never completing it has made it a definate keeper.
Also I used to hate my STTNG until I fully stripped and cleaned it and then it played like a different machine and became my favourite. So, I think that if games are not in good order, it can affect your enjoyment as you may not necessarily enjoy all bits n bobs which can detract from the makers intention.
 
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