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Pinball Party Thoughts

mufcmufc

Staff member
Joined
Jul 21, 2011
Messages
2,544
Location
Midlands
Alias
Nik
It's been a few weeks and there don't seem to have been many thoughts posted about the show, just thought I would post up a couple of threads / polls about the Party.
 
I enjoyed it for sure, but the heat made some games a chore rather than a pleasure. The competiton machines not being able to be played by non competing folk was a real bummer too.



Other than that, it was great. Only wish i could have stayed and got wasted....... Pinball and inebriation go hand in hand imo...
 
Nice selection of games from across diff eras.



Yes it was hot - always a possibility at any pin event in summer outside of the US ...... the land of the air conditioner !
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Maybe could have used that other room - that had computer games in or something - for some competition stuff if more space was needed. Didn't bother me though, I quite like the vibe of a tourney happening even if I'm not involved.



More space would be nice - always is - but I didn't feel it was overly cramped. Though I wasn't there till late Sat afternoon and Sunday. And actually Sunday is hazy due to the 4.30am finish on Saturday :confused: Prob best to ignore my observations
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-Yeah too hot. Nice venue otherwise, a plus for a reduced cost of a pint
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-Just to save what looked like hell at the front desk, a lesson should be learnt to send entrants entry passes as the queing bit was a bit arduos for Andy at the very least.

-maybe the competitions should have been in the computer room-good effort ot those who did it but it didnt exactly have an electric atmosphere in there! Would have stopped the problem with random punters in the compo area and yet I guess people want the stage area so I dunno!

-maybe a ukpinball only/"private" pass for Saturday evening to play the pins-even if it was tagged onto the price of the meal - for me I'd skip the meal (as its not my thing!) but would have allowed better use of the time for those of us who were "forced" to drink after our chineses
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[quote name='"Rav' date=' post: 1677943-maybe a ukpinball only/"private" pass for Saturday evening to play the pins-even if it was tagged onto the price of the meal - for me I'd skip the meal (as its not my thing!) but would have allowed better use of the time for those of us who were "forced" to drink after our chineses ;)[/quote']



Rav ...... weren't you in on the 'private' 2am pin sesh
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Yeah I was
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But I ment perhaps something organised - maybe even an contributers session or something. I know a majority would perhaps prefer the meal, speeches and talks like JJ, but for another block I think they'd rather be having some quality time without the throngs!
 
I thought the show was awesome
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I was there in the queue at 10am on Saturday and left when the power was killed that evening. The fact that you could go and play on that many pins in one place for free (well expect for the ticket price) with loads of other people who love pinball in this age of no arcades meant that the heat and a bit of a crowd weren't even worth worrying about. The only disappointment for me was that I didn't book the weekend pass and stay over for the Sunday....I will be doing next year
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Everyone who was involved in setting it up and making it possible should be very proud....it was an amazing event!
 
oh. and forgot to say... contibuters should be told ot set their pins to the same volume (say 10 in wms/bally) case or perhaps a audio meter, no offense but I was sick of white willie's roar after 5 hours LOL!
 
Rav' date=' post: 1677952 said:
oh. and forgot to say... contibuters should be told ot set their pins to the same volume (say 10 in wms/bally) case or perhaps a audio meter, no offense but I was sick of white willie's roar after 5 hours LOL!



Kind of agree on the volume. Definately something want to address at the Slam nxt year. This year was just an unholy ROAR as so many machines were cranked up
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By the way who is 'white willie' ? Is he Wet Willys pasty faced cousin ?
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And isn't it Bigfoot roaring
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.......
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I think there's one option missing from the list; Waiting ages to play due to machine hogging.

I went to the show with a very short list of 'must plays':



TOTAN

STTNG

WH2O

SS



I was there all day Saturday and the only games I managed to play was SS and STTNG.

Maybe I'm soft but It's awkward standing behind someone playing, they finish the game, glance over their shoulder nervously and hit the start button again!

The bonus was getting loads of time on Cactus Canyon as it was set to £1 per game. Cost me a tenner but worth every penny, and it went to a good cause.
 
Machine hogging was a big issue. My kids never got to play Tron. No easy answers but think there should be signs saying 'one go only' and single player maybe?

I stood right next to a guy playing SS and he just hit the start button again despite me tutting in his ear!
 
I've only just started to get into pinball, and this was the first large event I have attended. Have to say I was hugely impressed. The tournaments in particular seemed very well organised to me, and the numerous staff on hand were superbly friendly and welcoming to those of us unfamiliar with how things should be done.



I have heard others complain of machine hogging, and I guess I must have been extremely lucky, or need an education in correct etiquette. Personally I would at the very least take a step back and look around to see if anyone was waiting before hitting the start button. A few times I was invited (or invited others) to join a multiplayer game. This friendly atmosphere really helped make the event for me, not least because I was traveling on my own.



If I was to make one recommendation for next time it would be to dim the lights! The tournament/stage area had a set of lights above it that were dimmer and didnt cause as much glare from the glass. Some of the machines in the main area were difficult to enjoy due to being directly under the bright lights. Circus Voltaire and one of the BK2K machines in particular I remember suffering with. The heat I think is something that should be expected. I nearly packed some shorts, and next year I will make sure I do!
 
Andy did a great job in bringing this together.

Yes threre where a few issues but this is the way to get them sorted so maybe next year it will be a little better.

To dam hot and I thought is was a little short on space, one or two people said this was due to the comp area taking up more space than last year.
 
Rus121' date=' post: 1677933 said:
I enjoyed it for sure, but the heat made some games a chore rather than a pleasure. The competiton machines not being able to be played by non competing folk was a real bummer too.



Other than that, it was great. Only wish i could have stayed and got wasted....... Pinball and inebriation go hand in hand imo...



Have a look at the "Party / UK Open Poll" thread for some reasons for this. Getting tournament-prepared machines is always difficult and it's disappointing when there are no duplicates on the floor. It doesn't help that the machine count was a little down this year compared to previous years, for various reasons. We try to get them back on Saturday evening and all the Open machines are put back to the floor on the Sunday (which also has far fewer visitors - much better if you can only do one day, in my opinion). Also, spare a thought for the organisers...apart from our tournament plays, we mostly don't get to play ANY games over the weekend!
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Steve' date=' post: 1677973 said:
...I was there all day Saturday and the only games I managed to play was SS and STTNG.

Maybe I'm soft but It's awkward standing behind someone playing, they finish the game, glance over their shoulder nervously and hit the start button again!...



You're soft. OK, if you're a newbie, it can be a bit intimidating. Machine hogging should be punishable, but usually, when they punch-in another game after that nervous look behind, dropping in with "Mind if I play doubles?" usually does the trick. (Especially if you're good, they'll get bored and wander off.)



Giving a card to everyone who buys a ticket explaining that machine hogging is bad I think was done once before, but it should be reintroduced.
 
replicas' date=' post: 1677984 said:
Andy did a great job in bringing this together.

Yes threre where a few issues but this is the way to get them sorted so maybe next year it will be a little better.

To dam hot and I thought is was a little short on space, one or two people said this was due to the comp area taking up more space than last year.



Blame Andy, he wanted us to enlarge the tournament from 12 to 14 machines, so extra space was needed
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