Ah ok. I probably would’ve ruled it as a minor malfunction (play on) and then disabled the drop targets in the settings after that game. TBH whether or not to correct a minor malfunction like that mid-game is a tough call, but based on my knowledge of GB and the rules surrounding that target I probably would have opted to wait till the end of the game to disable it.
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Yeah, the only prerequisite to doing The Thing™ is the ability to consistently hit the left ramp on Ghostbusters, which is not something most (many ?) people can do as well as they think they can. @Steveo can comment on any nuance involved, but as I understand it, it “only” takes 5 or 6 consecutive ramps to build the gear collect up to 75 mil. In addition, I believe a single left ramp combo’ed into the gear targets now inexplicably lights a PF multiplier, too, so done correctly, you end up with some (many) 6X, 450 mil gear collects. On a premium, left ramp modes divert, which inhibit your ability to hit consecutive left ramp shots, so just avoid modes all together. It sounds so simple, but like many of The Things™, can be difficult to actually pull off without a shit ton of accuracy and supreme ball control. YMMV.
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Makes sense. With the latest update(s) it’s been much more enjoyable to progress through modes and play the game. With that, the ramp to gears target lighting a multiplier target was supposed to balance out the light multiplier skill shot but maybe it does it a little more generously than intended.
I’m going to try this on my GB next time I’m at the location. We have a player that is very good at repeating shots but not so strong on rules of more modern games. I’ve seen him max out the gears award several times but has never really done it with multipliers nor cashed in intentionally. Who knew that he was into something big all along.
Bingo. This was my original plan of action until the Scoleri Brothers targets decided to get wonky.
I hear ya. Certainly we want to encourage and support newcomers… and for that matter, even competition veterans may not be familiar with a particular game, and therefore not know if certain behavior is proper on that game. Everyone should feel comfortable to seek a ruling from a TD at any time if they are unsure if a game is operating properly. Most if not all events that I’ve played in or run have announcements immediately before play starts, where players are advised to ask a TD or tech immediately if they have concerns. If newbies are still afraid to do this… not sure what to do to help, but hopefully competition vets / scorekeepers / etc will encourage them if they have questions. Of course, a ruling (if any) won’t necessarily go in their favor, but hopefully they’ll at least feel good about the process.
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If you train your regulars, you can often avoid situations like this. When things like this come up, it’s usually a regular reporting it, not a novice. If you teach your regulars to report problems like: ‘Player one did this, then player two did that’ rather than ‘Bob did this on ball 1, then Bill did that’, it takes the personalities out of it and makes it much easier to make a fair ruling.
This is catching on at league and in general in my area. Regardless of what the issue is or who is reporting it, it just makes it better for everyone involved. Doing it this way has made me more likely to help explain a situation. I know the league president appreciates it and the noobs do too.
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Absolutely, @phishrace. I’ve been doing that for decades and ask others to try to use the same anonymized format. Drives me crazy when a player then adds some extra info – in an attempt to be helpful – and de-anonymizes the situation. 
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Does anyone else have to regularly deal with the same group of players who are always trying it on with minor malfunction type issues like this? I can pretty much guarantee who I’m going to get a moan^wruling request from in the course of a tournament when I’m TD. Sad thing is that these players try it on with other TDs and actually get rulings in their favour that shouldn’t happen. Large EU event, few players replaying games that should never have happened, same in the league. Some new players seeing other players try this on and then copying the behaviour. When I was Race Director and raced radio control cars this behaviour got so bad that we started to charge £20 for a ruling to be heard, if it went in your favour, you got the cash back. Almost instantly a load of BS disappeared.
TD’s need to be strong and confident and have a support network and not accept some of this BS (not saying that this OP’s situation was one of these BTW), but if people knew they wouldn’t get away with it they wouldn’t try it on.
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In pinball that may get in the way of tech issues / small ones being reported. Or I will just play with stuff I should really call some so it does not cost me if an search frees an ball
Yeah I’m not proposing it’s the right answer in pinball but just showing how bad this can get.