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Then go to PAPA and play in C Division. It’s certainly not “lesser” – still a big stage with big prizes – but you’re separated from the true elites in A Division, and even the “runner ups” in B Division, most of whom could hold their own in A Division at most other tournaments. Or go to Pinburgh, and get automatically slotted into a division that’s appropriate for your skills. Or best of all, do both. 
Wrong attitude. Pretty much all the “pinball superstars” are very nice and approachable. The best way to improve at pinball is to play with people much better than yourself. Watch them carefully while they play (don’t get too close, of course!) – pay attention to their strategies, flipper techniques, nudging techniques. Pick a couple of those to focus on improving and get to it. Thankfully there’s also tons of competition video online these days, so you can watch some good matches, pause/rewind/etc to your heart’s content.
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You can’t imagine how much better it used to be. The hobby will always evolve and will never be perfect, but it was definitely a lot better last century.
It will never be big again in the same way it used to be. That ship has sailed. It can continue to grow and get better though. Saying it’s perfect now seems selfish to me. When I learn about a good thing, I want to tell everyone I know about it.
[quote="phishrace, post:64, topic:2250"]
You can’t imagine how much better it used to be.
[/quote]
Regale us of the past. I’d love to hear at least on some level how it used to be in the scene. Sure games were easier to find. There were more in the wild. But as far as the social aspects, tournaments, pinball culture. How was that?
An interesting thing I have been thinking about. When I think about how big pinball can get I also think about how long will it be before the decline. Everything seems to work in waves. And will it ever ‘die’.
So then I started thinking that Pinball as we know it will be seventy years this October (or next Jan depending on how you look at it).
http://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=1254
http://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=2650
So to me that shows in some respect the staying power of the physical game of pinball. With the rise of video games in the 80’s then fall of the arcade in the 90’s and now virtual stuff is becoming big sure there are lots of options. But pinball (as many have said) can still attract hundreds to some tournaments each year and easily 50+ in many tournaments a week.
So…Will it ever ‘die’ seems like it would be tough and I would put my money on at least another 70 years. 
Anywho… Start the retelling. That might help.with a benchmark
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I don’t have the writing skills to do justice to the past era. Wish I did. I will say that pinball was way more social back then. Today we have podcasts, Twitch, tutorials, facebook, forums and games in our living rooms. All ways to interact with the hobby without actually coming face to face with another human.
Back then, you had to leave the house to interact with the hobby. Nobody had pins at home and playing the games was the only way to interact with the hobby. Arcades kept busy most days and every night back then. So even if you brought your own roll of quarters (don’t have to ask for change), chances were you were at least going to say hi to somebody. And because everyone there was in a good mood, you didn’t mind.
There were no tourneys back then. But there was chalk boards listing high scores with names behind the counter at arcades. That was the competition, other than with your buddies. You get your name up on that chalk board and people would notice. If you got your name up there for more than one game, you were god.
Although there are areas of the hobby I don’t care for these days, I still want it to continue growing. We all should try to promote the hobby IMO. More people in the hobby = more fun. Simple as that.
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I actually met @phishrace when I heard Metallica was released and the first one was at this bar in Oakland. I was not allowed to work b/c I wasn’t supposed to type on a computer b/c of an injury. The doctor didn’t say I couldn’t play pinball so I went over to Legionnaire (the aforementioned bar).
Three guys were already playing MET so I was kinda bummed b/c I wanted to play too but I waited for them to finish up and asked if I could hop in.
Phishrace was one of the guys - pretty good, but this other guy was even better and had a peculiar way of playing. he got a high score and didn’t put his name in so i was like WTF? Turns out later in our play he got a good GC and put in NES so I met Neil there too. Was super fun as Neil was playing just to figure out the game and gave us tips (always backhand the grave markers - safer) as he figured it out and we all had fun playing. Definitely I like location play the most - love the social aspect and while home games are usually in better shape, I feel like I would love to see location play keep growing (it is growing well here in the SF Bay Area fortunately).
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[quote=“joe, post:62, topic:2250, full:true”]Wrong attitude. Pretty much all the “pinball superstars” are very nice and approachable. The best way to improve at pinball is to play with people much better than yourself. Watch them carefully while they play (don’t get too close, of course!) – pay attention to their strategies, flipper techniques, nudging techniques. Pick a couple of those to focus on improving and get to it. Thankfully there’s also tons of competition video online these days, so you can watch some good matches, pause/rewind/etc to your heart’s content.
[/quote]
That can be a hard mindset to get used to though. Even now, I’m having trouble accepting the fact that the people at the top are nice and friendly, as I’ve had my share of trash talkers and egotists at the top of competitions.
How long ago were these times that people at arcades were friendly and sociable? The arcades I went to when I was little (early to mid 90’s) all had cliques who practiced the arcade games intensely among each other. The one at the Northridge Mall took pride in crushing and humiliating outsiders. One of the other reasons I didn’t play much at arcades during then was that they hogged all the popular games and would swear or threaten other people who asked to play.
I am not as new to pinball as my handle implies (new to this forum, though), and I still do that occasionally. Totally accept that it might make other players laugh/believe I am a newbie. It even makes me laugh, good-naturedly, at myself.
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I suspect it was because laptops emit EMF that at very short distances increases risk of cancer and manufacturers don’t want to suggest you should be resting these things on your body.
What about when people used to call Atari cartridges “tapes”?
I accidentally did that about 6 months ago and I cringed at myself.
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I didn’t know people did that at all. I guess that was before my time.
Priceless! Almost as good as carbon dating
Meh - I still refer to recording something as “taping” something, and I can’t be the only one!