Wizard of Oz in a tournament?

I was just curious about everyone’s thoughts on having WOZ in a tournament. I LOVE the game (thank you @keefer ) and I know it has been in a few but it doesn’t seem to pop up often. While it is not a HUGE indication I could only find 2 instances (links below) of the game in a tournament and listed on pinball videos. While it seems like some games (according to PAPA notes http://papa.org/learning-center/directors-guide/?target=game-notes and my own projected opinion) that are deemed not the best tour games pop up. Just some thoughts. I would love to see it played more in competition. I know I like picking it at league but I’m in the minority. And…go :slight_smile:

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It was used in PAPA qualifying 2 years ago.

Yes. I saw that too. But games like GOT, ACDC, GB, Tron, etc on the newer Sterns seem to be A LOT more prevalent. I guess what I am looking at is do people see this as a decent competition game? I find it to be challenging ( I have seen some GREAT players who have balls that last seconds) while being deep and interesting to watch individual strategies. Seems like it would be a fun game to have in a tournament if only to watch people’s different approaches. And…discuss.

Oh was that WOZ? I just remember it as a funnel to the right outlane.

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What I love about the game is that it can really hand it to you but when you are able to get your shots going you can stay on it for 30 mins. I find I either have a TERRIBLE and short game or my wife has to come in 10 times to ask if I’ll ever be done because I keep stacking and playing…ha

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I’d say this is a reason to not use it.

That said I would challenge anyone to do that consistently in a competition. I mean…you can stay on GOT for 30 mins if you can get it going.

Oh, that can be fixed.

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Agreed. If it’s any consolation WOZ and TH will be in the KY SCS Saturday. Maybe there just isn’t as many available on location to use in tournaments?

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That’s my thought. It’s a very home use heavy game. Probably the biggest thing is that from the factory you only get two tilt warnings PER GAME! Then it’s insta-tilt. That helps a lot in comps

I would definitely like to see Wizard of Oz used more in competitions. More monitor-based games, for that matter.

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I’ve had difficulty getting people to bring a WOZ to expo tourneys because “I don’t want to move the thing. It’s a beast!” (exact quote)

I think WOZ makes a great tourney game. At this point, I feel the opposite about The Hobbit – but I hope that others successfully use it and we can figure out what settings/changes get it to play a bit shorter than our league’s experience with it.

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Agreed. I’ve plenty multiple very mean WOZ’s on location but every Hobbit plays very long that I’ve experienced.

Huh, interesting point. I forgot that Jersey Jack’s machines are heavier than normal. (I wonder if this also limits the kind of places it can be in–that is, could it be heavy enough to damage the floor in some places that a normal-weight machine wouldn’t?)

Removing center post and inlane/outlane post dividers goes a long way.

FYI we didn’t intend for the game to ship with the center post.

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The one I have on route has the rubber removed from the center post and no ball save, and it would not be what most folks consider long playing.

Factory i think there is no ball save outside Multiball. I think with true factory settings as a few tweaks to the rubbers it’s a hell of a game for all. Hell of a game anyway. OK decided I’m pushing Woz in the next tournament!!!

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Can confirm. The location hosts a casual 3-strike every week, and usually the pressure point for completing a round falls on this, Champion Pub, or PotC. Multiballs on multiballs with refreshing add-a-balls tends to really lengthen out a round. That, plus both outlanes having a ball saver (and an add-a-ball save on the right outlane in multiball!) means even a supposed drain doesn’t end your ball.

But yeah, WOZ seems like a worthy tournament game set up in a difficult manner. No guaranteed ball saves means you can set the game up wicked (heh) brutal on TNPLH and Toto (along with rubbers to make those outlanes happen more often) to fix any length issues.

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Some quick googling estimated between 320-400 pounds, which while heavy, isn’t any worse than lugging around a Demolition Man. (Or Derby Day, phew that game is top heavy!) It just sucks trying to move the heavier games. Typically, besides taking off the legs I can move most games myself, (I’m 5’5" and ~160 lbs for reference) but many wide bodies are just…heavy. It’s a two person job, and as some have stated it’s more often in a collector’s possession than an operators. Unless a collector buys/sells/trades often enough, they may not have the proper moving tools, and my guess as to why many choose not to bring theirs with them.

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So there have actually been many other machines comparable in weight to the Jersey Jack ones? I remember a panel at Pinball Expo for Jersey Jack where Jack lifted up the bottom of The Hobbit and it had so much stuff, it looked like a miniature city model underneath, then said that this game is heavier than most. So I had the impression that because the Jersey Jack games are really heavy, they’d be very inconvenient to move around (more so than a normal pinball machine anyway).

I also take it that most monitor machines are in private hands, including Batman '66, meaning they’d be rare in competitions. I would like to see more of them because it’s easier to see what’s going on with a monitor than with a DMD for me (though I can’t speak for anyone else). A monitor also can display more information about the game going on at a time than a DMD can, which is also what I really like.

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