This is one reason the Pinburgh finals play like the regular rounds, since an early solid state is guaranteed to be the final game (except for tiebreakers). We were saying to one another “what would make a great last game” … then picked Wild Fyre anyway.
1 Like
Oh I dunno, that random 5x can sure cause some angsty moments. 
1 Like
When you need 60 "Game 3"s in the era of super duper random awards, so it goes. Saucer coverage is an option – it’s what makes Surf N Safari viable. Heck we even used Police Force, discovering you can set “Take Highest Score” to require as many as 8 consecutive right ramps…
1 Like
The 5x bonus on Wild Fyre isn’t random.
Totally don’t agree. That WHD was some of the least entertaining pinball I’ve ever seen. I turned it off after I realized the bank was staying down and went to dinner.
I don’t think every final or tournament should be played on only games like Scuba or Super Orbit, but when those types of games are part of the bank and played by everyone, it makes it much more exciting IMO. Even going back to PAPA with the Fish Tales and Adams that played about as short as most EMs… that was fun stuff to watch. It’s also what I thought was cool about Greg’s format for CAX. It allowed for a wider variety of games to be played in the finals instead of the safe ball return games to be picked over and over. And in both events I think we also saw that the best players were still able to show their skill without it being a coin-toss on a luck box—with one exception being Bowens loss on Trio. That one probably still stings.
Yes, that turned out surprisingly well. The biggest issue was that the ball would jump the inlane on the left return sometimes. 
OK, granted. The way it works with switching every few hits just makes it “feel” random I guess is what I was saying.
1 Like
in our group I had top 40 players adam mckinnie , Cayle George and fred Richardson in session 3 playing lights camera action. The accumulated jackpot was up to 8 million with all three of us ahead of Adam who played in the fourth position and was around 1.8 million while the rest of us were hovering at I think 4, 5 and 8 million . Adam gets ball in top to draw and hit the jackpot is lit and BAM he hits it and goes from fourth to winning the game just in a split second. Oh well that is pinball but do not like the accumulated jackpot in a tournament game.
2 Likes
I was hoping one or more players would get into the “5x and drain on purpose” situation. It didn’t happen in finals, as far as I know.
I also assume there was a discussion of:
“Hey Becker is in the finals again, lets use Jungle Queen he loves that game”
1 Like
Well it wasn’t on purpose but I did drain with 5x lit which was enough to earn one point from Jorian.
[insert quote from Rounders here, replacing poker with pinball]
Yes, it’s 40 games, a potential 120 wins, and those little points have an extreme way of mattering near the end… But you just have to figure this stuff more or less evens out over time. I know I often feel like the unluckiest person in the world, but there is no disputing I had a couple of breaks along the way, too, such as Roy Wils accidentally playing what was probably an extra ball on BK that none of us noticed. Also, any time I do decently on a 1-player EM having played first on it I consider to generally be a stroke of luck (looking at you, Miss-O).
1 Like
Ha yeah, of course. KILL ALL MONKEYS
(Games for finals are decided during Round 10, by discussing which games have played mechanically flawlessly to that point, before we know who is even in them.)
2 Likes
So now there’s an rgp3? lol
Ha! I vividly remember that game since I was in that group. You guys each had 6 points after 2 games and Bob and I each had 1 point.
Nothing left to discuss as far as I am concerned. I shook everyone’s hand, said thanks for playing and was ready to grab a Dew.
Then I find out we are playing the third game that you and Dominy are trying to win so you can claim a loss.
What, wait, WHAT?!
Man, there is nothing more motivating than knowing the guys I have to play with really prefer to lose. I have already established I know how to lose a game.
So, I know I can’t serve as a spoiler or affect anything. Theoretically I could forfeit, take the zero and go grab that Dew I mentioned.
But knowing you guys have to try to win against each other to get what you really wanted at least gave me my own 1-game private consolation tourney.
The last game was TWD and it turned out I won the game with a walkway plunge no less, which was at least was some consolation for me since you guys were obviously trying to win.
But there are no footnotes for winning a meaningless match game 
1 Like
I can only agree that Pinburgh was a blast as usual and almost everything ran very smoothly.
Most machines played great and there were an abundance of tech guys and other staff willing to quickly help out when needed.
However, there were some (competition related) things that I feel is better in the original PAPA-facility:
-
There are carpets there instead of stone/concrete floor. That saves my poor old legs as well as it reduces the noise level considerably.
That one is hard to do anything about though I guess. -
It was too dark for me in the facility, especially in the two evening rounds. Sometimes I had a hard time actually seeing what was going on on the playfield.
Perhaps there is some way to make it a little brighter in there without causing too much reflections in the glass? -
The laser show in the ceiling (sometimes reflecting in the glass) and the cover bands didn´t really help me to focus on the playing, but they weren´t that hard to block out.
Nice attractions if you´re just a casual visitor, but not so much if you were playing the tourney.
But, all in all a very successful and fun event!
/Mats
1 Like
I just wanted to add Ive never met or heard a talk by Andrei Messenkoff but the seminar with him and Bowen on Sunday was awesome!
4 Likes
As always a great time. Seeing people you see only at events like this is always great. Cant wait till next year! Yes the floor made me hurt from my feet to my hips,The westin was an expense,I played like shit but Ill be back to do it again. Great job to all who put this together,ran it,helped with it. A lot of people put a lot of time and effort so a bunch of kooks could play pinball and video games for a whole weekend,I am grateful for that!
2 Likes
I had a great time. Thanks @bkerins and everyone who put the event on. I can’t even begin to comprehend what it takes to put something of that size together. My only gripes would mimic Noah’s about the A bank finals viewing situation.
@bkerins , if you wanted to mail me scoresheets, i can scan them in as pdf files. Im thinking 6 or so pdfs at 250 pages per. Im not volunteering to data entry them though .
I am glad to see I’m not the only one that feels this way. I have much stronger opinions on the topic as a whole (which I won’t go into here) but these are competitions, and major ones at that, not giant parties. I too was grateful for the clear separation between the two.
2 Likes
I was the player whose save shoved the game farther out of the rubber cups. I say farther because I noticed the caster already sitting on the edge of the cup before we began on Surfin Safari. I should have mentioned it to an official before the match began, but didn’t think about it at the time due to anxiety, not being the first player, etc. I realized how lucky I was not to be disqualified once I sat down and saw how far I had moved the game. The player after me certainly got punished for something that was my fault. The issue should have been addressed to begin with and I apologize for not being more diligent in sharing what I noticed to an official. I’ll add that to my list of things to improve upon during tournaments.