Fruit Machine Chat

I think 242 was the lowest. It's possible gameplay will be similarly slow with 50 games needed or it may encourage people to play it a bit more if the 'target' isn't so far away.

I think one issue is the lack of promotion - the game seems only to appear on the Word Games screen, rather than ever popping up as the central picture on the front screen in 'attract mode'.

I think people may have also got disillusioned with the rapid turnover of games and with the (very short-sighted) policy of games being auto-removed - I have sometimes felt a pang of regret after making Secret Letter, for example, disappear after it previously displayed a couple of screens full of real usernames from two or three regular punters or couples. What is to say they will choose to stop playing the machine altogether now that their favourite game has gone, rather than looking for something else to play?

I'm not sure about the issue of the old winning scores having been wiped - I haven't kept a record of leaving a high score in more than a few places and they are pretty scattered. Presumably if you head back to one of your usual haunts you'll be able to check on this.

Nil Satis wrote:I have sometimes felt a pang of regret after making Secret Letter, for example, disappear after it previously displayed a couple of screens full of real usernames from two or three regular punters or couples. What is to say they will choose to stop playing the machine altogether now that their favourite game has gone, rather than looking for something else to play?

But then you scooped up your £20 and thought "nah, fuck 'em"

Well, Yes and No. I didn't hand back my ill-gotten gains but it's always worth considering the bigger picture. I can only win if others have lost first and the more those others are deterred from playing, the less there will be available to win, both specifically on a particular box but more generally as an industry. I remain convinced that making something attractive and interesting to the likes of me can still be done while also encouraging higher turnover from punters - the two don't have to be mutually exclusive. It just seems more and more to me that this is an argument I am destined never to win...

It already exists. It's called Pub Quiz. I remain bemused as to why you don't like it. Punters love it - they just keep on filling it up and I keep on taking it out.

On the rare occassions I find people playing machines now - let's face it, during the week I have the pub to myself anyway, it remains the game I most often find people playing. Keep all your next game bonus and 10p continue gimmicks - Pub Quiz is supreme.

Why play a game for £1 that you can't win on? Your prize might be there if others play 249 games, which they won't because you scored loads on.

B.O.W.

I have found several now that have had the top prize adjustd to £25 but the number of games left remains unchanged at 240ish.

I can only hope that this is a repeated error and that they do not have a percentage target of 5-10%.

sausagefingaz wrote:I have found several now that have had the top prize adjustd to £25 but the number of games left remains unchanged at 240ish.

I can only hope that this is a repeated error and that they do not have a percentage target of 5-10%.

They have a percentage payout of 0%, as no-one wants to play the other 200+ games required to finish the ill named "Instant" tournament.

I'm tempted to play through the fifty games at my local. After all, it is a very crisp game and I'm happy to lose £25. I will also be the undisputed champion because it will be the only prize this ever pays. I just don't think punters like this neverland format apart from in isolated pubs where they have ferrets and a harridan of a publican.

Not surprising really, i actually found one and played it, and thought i'd done ok till i saw the utterly ridiculous score someone else achieved, there's no incentive for anyone at all to play it, they should maybe not show the top scores till after you've played or something.

If they waited till next summer and had some footy themed game to have a tournament on they might have a winner, but in the middle of december and on a game like that, no chance, i'd be genuinely interested to see if any of the tournaments had actually been settled.

I would have thought the tactics that should be employed by anyone who fancied themselves on the game was to set a 'reachable' target, perhaps one that's 10-15% higher than the local hero's score, then rely on said local hero's unwillingness to lose out - that ought to help chalk off a fair few of the games. And then you put a ridiculous score down at the death.

I say all this, but I've only had one game of it, so I've no idea whether I was any cop.

Drpepper wrote:Not surprising really, i actually found one and played it, and thought i'd done ok till i saw the utterly ridiculous score someone else achieved, there's no incentive for anyone at all to play it, they should maybe not show the top scores till after you've played or something.

If they waited till next summer and had some footy themed game to have a tournament on they might have a winner, but in the middle of december and on a game like that, no chance, i'd be genuinely interested to see if any of the tournaments had actually been settled.

Talking of footy based quiz games, anyone regularly doing well on the one on the gamesnet units?