You making that much then cool? LOLcool wrote:But I wouldnt like an enforced layoff missing out on a fortune
Game Over
Thank you - very kind. I have been away (far from quiz machines) for 10 days so am only just catching up now.grecian wrote:I can vouch for both Nil Satis and cp999 as being truly excellent players, having met them both, although as one would expect, cp999 being a full-timer is performing at the very highest of levels which NS being a part-timer has not been able to equal other than on occasional titles. For me that illustrates what has happened: the very best full-timers have been able to survive this downturn fairly easily, but the cut-off mark for profitability, which was previously low enough to allow talented part-timers to make decent amounts, has risen sufficiently high to make life very tough for talented part-timers. I’m not in NS’s league so I expect he’s doing better than me, but I’m not surprised if it’s a struggle for him.
As it happens, I am on track to make pretty much the same amount (+/- 10%) as in three of the last five years - 2011 was a poorer year as for work and other reasons I didn't get to play or travel as much, and 2009 was a very good year as I managed to 'crack' Are You Smarter Than a 10 Year Old? at a time when it didn't seem anyone else in my main geographical area had. That was certainly a time exactly like you describe in your post, especially as finding a virgin location often meant taking both the £50 and the £25 prizes!
I've kept things up this year by travelling to some locations I hadn't really explored before so I have found lots of new (to me) sites but in the places relatively close to me which are of the right size to allow me to be confident of keeping track of every location, I have logged a loss rate of between 30% and 50%, i.e. no machine at all where there used to be one or more. In addition much of what is left is not worth repeat visits, for me at least - most Gamesnets, Ind:es, Opens, the cutdown Paragons after they've been 'done' once and so on.
I don't see how or why things will get better from here on in, although as cp999 says things have been very good for a select few. The economics and changing demographics of the pub trade and the poverty of most of the industry's offerings seem to guarantee a continuing decline. There will however still be money out there for that select few for a while yet and if they have saved sufficiently during the good years then they should be able to manage.
Hope to see some of you again in the real world from time to time!
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Interesting. Hopefully Pointless will be on a few more machines...still only two in the north east at the moment. I actually have never tried to JP MOTD as the bonuses go too easily. Tended to bank on £2 or £3. Rarely on the £5.cool wrote:Major change on QZONES
games warehouse hav taken flak about display and now hav installed a screen where you can see all the games in one place
No games seem to have gone but there are tweaks the most notable of which is a reduction to 5pounds (MOTD) with completely different skillgames..
- Topical2009
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Not me, guv - if I'd have been involved in their testing, I'd have done something about the world's loudest warning siren that went off on me tonight for an alleged attempt at 'Note Fraud' - the Paragon in question was not taking coins, and the plug wasn't accessible for the usual 'turn off and on again' routine that often cures that still all too common problem, and all I'd tried to do was have a couple of goes at putting a perfectly legitimate tenner into the note acceptor. Luckily the siren only lasted about 10 seconds and the staff showed no interest in it but it certainly woke me up I can tell you...
The claim about Pub Quiz coming back is an odd one, given that it's never been away, unless they mean they have removed that stupid 10p per go introductory game, which anyone on here could have told them was a duff idea.
I only spotted one possible version 7.0 on my travels this weekend, which was a box with just Pointless and The Chase on (and nothing else) - as close as you can get to a standalone without actually being a standalone.
The claim about Pub Quiz coming back is an odd one, given that it's never been away, unless they mean they have removed that stupid 10p per go introductory game, which anyone on here could have told them was a duff idea.
I only spotted one possible version 7.0 on my travels this weekend, which was a box with just Pointless and The Chase on (and nothing else) - as close as you can get to a standalone without actually being a standalone.
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