Just thought I'd share with you an experience from last night: I often meet some friends in a pub for the last hour or so on a Thursday night.It has a quiz machine but I don't normally play it then as I'm out with friends.As I walked in,it was being played by two blokes,one youngish and one oldish.I'm always quite pleased to see anyone playing the machine nowadays! Where I sat was facing the machine so I was keeping an eye on how they were getting on as you do.They didn't do too badly -they played a variety of games and had the odd little win.I would say they were maybe a fiver down over the 40 minutes or so I saw them playing.Then,when they's finished,another lad came over and put a quid in.So at this moment,I would say everyone's happy;punters have had an enjoyable play,and machine has taken a little bit of money.If something similar to what I've described happens a few times every week,then the whole quiz machine concept is working as it should.Yes,a bandit has the potential to take more as has been pointed out here before,but this pub has 4 bandits and none of them were played while I was in there.
However,my mates left at last orders (some nonsense about having to get up next morning for real jobs),so I thought I'd have a quick play.So I get the bank up to 13 quid then decide to head off myself.What I hadn't factored in though was that the two blokes who'd been playing it had collected any win and then put the money back in the machine i.e the small float has now been depleted.So,I got a fiver before the machine started whirring away and the error screen came up.The machine is right next to the bar so a barman noticed and came across so I didn't have the option of not saying anything.The manager took my details with a 'oh,has that happened again' weary shrug.I would not be surprised if the machine disappears soon (especially as this pub is a Wetherspoons) as the manager comes to the opinion that it's not worth the bother.
Basically,my point is that under-floating the machines so much is counter-productive.And the more wider point is that the decline in the SWP market is not down to the British public falling out of love with the quiz machine,it's down to poor business practice across the industry.
Please float the machines properly
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Topical2009
- Senior Member
- Posts: 130
- Joined: Thu Jun 11, 2009 8:39 pm
- Location: Oxford
Couldn't agree more. I know several places where the explanation for the machine disappearing is "It was just a pain, it never worked"; be it coinslot, or screen, or payout or some other fault (take your pick, it could be any or all of them), quiz machines do seem to have a reputation for being high-maintenance. I've also known pubs where the machine has literally never been on when I've visited, at different times of day across several months, and then disappears, presumably because it's not taking any money. No shit, Sherlock.
The only good thing, except for cheap shant in JDW's is that " managers " have absolutely zero influence on what happens in "their" pubs.muddle wrote:.The machine is right next to the bar so a barman noticed and came across so I didn't have the option of not saying anything.The manager took my details with a 'oh,has that happened again' weary shrug.I would not be surprised if the machine disappears soon (especially as this pub is a Wetherspoons) as the manager comes to the opinion that it's not worth the bother.
Basically,my point is that under-floating the machines so much is counter-productive.And the more wider point is that the decline in the SWP market is not down to the British public falling out of love with the quiz machine,it's down to poor business practice across the industry
It is a disgrace ,as agreed by most on here, that they don't even float SWPs with a tenner, yet put £300+ in a fruit machine.
Roulette free since December 2011.
I wouldn't be surprised if the game machine is totally dead by the autumn.
This week alone:
1. Three more Wetherspoons now without machines. The last three to open up here had none.
2. About 35% of machines seem to be switched off.
3. A new bug!! Playing PMPs this afternoon and midway through it the machine goes dead lol! I reboot it and play some other games. Then go back to it and it gives me Pull The Barmaid and then does it again ffs.
I move onto another pub and the same thing happens midway through the game. Weird coincidence?
4. A machine that ran out of float ten days ago still has the message up on the screen ten days later. The staff must be just switching it on each morning and off each night without realising no-one can use it.
5. Another machine would pay me £4 when I collected £5 and then £3 when I collected £4.
Can't see how the pubs or the games companys are making any money at all from it. The petrol money to go round fixing all the errors can't add up, never mind paying staff to do it.
On top of all that has there been a half-decent new game since Pointless?
This week alone:
1. Three more Wetherspoons now without machines. The last three to open up here had none.
2. About 35% of machines seem to be switched off.
3. A new bug!! Playing PMPs this afternoon and midway through it the machine goes dead lol! I reboot it and play some other games. Then go back to it and it gives me Pull The Barmaid and then does it again ffs.
I move onto another pub and the same thing happens midway through the game. Weird coincidence?
4. A machine that ran out of float ten days ago still has the message up on the screen ten days later. The staff must be just switching it on each morning and off each night without realising no-one can use it.
5. Another machine would pay me £4 when I collected £5 and then £3 when I collected £4.
Can't see how the pubs or the games companys are making any money at all from it. The petrol money to go round fixing all the errors can't add up, never mind paying staff to do it.
On top of all that has there been a half-decent new game since Pointless?
This autumn will the 30th anniversary of Quiz Machines. Maybe we could use the anniversary to rekindle some interest in them. Maybe the Burghers of Cardiff could be persuaded to do some sort of commemoration since it is one of the few good things ever to come out of the place. And I'm sure we could get a Meejah Whore like cool to appear on the One Show or something lol 
Give Us A Break 30th Anniversary
Never been referred to as a meejah whore before! I am strangely touched.
Oddly enough last week during the Bournemouth Half marathon I called a woman who was supporting the runners with some sort of clicking device as she waved it about , an old slapper. Unfortunately a 6ft+ 14stone (est) tattooed bodybuilder type running adjacent to myself , thought it was him I was referring to and I spent the last six miles of the race trying to keep ahead of him and avoid a beating.
Im the last person wanting to appear on tv being relentlessly pursued by Tv Licensing after dumping my television nearly four years ago......
Oddly enough last week during the Bournemouth Half marathon I called a woman who was supporting the runners with some sort of clicking device as she waved it about , an old slapper. Unfortunately a 6ft+ 14stone (est) tattooed bodybuilder type running adjacent to myself , thought it was him I was referring to and I spent the last six miles of the race trying to keep ahead of him and avoid a beating.
Im the last person wanting to appear on tv being relentlessly pursued by Tv Licensing after dumping my television nearly four years ago......
I am getting increasingly pessimistic,but I am thinking that the absolute end won't come as early as autumn (well,hopefully not anyway).The one little ray of hope I have is that they are still trying new stuff - new issues on Gamesnet and Pub Connect for example.As for the new games,I think Pixel This is a decent game - not necessarily for pro play,but I think it appeals to a younger audience,which is important.What spoils it though,and it's the same with Pointless,is that the jackpot can go down to 50p.There's a discussion on another thread about whether offering cash prizes could be counter-productive,and when it's a low as that,I reckon it might be.Once you've figured out how to check what the jackpot is,you're probably going to not play it when it's offering a 'prize' of 50p.I've put prize in inverted commas as you can't collect it even if you won as it would go into credits.It explicitly states in the SWP regulations that a free game doesn't constitute a prize,and that's all that is tantamount to.(I suppose technically it's 1.2 free games as the jackpot would go up to 60p if you played it,but you get the idea)paragoon wrote:I wouldn't be surprised if the game machine is totally dead by the autumn.
This week alone:
1. Three more Wetherspoons now without machines. The last three to open up here had none.
2. About 35% of machines seem to be switched off.
3. A new bug!! Playing PMPs this afternoon and midway through it the machine goes dead lol! I reboot it and play some other games. Then go back to it and it gives me Pull The Barmaid and then does it again ffs.
I move onto another pub and the same thing happens midway through the game. Weird coincidence?
4. A machine that ran out of float ten days ago still has the message up on the screen ten days later. The staff must be just switching it on each morning and off each night without realising no-one can use it.
5. Another machine would pay me £4 when I collected £5 and then £3 when I collected £4.
Can't see how the pubs or the games companys are making any money at all from it. The petrol money to go round fixing all the errors can't add up, never mind paying staff to do it.
On top of all that has there been a half-decent new game since Pointless?
This would be one of the first things I'd like changed - stupidly low jackpots.A far better way of protecting against emptying,if I continue to use Pixel This as an example,would be to push the points up required so high that while the jackpot was absolutely attainable via skill,it would take too long to get it for any pro play to be worthwhile.
Autumn? No chance.
As I've said before if you're just limiting yourself to town centres and primarily 'spoons then yes it does seem to be trickling down from even what it was two years ago in terms of number of machines available within a five minute walk.
However one of the perks is always finding new locations which can be added to the rotation when you first an area such as a quick 5 minute hop on the bus to a retail park just outside Leeds city centre that had a Hollywood bowl and Flaming grill pub on its premises....
As I've said before if you're just limiting yourself to town centres and primarily 'spoons then yes it does seem to be trickling down from even what it was two years ago in terms of number of machines available within a five minute walk.
However one of the perks is always finding new locations which can be added to the rotation when you first an area such as a quick 5 minute hop on the bus to a retail park just outside Leeds city centre that had a Hollywood bowl and Flaming grill pub on its premises....
You're finding locations because you're relatively new to the scene. We're all losing locations because we knew everywhereSoccerHQ wrote:Autumn? No chance.
As I've said before if you're just limiting yourself to town centres and primarily 'spoons then yes it does seem to be trickling down from even what it was two years ago in terms of number of machines available within a five minute walk.
However one of the perks is always finding new locations which can be added to the rotation when you first an area such as a quick 5 minute hop on the bus to a retail park just outside Leeds city centre that had a Hollywood bowl and Flaming grill pub on its premises....
Ha well the new update has wiped out the profitable game I was playing so I'll probably be taking a hiatus in the near future as the pool of machines for me is decreasing now.muddle wrote:You are allowed to keep locations to yourself Soccer HQ lol.You're right that there are still a few fair machines out there though,I think it's the general trend that's worrying everyone.
This was only a side hobby anyway while I attempt and fail to develop a sure fire profit from online gambling....
Sloach is right in what he says about locations.As regards you taking a hiatus,I would say that if you were good enough to get Footy Quiz to be a regular payer,then you'll probably be able to win on other games too.Good luck with the online gambling venture - don't get in too deep though! I have to confess to being a bit wary of 'real' gambling!