It always used to be a source of great frustration for me to walk into a pub and see other people already settled on the machine. The greater the number of players, the longer it would take them to run out of coins and get out of the way.
The thing is - that hardly happens anymore. 90% of the time when I walk into a pub the machine is free. Can anyone else report this demographic quiz shift in their local area?
It's too early to draw any conclusions as yet but I'd love to speculate that it's because punters are getting sick of winning precisely nothing on the new range of coin-hungry games.
QT
Vacant / Engaged
I'd agree I seem to see less people on them these days. But since some games pay out big on a regular basis ie DOND they must be playing them at some point.
Think one of the reasons might be that since the games are getting harder, punters put the same amount in but are on the machine for considerably less.
I've seen average punters put £5 through DOND in about 10 minutes.
Think one of the reasons might be that since the games are getting harder, punters put the same amount in but are on the machine for considerably less.
I've seen average punters put £5 through DOND in about 10 minutes.
I have been saying the same thing pretty much since I joined this site, i.e. if you want an easy way of measuring how the overall quality of games has deteriorated, the fact that you rarely have to wait to play a machine nowadays is as good a way as any.
My classic example of this was old Millionaire, either the standalones or on the multigame cabinets, in that it would offer a realistic chance at a Jackpot for good players but would also give decent prizes to an enthusiastic 'amateur' or group of friends. It also had far fewer spoilers early on and the bonuses were more helpful. This meant that it was played a lot, and even when someone had won the Jackpot the game would recover back into paying mode soon enough.
Contrast that with the current Millionaire game - it is close to impossible to win the big prizes unless you get four or five lucky guesses in a row after using up all your bonuses, you get some outrageous questions as low as the 500 point mark and the bonuses can often be deliberately misleading. The result - far less throughput as ordinary players are given no reward at all for playing.
Many of the other games are just so poor that no one ends up playing them more than once or twice. It's never seemed that hard a concept for me but unless you give ordinary players some expectation of a reasonable win once in a while, they won't keep playing your game. At some point the developers and machine companies seem to have lost sight of that.
My classic example of this was old Millionaire, either the standalones or on the multigame cabinets, in that it would offer a realistic chance at a Jackpot for good players but would also give decent prizes to an enthusiastic 'amateur' or group of friends. It also had far fewer spoilers early on and the bonuses were more helpful. This meant that it was played a lot, and even when someone had won the Jackpot the game would recover back into paying mode soon enough.
Contrast that with the current Millionaire game - it is close to impossible to win the big prizes unless you get four or five lucky guesses in a row after using up all your bonuses, you get some outrageous questions as low as the 500 point mark and the bonuses can often be deliberately misleading. The result - far less throughput as ordinary players are given no reward at all for playing.
Many of the other games are just so poor that no one ends up playing them more than once or twice. It's never seemed that hard a concept for me but unless you give ordinary players some expectation of a reasonable win once in a while, they won't keep playing your game. At some point the developers and machine companies seem to have lost sight of that.
Some very good points there. I wonder if it might be worth their while putting in a couple of 'loss leaders' to keep people machining, i.e. games whose payout is higher than 50%.
X-Factor at Heathrow terminal 3 today stank. Took £3 out of Millionaire, but my goodness me does it deceive. Phone a friends Surie, Derek and Narrindar simply cannot be trusted. Nor can the audience for that matter.
The new phone a friend feature is a total waste of time imho.
QT
X-Factor at Heathrow terminal 3 today stank. Took £3 out of Millionaire, but my goodness me does it deceive. Phone a friends Surie, Derek and Narrindar simply cannot be trusted. Nor can the audience for that matter.
The new phone a friend feature is a total waste of time imho.
QT
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QuizMaster
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- Joined: Sat Apr 30, 2005 12:40 pm
Theory just doesn't hold water I'm afraid. Walked into a pub today and left because a couple of girls were playing SBB. Went round the town and made a quick £50 on assorted terminals which were available. Came back to said pub and girls were still there 3 hrs later.
Punters ARE playing the terminals. They're just not playing the games which are any use to us. Why play a game which requires any skill when you can press yes/no or just open a crappy box?
Big shift coming. Say goodbye to the S in SWP.
Punters ARE playing the terminals. They're just not playing the games which are any use to us. Why play a game which requires any skill when you can press yes/no or just open a crappy box?
Big shift coming. Say goodbye to the S in SWP.
Stupid punters. Telly all the week, screw the wife Saturday
I hope QM's "S" theory is wrong. (Welcome back QM, by the way. I've noticed you lurking without posting so not sure why the radio silence!)
I'm not sure QT is right. I reckon machines nowadays are quite well-played. Look, for example, at the Monopoly scoreboard in every pub, which usually has fifty 4,500+ scores. That's getting well-played then. And DOND is still getting pretty well-played I think. In the city at lunchtimes I quite often either have to wait or go to a new pub because people are playing the machines. I agree some games though are clearly never, or nearly-never, played. Last couple of Football Crazy's I've played (one of them at a mainline railway station), it's struck me there's been less than ten plays, and all of them clearly by accomplished players (i.e. getting over 600 points). Indicates Joe Public has no interest in this and it's just devoted players scraping £1 and £2s off it. No point in that at all.
I'm not sure QT is right. I reckon machines nowadays are quite well-played. Look, for example, at the Monopoly scoreboard in every pub, which usually has fifty 4,500+ scores. That's getting well-played then. And DOND is still getting pretty well-played I think. In the city at lunchtimes I quite often either have to wait or go to a new pub because people are playing the machines. I agree some games though are clearly never, or nearly-never, played. Last couple of Football Crazy's I've played (one of them at a mainline railway station), it's struck me there's been less than ten plays, and all of them clearly by accomplished players (i.e. getting over 600 points). Indicates Joe Public has no interest in this and it's just devoted players scraping £1 and £2s off it. No point in that at all.
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QuizMaster
- Senior Member
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- Joined: Sat Apr 30, 2005 12:40 pm
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QuizMaster
- Senior Member
- Posts: 1254
- Joined: Sat Apr 30, 2005 12:40 pm
Yeah Ive noticed that- the only games I see the 'punters' playng are the card games, SBB, and the one with the greyhoundsQuizMaster wrote:Theory just doesn't hold water I'm afraid. Walked into a pub today and left because a couple of girls were playing SBB. Went round the town and made a quick £50 on assorted terminals which were available. Came back to said pub and girls were still there 3 hrs later.
Punters ARE playing the terminals. They're just not playing the games which are any use to us. Why play a game which requires any skill when you can press yes/no or just open a crappy box?
Big shift coming. Say goodbye to the S in SWP.
And they sure plough money into them. I don't blame em- who wants to play something designed to show you how stupid you are? Even Bully the other day - when it's tight it's unbelievable- I saw three wicked spoilers this mum and her lad got one after another, and they were only trying to hit a measly quid on the prize board. I think the games these days are too mean to the average punter never mind the whigeing pros on here.Some good points (as ever on here!). Addressing a few of them:
I am selfish in that I only want punters to play the games I think are potential payers, which have always been the question-based ones. So we may both be right in the sense that you may well have experienced no reduction in punters playing (whereas I'd still say that I have), but I am also correct in feeling they are playing what I consider to be the decent games less and less.QuizMaster wrote:Punters ARE playing the terminals. They're just not playing the games which are any use to us.
Agreed. You only have to look at the increase in non-skill games and in the quiz games that are to all intents and purposes AWPs - particularly The Great Escape and Toss The Monkey.QuizMaster wrote:Big shift coming. Say goodbye to the S in SWP.
Top Score boards can sometimes be misleading - think of Caveman Capers where lots of 206+ scores doesn't necessarily mean the game will have been emptied. On Football Crazy (and similar games) each cabinet seems to operate the scoreboard slightly differently - for example the scores 6-10 sometimes get reset back to the defaults every day, presumably to encourage punters by giving them a Top Score even if they only complete one of the answers.grecian wrote:I agree some games though are clearly never, or nearly-never, played. Last couple of Football Crazy's I've played (one of them at a mainline railway station), it's struck me there's been less than ten plays, and all of them clearly by accomplished players (i.e. getting over 600 points). Indicates Joe Public has no interest in this and it's just devoted players scraping £1 and £2s off it. No point in that at all.
This is precisely my point - it is only by giving average punters a fair chance to win decent prizes occasionally that the games get the throughput to ensure better players have something worthwhile to aim at. Make things too hard for Joe Bloggs and everyone suffers.ZAX wrote:I think the games these days are too mean to the average punter never mind the whigeing pros on here.
as far as I know it's always been the case with FC on all machines. Quite good because it lets you know if it's been played recently.grecian wrote:Ah, that makes sense re Football Crazy scores. I think that must have been the case at the venue I played. Ta NS.
Not something that was carried forward to Itbox Soccer
On my way back from Cambridge yesterday checked in at Leicester Forest Services- theres an Itbox in there -screen knackered so WU scores are minimal, but what did surprise me is that SBB is given the full front page, and the rest are classed as 'other games' and you have to press a screen to get to them. Obv someone else has a vision about the future of the SWP as well..
Which begs the question- any itboxes/gamesnets anywhere else on the service stations
Which begs the question- any itboxes/gamesnets anywhere else on the service stations