That first ball sucked. Yeah, restart.

jhamdotme · Sep 2, 2012

When chasing high scores, and with an unlimited number of quarters in my pocket, I'll often just restart after a poorly-played first ball. I can't be the only person who does this.

I'm not suggesting that this should be disallowed in digital pinball, but the game should tease and mock you and call you names each time that you do this, especially if you're doing this often. Not that I— um… It's not me, honest. It's my, uh, friend who does this, like, all the time, and it's just shameful.

So buck up, there's two more balls left, at least. Finish the game.

(I'm mostly speaking to mys— err, I'm mostly just talking to my friend here, who is most definitely not me.)

Fungi · Sep 2, 2012

jhamdotme said:
When chasing high scores, and with an unlimited number of quarters in my pocket, I'll often just restart after a poorly-played first ball. I can't be the only person who does this.

Nope. I do it all the time and I have no problem with it. If I had unlimited quarters and a restart button on real machines, I'd do it there as well.

Zyo75 · Sep 2, 2012

I do it, especially on long lasting tables, like RBION,TOM, MB. sometimes i fell guilty,sometime not

Jeff Strong · Sep 2, 2012

I usually let it ride....unless I choke on the 2nd ball as well.

an ox · Sep 2, 2012

I always play all the balls. I figure every ball played is practice so goes towards making me a better player even if I don't get a hiscore that game. Also, it's pinball, and you could still get a monster ball on one of the remaining balls and end up with a decent score nonetheless

.

If I have a couple of **** games though I am inclined to say "well, right now I'm just not in the groove for pinball" and play something else for a while, maybe coming back to pinball later.

mmmagnetic · Sep 2, 2012

an ox said:
I always play all the balls. I figure every ball played is practice so goes towards making me a better player even if I don't get a hiscore that game. Also, it's pinball, and you could still get a monster ball on one of the remaining balls and end up with a decent score nonetheless .

If I have a couple of **** games though I am inclined to say "well, right now I'm just not in the groove for pinball" and play something else for a while, maybe coming back to pinball later.

Exactly was I was going to say! Adding to that, it´s not like I try to top my high score each time I play a credit. Usually there comes a point where I end up setting a score that is much higher than my other ones, and then end up not getting there again for quite some time. I just enjoy playing the game anyway.

But on the other hand, I learned that I´m not a very competetive person at all - my enjoyment of pinball isn´t tied to how well I´m actually playing (which is not to say that I play sloppy or don´t enjoy hitting some nice jackpots!). The challenge is the motivator to keep playing in a concentrated way, but not a goal in itself.

(Maybe this wasn´t really related to what you were saying, but once I start restarting my games due to a bad first ball, I end up ruining my mood for the game.)

Kolchak357 · Sep 2, 2012

I always play every ball, in real life and TPA. Sometimes it's interesting to see how bad a score you get too. It's amazing how low a score you can get and then have a new personal best on the next game. Pinball is weird.

Currawong · Sep 2, 2012

I always play all the balls in pinball, no matter how bad the first ball is. I like to imagine I'm playing the pinball machines in the arcade, and restarting would destroy the fantasy. You can't do a restart in real life. I value the experience more than the score.

Squid · Sep 2, 2012

I never restart a game unless a bug dictates that I should do so. Every ball gets its chance to shine... or not.

SKILL_SHOT · Sep 2, 2012

I set an imaginary score I must get for ball 1 if I dont get it reset if I do I ride it out. like CV 10mill minimum half way to extra ball.

George Klepacz · Sep 2, 2012

Jeff Strong said:
I usually let it ride....unless I choke on the 2nd ball as well.

This

Matt McIrvin · Sep 2, 2012

I restart Angry Birds levels. I usually don't do it in pinball because it doesn't feel like pinball.

Jazza · Sep 2, 2012

Depends on the game but I've had a few of my high scores come from 2nd ball onward. Particularly where multiple extra balls are available.. Like others if the 2nd ball drains with a lame score it's a restart.

laughing_lunatic · Sep 2, 2012

It depends. If I'm sitting down with the sole purpose of attacking a high-score, if the first ball doesn't meet my scoring criteria, then I restart. If I'm just playing for fun, then I ride it out. And yes, sometimes that 2nd, or 3rd ball can be a nice surprise.

Fuseball · Sep 2, 2012

When I had my first pinball at home, a Bally Fathom, I used to set myself a mental goal that I would only allow myself another credit if I beat a certain score (100k initially I think) each time. Otherwise I would have to go and do some boring chores like the washing up or some ironing or something. Unsurprisingly my pinball skills increased dramatically after that.

I still do the same thing on TPA or any other pinball I have at home these days. Even if my first two balls are shocking, I still have to try to redeem it on the last ball, else I'm vacuuming before I know it.

Squid · Sep 2, 2012

^ I am in the same vein of thought. I'm always doin' chores.

superballs · Sep 2, 2012

i've restarted games especiallly when trying tobeat scores on ToM.

i don't do it anymore. i find pinball games to typically be a one or two ball game in general so i block out bad balls and try to focus on doing better next ball.

Sean DonCarlos · Sep 2, 2012

If I'm just playing for entertainment value or score, I'll let one bad ball go. Two house balls is one too many.

If I'm aiming for a difficult goal (Atlantis, Battle for the Kingdom, etc.) that I know I'm going to need to make every ball count to achieve, I'll restart more or less continuously until I have a good first ball, or until I decide the pinball gods hate me today and go do something else.

Rudy Yagov · Sep 2, 2012

Currawong said:
I always play all the balls in pinball, no matter how bad the first ball is. I like to imagine I'm playing the pinball machines in the arcade, and restarting would destroy the fantasy. You can't do a restart in real life. I value the experience more than the score.

You actually can do a restart in real life. Just hit start on your second/third ball, and if you have credits (or the machine is on free play), it will start a new game. I don't know if Sterns do this, but most older games I've played do.

Dutch Pinball ball · Sep 3, 2012

Hahaha, lol, this topic... I did this for one night on tale of arabian nights. I think ive restarted 100 games, and every first ball was a massacre.

I was getting very frustrated, and the more i got frustrated the faster that first ball went away. Every missed shot went away. every lampshot, sides, genie throws all first balls away. I was getting insain.... I just could not get 1 proper first ball in.

At the end i just gave up and just play some games to the end. And it learned me a good leason. 2 bad balls and 1 great one still can give you your personal record.

Plus.... i forgto about playing pinball when i was young, we had another rule: be patient. Just play game after game, dont get upset or frustrated, just focus on the game, learn the shots and accept the stupids drains. Cause you know... that great game is coming closer every turd you play.

Its like fishing, you wait....... you wait...... you wait........ STRIKE!!!!!!!!!!! Thats why i like to go fishing.... uh wait.. play pinball.

For those few magical games, all the bad ones are practice.

That first ball sucked. Yeah, restart.

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