What are the easiest "no-nudge-required", "no-cheap-drains" tables?

[Jeff Strong]

Theatre of Magic is fairly easy. You've got the magnasaves that activate fairly often, and the entire top ofthe table is a valid shot. Even a sloppy shot usually will hit something . Only thing to watch for is the ball can really get moving on that table and as such sometimes the magnasave can't catch it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wB-G0g2zubQ&feature=youtube_gdata_player

This.

And when the magnasaves aren't lit, the ball is usually moving too fast towards the outlanes to save it with a nudge anyway.

Overall, you can be pretty successful on this pin without nudging, but of course nudging always helps, no matter what.

 

[Gordon]

The Machine: Bride of Pin·Bot

 

[Gorgar]

Scared Stiff by far. I have difficulty draining balls at all on that table.

 

[shutyertrap]

I rarely nudge in RBION, and it takes an act of God to drain down the center. The outlanes are pretty fare, no cheap shots. It is hands down a skill table, just one with a steep learning curve.

 

[Clawhammer]

SS and FH, probably.

 

[karl]

What do you think are the easiest tables where no nudging is required to keep the ball alive? Where skill counts more than luck?

I was trying some of the tables on my friend's iPad and many of them immediately disqualified. I guess it's different for everyone but for me it's not so much fun to play a table with cheap drains. It's realistic, yes, but I can live without frustrating experiences and rather play something else. After the unexpected drains on "Cactus Canyon" a rather surprising addition was "Space Shuttle" where the bumpers shoot the ball into the right outlane.

What would you recommend?

Sorry, not the answer you're looking for but nudging is more skill than luck in most circumstances. You can of course have a lucky nudge, but pinball would never be what it is without skillful nudging

 

[Fungi]

where no nudging is required to keep the ball alive? Where skill counts more than luck?

Yeah, I thought that was a contradiction as well. Just watching the ball dancing back and forth choosing between outlane or inlane without any influence from you is truly relying on luck.

 

[superballs]

I'm going to quickly agree with the nudge = skill comments (begrudgingly because they beat me to it).

I can't..simply can't believe that Black Hole hasn't been mentioned. There are drains but you always feel that they are deserved. The only outlane is actually pretty easy to avoid, and this is coming from someone who has been playing on ios and android phones that have nudge delays.

ToTAN isn't too bad, but nudging is helpful sometimes, especially after lamp shots.

ToM is a good table but i find that nudging is very very helpful in a lot of the modes.

Bride is such a boring table in TPA, it's just too too easy.

I would hate to play MM without nudging.

Gorgar isn't too bad, as long as you know your shots.

Monster Bash is fun as long as you aren't playing for high score.

Honestly, pinball isn't pinball without nudging. I mean it's so important that even early early simulators have it incorporated. 8-bit games even. This is when any feature that could be spared would be simply to fit it onto the medium

 

[DeeEff]

What do you think are the easiest tables where no nudging is required to keep the ball alive?

I honestly can't answer that question as I've never played a game of pinball without being a Nudge Monster(tm).

Where skill counts more than luck?

All of them. (Sorry for the apparently unhelpful answer there; see previous posts re: nudging is a skill.)

 

[Mark W**a]

Scared Stiff. Period.

 

[Sean DonCarlos]

While all tables are improved by skillful nudging, Theatre of Magic, FunHouse, and Scared Stiff are probably the three that least require nudging. Note the exception mentioned by previous posters regarding FH's multiball start; a nudge is needed to keep Rudy from spitting that first ball down the left outlane.

 

[TomL]

Another option is to buy a table with the pro option. Get into the operator menu and go nuts. Max balls per credit. Max out the ball saver time. Etc etc.

Why not? You own the game, play it however you want.

 

[Fungi]

Another option is to buy a table with the pro option. Get into the operator menu and go nuts. Max balls per credit. Max out the ball saver time. Etc etc.

Why not? You own the game, play it however you want.

Little story. After getting extremely fed up with ST:TNG, I paid the money for the pro option. I then immediately proceeded to max out the balls per credit. I then immediately got bored. Turned off pro mode, haven't touched it since. I'm not saying to not buy the pro mode. I'm just saying that without the threat of a quick "game over", sweaty palms and nervous timing quickly disappeared, seemingly along with the actual fun. I did not expect that.

 

[netizen]

Little story. After getting extremely fed up with ST:TNG, I paid the money for the pro option. I then immediately proceeded to max out the balls per credit. I then immediately got bored. Turned off pro mode, haven't touched it since. I'm not saying to not buy the pro mode. I'm just saying that without the threat of a quick "game over", sweaty palms and nervous timing quickly disappeared, seemingly along with the actual fun. I did not expect that.

I do the opposite with the pro mode. I set it to a three ball game, tournament rules, no extra balls, no ball saver, super short mode timers, all activations set to hard or extra hard if possible. You want sweaty palms and a way to invent all new swear words ...

 

[Man-Machine]

Yes! We all remember pinball IRL was att it's best when we were of the age that we didn't have an basically unlimited amount of quarters. When a free play really meant something.
Sweaty palms make pinball even better.

 

[Nightwing]

Yes! We all remember pinball IRL was att it's best when we were of the age that we didn't have an basically unlimited amount of quarters. When a free play really meant something.
Sweaty palms make pinball even better.

This is true - but having something like TPA also gives people who didn't have unlimited resources the opportunity to learn a particular table - shots,goals,modes and the like. Pins that I didn't give much of a shot IRL (TOTAN as an example) are now much more fun to play now that I know what I have to do on that table.

It is going to be real interesting to go play a TPA table that I own out in the real world. But the fun factor should be incredible

 

[heddhunter]

What do you think are the easiest tables where no nudging is required to keep the ball alive? Where skill counts more than luck?

Pinball without nudging isn't pinball... it's pachinko.

 

[heddhunter]

It is going to be real interesting to go play a TPA table that I own out in the real world. But the fun factor should be incredible

I entered a pinball elimination tournament a few weekends ago. The first two tables I played were White Water and Attack From Mars. I crushed my competitors! Easily took first on both tables. The next two tables were not in TPA and I wiped out of the tournament in short order

 

[StarDust4Ever]

Basically, the whole point of a Pinball machine (or any arcade game) is not to entertain you but to steal your quarters. Thing is, people are more likely to spend money on a machine that provides some form of entertainment. Without hazards such as outlanes and cheap SDTM shots, even a novice player could potentially make his/her quarter last forever. There has to be some incentive to insert more quarters into the machine. They do this by providing goals to achieve and high scores to beat. "Almost" achieving a goal or a top score is an incentive to chink additional quarters into the machine. It's really a balancing act with the manufacturers. If the balls drain too quickly, the player will feel cheated and spend his/her money elsewhere. If the balls don't drain often enough, the player will hog the table forever on a single credit. However, if the manufacturer can strike the right balance, they will see a player dropping quarters into the same machine again and again. This is what earns profit and allows an arcade game to keep it's spot in the arcade. Tables/video games that do not earn money are quietly removed.

I used to hate outlanes with a passion, but now that I have a deeper appreciation for pinball, I respect them and understand their purpose. There is only one table on The Pinball Arcade that I truly consider unfair: Central Park. It has two outlanes on either side of the playfield (no inlanes to speak of). Additionally, there is a massively wide gap between the table's stubby 2 inch flippers. This gap includes two separate center lanes through which to drain your ball. In fact, I believe your actually more likely to lose a ball through one of the six "drain lanes" than to save your ball with the flippers. I urge you to play Central Park a few times and then honestly say that the other tables in the collection "drain" too much. Google EM pinball tables and study their layouts. You will find that many of them have massively large drain areas for you to lose your balls in. That said, EM pinball tables have a charm all their own, and I wish TPA would release more of them.

 

[Kolchak357]

I get more anger from the outlanes on Cactus Canyon and STTNG than I do on Central Park. At least on CP I can see it coming and try to nudge. The outlanes on the other two are hard to see and vacuum like.