What kind of pinball player are you?

[superballs]

I know that it's highly detrimental to getting high scores, but I actually prefer not to do stop-and-go play. I'm positive my games would last longer and have much higher scores if I did catch and pass balls more often than I do. And I do actually do that stuff sometimes. Depending on the table, I may even do it rather a lot. But, I love a dynamic flow to the game. I love having a ball slip into an inlane, and then firing that ball right up a ramp, or completing a combo, or sending it dead-on to a target right as part of the flow, preferably right onto the next thing to advance the mode or story or objective. Same with "one-timers" (as they'd call them in hockey) when the ball hits the flippers directly, and I just fire them back into play.

Yes, this increases the randomness of the game. Yes, it decreases my control of the game. Yes, it means that if I want to hit something in particular, my timing has to be impeccable. Yes, it tends to decrease my scores and play time on average. But, having that flow, and yes, even that unpredictability increases my enjoyment of the game somehow. It just feels better, viscerally. Wouldn't recommend that style to anyone for improving their game play, but it makes for some incredibly satisfying shots. And, when the flow is just right, and I do get a nice high score, it's all the more gratifying.

P.S. I think this is why I might be such a Steve Ritchie fan.

I find a good game with flow to be much more rewarding.

I don't think I fit into any real category, though. I just try to enjoy what each table offers.

In tables like Gorgar and Firepower, drop targets are king. There's something magical about a really good spinner shot that just sends it flying though, especially when it's lit for points (between 10 and 20k bonus on gorgar and on F2k of course).

I love those moments of desperation, especially when you save a drain. Fast and furious or slow and calculated, i love it all.

I even love goin' nuts.

 

[Captain Chris]

I love ramps and spinners and sending the ball into some jet bumpers. I prefer to catch and aim the ball most of the time, but if the ball gets out of control I'll usually just let it fly until it calms down a bit, lol.

 

[Squid]

If I have enough free time for pinball I have enough free time for some drinkin'.

I'm a drunken pinball player.

 

[Wizened]

I know that it's highly detrimental to getting high scores, but I actually prefer not to do stop-and-go play. I'm positive my games would last longer and have much higher scores if I did catch and pass balls more often than I do. And I do actually do that stuff sometimes. Depending on the table, I may even do it rather a lot. But, I love a dynamic flow to the game. I love having a ball slip into an inlane, and then firing that ball right up a ramp, or completing a combo, or sending it dead-on to a target right as part of the flow, preferably right onto the next thing to advance the mode or story or objective. Same with "one-timers" (as they'd call them in hockey) when the ball hits the flippers directly, and I just fire them back into play.

Yes, this increases the randomness of the game. Yes, it decreases my control of the game. Yes, it means that if I want to hit something in particular, my timing has to be impeccable. Yes, it tends to decrease my scores and play time on average. But, having that flow, and yes, even that unpredictability increases my enjoyment of the game somehow. It just feels better, viscerally. Wouldn't recommend that style to anyone for improving their game play, but it makes for some incredibly satisfying shots. And, when the flow is just right, and I do get a nice high score, it's all the more gratifying.

P.S. I think this is why I might be such a Steve Ritchie fan.

Nicely said, speaks for me too.
Thx!

 

[norbert26]

If I have enough free time for pinball I have enough free time for some drinkin'.

I'm a drunken pinball player.

thats when the outlanes and the outhole become king !!!!

 

[norbert26]

in the real world i go for whatever scored a replay back in the day that would have been the special(s) and / or points . In the TPA world that would be the extra ball but i also pretend i put the quarter in and whatever got a free game in the real world i pretend i scored a replay and play that table again.

 

[Captain B. Zarre]

It's what happened to me with Party Zone!

 

[brakel]

I am a sucker for ramps. Before I know any rules of a table, ramps are the shot I'm trying for first. After that, it's hard to resist a drop target. Once I actually learn a table's rules, I'm all about modes, which often is detrimental to my scores. And God help me if I figure out how to trigger multiball, as that will seriously become my one and only goal.

Wow. That is exactly the same way that I play! It's one of the reasons that Comet is one of my favorite tables. It's the first table that I remember playing with a really cool ramp. That's all I wanted to do is hit that ramp!

 

[Espy]

When I started playing it was all about the ramp shots. I loved the satisfaction of sending it onto a marble-run-like path. A wacky ramp or habitrail was reason enough for me to love a game. Nowadays, I'm a goal chaser. Orchestrating the perfect route through a game, and refining it with each turn, really adds to the experience for me. For example, I was trying to beat Spider-Man for a while, and found myself thinking things like "I activated Venom too late in the game, if I do it earlier the randomness will get it". Then they removed the machine. and I cried.

Unless I'm just getting to know a table, then I'll read the card decide on a single goal to try and achieve (generally multiball), and try to get that in a single game. I used that strategy on DESW two days ago, and got a high score, so it pays off!

I am a very safe player. Always trying to keep the ball under control, sometimes to me disadvantage. There are shots where I could safely redirect, but try to stop the ball, and fumble it somehow.

Also, THIS.

A lot of times, my favorite targets on tables are the ones with the greatest sound effects. How satisfying is hitting one of the Firepower 1-6 targets that's still flashing? Mmm. Could do that all day long.

The spinner in Gorgar. Could hit that all day. And the drop-targets in big shot. And the saucer in AFM. Sound effects add so much to your game, makes the ball appear more powerful than it is.

 

[Dedpop]

in the real world i go for whatever scored a replay back in the day that would have been the special(s) and / or points . In the TPA world that would be the extra ball but i also pretend i put the quarter in and whatever got a free game in the real world i pretend i scored a replay and play that table again.

I play like this too.
But yeah, ramps are like magnets to me.

 

[HotHamBoy]

Even though I'm not into super-rampy games so much, I do tend to go for the ramps, especially if I'm not familiar with a table. On encountering a new table, I kind of just shoot around, paying attention to the callouts and whatever is lighting up and not really paying attention to points. I don't have the patience to read the rule sheet first, so I generally give the table and layout a quick scan and then plunge. Once I feel like I've got a pretty good feel for the table and shot, I take a little break by going to the rule sheet and picking a few major objectives to focus on, generally multi-ball, extra ball and jackpots so I get closer to a replay.

The more I play a table, the more considered my shots become. I slowly incorporate more rules into my game and then weed out the ones I feel have a high risk/low reward. I'm not a great player, I've only been playing for about two years. So if I get a replay I feel pretty accomplished, if I get initials on a public game I feel darn good, regardless of rank.

It's pretty much the exact same way I learn a new fighting game or fighting game character. Run through the buttons, figure out a few inputs, then kinda mash through a few matches until I've got a pretty good feel of how the game/character plays. Then I start to focus on the mechanics/characters strengths and play more technically. Generally, if I can't get into the flow of a game through the initial few plays, pinball or fighters, I'm likely to move on unless something has really piqued my interest and I sense that I just haven't clicked with something potentially great. When it comes to games like pinball or fighters, fundamentals transfer universally, so the better you get at one game the better you get at all the games. Between the short games, intense focus, quick reads/reactions and precise execution, they are the perfect genres for an ADD guy like me.

 

[invitro]

Let the community know your playstyle and this doesn't just go for real machines but any tables you play period

I shoot for whichever target is the shiniest.

 

[Dedpop]

I shoot for whichever target is the shiniest.

Sounds like a porn quote.

 

[Captain B. Zarre]

Two years later...

I've been playing a lot of pinball on location than I have back then. Unless I'm playing pinball with my friends, I tend to play them like an experienced pinball player, knowing what to do and when. Otherwise I just play them for fun and not for high scores... about 5% of the time. But yeah, I'm a serious pinball player and I think that personality will help when I start attending monthly local tourneys.