Magneto's (Luc's) Tron For Sale Thread on maaca has brought up an interesting subject: I figured I will post here as well.
Great games that you sell just because you need a change or, you know you are done with them regardless of how good they still are is this interesting subject.
To summarize, I believe Phil (Mr.Hide) thinks people are nuts to sell a great game like Luc is doing currently with Tron. I imagine the same goes for Stephane's Tron trade for Spiderman in Phil's eyes too.
I dislike partially quoting other people's statement's like Mr.Hide does because you lose the essence of what the person is stating or attempting to communicate, so I won't do that here or elsewhere.
Phil's "feeling" that we "turf" a game because it is too hard is erroneous, as are his comments on for sale threads for the games Phil likes to hype up for whatever reasons + criticize those who sell what he likes.
Regardless of individual thoughts on great games, the purpose of my post isn't to get into it with Phil at all. Each person is entitled to their own opinion and I wouldn't bother trying to change Phil's mind on anything.
The purpose of this post is to explain why the opposite opinion of the same game exists; and that Tron can have it's time and place, and for myself at least, it's time has passed for the present and near future for it too.
Tron is a great game. It has depth. It is tough. It is fun. It is frustrating. Once you have the game dialed in, know the rules and you have the shots numbers all down, sometimes a given game doesn't "do it" for you anymore.
I purchased Tron quite a while ago to "learn it". The purpose was to learn, understand and play the game in order to beat Adam (Moving Pictures) at it during the Quebec provincial finals last year, on his machine in his own home.
I brought the game into my living room for a week while my wife was away. Drano helped me install the "eli ramp mod" in record time. Great game, fast, beautiful and hard. I played it at length nightly after the kids were asleep.
I beat Adam on his Tron in his home in 2 balls. I don't say that to brag, or to indicate I am a better player than Adam. I am not. I did it to illustrate the point that I could learn a new Stern DMD and know it well enough to beat a top player at the game. The result however was something far different than you might think...
I was momentarily satisfied at beating Adam on Tron. I did the same thing on Metallica and also beat Adam on that in his home on 2 balls. Robocop went my way as well. I watched a Bowen tutorial, learned the rules and practiced on Adam's for a few minutes before the tournament start. Adam was 1st in Quebec, I was 16th, and so it was myself vs. Adam in round #1. With wins on the 3 machines I mentioned above (by learning them thoroughly) I figured I had a decent shot at beating Adam. If Harlem Globetrotter's had co-operated, I would have. Adam and I both had truly pathetic games on Harlem, and Adam won that one by 3000 points. He won 3 other pins I didn't know the rules on, and it was game over for me.
I was happy and relieved. Why? Because the purpose of that trip was to spend time with Robert and help pack up and close RAB's Pitt street shop. I was happy to return so quickly to do what was important to me during that trip. While the competition in pinball seemed fun, and learning rules of machines was very important to compete well, the desired results were not to my liking.
What I had inadvertently done was learn 3 games so well at such a competitive level that the "magic" of those games are now destroyed for me, possibly forever.
It is a shame in a way, because they are such great games, but I no longer wish to own any of those 3 games anytime soon. Others may feel that way about selling popular games as well, for different reasons.
Sometimes it is just time for something different, or a change.
Currently I am aiming for 9th in league + tournament play if 8 are in the finals, or 17th if there are 16 in the finals. No further stress for me that way and no "magic" is destroyed. Perhaps in future I may feel differently about it, but for now this strategy will suffice. If you see me sandbagging it, I sorta am. I'm ok with it.
The results I am talking about are as follows:
I have owned 1 Tron and sold it to a far better home.
I have owned 2 Metallica pins, Pro and refinery and sold both to better homes.
I passed on at least 2 Robocop pins when they came up for sale and I avoided them deliberately.
Best advice a veteran gave me when I first started this hobby was simply this. "Buy what you like. Don't listen to what anyone else thinks you should buy". Thank you ME.
48 pins are currently @ Bluffs Pinball. I think I have 40+ others spread all around the place.
Last time I hit 120 pins, I quietly sold 60 pins off in 6 months to cut the herd into half the total.
This time around will be no different. I will start making choices to cut 90 odd pins to 48, just because it is time to do so.
Sometimes you just need a change, even for a great game...or games...
Great games that you sell just because you need a change or, you know you are done with them regardless of how good they still are is this interesting subject.
To summarize, I believe Phil (Mr.Hide) thinks people are nuts to sell a great game like Luc is doing currently with Tron. I imagine the same goes for Stephane's Tron trade for Spiderman in Phil's eyes too.
I dislike partially quoting other people's statement's like Mr.Hide does because you lose the essence of what the person is stating or attempting to communicate, so I won't do that here or elsewhere.
Phil's "feeling" that we "turf" a game because it is too hard is erroneous, as are his comments on for sale threads for the games Phil likes to hype up for whatever reasons + criticize those who sell what he likes.
Regardless of individual thoughts on great games, the purpose of my post isn't to get into it with Phil at all. Each person is entitled to their own opinion and I wouldn't bother trying to change Phil's mind on anything.
The purpose of this post is to explain why the opposite opinion of the same game exists; and that Tron can have it's time and place, and for myself at least, it's time has passed for the present and near future for it too.
Tron is a great game. It has depth. It is tough. It is fun. It is frustrating. Once you have the game dialed in, know the rules and you have the shots numbers all down, sometimes a given game doesn't "do it" for you anymore.
I purchased Tron quite a while ago to "learn it". The purpose was to learn, understand and play the game in order to beat Adam (Moving Pictures) at it during the Quebec provincial finals last year, on his machine in his own home.
I brought the game into my living room for a week while my wife was away. Drano helped me install the "eli ramp mod" in record time. Great game, fast, beautiful and hard. I played it at length nightly after the kids were asleep.
I beat Adam on his Tron in his home in 2 balls. I don't say that to brag, or to indicate I am a better player than Adam. I am not. I did it to illustrate the point that I could learn a new Stern DMD and know it well enough to beat a top player at the game. The result however was something far different than you might think...
I was momentarily satisfied at beating Adam on Tron. I did the same thing on Metallica and also beat Adam on that in his home on 2 balls. Robocop went my way as well. I watched a Bowen tutorial, learned the rules and practiced on Adam's for a few minutes before the tournament start. Adam was 1st in Quebec, I was 16th, and so it was myself vs. Adam in round #1. With wins on the 3 machines I mentioned above (by learning them thoroughly) I figured I had a decent shot at beating Adam. If Harlem Globetrotter's had co-operated, I would have. Adam and I both had truly pathetic games on Harlem, and Adam won that one by 3000 points. He won 3 other pins I didn't know the rules on, and it was game over for me.
I was happy and relieved. Why? Because the purpose of that trip was to spend time with Robert and help pack up and close RAB's Pitt street shop. I was happy to return so quickly to do what was important to me during that trip. While the competition in pinball seemed fun, and learning rules of machines was very important to compete well, the desired results were not to my liking.
What I had inadvertently done was learn 3 games so well at such a competitive level that the "magic" of those games are now destroyed for me, possibly forever.
It is a shame in a way, because they are such great games, but I no longer wish to own any of those 3 games anytime soon. Others may feel that way about selling popular games as well, for different reasons.
Sometimes it is just time for something different, or a change.
Currently I am aiming for 9th in league + tournament play if 8 are in the finals, or 17th if there are 16 in the finals. No further stress for me that way and no "magic" is destroyed. Perhaps in future I may feel differently about it, but for now this strategy will suffice. If you see me sandbagging it, I sorta am. I'm ok with it.
The results I am talking about are as follows:
I have owned 1 Tron and sold it to a far better home.
I have owned 2 Metallica pins, Pro and refinery and sold both to better homes.
I passed on at least 2 Robocop pins when they came up for sale and I avoided them deliberately.
Best advice a veteran gave me when I first started this hobby was simply this. "Buy what you like. Don't listen to what anyone else thinks you should buy". Thank you ME.
48 pins are currently @ Bluffs Pinball. I think I have 40+ others spread all around the place.
Last time I hit 120 pins, I quietly sold 60 pins off in 6 months to cut the herd into half the total.
This time around will be no different. I will start making choices to cut 90 odd pins to 48, just because it is time to do so.
Sometimes you just need a change, even for a great game...or games...
