Please Zen, Don't Copy Farsight

[hunter328]

I love video pinball. I love real pinball too, but I'm not very good at it and although single plays aren't expensive being able to play a real machine to the extent that I can play a video table would be. That's what makes video pinball such a great game for me. However I just saw something that could change that and I really hope that isn't the case.
Farsight, the makers of The Pinball Arcade, are coming out with their first original video table, Ghostbusters. This won't be part of their TPA, but a standalone product. The thing that worries me about this though is that while it will be free to download you'll need to pay real money for tokens to play the table. This kills one of video pinballs biggest draws and I hope this isn't a harbinger of where the industry is headed.
Zen, please never go down this road. I have so much more respect for Zen than I do for Farsight. Not only because of this but also because of the quality of their products. I'd say close to half the tables for Pinball Arcade that I own have issues, some game breaking, and many that have been there for years. Farsight, IMO, just isn't a very trustworthy company. Zen Studios is.
Please please never take up this business model for future tables.

[shogun00]

I don't have a problem if they take up that business model, just as long as they also give us the option to purchase the table as well. That's the only knack I have against Farsight at the moment with this business model.

The token system would be useful in getting new people into buying/playing the main game (TPA). After all, if you look at the model Farsight is doing, you get 10 free tokens to start off with and you get 1 free token a day. If you have the Pinball Arcade app installed, then you get 2 free tokens each day. That last part is very interesting to me. Just by downloading and installing the free Pinball Arcade app, you get an extra token each day. That's a very good incentive to get new potential customers into checking out The Pinball Arcade.

[Rafie]

Yeah the f2p model isn't a favorite of mine, but in this case I'm not worried. Like Shogun said, if we're able to purchase the table outright without the token model, then it won't bother me one bit.

[BarbieBobomb]

Thanks for your input, guys! I can't imagine we'd ever make a table meant to take tokens/coins and not give the option to also just pay for it outright.

[lasvegaspinballhalloffame]

I'm speechless. TPA has had problems/ come off as very shadey since they started their TPA campaign a few years ago. A new low for them.

[Crumbles]

I know Zen and TPA got respect for eachother, and that isn't going to change from our personal preferences. One love to the digital pinball community.

The Ghostbusters license does not have anything to do with the standard TPA game. I say let them experiment, see if it works for them, and maybe or maybe not, they will change it.

[Warped Trekker]

Farsighted=very bad business model

I've stopped purchasing any of the Farsight stuff. They cant get their act together to fix the poor sound quality samples on the PS4! Whatever process they use to record/rip the audio from the original pinball table ROM's, is not a good process. Sounds like very low audio sample rate, like my original Soundblaster had ten years ago. 11KHz sample rate or lower.

The token thing is just the icing on the cake. Forget that. First people complain why video recreations still look like they are enclosed in a cabinet, yet they have no problem with paying for tokens?

[shogun00]

Forget that. First people complain why video recreations still look like they are enclosed in a cabinet, yet they have no problem with paying for tokens?

Keep in mind, that many of them aren't paying anything for the tokens. You start off with 10 free tokens and get 1 free token (2 tokens if you TPA installed) every 4 hours whether you are playing the game or not. They add up, so there's really no need in paying anything.

[hunter328]

I didn't realize it earlier but the Ghostbusters table they're charging for is just Haunted House, a table they already have in TPA, just reskinned with GBs stuff.

[shogun00]

I didn't realize it earlier but the Ghostbusters table they're charging for is just Haunted House, a table they already have in TPA, just reskinned with GBs stuff.

Actually, it's a modded Haunted House. They made several changes to the table, including adding a multiball mode.

[Rafie]

Actually, it's a modded Haunted House. They made several changes to the table, including adding a multiball mode.

I get what he means. It plays just like HH and it looks like it. I was disappointed by that btw! I thought they were going to make an entirely different layout that we haven't seen in TPA before.

[surf1der]

It's a reskin of Haunted House with some rule set changes. I wasn't a big fan of HH and I wasn't a big fan of this Ghostbusters table, but I see no problem with their token system. 10 tokens plus 1 to 2 more per day. If that was model for TPA I would probably not have spent a penny and thoroughly enjoyed it. If Zen followed this system, I guarantee you that I would not have spent a dime on any tables. Each game can last about an hour for me. I never play more than 1-2 Zen tables per session.

[Cloda]

...but I see no problem with their token system. 10 tokens plus 1 to 2 more per day. If that was model for TPA I would probably not have spent a penny and thoroughly enjoyed it. If Zen followed this system, I guarantee you that I would not have spent a dime on any tables. Each game can last about an hour for me. I never play more than 1-2 Zen tables per session.

Very true, it will probably lead to me playing more carefully which will arguably lead to me playing better and more consistently. I usually whack the ball around for the first couple of minutes to get the feel for the table again before I restart and start concentrating on specifics.