Thanks for the well-wishes guys! I'm sure it'll be nothing major, my old man's had one or two
of these removed (whether that means I'm more susceptible to them or not, I dunno. I know I get my pale skin from his eastern-Europeanness, but I doubt that's a "hereditary" thing, just genetic) and it's practically identical to that picture. So that's relieving
If you aren't keeping the ball controlled and on the flippers, and on target with the left ramp shot (or middle, the only other safe shot), it's a drain monster. Everything is midway down the playfield and everything sends the ball back fast if the shot is missed. Also, the outlanes are like blackholes.
Yeah, that's kind of what it feels like on TPA, although obviously ramps are far more forgiving.
A couple of reasons. Yes the flippers have more power than other Brides I've played, which not only makes the ramp easier but also makes it feel a whole lot more visceral and rewarding. But also, it's on default settings so it rewards extra balls as a random award whereas every other one I've played that is turned off. The gate up the top to advance toward the wizard mode is also set on default which is 'easy'.
Ahh... that makes sense, then. What might've happened is that for that particular machine, the flippers might've been replaced with Williams Fliptronic ones. I've read on Pinside that it can be done stupidly easily for System 11 machines and I've found that they feel a little bit "tighter" when comparing a Getaway to my HS.
I'd almost put money on that being it. If you look up Vid's Sys 11 flipper rebuild guide (I think that's what it's called on Pinside) it mentions it.
I'd actually like to give them a bash. I doubt I'll leave them on there but I would like to see how they play. Send me a DM on twitter if you're keen and we can work something out.
No problemo. I'll shoot you a note on there
Nice. And good luck on Saturday. It would be great to be in the international final together in February but to be honest, my confidence level is pretty low. The guys I'll be competing against are just on a completely different level than me. Both Richard Rhodes and Steve Edwards will be playing, 1 and 2 in Australia. I've beat them before but not for a long time now... They usually either win every competition they've been in, or come in the top 3. I'm yet to do better than 4th in any competition!
I'm really in two minds of how I'll do. On one hand, I've not finished higher than fourth in any of the three or four tournament nights I've been to. But on the other, the guy who won the state finals for AC/DC I've done better than every time except my first and the guy who won almost all the nights before I started has finished below me since I joined (although I never directly played him).
As I've (and I'm sure you have) seen in many of the PAPA videos, it doesn't come solely down to skill but there's a good amount of luck involved as well. I'm probably getting my hopes up a little too much, but if you play solidly on the day then there's no reason you can't beat anyone, particularly if they happen to have an "off" day

(I'm also lucky in that I found out at the start of the week that the iMAX right near work has an effectively brand-spanker Metallica LE that plays like new. With that and the Pro in Geelong, I'm getting tons of practice on both types of machines which is building my confidence up fairly well

. Oh, and the pub I regularly tourney at is the same location as these finals, so home ground advantage

) )
Damn, good luck with that too. Maybe you can take advantage of the new look and fashion a bandana like one of our guys in our league:
http://static.wixstatic.com/media/f31c27_5095bb7c0d75b604c1c29fca5dad077f.jpg[IMG][/QUOTE]
I contemplated wearing some kind of bandana, but didn't figure wearing it like that... thought I'd just wear it "normally" and look like a cancer patient (not far from the truth, bahaha).
Seriously guys, thanks :) I'll let you all know how it goes. If it's any consolation, [url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/21/basal-cell-carcinoma-hugh-jackman-skin-cancer_n_4319223.html]Hugh Jackman had (hopefully) the same kind of cancer removed only a few days ago[/url]. So now we have three things in common, besides being astonishingly charismatic and extraordinarily handsome.
PS. I feel for you guys who are experiencing slow internet. Really, I am. [spoiler]:P[/spoiler]
[quote="Axiom, post: 91683793"]When I was a little kid who had eye surgery and wore a patch over one eye, I got to pretend to be a pirate.
When I got shit broken and had to have metal bits permanently integrated into my body I felt this justified calling myself a cyborg.
The giant fuckoff bandage is just a giant excuse to pretend it's for a badass reason that causes you to walk into the Pinball comp as some hardened warrior that intimidates the fuck out of your competition.
Good luck![/QUOTE]
Holy shit, best idea: "I was playing my High Speed pinball at home with the glass off... fucking airball RIGHT TO MY FOREHEAD".
PPS. Mar, if you can be bothered, play BoP with the glass off. It's so wonderfully mechanical and rattly listening to the ball travel on it's eventual destination of the apron. I love it.