Fruit Machine Chat

so it looks like this is how it is going, i doubt whether any of us would think twice but how will it take the punter?

I wouldn't pay a pound to play a quizzer. I normally play with mates for a bit of entertainment, and, between us, £3 last a good wee while.

A pound a go is too much for casual punters like myself.

I wouldn't say that a 'casual punter' would post on a internet forum for quiz machines though, would you? I'd say you're atleast a regular player who's annoyed by the pound game. I honestly don't know what to make of the pound game at the moment, but then again I didn't like it when fruit machines went up from 25p to 30p and some 50p.

I dont see how it looks like the swp's are going to £1 a game unless you have inside information. The vast majority of games are 50p each and where there is a £1 there is usually a 50p alternative.

I was trying to remember how much a diet coke/pint of bitter was when SWP price of play first went to 50p, anybody know?

Certainly inflation hasn't touched game terminals. I suppose the operators would think that a move to £ play is probably long overdue. As long as the punters are drawn along with such a move it can only benefit anyone playing for profit. If punters don't respond positively .........

I wouldn't be surprised if the £1-only nature of some of the new games on 55 (WWTBAM, That's Entertainment, Scrabble) heralds a general move in that direction.

For me, I'm a bit nervous about that, and that's speaking as an experienced and keen player. On £1 a play, the losses can rack up quite quickly, so you need to be pretty convinced a machine's going to be a payer, either from day one or pretty soon after. For games like WWTBAM and Bullseye, that's the case, although I've on at least two occasions lost £7 or £8 in a session on WWTBAM, a loss which would be unheard of on a 50p game.

For games like, say, Scrabble or That's Entertainment, I decided pretty soon that I was going to be at a serious skills disadvantage to other local players (all members of this board), all of whom have far better wordgame prowess than I. So I haven't played them at all. Had they been 50p I might well have done, at least a bit. So in that instance £1-a-play has meant the machine's lost takings it might otherwise have got.

I think overall it depends what the trade-off is. Both WWTBAM and Bullseye strike me as pretty good payers and I know it's been speculated that they're paying at 50 per cent rather than the usual 30 per cent. That would be very welcome unless it's a temporary measure to convince Joe Public that £1 a play is where it's at. Really I think the trade off I'd be looking for is a return to £40 JPs. Something like £1 play WWTBAM really ought to be offering £40 JP. That would make it competitive with fruities and retain the maximum prize of forty times stake concept. I expect, though, that the manufacturers are worried that would enable the top boys to drain the machines twice as fast. I think that's a dilemma they'll need to resolve if they want to make it £1 a play across the board.

Apart from the crap that came out before Xmas (Scrabble, 'Celebrity' Millionaire' and 'Is That Entertainment' I can't see any other evidence for games moving to £1 play. Yes there have been a few that have moved to a 50p/£1 play choice but everything else seems pretty much status quo.

I'd prefer £1 play since I'm with Properpro - the main thing which has taken its toll on my machine winnings has been inflation. Bandits have been increasing their stakes for years (they were 10p a go when I first started out) so I don't see why quiz machines shouldn't.

Crystal Maze was £1 a go and that was years ago.

But I also agree with Grecian - I haven't really bothered with any of the £1 games and the £1 play certainly puts me off even more. But then, I wouldn't have played those types of games on 50p play either, because they are non profit as far as I am concerned.

As far as I can recall the first game to have a 50p a go option was Quizvader in early 1992. I remember playing it in the Wellington at Waterloo, it wasn't particularly friendly and I left with my tail well between my legs!!
Having said that, to survive for any length of time in this game, you have to be adaptable. I would suggest that whatever happens a level will be reached and there will be success.

We cannot expect SWPs to be treated with the same even hand as AWPs, it has never been so since 1994 and we have no reason to assume a change for the better.

If you are concerned about the rising price of coke/water etc, try drinking a decent real ale. Saves 60p a venue or as an erstwhile colleague used to a blackcurrant and soda.

Pike

No one likes it up em.

donttellhimpike wrote: If you are concerned about the rising price of coke/water etc, try drinking a decent real ale. Saves 60p a venue or as an erstwhile colleague used to a blackcurrant and soda.

Not sure that's true is it Pike? In London a pint of coke is typically just over £2, whilst a real ale outside of e.g. Wetherspoons is over £2.50 nowadays for a pint. Also, one has to factor in the negative effects on winnings that ale is likely to have.

Ok, Grecian, maybe I did overblow the differentials a bit!! I was trying to say that there are cheaper drinks to be had if you look for them. Although I refuse to believe that anyone on here is too bothered about that!!

Coke £1.60, real ale £1.10/20 per half if concerned about playing quality then just don't drink it?? Or go to the toilet and cut out the middle man.

And referring to a previous post when I first played machines a coke was about 50p, sometimes less (for a half) and the credit to play the game was 20p of course.

At the end of the day drinks prices are pretty small fry - only to be worried about when times are really harsh. A small coke's about £1.20 and that's not much. Things like orange squash, or tonic water, are *really* cheap aren't they?

i know a guy who plays SWP (to a mediocre standard) who has the chutzpah to order a bag of crisps and set up camp at the machine.

but back on topic, i saw an itbox which may be test or a new release at lunch (have been out of the loop due to work) and whereas i'd assumed that £1 a play would be rolled out gradually with new releases, a new word blox* game was 50p and dual stake big reds was there. i welcome the pound stake but i hope that the £1 prize is phased out too. that is no good for punters or pros.

* a word game which uses deliberately wrong spelling in the title really is two fingers up at anyone who cares about language.

Istenem wrote:a new word blox* game

Any info about this? What do you have to do?

Found a Scrabble with a 33 tile (!) requirement today.

WaterGate wrote:I wouldn't say that a 'casual punter' would post on a internet forum for quiz machines though, would you? I'd say you're atleast a regular player who's annoyed by the pound game. I honestly don't know what to make of the pound game at the moment, but then again I didn't like it when fruit machines went up from 25p to 30p and some 50p.

Hmmm... i suppose i'm not a casual player in the sense that i'll always pop a quid or two in a quiz machine if i see one, and about 60% of the time i'll get my money back and be content with the 10 minutes or so entertainment i've had for no cost. However i was meaning to differentiate between the likes of that kind of player, and those who actively go out solely to play quiz machines.

I've pretty much stopped playing fruit machines since they went to 50p stake. Might chuck a fiver in one once a week or so, again with mates, again solely in the hope of getting a bit of entertainment for our money.

I suppose it's all down to personal taste!

roberto la vigna wrote:

Istenem wrote:a new word blox* game

Any info about this? What do you have to do?

mini WC. easy to get £5. joyless. small challenge in clearing. a couple of nice touches but it has feet of clay.