Billy Ray's

[bounceback]

as of the meeting sunday:

seems like all the games could use a little attention. monster bash is working alright, but frank is permanently down. usually this means he's one step away from not registering again. seems like the game goes through a phase after being fixed, where it's fine for a day or so, then the target bank starts having problems, then frank starts having problems, then he won't come down or register. it's not so bad having him down but it does mess up mosh pit MB where you can send balls up the center ramp to get them out of the way while you hit the mosh pit.

medieval needs its bi-monthly full cleaning and tuneup. it's working but getting really slow again.

elvira's trunk was stuck closed, would not open. the side scoop would sometimes register hits during "scared stiff" but that's a crazy shot to make. power cycling did not fix the issue. the plunger feels fucked up too.

AFM was still having the problem with the multiball lock not registering a lot of the time. power cycling DID seem to help this, for a short time (it was working again at the end of the night, after not registering before then.)

sopranos: both slingshots and the upper right bumper are totally dead, the other bumpers were weak. i was surprised how much having the slings out threw off my game. some people had good games anyway, but i'm totally expecting the sling kicks and kept draining like a doofus when i'd just watch a dead rebound dribble down the middle.

[ROM]

Also, the left flipper on Attack needs to be made flush with the lane. The flipper is above the lane, and so it does a stupid bounce whenever it goes through the lane.

[bounceback]

it's called a pass, mr. gratzer, it's how you setup a shot for the right flipper-- you're holding the left flipper up!

[ROM]

**BOGGLE**

I can't believe I was doing that all this time. I bet you guys knew the entire time and were just laughing at me behind my back, right? Right?!

[bounceback]

when you say boggle like that, do both your eyes roll around in your head in different directions? that would be ideal. then, if someone puts a single slice of kraft american cheese in your mouth, whole, right on your tongue, while your eyes are wobbling, you pass out, right? i love it.

[mystery]

Wow. How does one even begin to think about how to answer that question?

[bounceback]

by observing ROM in the wild until he says "boggle" again. we could speed this up by asking him if he wants to play a game of

see, i predict his eyes will roll, just like those dice. asymmetrically.

[ROM]

They most likely would. But that's why I always play Boggle with my shades on.

[bounceback]

monster bash still has a ball trapped in the upper pop bumpers, needs to be cleaned.

sopranos safe still rarely registers direct hits. not totally broken but not right.

AFM-- the super skillshot frequently does not plunge the ball all the way around to the flippers. the upper right martian target isn't registering, so you can't light martian attack or complete it when it's awarded from the scoop. the lock shot is working again, that's nice. the rubber or diverter on the lock shot ramp is positioned so that it kicks the ball WAY to the right, toward the right slingshot/outlanes, rather than to the right flipper. wish these things were fixed, i've been enjoying that game, wanted to go there to get my first rule the universe.

[ping]

This is mostly for the guy from QE that checks this site, but also for everyone who puts quarters in their machines.
Attack From Mars:
I know the machines here get played an awful lot, but the AFM just feels worn out as of late. As of 7/10 the saucer shot does not work right. Drop shot target in rear opens up immediately after front targets drop and does not register most shots. It seems the only way to register a saucer shot is to ricochet off the side targets into the drop target slot. Occasionally, the saucer shot will lock a ball for multiball, which I guess isn't that bad, but it feels like cheating. The martian target by the scoop seems to only work after the first martian attack is run and never during the first martian attack. Also, the right rear leg looks like it is all bent to hell, but maybe that's just me.

Sopranos:
Safe works maybe 1 out of 5 times and only from the left side. Left flipper feels weird.

Medieval Madness:
Works fine. However, the castle does some occasional, weird, random cycling during balls.

Monster Bash:
Plays fine except right ramp is impossible to hit, but that is probably just me.

[fathom22]

As of last Tuesday. Play pinball without the free Sauna!

Hopefully Slabtown will get some A/C in the back room soon before all the machines melt

MWM

[bounceback]

i've had that right ramp problem on that monster bash for ages, it's very difficult. last time i was in (month ago) one of the back legs on that game was torn up too. i'm assuming it could've been from someone trying to free that trapped ball that was there for a while (gone last time i was there,) but i don't think that AFM tends to have balls stuck, and it has the same problem. there are a few regulars at BRay's that routinely swing the whole cabinet of the games around and bang the shit out of them on every ball. i've been plenty hard on those machines myself over my time playing at billyray's, but not like some of what i've seen.

i would be all for those games getting really dialed in (they have been at times in the past) and the tilts set a bit tighter (again, something that was the case for a while.) i know some people complain about tight tilts (i.e. WOF felt that elvira "shouldn't" tilt, because he was unable to get 400 mil scores without sliding the front of the cabinet 2 feet from side to side to save drains,) but i would hope that keeping those games in top shape would be a bigger priority than catering to the abusers.

MWF-- you.

[bounceback]

went back today-- man, i'm bummed. this is one of my favorite bars in town, used to be late to work every day playing there, but there is a lot of wackness that's NOT getting fixed.

monster bash: there's a NEW ball stuck in the same pop bumper.
the upper left bumper isn't firing well enough and is trapping balls on launch. the whole area up there is filthy.
the right orbit isn't registering any shots.
during multiball, frank goes up, stays up, and does not register any hits, hence no frank light, no MOR. you can shoot the ramp to start multiball and it works, you can shoot it at the end to start the timed "last chance for keyboard," but nothing registers during those modes.
the left flipper is aligned too high/right ramp still very tricky.
whole table leans.
back left leg (as you face the machine) is torn out of the woodwork. scary.

sopranos:
leans right.
safe still hard to hit, but works sometimes if you catch it at the right angle.
slingshots fire super hard, and the stugots target sends airballs to the left outlane. common problem, why isn't it fixed?

AFM seemed to be working properly, just felt very sloppy and loose, MM was playing pretty good (ramps are working and all,) but one of the castle lights is permanently lit, there were problems with some other lights. all in all might've been the best game of the bunch. didn't play batman.

DID have the displeasure of trying to call in a problem to the answering service. took me 10 minutes just repeating myself to get the name of the location correct, then it was like trying to communicate in a foreign language with a phrase book-- "pop bumpers... no POP BUMPERS... P-O-P, B-U-M.." fucking frustrating.

why is it still so hard to be able to come home and write an email and send it to QE for the techs? they could print it and take it with them and not have to fuck around for an hour wondering what "pinball machine's broke" means, and then maybe they could actually fix the issues.

i am starting to avoid places that i used to LOVE playing because the SAME issues will be there forever. that really sucks. especially when the GCs went up within a couple of days of the games being perfect, and then they become untouchable because the game is fucked up.

[fathom22]

I'll print this and get the problems taken care of this week.
We have 3 techs trying to keep 1000 machines running including 125 pins in 100 locations so we get a little behind sometimes. The Bally/Williams pins are over 10 years old now with a million plays on them, they are getting a little tired and wearing out but we're still trying to keep them going since they are great games. Heck, a 12 year old NBA Breaksfast out earns a brand new Stern NBA that cost $4200!

Thanks for letting us know,
Mike w/QE

[ROM]

Was here on Saturday. I only played Monster Bash. It was playing nicely - no ball save, though. I'm not sure why they keep toggling that setting on this machine.

The upstairs has been rearranged. And the new set up is sweet! Three machines on one wall. And two machines in the other room with the pool table. The wall where the other machines used to be now has two couches and a flat screen TV. Nice place to watch Blazers games.

[fathom22]

Spent a few hours at B-rays today working on the pins, got them up to par and playing nice.

[inthecan]

Stopped in mid afternoon on Monday to play a few and wow, the machines here are really playing nice!

MM: One of the nicer one's in town, comparable if not better than the Conquistador's, a big plus is that it is right near awindow and you can actually see the PF much better because of this.
MB: Playing super sweet!
AFF: Plays great
Sopranos: Just fine, Stuggots drop seems way toned down which is a relief.
FT: Nice, good to see the lightning flippers on this one.