Not Compiling MAME - What am I missing?

[StriderDSO]

I've noticed a lot of posts that state there are benefits to compiling your own copy of MAME. I'm wondering if someone could tell me what these benefits are exactly? Other than being able to apply those minor rev patches and things like the highscore/no-nag patches, what else do you get from doing it? I've been using a pre-compiled version of MAMEUI64 and other than the nag-screens, don't really have any issue with it. I have been considering if I should compile my own or stick to what I'm using though, and would appreciate any input the community has to offer! Thanks.

[Paul Olson]

If you compile your own, you can make any changes you want to. If you don't need the high score save, and you don't want to mess around with the source code, there probably isn't much benefit to it. It is easy though when you use MAME Compiler, so there is really no reason not to if there is anything you want to change.