credit feeding

[DYNAGOD]

this thread is in regard to credit feeders and continue abuse.

I think the mame community in particular is especially prone to this kind of behavior due to the ease for which one can simply circumvent the coin mechanism.
This thread was started in the shmups forum, but iwanted to bring it over here to get a feel for the topic as we have the most cab owners here.

I strongly feel having an active coin door is the only way to truly achieve a sense of accomplishement by playing a game. That exhiliration and rush of  completion is facilitated by the potential for loss.
when you can simply hit the insert coin switch endlessley without consequence you loose something integral to the arcade gaming experience..
classic arcade games are tantamount to gambling in an abstract sense.by putting quarter on the line you have something to loose,and in doing so you increase the stakes,with those stakes growing ever greater with the loss of each coin till you eventually have no more..
when you were a kid in an arcade you probobly had 2-3 bucks or less and you had to make each coin count..or else your experiece was over, hence the loss.this made it critical to hone your skills and to focus on the prize..by eliminating the possibiliy of loss, you have effectively removed any challenge and as a result only hurt your own gaming skills and in effect cheapened what could have been a very satisfying gaming and learning experience.

like most worthwhile ventures in life,if you dont have something to loose ,then its really not worth doing..

[HaRuMaN]

BRAVO!!!  *claps*

[danny_galaga]

i have a functional coin door, but i tend to use the ipac short cut (except when im feeling nostalgic). what is your solution? to make it so that any money you put in the machine goes to the bank? like an elaborate piggy bank? certainly makes for an uber-kool piggy bank  

[Bgnome]

i would keep a free-lpay setup for casual play.  one reason is that i want my wife to enjoy it as much as i do and she gets easily frustrated at her lack of gaming prowess.  i understand that tying credits to actual money would cause her to train up her gaming skill, but im afraid that she most likely would not even play to begin with if its not fun for her.

[durak]

It's all about the self-control.. I usually leave some coins on a table and have the cab in attract mode with some game I like. Then when I just feel like it, I'll go on and play 1 or 2 games. That way there's some challenge left in it, as you can only get further by getting better at the game, not using endless continues. I do "cheat" though when checking out new games, much easier to get an idea if the game is worth playing when you have seen what it has to offer.  (that and those damn coin eating gals panic or whatever ehm... games )

I feel the fact that mame has so many games affects the gameplay equally much if not more. As an example, when my friends came to check out the cab when I finished it, they played probably around 1-2 minutes a game and tried tens if not hundreds of different ones. They did end up playing Puzzle Bobble for the rest of the night, but the point is that many of the games they tried might actually be good ones, but they didn't give them a chance. "There's so many of them and I got to try them all!!"
I myself try to keep the games I play to a minimum, right now there's probably 3-4 titles I play, with one of them getting most of my time. When I feel I've had enough of them for a while, I'll start playing some other games.

[DYNAGOD]

what is your solution? to make it so that any money you put in the machine goes to the bank? like an elaborate piggy bank? certainly makes for an uber-kool piggy bank

thats exactly it..at the end of the month ill open up my coin door and enjoy the wealth. take my gf out out to dinner with it ,buy new parts, who knows.. but it ensures that im not cheapening my experience.
your essentially investingyour money on the short term as well investing in maximum enjoyment  
even on my pc i purposely load up a maximum of 8 tokens on the game im playing..especially a shmup, i get as far as i can on that and then i unload the rom..
if i cant make it , i dont have the skill to and i dont want to make it, i want to be able to do it on my own merit. if your dying every 5 seconds, face it , your getting owned !! and you need to rethink your strategy and technique..not pump credits in quantities that in a real arcade you would never in a million years be able to pay for to facilitate cowardly brute forcing your way thru a game.

ironically enough no one would gamble if they won every time, its the possibility of loosing that creates the thrill,not the possibility of winning...

[fredster]

So I guess when I use cheats and invulerablity and infinate lives, you wouldn't agree with that either.

To me the coolest thing is just to hit the credit button or set it to freeplay.  I use the pause button too, couldn't do that in arcades.

Sometimes, when I'm losing, I actual escape out of the game, even mid shot,  and perhaps, yes just perhaps, curse, then pick another game.

I feel so evil...

[DYNAGOD]

So I guess when I use cheats and invulerablity and infinate lives, you wouldn't agree with that either.

To me the coolest thing is just to hit the credit button or set it to freeplay.  I use the pause button too, couldn't do that in arcades.

Sometimes, when I'm losing, I actual escape out of the game, even mid shot,  and perhaps, yes just perhaps, curse, then pick another game.

I feel so evil...

to each their own,if your deriving pleasure from doing so, continue on...
 i just think that as a matter of "personal opinion" that doing so cheapens a potentially rich and rewarding experience and replaces it with an empty sense of accomplishment.

[RacerX]

I generally don't play games with a "continue" feature because I'm "old school".  So it doesn't matter as much.  But I also only put in a few credits at a time when I play.

On the other hand, I have a buddy who comes over, and he'll pump as many credits as the game will allow or over 30, whichever comes first.  

[Dartful Dodger]

ironically enough no one would gamble if they won every time, its the possibility of loosing that creates the thrill,not the possibility of winning...

I would.

[RacerX]

ironically enough no one would gamble if they won every time, its the possibility of loosing that creates the thrill,not the possibility of winning...

I would.

Me, too!  Momma didn't raise no fool!

Seriously, I don't buy a lottery ticket because of the possibility of losing.  I already know I'm going to lose.  It's the *extremely slim* possibility of winning that makes it fun.

[DYNAGOD]

just a random thought..this is where timer difficulty could also comes into play.
if your playing a PCB like batrider you could set the timer difficulty to operate in the exact opposite manner it was meant to function in the arcade.
timer difficulty was implemented to dissuade people much like yourselves from dominating the game by playing for 20-30 minutes straight on a single credit.
instead set the timer rank to highest for short,instead of long.
people whom die every 10 seconds and continue to pump quarters in will become frustrated quicky from the increased difficulty level forced upon them for their poor play and it would likely prove more effective on these individuals than it did on hardcore gamers whom actually actively sought higher difficulties.

[menace]

I'm with Bgnome on this one, and although I tend to agree with the original assessment--i.e. having to use real money makes it more challenging, I have others that like to play and charging them quarters wouldn't be see as kosher behaviour.

people who visit my place expect to turn on the machine, pick a game and play without contributing to my retirement fund so mame will always be free play in my house irrespective of the challenge vs reward factor.

[danny_galaga]

what i definitely enjoy doing is seeiing how far i can get on one coin, especially games like raiden and robocop (although i dont get very far at all on robocop  )

[DYNAGOD]

This isnt about forcing your gameplay mantra on others, and certainly ,someone coming over your house probobly couldnt care less about the skill or challenge involved in winnina game. if they did,they would likely have a cab or their own..
what this is thread was meant to discusss was that eliminating something as seemingly innoculous and prohibitive as a coin mechanism, you could somehow manage to hurt the mechanics of the gameplay.
thats all.

[Mr. Dude]

I love having endless credits at my disposal for certain games!  Like Metal Slug, TMNT, X-men, The Simpsons, etc.  For those kind of games I load up as many cedits as that baby can take and play away!
Although for fighting games I'm a fanatic... usually if I don't beat the game on one quarter I'll stop.
That using your cabinet as a piggy bank idea is great though, I've never thought of doing that but I might give that a go.    

[fredster]

Sure DynaGod. Sure.

To each his own.  There are purists all around.  

Your point is well made.

But these aren't arcade machines. It isn't the 80's.  And I don't want to stare at my machine when I don't have a #@!#@ quarter in my pocket.

I like mame because I can finally get to the end of the game.  I like to see what it really takes to get to the end and what the end (if there is one) looks like.

And I don't have the phone ringing and kids to take care of in an arcade either, so that's why we have 'pause'.

We can also appreciate and celebrate those who actually did get to the end with a quarter as the leets they are.