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League Behaviour

robotgreg

robotgreg

Site Supporter
10 Years
Joined
Aug 11, 2011
Messages
1,576
Location
Swanage, Dorset
I was hoping not to have to comment again on this issue and certainly not quite so soon after my post last year.

However, unfortunately there was an incident at the South East league meet on Sunday where a player broke the glass in frustration. Thankfully the person had the decency to offer to pay for the glass but this does not detract from the severity of the incident.

This type of behaviour is totally out of order especially when most of the time meets are hosted by people in their homes on their pride and joys and is very disrepectful to the host and indeed other players.

We have disqualified the player from the meet which is considered to be the least of sanctions that could be applied and we will continue to enforce strong penalties for anyone seen to be abusing machines regardless of whether it results in as much damage as on Sunday.

So another reminder please to watch your behaviour at meets.

I know there was a lot of ribbing about my earlier post regarding loud talking and being too close to other players but this was just common sense to respect and not distract other players. However, this recent incident is in another league altogether (wish it was another league and not ours!:))

I also need to remind and reiterate regarding swearing especially when young children are present as we've received a number of comments about this in different regions over the last year.

Neither of these types of behaviour will encourage new players or hosts to open up their houses. I know for a fact that we've lost potential hosts because of this which is a great shame.

The league started out as a fun and social event and an excuse to meet up with other players to play some pinball. Lets' try and remember that and try to not take it all quite so seriously!

Cheers
Greg
 
I was at the meet and this was an unfortunate incident. For the record, the player in question felt pretty bad and hopefully it won't happen again. I agree that people take the time and effort so their machines should be fully respected. Treat the machines like they were your own in my opinion. Having young kids (they weren't with me this time) I agree regarding the swearing. There were some young kids there and I heard some pretty terse language in front of them which is not on really.

On the positive side, a great meet. Cheers all.
 
+1 to above.

In my opinion anything outside of nudging/ bumping as part of regular gameplay (and even then within limits) is out of order. Causing actual physical damage is so wrong I can't think of the right way to describe how out of order it is.
 
Machines are made to be shoved but smashing glass is a bit extreme. Nice to see you be so lenient on it Greg, from memory most tourneys are instant DQ from that tourney if smashing glass and a reasonable fine.
 
Sgt GrizZ said:
Player should be banned from League. That is *way* out of order. They need to take a long hard look at themselves and question why they are losing the plot to that extent. I would suggest that maybe competitive play isn't for them. It's supposed to be fun on what is basically a big toy. Jesus.
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Seconded. I cant see how something like that is Justifiable, whatever the "frustration" might be. We all have bad games, and we all have a competitive edge, however there is no excuse for damage to a machine like that. Fair play to you Greg for keeping your cool - i would have gone mad, payment or no payment!
 
mufcmufc said:
Machines are made to be shoved but smashing glass is a bit extreme. Nice to see you be so lenient on it Greg, from memory most tourneys are instant DQ from that tourney if smashing glass and a reasonable fine.
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Well we have disqualified the player from the meet but the whole season seemed a bit much although was considered. Not keen to enter into any further debate on the merits of the decision.

Paul said:
Seconded. I cant see how something like that is Justifiable, whatever the "frustration" might be. We all have bad games, and we all have a competitive edge, however there is no excuse for damage to a machine like that. Fair play to you Greg for keeping your cool - i would have gone mad, payment or no payment!
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I wasn't actually there as not my region. Was Matt's machine I believe so kudos to him for keeping calm. Only advised after the event and actually don't know who it was which is probably better so can be totally independent.

Cheers
Greg
 
robotgreg said:
Well we have disqualified the player from the meet but the whole season seemed a bit much although was considered. Not keen to enter into any further debate on the merits of the decision.



I wasn't actually there as not my region. Was Matt's machine I believe so kudos to him for keeping calm. Only advised after the event and actually don't know who it was which is probably better so can be totally independent.

Cheers
Greg
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No debate required, but think it needs an update to the official league rules and perhaps include persistent swearing too?
 
bad news,

hope the person has learnt their lesson and gets their anger issues sorted

" I feel pretty, oh so pretty. I feel pretty and witty and Gay and i pity any man playing pinball today "
 
Agreed, no debate required. Ban required. What if they had of punched and destroyed a rare backglass or god forbid lashed out at someone. Sorry. Totally unacceptable. What impression did that give a first timer at a league meet, or a child ? Part of the reason I lost all interest in competitive pinball was some of the depressingly childish tantrums I witnessed.
 
Annual ban for that one, all UK competitions IMHO.

I respectfully suggest that it is far more serious than a one match suspension. I would be absolutely livid had that happened at my place. Glass everywhere, potential for damaged playfield, the owner of that game could have shards of glass all over that game now - in the leaf switches, solenoid sleeves ......

It is a huge amount of work to get 8 games plus ready for league play. Plus sorting food, moving the house around etc

Name and shame. This should be sack cloth and ashes time for the sinner
 
The machine in question was mine and I do not hold a grudge as I believe this will never happen again. (To be honest i would have been angrier if someone else's machine had been damaged) However the incident is unacceptable and deserves to be punished. I'm not sure if the fact that the meet was held in a bar had any impact on the way the machines were treated or not, but I think it's fair to say that some control and respect needs to be shown in future. I wont allow this to deter me from sharing my machines again and hope players will continue to want to come along.
 
Plate glass in a pinball machine? That's not normal is it? Surely it would only have been a matter of time before a ball broke the glass anyway...
 
I think the issue here is that league pinball relies on mugs/ well meaning idiots/ community minded people to open their houses to strangers and face all manner of risks

Theft
Damage
Wear and tear
Casing the joint
Vexatious slip and trip claims
Upsetting neighbours

So best behaviour is an absolute minimum expectation

Events like this will dissuade some folk from hosting. And that matters a lot more than a £40 glass
 
As an aside, I would like to apologise as I believe that I was a culprit of swearing at the meet.
 
Orders of magnitude here. Sticks and stones may break my pinball, but words will never harm it.
 
mark9 said:
Plate glass in a pinball machine? That's not normal is it? Surely it would only have been a matter of time before a ball broke the glass anyway...
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The game in question was a Game Plan Sharpshooter, I don't believe that plate glass was standard when manufactured, but there are better ways to find out what's fitted.
 
How do you even manage this? Unless you are smashing the glass with your fists which you shouldn't be doing anyway...
 
Matt Vince said:
The game in question was a Game Plan Sharpshooter, I don't believe that plate glass was standard when manufactured, but there are better ways to find out what's fitted.
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Yeah sorry didn't mean to make light of it, banging someone else's machine is well out of order, whether the glass breaks or not.
 
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