Nebraska Thread

eldiablo3005 · 06-20-2006, 03:02 AM

Yay, we have Happy Sky.

allsop · 06-20-2006, 03:03 AM

Yeah, and a couple of chyinks from Ayrifca stole the speaker pops. Damn them.

eldiablo3005 · 06-20-2006, 03:04 AM

You should have stole them. Then you could have sold them for like $234968

allsop · 06-20-2006, 03:04 AM

Yeah, that's true. I really regret not taking them now. =(

eldiablo3005 · 06-20-2006, 03:11 AM

Das wut u get boy 4 bein stoop'd

DualEdge · 06-22-2006, 03:29 PM

Important change being made to Wednesday nights. It will no longer be 1-token Wednesday, but instead the dance games will have their Joint Premium options enabled. This means that 2 people can dance for the price of 1. This will go into effect next Wednesday.

Brazoliange · 06-22-2006, 06:28 PM

I realize you probably have really little to no control over this, but it's not a beneficial change to any of us... we mostly come to play IIDX, GF/DM, and Para anyways. And it's generally not like we have more money we'd keep spending, so it just means we'll only be able to come play for a few hours instead of all day... With this set in place there's no real reason for anyone to come Wednesday (compared to other nights) except to play dancing games with a friend (which, as pads/sensors at FFC have been lately, are barely worth playing even for a quarter).

For anyone thinking of heading out to play DDR, Planet X's Extreme pads are worse than ever. I couldn't get less than 3 misses on any song I played, and I was getting upwards of 20 greats per song than my normal scores.

Trick · 06-22-2006, 07:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DualEdge

Important change being made to Wednesday nights. It will no longer be 1-token Wednesday, but instead the dance games will have their Joint Premium options enabled. This means that 2 people can dance for the price of 1. This will go into effect next Wednesday.

Bummer, is there a reason the policy is changing? It always seemed like the games made so much more money on Wednesdays compared to the rest of the week.

DualEdge · 06-22-2006, 07:46 PM

I'm not really in a position where I can say much about this. We are fully aware that this will likely turn away some regulars, and while that's not our intention, it is what we are going to be doing right now. We are not trying to take advantage of you (I know it probably seems that way, but seriously it's not). The only thing I can offer is that this was always intended to be a school-season promotion, and we might go back to it once fall rolls around, but I don't know for sure. You may continue to ask questions and voice concerns, but just know that I can only say so much. I do hope that you continue to come in despite this sudden change.

Trick · 06-22-2006, 11:11 PM

I never meant to word it like I thought you were taking advantage of the regulars, I was just a little curious

I'm sure the reasons behind it are legitimate.

allsop · 06-23-2006, 01:33 AM

Yeah, it seems as though FFC is just losing money, period. I'm just assuming that's why you guys are renting that space out to Deals Depot, anyway.

And DualEdge, I don't want you to feel like our frustration is being directed towards you in any way. I know it's not your fault, and I know that the employees can only do so much, and that management will be management.:disgust: It seems like FFC just can't afford to keep up with some of the luxuries it's been providing for it's loyal fans for years.

I'm also aware that the, (if any) profit that FFC sees from the Bemani section pales in comparison to the other parts of the arcade. Bemani, at least in America, doesn't usually make money, and that's why it's so hard for arcade owners to subject themselves to the financial beating they have to endure while running these machines.

My only suggestion as a loyal patron of FFC would be to think of something, ANYTHING else to cut besides the one token Wednesday special. (DOES THE CYBER CAFE COME TO MIND, ANYONE?)

I mean, if you think about it, there are 10 Bemani machines with 2 sides to each machine. So, at most, 20 people can be playing a Bemani game at any given time. (Assume all games are in semi-working condition) Now, let's say on a Wednesday, on average, there are 10 people playing Bemani, or one person on each machine. The average game of Bemani takes roughly 10 minutes, depending on the skill of the player, selected mode, and the choice of music. That means the Bemani section as a whole would be pulling around $15 an hour on Wednesdays. (Keep in mind I'm using a very low average, based on what I've seen over the past 2 to 3 years). (Also, keep in mind that some games may be shorter than others, and there WILL be plenty of failed games, which adds up to more money being spent)

So, $15 an hour, which can be applied to all hours after around 2pm, which is when people usually start coming in for Bemani, from what I've seen. So, that's around ten hours of decently solid business, at $15 an hour, which works out to $150 for the night, from the Bemani section, on average, on one-token Wednesdays. (I'll get to the other profits later)

Now, if you do the same math, but with three tokens, that number would obviously be three times more, at $450. But, the thing is, approximately half of the people that usually show up will most likely NOT BE THERE. So, we change the math a little, to reflect the eagerness of patrons to play Bemani, and the number of patrons willing to pay full price on Wednesdays. I'll just make it easy and cut the number of people playing per hour at full price to 5 people, or one for every two machines. I'll also shave off two hours of solid business, because odds are, people aren't going to want to go early and spend the day, if they know they're going to have to spend quite a bit more to do so.

Anyway, 5 people X 3 tokens = 15 tokens, X 6 increments of 10 minutes per hour = 90 tokens, X 8 hours, = 720 tokens, or $180

WOW. On average, if FFC gets rid of one-token Wednesdays, they would probably make around $30 more, right? WRONG. Keep in mind the the patrons of the Bemani section on Wednesday aren't only there for Bemani, and play other games as well. A lot of times those games are fighters, ticket games, and other novelty games that are played while waiting in the coin line. If the number of people were cut in half, then all of THOSE profits would ALSO be cut in half.

Now I know this analysis is comprised only of guestimates, but I think most would agree that those estimates are pretty accurate when it comes down to it. The bottom line is, the more people you bring into your establishment, the more money they are going to bring with them and spend. That is just a simple fact of business. By doing this, FFC is turning away otherwise-loyal customers with hopes of gaining a little money. When in reality, I wouldn't be surprised if this was a move that caused them to lose money.

ANYWAY. I'm sorry for that incredibly long rant, but I just had to analyze the situation from a business standpoint just to see if FFC would have a chance to come out on top. Odds are, they won't.

Cheers!
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eldiablo3005 · 06-25-2006, 02:07 AM

Since no one has mentioned this yet...The number 1 key on the IIDX machine is ALWAYS giving problems. I think that some other key was sticky as well...The scratch on that side is sometimes messed up, but it's not as much. Also, the Drummania machines are freezing periodically making is really gay to play. The pads are getting worse and worse even though they have always been bad. The session mode rarely works as well. Andrew (I think) and I tried numerous times to play, but it would get the session error. Alex Bennie played one song and got the session error too.

To me, all of the machines are progressively getting worse and worse. That's something that really turned me away from the bemani games down at ffc

Brazoliange · 06-25-2006, 03:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eldiablo3005

Since no one has mentioned this yet...The number 1 key on the IIDX machine is ALWAYS giving problems. I think that some other key was sticky as well...The scratch on that side is sometimes messed up, but it's not as much. Also, the Drummania machines are freezing periodically making is really gay to play. The pads are getting worse and worse even though they have always been bad. The session mode rarely works as well. Andrew (I think) and I tried numerous times to play, but it would get the session error. Alex Bennie played one song and got the session error too.

To me, all of the machines are progressively getting worse and worse. That's something that really turned me away from the bemani games down at ffc

agreed on all of this. the only machines that don't regularly hand out errors and waste your money are 2P on IIDX, para, and KBM.

if anyone's planning on going, don't play the right side of Extreme unless you want to risk one of the arrows going dead mid-song and failing you. the 1P regularly gives out greats and the up/down arrows particularly tend to give pad misses.

it's extremely hard to AA songs on either pad of Max2 because they give too many pad misses.

5th mix pads usually don't give pad misses, but if you want to PA it the pads at Nickel-A-Play are much cleaner/better (aside from the fact that it's also cheaper at NAP).

the 1P on Happy Sky was bad enough last week that everyone stopped playing 3-4 hours before we left. people failed songs on l7 because there were lots of times that the 1 key STOPPED WORKING ENTIRELY. 2p's fine though.

I don't play gf so I can't comment

both of the drummania's give out lots of errors either when just picking a song or trying to session, and it usually takes a half-hour or more for someone to come over and reset after we come and ask =p I understand it's busy sometimes, but it doesn't make people want to wait around for a half-hour to play another game.

it's especially ludicrous to expect people to come pay 75-cents a game for this quality. the max2 at 20 grand is better, the 5th mix at nickel-a-play is better, any DDR Extreme in Omaha/Bellevue is better =p I understand it can be a lot to handle but I'd expect someone could go through and clean it all once every week or 2...

just a heads-up for anyone thinking of making a trip out.

eldiablo3005 · 06-26-2006, 03:09 PM

Last time I played GF the 2P was acting up again, but it wasn't nearly as bad as it was before. The 1P seemed fine at the time, so I'm sure that one is ok.

***June.H*** · 06-26-2006, 09:52 PM

Last my friend and I went to FFC two weeks ago, the 1P side had a couple more problems than one button not working (apparently it was a circuit problem).

And damn, get a smaller stool for DM! Please!

DualEdge: Scott told me about your guys' plight with the GF11/DM10. Did you just add the e-amuse kits to the pre-existing upgrade?