Payout periods...

[jstrike]

I've noticed people around here have pretty different views about slot payout periods. I guess everybody likes big payoffs and short periods, so there ain't much room for debate on that score. But I'm wondering if there's some kind of consensus -- maybe some kind of psychology -- about what's a good or bad period, if you take into account bonuses, jackpots and how big the spread is between the minimum and maximum bets you can put into the machine, because I think all of that affects what people expect.

Like, if a machine lets you put in $1 to $3, for 1-3 payout lines, would you expect that machine to have a much shorter payout period than one that had $1-$16 for 16 lines... even if the actual pay percentages were exactly the same?

Or, if you had an old one-armed bandit, for example... Would you expect to get paid every third spin with a jackpot 1000x the bet, and how many extra spins would you be willing to wait for small payouts if the jackpot was 2000x, or 3000x? And what if the top three-across pays were higher than you'd normally expect... would you sacrifice the smaller pays like single cherries if you got twice as much on three bells?

I'm trying to figure out how to design the most appealing slot possible to the most players. What would you like to see?

[Simmo!]

You're taking about variance here I guess. You really need some low variance and some higher. A balance basically. If you end up with too many high variance slots your players will complain they can never win and that they must be rigged. If you go the other way they will say they can never win decent amounts and therefore must be rigged. Whichever way, you should get a TST certificate on them or the trust will be hard to gain.

Cheers

Simmo!

[jstrike]

Haha. Damned if you do... damned if you don't. I mean, 95% is what it is, it ain't gonna replace your day job no matter how you want to cut it, unless it replaces one guy's day job and makes everybody else work a year longer. (That's all anybody's talking about where I am, anyway...only difference is the government is the casino).

What do you think about a slot that would let the player choose as they go along to trade off between variance and payout sizes? Too complicated? Or would that interest people? I mean basically it would just be changing the pay tables in a kind of "choose your own adventure" thing.

Edit. This idea just came to me. What if the player gets to draw a wiggly map before hand, like a roller coaster. Then you ride the slots on the roller coaster for 20 spins up and down... the peaks give you a higher % but fewer paybacks per hand... and maybe some things slow you down or speed you up... and the pay table changes every spin. Just a thought...

[Simmo!]

3Dice introduced a slot a while back caled Industria that allows a player to pick their variance by betting on different types of symbol actually...might be worth a look.