Thunderstruck?

[irebal]

Over almost the last six months of playing thunderstruck, I've averaged bonus every 142 spins. Over the last two weeks though (since tomb raider made its debut), I've averaged a bonus every 416 spins. And I'm getting terrible amounts on the bonus to boot. I know slots are not predictable, but it had been pretty consistant....but now lately it's been a real bankroll-killer. Is it just me?

 

[morose]

I played thunderstruck today, only 1 bonus in 350 spins.......

 

[Simmo!]

Over almost the last six months of playing thunderstruck, I've averaged bonus every 142 spins. Over the last two weeks though (since tomb raider made its debut), I've averaged a bonus every 416 spins. And I'm getting terrible amounts on the bonus to boot. I know slots are not predictable, but it had been pretty consistant....but now lately it's been a real bankroll-killer. Is it just me?

Ah my favourite subject

Actually, and I'm hoping its just coincidence but i've not had the luck on T'struck since the "change". The game *has* changed - its obvious from the laborious spin time and the "judder", but i think its more likely that its the "engine" thats been affected as all the "free spin bonus" slots have suddenly slowed down - Secret Admirer, Tally Ho, Tstruck and obviously Tomb Raider all run slower than a snail.

Why Microgaming would want to take the best slot machine they have and make it more boring to play is beyond me. Perhaps they are hoping Tomb Raider will take over the mantle but at $3.75 a spin and only 10 free spins in the bonus, i'm staying well clear.

If you assume the reels aren't weighted, then the bonus should still appear the same number of times (1 in 123 spins to be exact) as there are still 30 symbols per reel.

Tstruck will still remain my favourite slot but running at half speed it's not nearly as much fun as in "the old days", pre-Tomb Raider.

Until yesterday Ladbrokes still ran the "old" version but now they've upgraded and its totally unplayable as the s/ware there runs full screen and it takes 8 minutes to run 50 spins on my PC as opposed to just over 3 minutes before.

But i discovered today that Vegas Country casino still runs the "old" version of Tstruck. Much more fun.

It'll amaze me if it stays this way though. The casinos must all be seeing a vast reduction in the wagering amounts on Tstruck now. Its so slow and i bet like me, people wander off and play lower house-edge games like Video Poker to relieve the boredom of watching the wheels sluggishly drop! That said, its saving me a fortune

KasinoKing suggested we start a "Bring Back The Old Thunderstruck" campaign I'm all for that. I emailed one casino's support dept. and they said the game hadn't changed - upgrade DirectX!! I don't think so. maybe Microgaming have kept them in the dark.

If i was a Microgaming casino operator, i'd not be too chuffed that one of the players favourite games and potentially among the most lucrative had taken a hit like this.

Ah well. What can you do?

Thunderstruck R.I.P

 

[Slotster!]

IMHO, Thunderstruck and Spring Break have DEFINITELY been adversely affected since the 'upgrade'. Yes there's the obvious judder effect, but neither are anywhere near as fun to play as they were. I agree on the bonus thing, but it may just be that it's taking so much longer to play, it seems like it's taking longer to spin them in.

Stopped playing all of them altogether, and been giving the straight five reel slots a go instead (Big Top, Truck Stop etc..) nowhere near as much fun without the bonus to look out for though

I'm in with any campaign to Microgaming... Can't see them listening, but I agree their casino's must've lost an awful lot of money since the change. I know for a fact I've gone through far less bankroll since it changed...

 

[sw2003]

I'm in with any campaign to Microgaming... Can't see them listening, but I agree their casino's must've lost an awful lot of money since the change.

Finally a voice of reason here! Why they changed it, because their casinos lost too much on TS! That is why!

 

[Slotster!]

I've been keeping an eye on the percentage payout reports for the casinos I play at regularly. A couple of the slots percentages edged almost to 100% and, on one occasion, just over! I'm intrigued to see the figures for November!... If I were a gambling man D) I'd hazard a guess at the 90-95% mark.

 

[RobWin]

Microgaming needs a BIG SHOUT OUT !! Fix the Damn problem with the best games, this slowness and no bonus rounds for 300 to 400 spins will ultimately cost the casinos in the long run...what part of this equation does Microgaming not understand.

PS. I have a T1 connection line so I know its not my connection speed !

 

[Simmo!]

Microgaming needs a BIG SHOUT OUT !! Fix the Damn problem with the best games, this slowness and no bonus rounds for 300 to 400 spins will ultimately cost the casinos in the long run...what part of this equation does Microgaming not understand.

PS. I have a T1 connection line so I know its not my connection speed !

Funnily enough I emailed Microgaming support pre "D-Day" thru their website (about two weeks ago) asking them if the reels were in any way weighted. If they are, or i don't get a response, then i'd be inclined to suspect that the game payout percentage has altered aswell like you guys suggest. No response. I'll let you know if i get one.

Thunderstruck Statistics Pre D-Day
Pre D-Day, i ran some background tests to get 200 bonuses while i built my strategy (previously published). This took 29,529 spins to achieve giving a bonus round on average every 147.645. The average payout for the bonus rams was 41.57 times the total stake. 4 Rams appeared 17 times, 3 rams the remaining 183 times. (NB: Bonus rounds inside bonus rounds were not counted in the spin count or 200 bonuses, however they did contribute to the win).

But now the game runs at snail-speed, that'd take about 3 weeks to run a comparison unless we all ran some and pooled the results?

It may indicate if teh game has changed other than visually?

 

[KasinoKing]

Ah well. What can you do?

Thunderstruck R.I.P

SIMMO! - DON'T you DARE be so defeatist!!!
There may be only a few hundred regular readers of this forum, but there will be THOUSANDS of other people who are as pissed about this as we are!

If we all 'pitch a bitch' with Microgaming about this, with others that are bound to complain as well - they must hear and react to our global voice!

Give us that e-mail address so we can all send MG our views!

This fight is not over - it's only just begun!

PS: You said you were phoning them - did you discuss this?
PPS: One strange thing - I would swear that Secret Admirer is actually playing slightly FASTER after their change!

 

[irebal]

secret admirer

I'll second that KK...Secret admirer has always run at a snail's pace since its inception...it now seems faster (or maybe Thunderstruck's mind-numbing new speed is throwing off my perception ).

 

[Simmo!]

But i discovered today that Vegas Country casino still runs the "old" version of Tstruck. Much more fun.

...until today

The Curse Of The Tomb Raider Slot strikes again.

 

[Vesuvio]

I've just been playing Thunderstruck for the first time since the change & it's as everyone said, a very addictive game turned into something so slow it's completely tedious. Not getting the bonus feature in 615 spins didn't help either! If I wasn't forced to play slots because of the offer I was playing I'd have switched to a game with a much lower house edge (say VP) after a few spins.

I was trying to think of possible reasons for MG ruining a game with a high house advantage & came up with:

1) Bad programming/an error they're trying to fix - but this seems unlikely (maybe for a day or two, but not weeks).

2) They think that people will feel less cheated/think they're getting better value for money if it's slow - this is possible. If they've also reduced the payout the slow speed might help to disguise it?

3) Some stupid focus group told them the wins came so quickly they couldn't see what happened... but surely you can avoid this by just not playing with the autoplay, or changing the speed setting?

4) ...actually, I haven't a clue! Still, it means there won't be any temptation to lose money playing slots in future, so I suppose it's for the best!

 

[irebal]

My luck with it continued to be awful, particularly with the rate that the bonus spins were appearing. I finally gave up, which is sad since it used to be my favorite thing to play....but it's really screwed up now.

 

[Simmo!]

My luck with it continued to be awful, particularly with the rate that the bonus spins were appearing. I finally gave up, which is sad since it used to be my favorite thing to play....but it's really screwed up now.

I hazard a guess that the bonus spins still appear the same number of times, but because gameplay is now so much slower, you see them less often therefore giving the impression they don't come up as much.

Its definately less fun this way. Any money says they'll put it back to how it was at some stage...takers?

 

[irebal]

Not for me it's not. Before tomb raider came out, I had been averaging a bonus every 142 spins over a period of about 6 months. In the post-tomb raider period i've averaged a bonus once every 400+ spins. It might just be an extended bad streak, but combined with the slow speed, is no fun at all.

 

[The Dude]

I was playing Summer Break today (virtually the same game) at $9 a spin at Maple Casino and hit all five scatters within the first 20 spins. $9 = $4500. I tried to do a screen shot but I effed it up because my F-lock wasn't in the on position on my keyboard.

Nevertheless, I owe an apology to Spearmaster since it was his affiliate account that I wiped out. Sorry spear

I agree that the slowness really bites though.

 

[jetset]

I'm trying to run this down through MGS contacts. Can you guys confirm that this slowness and juddering reported earlier is still bedevilling Tomb Raider, Thunderstruck etc please?

 

[Simmo!]

I'm trying to run this down through MGS contacts. Can you guys confirm that this slowness and juddering reported earlier is still bedevilling Tomb Raider, Thunderstruck etc please?

Hi Jetset - i'll check tomorrow but it was certainly still the same on Saturday. I can take a good guess as to why this has occurred being a hobby programmer myself: the backend code that drives the reel movement is obviously a single block of code called by all "bonus spin" 5 reel slots. They altered it to make Tomb Raider slick, but as a result, the other slots of a similar ilk use the same code and hence show the same characteristics.

Should be a case of inserting a simple

if (tomb raider) then { slow; judder; annoy; }
else { fast; nojudder; happy_bunnies; }

...effectively

...IMHO

Oh and presumably there's another MG update this week to bring in the new VP games and new slots so maybe they're on top of this one and thats when we'll see a change!

 

[nightwalkeriam]

Thungerstuck/Secret Admirer

I haven't hit on either lately they both seem very tight. I primarly read here, but my 2 cents on this subject is about the same as the rest. I have went up to 500 spins with no bonus round, kinda fishy if you ask me, and nothing in regards to a bonus round on secret admirer

 

[Slotster!]

I was playing Summer Break today (virtually the same game) at $9 a spin at Maple Casino and hit all five scatters within the first 20 spins. $9 = $4500. I tried to do a screen shot but I effed it up because my F-lock wasn't in the on position on my keyboard.

Nevertheless, I owe an apology to Spearmaster since it was his affiliate account that I wiped out. Sorry spear

I agree that the slowness really bites though.

Cor! Result!! Well played!!! What did you get from the bonus spins??? Five beach partys. Nice one!!

 

[RobWin]

Microgaming's Silence ?

What is up with Microgaming's Silence ? Why have they not sent someone here to this forum to address this BS ! What does Wim over at Fortune Lounge know about this problem...... Why the hell is no one fixing this problem...this slow running S**T , and NO BONUS ROUNDS is driving me CRAZY ! WHO KNOWS SOMETHING ABOUT THIS PROBLEM ?

 

[jetset]

Hi Jetset - i'll check tomorrow but it was certainly still the same on Saturday. I can take a good guess as to why this has occurred being a hobby programmer myself: the backend code that drives the reel movement is obviously a single block of code called by all "bonus spin" 5 reel slots. They altered it to make Tomb Raider slick, but as a result, the other slots of a similar ilk use the same code and hence show the same characteristics.

Should be a case of inserting a simple

if (tomb raider) then { slow; judder; annoy; }
else { fast; nojudder; happy_bunnies; }

...effectively

...IMHO

Oh and presumably there's another MG update this week to bring in the new VP games and new slots so maybe they're on top of this one and thats when we'll see a change!

Thanks, Simmo - I'll fly that past them, along with Vesuvius's earlier observations which I felt were well thought out.

RobWin, I can understand your frustration but please try and chill a little - this will be sorted.

 

[The Dude]

...this slow running S**T , and NO BONUS ROUNDS is driving me CRAZY ! WHO KNOWS SOMETHING ABOUT THIS PROBLEM ?

Obviously a dedicated player, but at this point we should reaccess your caffine intake

Cor! Result!! Well played!!! What did you get from the bonus spins??? Five beach partys. Nice one!!

Actually the bonus round was a little less than normal at $9 a spin x 15 spins. I believe the total win for the bonus round was $153. But I didn't care at all about that...

I'll contact MG as well to give them a heads up on the slots situation. I'm not a happy bunny either.

 

[smverduzco]

What's A Bonus Round???

At first I thought my streak was over. After reading this, I am in total agreement that the bonus round slots have taken a turn for the worse. It has been weeks since I hit a bonus round on Thunderstruck, playing over 1000 spins at one sitting. In all fairness I will say that Good to Go has been generous, though not my favorite.

I found a slot Fastball at Bet Game Day and Vip Sports that pays off fairly frequently. I hit for $575 twice in one night.

Has anyone found the slots at Intercasino to be stingy lately?? Or am I being greedy after hitting the Rapid jackpot three times in a week??

 

[KasinoKing]

Has anyone found the slots at Intercasino to be stingy lately?? Or am I being greedy after hitting the Rapid jackpot three times in a week??

You're being greedy.

 

[Simmo!]

Thanks, Simmo - I'll fly that past them, along with Vesuvius's earlier observations which I felt were well thought out.

No problem Jetset - and yes they are still the same today btw

 

[smverduzco]

No Bonus!!

When I mentioned Intercasino what I should have mentioned is that since their last upgrade I feel that the payout on slots is considerably less. The twice I hit the Rapid Fire was a while ago. Up till the upgrade I could play for hours on a hundred dollar deposit. Sometimes cashing out, other times running it up to quite a bit and getting greedy. Now if I play 45 minutes I am lucky. Other than my new favorite Fastball I am becoming disallusioned with all casino slots. One example at Intercasino is the Fat Cat slot. I have probably hit the bonus 100 times before the upgrade never seeing less than $50.00, now I never see more than $30.00. We won't get into the honesty of their Solitaire game and has anyone had any luck with the Fruit Machine?? Please tell me the secret!!

 

[VPL]

MG Reply

Hi There All,

Microgaming are aware of the problem, and they have been searching hard to identify the problem.

They have addressed the issue, and all games should be back to normal with the rollout of the new games at the end of this week.


Regards
Schalk
www.vegaspartnerlounge.com

 

[poooh1947]

Thunderstruck!!!!

I have recently posted about the problem at microgaming and the continuous problem they have with the feature/bonus slots. This has been on going since the addition of there newest games, and has created quite a stir! Many people were requiring answer's as to what is going on, and from what I have been reading I think microgaming was hoping the problem would just go away or we are all imagining it! Many people have wrote microgaming and have had no response, until a recent post I ran across in another forum. I donot have permission to copy and paste there response so I will just quote one or two lines from it!!!
"The issues appear to have become more apparent through the large number of video slot games introduced to the casino software recently. a team has been tasked to investigate these issues and have the following to report."
It seems that they have concluded that the "problem" due to a recent feature change in the video slots. Now supposedly they are suppose to roll back to the original version in November until they can correct this problem????? Am I missing something here? Isn't November almost at an end? They are still playing the same!!!! If anything they have got slower. It took 2 hour's and 38 minutes to play 244 spins on Thunderstruck. I am not on dial up. Not a free spin in all that time. I have not had a free spin in over a month now. When there are problems like this with certain games why are the casino's allowed to keep running them? If a slot machine acted this way at any land based casino it would be shut down! Yet these online microgaming casino's have been allowed to continue, knowing full well there are issue's.
I think these microgaming casino's have lost more customer's then they will ever know! I can't spend the money if the reel does not want to spin!!!! I am one of those that did write one of the many microgaming to find out what is going on, but alas no response! It really is to bad it took so long for them to admit the problem. I have noticed that the individual casino's are staying well away from the issue, and are letting microgaming deal with it!!! (There perrogative) In the mean time just keep in mind until these issues are delt with, if you are a Thunderstruck lover as I am, they might as well post a sign when entering the casino!!!! "If you are going to play thunderstruck be prepared to get screwed" I beg your pardon all if that was a tacky word, but if I am going to get screwed on these faulty slots, I would like to be prewarned so I can at least get comfortable!

 

[jetset]

Guys, I've been liaising with MGS technical and executive staffers on this problem since soon after it became apparent, and I have experienced nothing but real concern that the players were not happy with the games, and a determination to sort the situation out.

In this regard they have been genuinely appreciative of the regular updates on what you have been posting, and they have noted and acted on your opinions.

I guess they could have been more communicative on this and other fora, but I don't believe there is any ulterior motive here whatsoever, and that a solution is imminent.

VPL's post as an operator affected by this glitch would seem to confirm this.

 

[KasinoKing]

When I mentioned Intercasino ..... We won't get into the honesty of their Solitaire game and has anyone had any luck with the Fruit Machine?? Please tell me the secret!!

I have tried both these games and have the secrets!
Excuse my language, but both games are total CRAP!

I could not believe how awful the Solitaire was - well not until it had stolen half my bankroll from me.
But when I tried the 'Fruit Machine' it made the Solitaire look good!
These are the worst games I have ever seen in any online casino.
Have Intercasino lost the plot???

BTW, I have never hit a Rapid Fire Jackpot, despite playing them quite a lot. I'm wondering if it triggers at a certain value. Would you mind to tell me how much you won each time? (PM if you don't want to post). Thanks.

 

[KasinoKing]

ThunderSTUCK!

I have to admit, I thought some posters were just unlucky, or slightly exaggerating about the lack of Rams on Thunderstruck, but I just tried it myself and you're dead right!

I played 100's of spins at my normal bet level and hardly even got 2 rams much. I was rapidly running out of funds so reduced to minimum of 9 lines x 0.01 to see if they'd ever come. Sods law of course, they appeared 23 spins later and I won a princely 2.43. WOW!

And this was on spin.... 533!

I'm giving ALL MG slots a miss now until I hear they've put them back to normal.
These games are now so diabolical, they are unplayable, even for fun.

 

[RobWin]

Obviously a dedicated player, but at this point we should reaccess your caffine intake

I'll contact MG as well to give them a heads up on the slots situation. I'm not a happy bunny either.

Yea Bryan, I think I had one too many cups of the ole java when I wrote that and just had got thru losing about two hundred on TS & SB slots with only small bets and no bonus rounds. Maybe they will get these back to normal soon.

 

[RobWin]

Thanks, Simmo - I'll fly that past them, along with Vesuvius's earlier observations which I felt were well thought out.

RobWin, I can understand your frustration but please try and chill a little - this will be sorted.

Hey Jet, I'm off the caffine and nicotine now for the moment, glad to see you working on this with MGS.... I want my old TS and SB back...thanks man

 

[jetset]

Solution is imminent.

 

[poooh1947]

TS&SB

I can't even come close to say how much I appreciate the feed back on these slot's at microgaming. I am quite sure I am not alone when I say we all have our up's and down's!!! Since the latest addition on video slot's though I think we will all agree they have some major problem's to work out! After playing hundred's if not more this past month I don't know how I will ever feel comfortable enough to go back in and play my favourite game! thunderstruck!
That is alot of money to lose on a game that they admit has problems! Thunderstruck has alway's been my main reason for playing at any microgaming casino, and they have left a bad taste in my mouth! My question is this! I know nothing about programming software, but when hundred's of people write to the casino's in question and Microgaming themselves to express there concern's with these slot's why it took this long for them to admit there indeed was and still is a problem? Are these slots not tested befor they are released? Did they hope it would just fix themselves? It did not take them that long to install the new software for the new games why so long to go back to the original that ran just fine befor the new one's were added? These are just a few question's I have! For the time being I think I will continue to watch the Texas Hold em poker tournaments on the tv. I am getting more enjoyment out of it then online gambling right now, and saving a bundle of $$