Annoying Things That Slots Do

funnymunny · Sep 15, 2014

Following on from a couple of recent threads (specifically 'Star of Slots' (started by 243 lines=daft) and 'Monsters, Candy or Sushi' (started by Mark_32Red)), I got to thinking about what it is that makes a good slot. In order to help my thoughts, I deposited at a few sites & proceeded to kill a couple of hours (purely for research purposes obv! :rolleyes:

). However what stuck with me during this research was not 'what makes a good slot?', instead, it was 'why the hell do they do that :mad:

?!'

Below is a list of things that I've discovered bugs me about certain games...

Zero pay when hitting 2x scatters.
Free spins that don’t re-trigger.
Wilds that kill a potentially bigger win. (Perfect example given in this post by amourgirl).
Random wilds awarded at the completion of a spin that then replace a scatter. (Yes, you may now get a (usually small) win, but you don't get to trigger the bonus round).
Random wilds awarded at the completion of a spin that still don’t give you a win.
Bonus rounds and mystery jackpots that pay less than 15x wager.
"Congratulations..." messages at the end of a poor paying bonus round.
Great win(s) at start of bonus rounds & then nothing for the remainder. (MUCH prefer dead spin, dead spin, dead spin..... BIG WIN. The dead spins seem to build anticipation. When it's the other way around, I can't help feel a little disappointed).

I'm sure if my balance had lasted longer, I'd have been able to come-up with a few more too! :cool:

I know game design is subjective - what I like, others may not (and vice versa). I dare say there will never be a single 'magic ingredient' that will ensure a game is a success & by the same token, there probably isn't one bad thing about a game that will make us avoid it. (E.g. Girls with Guns II has at least 2 items in it from the above list, but I still play it :confused:

).

Anyway, I am interested to see what fellow members here think & as it's all about personal preference, there's no right or wrong answers

Many thanks in advance

miso · Sep 15, 2014

Ah, here we go...

first the big one, which is absolutely killing me -

Scatters on first two reels...and no third scatter. For some reason it happens an awful lot on Egyptian Heroes, more than any other slot IMO.

and then the wilds on Lost Island. Even in non winning combo they stall the game.

PNEFOREVER2 · Sep 15, 2014

Bonus symbols during free spins that block a big win. Happens frequently on the Michael feature on IR.

Valhalla · Sep 15, 2014

Immortal Romance being a dick, that's what winds me up :lolup:

Seriously though... gotta be free spins that pay nothing or just 2 scatters throughout the entire bonus round :mad:

dunover · Sep 15, 2014

funnymunny said:
Following on from a couple of recent threads (specifically 'Star of Slots' (started by 243 lines=daft) and 'Monsters, Candy or Sushi' (started by Mark_32Red)), I got to thinking about what it is that makes a good slot. In order to help my thoughts, I deposited at a few sites & proceeded to kill a couple of hours (purely for research purposes obv! ). However what stuck with me during this research was not 'what makes a good slot?', instead, it was 'why the hell do they do that ?!'

Below is a list of things that I've discovered bugs me about certain games...

Zero pay when hitting 2x scatters.

Free spins that don’t re-trigger.

Wilds that kill a potentially bigger win. (Perfect example given in this post by amourgirl).

Random wilds awarded at the completion of a spin that then replace a scatter. (Yes, you may now get a (usually small) win, but you don't get to trigger the bonus round).

Random wilds awarded at the completion of a spin that still don’t give you a win.

Bonus rounds and mystery jackpots that pay less than 15x wager.

"Congratulations..." messages at the end of a poor paying bonus round.

Great win(s) at start of bonus rounds & then nothing for the remainder. (MUCH prefer dead spin, dead spin, dead spin..... BIG WIN. The dead spins seem to build anticipation. When it's the other way around, I can't help feel a little disappointed).

I'm sure if my balance had lasted longer, I'd have been able to come-up with a few more too!

I know game design is subjective - what I like, others may not (and vice versa). I dare say there will never be a single 'magic ingredient' that will ensure a game is a success & by the same token, there probably isn't one bad thing about a game that will make us avoid it. (E.g. Girls with Guns II has at least 2 items in it from the above list, but I still play it ).

Anyway, I am interested to see what fellow members here think & as it's all about personal preference, there's no right or wrong answers

Many thanks in advance

You could have saved all the effort of typing this post and said 'I just played Netbent for a few hours'.........

The dumbest thing I ever saw is on TFTUT when the turd gets shot on your very last free spin, triggers an expanding wild - for f*** all.

chayton · Sep 15, 2014

More than 3 scatters not giving you any extra spins or $

KasinoKing · Sep 15, 2014

Extra random or spreading wilds which go onto a space which is ALREADY wild! :sob:
(e.g. on Wish Master or Frankenstein)

Getting 2 or 3 reels totally wild (e.g. Sh*tStorm or W*nkDesire) and NO symbols match on the other reels so you win $0.00! :mad:

KK

chayton · Sep 17, 2014

Free spin features that give you spins at a 1x bet multiplier. "Congratulations! You've won 2 free spins at 1x multiplier!" :rolleyes:

And one more - I don't know if it's just me, but I don't like when a game has those little messages every time you win anything. It seems sort of old fashioned and honestly a bit patronizing when you're playing and you win back half your bet and the thing is saying, "Awesome spin!" or "Wow what a great win!" or something like that. Kinda like, "You managed to get through the day without pooping in your pants or jamming an icepick into your head, GREAT JOB!!!"

Nate · Sep 17, 2014

What Dunover said - CFTBL - Useless animation

Lost Island - Even more useless animation on Wilds / Scatters

Secret of the Stones / Wild Turkey - Same thing with scatters / Wilds... why play the animation when it means NOTHING.

Games without Quickspin / Turbo Play

I don't play those slots (apart from CFTBL) primarily for the reasons stated above. Game Play should be fun, not annoying.

Nate

bigjohn · Sep 17, 2014

The animation while the reels are still spinning. OK, you get 2 scatters on the first two reels, the next 3 reels spin for an extended period of time while you watch the third scatter go by 47 times on each reel then it when it stops all of a sudden they are not there. :eek2:

Now I understand it's just 'eye candy' but how about a more realistic representation of the actual reel strips?

Valhalla · Sep 17, 2014

chayton said:
Free spin features that give you spins at a 1x bet multiplier. "Congratulations! You've won 2 free spins at 1x multiplier!"

And one more - I don't know if it's just me, but I don't like when a game has those little messages every time you win anything. It seems sort of old fashioned and honestly a bit patronizing when you're playing and you win back half your bet and the thing is saying, "Awesome spin!" or "Wow what a great win!" or something like that. Kinda like, "You managed to get through the day without pooping in your pants or jamming an icepick into your head, GREAT JOB!!!"

funnymunny · Sep 17, 2014

Thanks for the replies so far... I've spoken to some ex-colleagues & this thread is being monitored for feedback, so please keep it coming. (I dare say there'll always be sucky things appearing in future games, but we could see future improvements).

pinkfloyd · Sep 17, 2014

i hate with a passion slots that have music that resets every time you spin

so you might get a couple seconds of a catchy tune and as the last line stops the music stops and restarts when you spin and it ends up sounding like a record that is stuck.

i end up killing the sound if i like the slot and miss out on bonus pop sounds etc (

if the music is background and on constant while the game is loaded that is great .

hoff1985 · Sep 17, 2014

yeah my all time hate goes for 2 scatters on the first 2 reels and no trigger. hate it!!!

quber · Sep 17, 2014

My hate is when you are playing on autospin and the game shows you every individual line win before continuing. I can see the reels so i know what I have won, just spin the reels again. Also on a similar vein when you are spinning manually and you have to click the spin button to collect then hit it again to spin, just let me do it with one click.

Oh and let's not forget the Max Bet button, if it needs to be there just make it set the stake to the max but don't spin the reels at the same time.

mathsboy1975 · Sep 17, 2014

I hate the "feature" of almost all slots I have played in which the reels slow up after you have 2 scatters present already. I suspect that this is supposed to induce a feeling of anticipation for the feature bonus but for me I just find it plain irritating. If the ratio of 3 scatter hits to 2 scatter hits were not so low then it would not be so bad. I find myself hitting the STOP button on MG games whenever this happens just to avoid this irritation. As others have mentioned this is particularly irritating when the scatters show on the first 2 reels.

243 lines=daft · Sep 17, 2014

Those times when the scatter symbol on the 5th reel seems to have gone on holiday.

I know that the likelihood of a scatter landing differs between reelstrips on some games but there do seem to be times when the 5th reel scatter just vanishes for five or ten minutes.

Also slots that reset to substantial total stakes whenever you open them (which can be two or three figure sums). No excuse for this other than trying to trip players up.

KasinoKing · Sep 18, 2014

Just thought of another one... no two!

Slots where the scatter appearing on reels 4 or 5 STILL makes a "chime" even though you have none on reels 1, 2 & 3 and so can NOT trigger the feature! :sob:

On Rival slots the expanding wild on reel 5 expands even when it does NOT form part of a winning combination :mad:

(If you have a 3-symbol win with wild on reel 1-3)

KK

QueenBee · Sep 18, 2014

1 x multiplier

I hate when the slot multiplies your win by 1 !!! For example Lost Island, where one wild results in winnings multiplied by 1.
How stupid do they think we are? :confused:

chayton · Sep 18, 2014

bigjohn said:
The animation while the reels are still spinning. OK, you get 2 scatters on the first two reels, the next 3 reels spin for an extended period of time while you watch the third scatter go by 47 times on each reel then it when it stops all of a sudden they are not there.

Now I understand it's just 'eye candy' but how about a more realistic representation of the actual reel strips?

Good point John - and that reminds me of a related gripe. I've noticed that the standard reel animation on some of the MG Quickfire games is stupid, it'll show symbols flashing by that aren't even ON that reel - case in point, Hitman. If you play it on QF the reel animation shows wilds on the first and last reel. Eye candy or not, they still should be taking how the game works into account and noticing stuff like that before it's released - especially in a game like that where the wilds are such a color contrast to the other symbols it's obvious they're going past.

aceking123 · Sep 18, 2014

not sure wether anyone finds this annoying but it has to be pick me features when you hit the collect first shot everytime time , this should produce win all , but many slots it the feature youve just 200 spins to find out first pick drives me mad :mad:

Balthazar · Sep 18, 2014

mathsboy1975 said:
I hate the "feature" of almost all slots I have played in which the reels slow up after you have 2 scatters present already. I suspect that this is supposed to induce a feeling of anticipation for the feature bonus but for me I just find it plain irritating.

Looks like I'm the only one here that like it.

That's actually a major reason why I don't put some slots on quickspins (it skips the "heartstopper" feature).

KasinoKing said:
Slots where the scatter appearing on reels 4 or 5 STILL makes a "chime" even though you have none on reels 1, 2 & 3

This should never happen. There's no excuse other than lazy, half-assed, careless programming.

miso · Sep 18, 2014

quber said:
My hate is when you are playing on autospin and the game shows you every individual line win before continuing. I can see the reels so i know what I have won, just spin the reels again. Also on a similar vein when you are spinning manually and you have to click the spin button to collect then hit it again to spin, just let me do it with one click.

Oh and let's not forget the Max Bet button, if it needs to be there just make it set the stake to the max but don't spin the reels at the same time.

Yeah, forgot that one. Hello, Play'n'Go :mad:

It sucks even more, because I love their slots.

Tirilej · Sep 18, 2014

Balthazar said:
Looks like I'm the only one here that like it.
That's actually a major reason why I don't put some slots on quickspins (it skips the "heartstopper" feature).

Nope, you're not the only one that likes it, but not on all games.
I play a lot on quickspin/turbo and the worst thing is when I can't have it fast in normal play and slow in free spins

In many new you have the option but not the older ones.

I remember they did some idiotic update to one of my favourit MG games, Alaskan Fishing, just so we could use quickspin on it, but it did slow down normal play a lot.
I loved the sound before and it's still there, but if you get any feature the volume is 10x higher. Im trying to have it on and change it but I shuldn't need to.
I've stopped playing it instead.

The same with a lot of other games. When there is a scatter it's really a screaming noise, or if you get a win with a wild :confused:

IR and TDK are perfect examples.
I know in many games you can change and turn some of the noices off, but wouldn't it be easier to not make the volume so much different?

dunover · Sep 18, 2014

I actually like the slow 'heartstopper' spin after 2 scatters. Makes it a bit more satisfying when it drops. On MG downloads you can always cheat anyway and click your balance to see if it's increased by 3 scatters. I must admit the chiming when one hits first on reel 4 is pointless as you can't hit the 3-scatter trigger. Yes, very annoying.

Annoying Things That Slots Do

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