Ask me anything (about slots)!

[trancemonkey]

Barring jackpot win, what slot has the highest x win ? Capped or uncapped,

It's very difficult to say... as some games are open ended... I.e Bonanza

 

[trancemonkey]

With regards to the game Ted and its "Psychedelic Bonus Boost", where extra bonus symbols allegedly are added to the reels before the spin.

Since this never actually seem to work, my theory is that the game doesn't do anything, the "bonus boost" just happens to display before a near bonus trigger or trigger with the end result being the same as it had been with no added scatters.

Have you heard about or do you know if it's common practise to "disguise" a normal spin as a lucky feature?

Let's say I make a game. In this game, every time you get a 5 in a row or better result the game enter super streak mode. Here the symbols are slowly added over multiple spins to display the originally intended result, all while disguised as a respin feature. No additional symbols are added, the spin determined by the RNG is simply a 2 line 5oak win.

The player gets excited as the symbols roll in for the end result, while the "feature" is 100% bogus, giving no different result than what the RNG originally intended.

Is this a practise that is used to make big wins more exciting or a wild conspiracy theory that I have?

I am thinking mostly about features that add wilds or extra symbols to the reels but not necessarily.

As far as I'm aware, you can't say you've added extra symbols to the reels unless you actually have...

 

[Scott1baird]

Was there a megaway type slot before btg?

 

[dionysus]

Was there a megaway type slot before btg?

In ways I suppose - Gem Rocks, Laser fruit, off-hand..I think it's just the engine and name are trademarked/licensed

 

[trancemonkey]

In ways I suppose - Gem Rocks, Laser fruit, off-hand..I think it's just the engine and name are trademarked/licensed

Laser Fruit was after. There were slots in land based that changed the grid sizes (and were ways games) such as Superman by aristocrat and Buffalo stampede by them also. They didn't work in exactly the same way though...

 

[Playford7]

In ways I suppose - Gem Rocks, Laser fruit, off-hand..I think it's just the engine and name are trademarked/licensed

Gem rocks has great potential, just a bitch to win on

 

[dionysus]

Gem rocks has great potential, just a bitch to win on

my biggest ever X win (online) - 4000x

 

[Playford7]

my biggest ever X win (online) - 4000x

Yep saw it a while back mate, played it lots, the base game kills me off

 

[Scott1baird]

Netent games, okay when you go auto play you usually have to always put in a loss limit before you can start the autos, and if your on free play you don't. Is this the same for all countries? I was watching a streamer big win earlier and his game crashed on Vikings then when he reloaded the game he brought up autoplay for 25 spins but didn't have to type a loss limit.

 

[NeverLucky]

Netent games, okay when you go auto play you usually have to always put in a loss limit before you can start the autos, and if your on free play you don't. Is this the same for all countries? I was watching a streamer big win earlier and his game crashed on Vikings then when he reloaded the game he brought up autoplay for 25 spins but didn't have to type a loss limit.

Not every country does have to enter an loss limit, i for example do not have to in Germany. I think its an UKGC thing, not sure though.

e:
(on some games i have to though, Playtech for example. So it varies across providers)

 

[4048]

In ways I suppose - Gem Rocks, Laser fruit, off-hand..I think it's just the engine and name are trademarked/licensed

Laser Fruits and Gem Rocks both were released long after the first MegaWays slots.

I can't think of any "random # of ways" that isn't megaways.

 

[trancemonkey]

Netent games, okay when you go auto play you usually have to always put in a loss limit before you can start the autos, and if your on free play you don't. Is this the same for all countries? I was watching a streamer big win earlier and his game crashed on Vikings then when he reloaded the game he brought up autoplay for 25 spins but didn't have to type a loss limit.

It's UK requirement. If he's not in the UK it's not a requirement. Some companies may implement it on a geolocation basis.

 

[Jasminebed]

Sorry if it has been asked, but how expensive would it be to change an existing slot with a set RTP to a custom one for a casino? Would a provider do it cheaper if they retained the right to licence that to other casinos? I do realize that testing and certification has a certain cost, but I am talking more about the game itself. Does it change a huge amount from game to game? I realize not all developers charge the same, but some ballparks would be interesting.

 

[slotter999]

Sorry if it has been asked, but how expensive would it be to change an existing slot with a set RTP to a custom one for a casino? Would a provider do it cheaper if they retained the right to licence that to other casinos? I do realize that testing and certification has a certain cost, but I am talking more about the game itself. Does it change a huge amount from game to game? I realize not all developers charge the same, but some ballparks would be interesting.

Netent would produce custom slots for casinos at a cost of around 100K I believe (possibly even cheaper). I also don't think they would compromise their integrity by producing slots based on existing designs but with lower RTP. Only the shithole providers do that in my opinion.

 

[trancemonkey]

Sorry if it has been asked, but how expensive would it be to change an existing slot with a set RTP to a custom one for a casino? Would a provider do it cheaper if they retained the right to licence that to other casinos? I do realize that testing and certification has a certain cost, but I am talking more about the game itself. Does it change a huge amount from game to game? I realize not all developers charge the same, but some ballparks would be interesting.

You're talking about taking an existing slot (i.e Twin Spin) and just reskinning it to a different theme but keeping the maths the same?
That's not overly expensive - costs of artwork vary a lot, but probably about 30-50k for art / dev / QA / compliance (this is an educated guess - don't quote me on this!)

If you want to change the maths, it becomes more expensive...

 

[BosjeR]

It's the opportunity cost that often does not make it worth it. You are still committing close to 50% of your efforts compared to a regular slot, but you've spent it on a skin for a single customer, which will never amount to 50% of the profits of a brand new slot that is distributed across all licensees.

For the supplier it's a lot of hassle with little upside.

 

[Jasminebed]

It is the math I am asking about. For example, I know IGT has quite a number of different settings, land based different type for say Cleopatra, for different coin sizes, and probably for different jurisdictions as well. Online at my provinces site is different from what runs online elsewhere. I can't remember what country, the govt site was at 75%. I have heard it is very low on cruise ships, they may not fall under any laws regarding RTP.

 

[Jasminebed]

But if a say a government decided to have a state run monopoly only, surely they would have deep enough pockets to pay for them? What's a million when you can improve your revenue by shaving off a percent or two and your net is billions. That is net. Your other fixed costs should remain about the same, except for some raises for the highest paid employees. It was 2.5 Billion in Ontario last year from slot play. Net. Not the black jack tables, the bingo halls, the lottery and proline. Just slots.

 

[BosjeR]

Opportunity cost would again be the main killer for projects like that to be worth it.
It's easy to change the RTP, it's not easy to make sure the game is still 'good' when lowering the RTP. You have to take the value from somewhere. The value of some symbols? Reduce the appearance of some symbols on the reels? Make the free spins bonus less valuable? Etc... a lot of play testing has to make sure it all is still acceptably fun.

And with a new RTP comes a different version of the game on the game server, which involves server guys time and QA. Then this new RTP version needs to get certified, again a hassle.

So it's definitely doable, but it takes time away from the most precious resources a studio has, so potential upside needs to be very worth it.

 

[BosjeR]

Sure for a large monopoly it's totally worth doing. There are many custom projects for big licensees. But it's not a common practice.

 

[trancemonkey]

Opportunity cost would again be the main killer for projects like that to be worth it.
It's easy to change the RTP, it's not easy to make sure the game is still 'good' when lowering the RTP. You have to take the value from somewhere. The value of some symbols? Reduce the appearance of some symbols on the reels? Make the free spins bonus less valuable? Etc... a lot of play testing has to make sure it all is still acceptably fun.

And with a new RTP comes a different version of the game on the game server, which involves server guys time and QA. Then this new RTP version needs to get certified, again a hassle.

So it's definitely doable, but it takes time away from the most precious resources a studio has, so potential upside needs to be very worth it.

Thanks for the answers J

 

[slotter999]

But if a say a government decided to have a state run monopoly only, surely they would have deep enough pockets to pay for them? What's a million when you can improve your revenue by shaving off a percent or two and your net is billions. That is net. Your other fixed costs should remain about the same, except for some raises for the highest paid employees. It was 2.5 Billion in Ontario last year from slot play. Net. Not the black jack tables, the bingo halls, the lottery and proline. Just slots.

Are land based casinos in Canada required to display the RTP to the customer?

 

[Sonict]

No. Even if we ask what the RTP of the slot is, they will not show us it at land based. All we know is that they can't at least for me in the province of Ontario be lower than 85% RTP.

 

[johnnybagel]

Is that common for land based slots in other countries too? I've only ever played online (UK) and im pretty sure they have to show you here, don't they?

 

[trancemonkey]

Is that common for land based slots in other countries too? I've only ever played online (UK) and im pretty sure they have to show you here, don't they?

The UK is the exception, not the rule