Question What slot features do you hate?

[Casinomeister]

After my experience in Malta last week (upcoming newsletter - stay tuned), I was thinking about slot features that I hate. Some come to mind:

Scatters that only pay out if they are in a certain pay line - hell these are SCATTERS, and should be treated as such.

Getting two out of three scatters and nothing happens. I like to to at least have my funds returned.

Getting an expandable wild, and it makes a big hullabaloo with bells and whistles, and there is no win.

What sayeth thou?

 

[Jono777]

Certainly agree on the 'No pay for 2 scatters' just give us 1x at least, you'll get it back next 'click'

Also...

Extra Scatters which are meaningless (Jack and the Beanstalk springs to mind)

Features which are no different from base games (apart from not using credits/balance) - (EG:Wild Rockets??)

Extra Wild features, where looking at regular play, exactly what extra wilds are those then ?? (EG:Jurassic Park)

Countless Re-triggers into hundreds of FS but still penny wins (EG: Raging Rhino, Montezuma) if you don't wanna pay me, then simply don't re-trigger

 

[Casino2014man]

Waiting for Wizard of Oz to give 2 or 5x of a 15p win on Glinda

Watching the wilds flash and add up on Lost Island for no win

Slots where 5x scatter doesn't pay!

 

[mcgameboy]

How long have you got Bryan? lol

I'll come up with my erm...."rap sheet" later.

 

[Cocochanel]

Pick me where the first one you hit is collect or one out off 3 you pick the lowest bonus most of the times.

 

[Wild Reels]

The worst has to be on NetEnt slots, not a feature as such but after the feature where it says "Congratulations you won 0 coins" after the worlds worst bonus round

nothing like kicking a man whens hes down

 

[Cocochanel]

Getting a free spins bonus round on WMS and the game freezes and it takes 3 or 4 days to fix it......I JUST HATE IT

 

[brianmon]

5-20x stake is NOT a 'BIG WIN'. So don't make a fuss about it (I love the way that DOA can drop 2500x into your balance for 5 scatters, without any kind of fuss)

 

[dunover]

MY (c)rap sheet:

4-scatter 'trigger of doom' on MG games - you know for the 20x stake it pays that the bonus round will be shite 99% of the time.

Raping Rhino - endless retriggers and getting BoG (bonus frickin' guarantee) after 33 spins.

4-scatter trigger of doom on Netent where it SHOULD benefit you like Evolution and TFTUT - the 5 extra spins usually play out first with sod-all so you effectively start the action at 10 free spins anyway.

AND THAT F*CKING MORONIC, POINTLESS, ILLOGICAL AND INFLAMMATORY BIT OF INANITY ON TFTUT - YOU GET THE TARGET ON YOUR LAST FREE SPIN WHEN IT CAN'T ACHIEVE ANYTHING AND INSTEAD OF KILLING THE BONUS ROUND LIKE IT SHOULD, YOU GET A SUPERFLUOUS, UNNECESSARY AND IRKSOME VIDEO OF THE TURD BEING HARPOONED!!!



WHY?????????

 

[vinylweatherman]

Free spins where the scatters can't retrigger, but still have to get in the way and block line wins.

Free spins with a 1x multiplier, worse still if no retrigger possible.

Slots (RTG springs to mind) where a really good free spin round is cut short at 2000x stake or similar due to an RTP and variance robbing upper limit that prevents the rare but truly spectacular bonus round payout.

As this is not necessarily restricted to online slots, the worst "feature" of all I have encountered is a land slot that pays "air" instead of the win due to lack of coins or a jam in the payout mechanisms. Most UK fruit machine players will know what I am on about, and may well get angry just reading this and being reminded of some of their worst experiences.

My worst is probably well over £100 worth of "air" paid out after the coins ran out on a £500 jackpot machine when they first came out. This seems to have been corrected in 2015 as many such machines now pay Vegas style "tickets" rather than money, which can be redeemed for notes as well as £1 coins at separate payout kiosks. I am sure that eventually some lazy technician will fail to restock these payout kiosks, and the "air pay" will again haunt me.

 

[dunover]

Free spins where the scatters can't retrigger, but still have to get in the way and block line wins.

Free spins with a 1x multiplier, worse still if no retrigger possible.

Slots (RTG springs to mind) where a really good free spin round is cut short at 2000x stake or similar due to an RTP and variance robbing upper limit that prevents the rare but truly spectacular bonus round payout.

As this is not necessarily restricted to online slots, the worst "feature" of all I have encountered is a land slot that pays "air" instead of the win due to lack of coins or a jam in the payout mechanisms. Most UK fruit machine players will know what I am on about, and may well get angry just reading this and being reminded of some of their worst experiences.

My worst is probably well over £100 worth of "air" paid out after the coins ran out on a £500 jackpot machine when they first came out. This seems to have been corrected in 2015 as many such machines now pay Vegas style "tickets" rather than money, which can be redeemed for notes as well as £1 coins at separate payout kiosks. I am sure that eventually some lazy technician will fail to restock these payout kiosks, and the "air pay" will again haunt me.

Eh?? What game was that - I never saw one that did that, S16 or B3 because they are digital and put the balance on the screen 'call attendant'!!

You must be referring to a club 500 with the old electromechanical coin tubes?

 

[Simmo!]

- Not being able to skip a coin count up
- 4 or 5 scatters that don't pay
- Random wild reels that only reveal left to right
- Bet increments that practically double (or worse) when you try to increase your bet.
- Constant wins paying a fraction of your bet (just scrap 'em and make the top pays bigger!)
- Reels that spin too slowly (ie Dead or Alive)
- Reel strips that show symbols that don't exist on that reel (ie: Hitman and most RTG slots)
- Sequential bonus rounds where you have no say (Avalon II)
- Wilds that expand when there is no winning combo
- Slots depicting old men wearing loud shirts and drinking beer
- Symbols that land with a slight bounce and make you seasick

 

[mina1929]

I hate the bonus round in blood suckers where you pick the coffins, rather just have the free spins.

Another one is games where they don't pay for the two scatters like eagle wings etc

 

[Harry_BKK]

- Wild in base pay should always double your win, e.g. T2, IR
- 2 scatter should at least pay 1xbet
- 4 or 5 scatter should give higher amount of FS or higher multiplier
- 3 or 5 (Jack Hammer 2) scatter should at least pay 3 x bet
- pick bonuses should not end if pick 1 is "collect". It should be either "win all" or at least 1 x "second chance"
- FS should always retrigger in bonus rounds; e.g. Loaded where regularly you get 3xscatter during FS and nothing happens
- big win music only if win is 50xbet or higher (20×bet is not a big win!!!!)
- player should have the option to replay bonus rounds - MG Aussie themed 9-line slot "No Worries" offers that, see screenshot below:



- stop placing 1 scatter in a position to block a good 5OAK base win; i see it happening just too often to believe it is random
- wild storm or wild desire (T2, IR) feature should always pay something, after all you wait sometimes 1000 spins to get it. Shitting in your face then with only 1 reel turning wild with no pay or worse, 2 or 3 reels turning wild and still no pay is an insult to the player who lost a ton to get the feature
- all slots should have quick spin
- introduce a button somewhere on the screen to skip coin count
- introduce a button somewhere on the screen to allow the player to take a screenshot

 

[mcgameboy]

Most have already covered a lot of the things I dislike.

The ones I dislike the most are...

A Wild Reels feature that pays zero (ie Shitstorm, Wild Desire, T-Rex free spins).

A Wild Reels feature where the reels are turned wild from left to right (takes all the surprise out of it).

Bouncing reels (particularly annoying on a "failed heartstopper" when you get 2 scatters and see the third one stop one row short of landing) - this used to get on my wick so much on games like IR that I actually started to play them at Quickspin settings.

The dreaded 4 scatter trigger of a NetEnt feature - the turd is easily the biggest offender here.

Free spin rounds with a multiplier of 1x.

Random wild features that might not improve your win (aka Dark Knight Batman Vision and "Flaming Wilds" where "extra" wilds are placed over already existing wilds).

General all round "wild wastage", especially during features where all wins are multiplied by 5x.

Getting a choice of features when you know one has huge win potential, while the other does not - for example, having to pick from either
"Whispering Woods" (Choose A Shield) or "Forest Falls" (Trailing Wilds) on Avalon 2.

Scatters that cannot re-trigger and/or pay acting as win blockers during free spins.

Games where a 5OAK in the base game doesn't even represent a profitable bet (eg 5OAK of 9s on Finer Reels pays 1x bet).

Micro wins that can go as low as 0.04x stake (Break Away, Leagues Of Fortune etc).

And one that really bugs me....after a FS round on Avalon ends, the ridiculous likelihood that the very next spin will contain a plethora of wilds, chests and crowns that would have resulted in a monster 5OAK win had it occurred during the FS round that had just finished.

Raging Rhino - A 4,096 ways slot that has an "ultimate" win of only 879 ways (729 ways of rhino plus 150 of crocodile). It may be more than that
(it might be possible to get 945 way wins - 864 ways of cheetahs plus 81 ways of rhino). Either way, that leaves over 75% of the total number of ways unable to provide a win, even in the absolute best case win scenario. A case of too many ways spoil the slot. At least on a 243 ways slot game, there is a scenario where all 243 way wins can be achieved, even 324 on a 4-reel Wild Reels Feature.

 

[dave1888]

Pick a box style BS like Bloodsuckers has, where you get a zero win empty coffin on the first damn pick! At least with Hitman you always get something!!

Wilds skiffing past on DOA during the feature really annoys me or 1 wild on the last reel last spin I want to put my fist through something!!

Dead wild Desire,Wild Celebration and WildStorm spins.

Scatters that need to be in order to activate free spins especially stupid orders like reel 1,3,5 or 3,4,5 the only slot that actually triggers with this format is Ghost Pirates(Victorious) and occasionally Titan Storm...

Mini features that say BIG win on 10x stake gimme a break I could get that on a bloody normal spin!

And possibly the most fiendishly devised feature known to man, pick wrong and you get no free spins! Yes I mean you Bigfoot(NG) and Aladdin's Wishes(RTG)!!

 

[dunover]

Most have already covered a lot of the things I dislike.

The ones I dislike the most are...

A Wild Reels feature that pays zero (ie Shitstorm, Wild Desire, T-Rex free spins).

A Wild Reels feature where the reels are turned wild from left to right (takes all the surprise out of it).

Bouncing reels (particularly annoying on a "failed heartstopper" when you get 2 scatters and see the third one stop one row short of landing) - this used to get on my wick so much on games like IR that I actually started to play them at Quickspin settings.

The dreaded 4 scatter trigger of a NetEnt feature - the turd is easily the biggest offender here.

Free spin rounds with a multiplier of 1x.

Random wild features that might not improve your win (aka Dark Knight Batman Vision and "Flaming Wilds" where "extra" wilds are placed over already existing wilds).

General all round "wild wastage", especially during features where all wins are multiplied by 5x.

Getting a choice of features when you know one has huge win potential, while the other does not - for example, having to pick from either
"Whispering Woods" (Choose A Shield) or "Forest Falls" (Trailing Wilds) on Avalon 2.

Scatters that cannot re-trigger and/or pay acting as win blockers during free spins.

Games where a 5OAK in the base game doesn't even represent a profitable bet (eg 5OAK of 9s on Finer Reels pays 1x bet).

Micro wins that can go as low as 0.04x stake (Break Away, Leagues Of Fortune etc).

And one that really bugs me....after a FS round on Avalon ends, the ridiculous likelihood that the very next spin will contain a plethora of wilds, chests and crowns that would have resulted in a monster 5OAK win had it occurred during the FS round that had just finished.

Raging Rhino - A 4,096 ways slot that has an "ultimate" win of only 879 ways (729 ways of rhino plus 150 of crocodile). It may be more than that
(it might be possible to get 945 way wins - 864 ways of cheetahs plus 81 ways of rhino). Either way, that leaves over 75% of the total number of ways unable to provide a win, even in the absolute best case win scenario. A case of too many ways spoil the slot. At least on a 243 ways slot game, there is a scenario where all 243 way wins can be achieved, even 324 on a 4-reel Wild Reels Feature.

You can actually get the 729-way dream rhino hit with more than 150 ways of 5 or 6 crocs. IF the reels 4 and 5 have 1 and 2 crocs with wild respectively. As for cheetards you can get 1152 ways I believe. Reels 3 and 5 have a cheetard with wild and I think 2 does too IIRC but it has to be a specific wild in only one position reel 2.

 

[Simmo!]

Free spin rounds with a multiplier of 1x.

Ah yeah that's a good one too!

 

[Jono777]

Another one to add which has wound me up the moment I spotted it!!!

Koi Princess - When you have 2 out of 3 Scatter/bonus symbols and the fish jumps out the water 'pulling at the reel' showing the missing scatter is just above, like its saying 'Look how close you were, shall I make you think this is a 'nudge' type feature?'

Na, Fuck you lol!

 

[mcgameboy]

You can actually get the 729-way dream rhino hit with more than 150 ways of 5 or 6 crocs. IF the reels 4 and 5 have 1 and 2 crocs with wild respectively. As for cheetards you can get 1152 ways I believe. Reels 3 and 5 have a cheetard with wild and I think 2 does too IIRC but it has to be a specific wild in only one position reel 2.

I wasn't certain mate. I seem to recall (while playing a session the other night) that you can get 2 cheetahs reel 1 and 3 cheetahs reel 6. I'm certain that it is possible to get a cheetah and a wild on reels 3 and 5. I thought I saw a cheetah and a wild on reel 4 ONCE but cannot be sure, but I was fairly certain there was no cheetah plus wild combo possible on reel 2. So yes, I think 1152 ways might be availabe.

As for getting 864 ways of cheetahs plus 81 ways of rhino, I think that the two cheetahs on Reel 1 must be on the bottom 2 rows for the rhino to appear on the top row. 2 cheetahs in the middle row would mean K on top and Q on bottom. 2 cheetahs on the top two rows would mean Q and 9(?)
below.

The 729 ways of rhino plus the 150 ways of crocs....this was the one I wasn't sure about. I can't remember if you can get a croc on reel 6 with 3 rhinos. What I do know is that you can get (as you said) 1 croc plus wild on reel 4 and 2 crocs plus wild on reel 5. Which would make it 180 ways of crocs, wouldn't it?

I just realised there's a hell of a lot of if and ans in this post lol

 

[brianmon]

Another one to add which has wound me up the moment I spotted it!!!

Koi Princess - When you have 2 out of 3 Scatter/bonus symbols and the fish jumps out the water 'pulling at the reel' showing the missing scatter is just above, like its saying 'Look how close you were, shall I make you think this is a 'nudge' type feature?'

Na, Fuck you lol!

It is an nudge feature, lol. it does nudge in every so often (seems to be more often, when the bonus bet is active)

 

[Steviedoo]

has anyone really ever had those extra wilds on JP during t rex alert? none.

 

[vinylweatherman]

Eh?? What game was that - I never saw one that did that, S16 or B3 because they are digital and put the balance on the screen 'call attendant'!!

You must be referring to a club 500 with the old electromechanical coin tubes?

It was a £500 jackpot video slot game at a motorway services. I got the jackpot on the first go with a single £1 coin. It started paying out in £1 coins, but between £300 and £400 it ran out and just paid air. This must have been a hopper based machine rather than tubes. I have had other hopper based machines do the same, although I had hoped the move away from tubes would have allowed the machines to carry a large enough stock of coins that it could cope with more large wins without running dry.

It was later on that machines began to stop paying when it sensed the hopper had run empty, and froze the game with a "call attendant" message.

I expect the change may have been down to tighter regulatory rules that prevented operators from making a cheeky extra profit from "air pay" situations, especially in those sites where they were able to negotiate with the UKGC who originally had a requirement for a human attendant to be permanently employed and on duty to enforce the age restriction as well as deal with technical issues.

The real problem is that when a machine does "air pay" or otherwise malfunctions at a site where a permanent attendant can be replaced by CCTV and remote policing, there is no one on site to deal immediately with problems. Instead, one has to fill in a form so that when a machine attendant visits for the daily coinbox empty they can deal with the problems. It's then a cas eof your word against theirs, as by then the machine will have been switched off, or possibly allowed to be played again once an intermittent fault has been cleared, which means that there is no evidence of a malfunction such as an on game "call attendant" message to back up the amount claimed.

With the £500 machines now paying printed tickets rather than cash, and the separate payout kiosks dispensing notes as well as coins, there is less scope for "air pay". If a player knows a payout kiosk has malfunctioned, they can keep hold of their ticket until they have proof that it has been fixed on a future visit before redeeming their ticket. I would hope that the kiosks would not take a ticket in for an amount greater than it held, so that a player would either get their money in full, or their ticket returned intact so that they could try a different kiosk or come back the next day.

The £100 machines could do with a better system like this as they can still run out of coins if players have used notes, and then get a couple of jackpots close together.

 

[psychogene]

Any game where there are free spins and the scatters do absolutely nothing but actually stop you from winning. Same goes for those typical '3 x bonus' symbol trigger that would be fine in the base game but can't be activated in free spins.

Although this is more an annoyance I really hate when you get a bonus game with picking symbols and you just happen to pick the 'collect' on the first pick for a nice win of $0.00 (has happened to me a few times). If this was truly random in the way the symbols are placed then I personally believe it should be a 'collect all' - come on there is usually about 15 symbols so if you get 'collect' on first try thats a 1 in 15 chance - deserves a COLLECT ALL !!! If its predetermined than I'd rather not even have won the bonus round.

Also hate netent's Dracula free spin activation. I find it takes up too much space and when you miss out because only alittle bit is missing there is a great chance you win $0.00 on that spin. Steam tower's or even Spinata Granata has much better ways to activate free spins.

Also hate in games like reel steal/georgie porgie/break da bank again when your in free spin and you get 3 scatters land during free spin. What would have been an extra 15 spins in base game play + a winline from scatters only means +3 spins in free spins and in those x5 free spin multiplier games an extra 3 spins well almost always amount to nothing. I'd rather just take a x5 win of base game 3-scatters that would be more fair.

Also hate any slot that has quickspin in base game but no option to turn it off in free spin rounds. This kind of only applies for older slots but alot of the times I just want to see some feature so I am quick spinning but then come free spin round I want to take it as slow as possible.

Thats off the top of my head .... I'll add more later

 

[Harry_BKK]

Got one more:

NETENT - get your act together and activate AUTOSPIN when a player receives FS/SS (freebie/deposit based etc). We are not robots sitting there and hitting that SPIN button sometimes over 1000 x every week!!!! it is no fun!!!