CURRENT STATUS: WORKING AS NORMAL. ENJOY THOSE SHORT BREAKS BETWEEN CLASSES WITH SOME DDR!
Because the DDR machine at the Indiana Memorial Union can go down, this thread has been created with the intention of letting all Bloomington players know whether the machine is up and able to earn our hard earned quarters or if it's down and in need of repair.
Basically, if there is ever a change in the machine's status (i.e. from "not working" to "working") then please do everyone a favor and tell us the change. It sucks having to walk all the way to the Union in this cold weather only to find the machine out of order. I'll keep this post updated so if there's ever a question in anyone's mind regarding the state of the machine then they can just look at this post.
State of the Union
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Merk
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State of the Union
Last edited by Merk on Wed Apr 13, 2005 2:38 pm, edited 4 times in total.
Error 190 is a stage communication error. Either the two halves of the stage have become disconnected or there's a problem between the stage and the cabinet. This could mean there's a short in the wires in the umbillical or that the connections are loose or otherwise not plugged in correctly (i.e. completely disconnected or connected to the wrong jacks).
I managed to get a 190 out of the 4th Plus at LazerLite while I was fixing it. I swapped two of the plugs because they weren't color coded in the normal way. Usually the plug matches the corresponding jack, but in this case, neither plug matched either jack. So I plugged them in, got a 190, switched them, rebooted, and all was fine.
I've never seen the Union machine. Unless someone's been working on it, it's unlikely that any of the plugs would have come loose or been swapped. Is the umbillical conduit or cables of that machine especially mangled? That could be the cause of the problem.
I managed to get a 190 out of the 4th Plus at LazerLite while I was fixing it. I swapped two of the plugs because they weren't color coded in the normal way. Usually the plug matches the corresponding jack, but in this case, neither plug matched either jack. So I plugged them in, got a 190, switched them, rebooted, and all was fine.
I've never seen the Union machine. Unless someone's been working on it, it's unlikely that any of the plugs would have come loose or been swapped. Is the umbillical conduit or cables of that machine especially mangled? That could be the cause of the problem.
Stage communication error? That's odd... I've seen the machine become accidentally unplugged before, then the person plugs it back in and it comes up with that Error 190 screen when it was working beautifully moments before. I wonder what that means...
In any case, the machine will be fixed on Thursday I bet. I'm pretty sure that's the day the machine techies come to town, clean out the change buckets, and fix any problems with the machines. Still an inconvenience though.
Maybe... and I'm going out on a huge limb here, but just maybe the workers at the bowling alley who hate DDR figured out how to mess with the stage's cord connections so that when they angrily unplug the machine from the outlet they know that someone who plugs it back in can't start the machine back up. Just a theory to kick around.
In any case, the machine will be fixed on Thursday I bet. I'm pretty sure that's the day the machine techies come to town, clean out the change buckets, and fix any problems with the machines. Still an inconvenience though.
Maybe... and I'm going out on a huge limb here, but just maybe the workers at the bowling alley who hate DDR figured out how to mess with the stage's cord connections so that when they angrily unplug the machine from the outlet they know that someone who plugs it back in can't start the machine back up. Just a theory to kick around.
Good news and bad news.
Good news: As I predicted, the techs evidently came and fixed the machine today. The machine is running once again. I came in today around 11 and the demo was playing and all, so good stuff, right?
Bad news: Coin slot is broken. I don't mean like, "oh, the coin return is jammed. *punch punch* Fixed." broken. I mean the catch inside the coin slot that the return button operates is permanently pressed on. The return button isn't stuck or anything. I tried fiddling with it to get it to work, but no matter what, your quarters just shoot right back out.
I swear, if it's not one thing it's another. =/
Good news: As I predicted, the techs evidently came and fixed the machine today. The machine is running once again. I came in today around 11 and the demo was playing and all, so good stuff, right?
Bad news: Coin slot is broken. I don't mean like, "oh, the coin return is jammed. *punch punch* Fixed." broken. I mean the catch inside the coin slot that the return button operates is permanently pressed on. The return button isn't stuck or anything. I tried fiddling with it to get it to work, but no matter what, your quarters just shoot right back out.
I swear, if it's not one thing it's another. =/
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hascoolnickname
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Merk
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WARNING: Lots of words, opinions, and content that will somehow, someway, piss someone off because they'll take it the wrong way. But hey, he asked for my views on the scene and I wanted to give it to him!
The scene here in Bloomington really doesn't differ too much from Fort Wayne other than the fact there isn't as much hateful tensions between the players down here. Bloomington has a sort of Putt-Putt and Tokens 'n' Tickets equivalent with Lazerlite and the Indiana Memorial Union, or simply referred to as the Union. Similar to Putt-Putt, Lazerlite is the place where most of the people go to either hang out or go to play DDR. To my knowledge, that's where Shannon and pretty much any visitor to Bloomington goes to play and is where any DDR related event held in Bloomington takes palce. From what I know the employees at Lazerlite are generally friendly and work with the players to set up events and the like. The few times I played there I had to bring my own water, I hear they'll give you ice water in a pitcher if you ask but I've never personally done that. The only real problem with the place is that it's really far away if you don't have a car and the pads aren't as good, in my opinion, as the Union's. They also have a 4th Mix Plus machine but the pads are really bad, worse than Putt-Putt's left side if you can imagine, so the only purpose of the machine, for me anyway, is to give a sense of nostalgia.
The Union on the other hand, is a lot like Tokens 'n' Tickets in the sense that you go there not expecting to find a lot of people and you go there simply to play on a well maintained machine, not socialize. I don't know what Tokens 'n' Tickets is like since I moved down here for college and since Putt-Putt got In The Groove, but if my picture of the place last summer is correct, then the Union is like it as the place for "Just Business." The employees are indifferent to DDR (most of them anyway, there was one last semester that wanted to kill everyone who played the game) and since the arcade is just a small part of a much bigger building, there are plenty of cold and refreshing water fountains to grab a sip after playing a few rounds. No events will probably ever be had here and I highly doubt that they will get anymore Bemani in the future but it is a possibility, albeit a small one.
Unlike Fort Wayne, the prices are pretty much the same for each machine in the end after taking gas money and the like into account. Roughly $0.75 a game I do believe, I don't know what it is exactly for Lazerlite since they use Tokens but it's the same now as the Union since they took off join premium. One of the many things you will miss about Fort Wayne is the extremely cheap DDR you can get at Tokens 'n' Tickets and the wider selection of Bemani.
Anyway, the people here are generally friendly. There is no Union vs. Lazerlite crowd like the Putt-Putt vs. Tokens crowd in Fort Wayne. To my knowledge though, that little rivalry between Putt-Putt and Tokens has lessened severely, for me anyway, since I've been unbanned and since Putt-Putt got ITG. Now things have turned into a more universial DDR vs. ITG debate, which doesn't really affect me for I find both games at this present time as having their merits. Tokens still has better pads though and if they got ITG (rumor has it they're getting ITG2 this summer, the manager went to ASI to check it out apparently, big rumor though) then I would definately perfer Tokens over Putt-Putt. But as it stands, they're equal at the moment. Ack, sorry, I realize I'm getting a bit off-track here.
The people who play in Bloomington are pretty much the people who post here. There are only a few people who I've seen play regularly who don't post here. The DDR club here is pretty inactive at the moment, we haven't really had a "meeting" in several months. The main people you should know when you get down here are Kyler (Secef), Chad (Fluffyumpkins), Shannon (UnlimitedmaxX), Merk (Merk), and Jim the event guy (Malictus). These are the people who you will see the most of when you play DDR down here for they are the regular and dedicated players. In terms of skill, Shannon is the best but since I've never seen him play down here this semester I can't comment on how much better he is than Kyler or myself. I've never really thought about who is better between me or Kyler but that's mainly because I really don't worry about that kind of stuff too much. We both have our strengths and weaknesses, Kyler does better in the AAA department and I do better in the 10 footer department. It's sort of like how it is between ChocoboJoe (aka OrangeLounger) and I, he does better at AAAs and I do better at Oni courses. I haven't seen you play in forever so I don't know how good you are now, but at your highest point I'd say you were roughly equal with me in my eyes.
Finally, it should be mentioned that there is a Pump It Up Exceed machine down here at Classic Lanes. The good thing is that it's only $0.50 and volume is extremely loud with good pads. The bad thing that it's Pump It Up Exceed which, in my opinion, lacks the professionalism of the DDR series. It's definately not in walking distance and the only way I can get there is if Chad or someone else takes me. The people there aren't hostile.
The scene here in Bloomington really doesn't differ too much from Fort Wayne other than the fact there isn't as much hateful tensions between the players down here. Bloomington has a sort of Putt-Putt and Tokens 'n' Tickets equivalent with Lazerlite and the Indiana Memorial Union, or simply referred to as the Union. Similar to Putt-Putt, Lazerlite is the place where most of the people go to either hang out or go to play DDR. To my knowledge, that's where Shannon and pretty much any visitor to Bloomington goes to play and is where any DDR related event held in Bloomington takes palce. From what I know the employees at Lazerlite are generally friendly and work with the players to set up events and the like. The few times I played there I had to bring my own water, I hear they'll give you ice water in a pitcher if you ask but I've never personally done that. The only real problem with the place is that it's really far away if you don't have a car and the pads aren't as good, in my opinion, as the Union's. They also have a 4th Mix Plus machine but the pads are really bad, worse than Putt-Putt's left side if you can imagine, so the only purpose of the machine, for me anyway, is to give a sense of nostalgia.
The Union on the other hand, is a lot like Tokens 'n' Tickets in the sense that you go there not expecting to find a lot of people and you go there simply to play on a well maintained machine, not socialize. I don't know what Tokens 'n' Tickets is like since I moved down here for college and since Putt-Putt got In The Groove, but if my picture of the place last summer is correct, then the Union is like it as the place for "Just Business." The employees are indifferent to DDR (most of them anyway, there was one last semester that wanted to kill everyone who played the game) and since the arcade is just a small part of a much bigger building, there are plenty of cold and refreshing water fountains to grab a sip after playing a few rounds. No events will probably ever be had here and I highly doubt that they will get anymore Bemani in the future but it is a possibility, albeit a small one.
Unlike Fort Wayne, the prices are pretty much the same for each machine in the end after taking gas money and the like into account. Roughly $0.75 a game I do believe, I don't know what it is exactly for Lazerlite since they use Tokens but it's the same now as the Union since they took off join premium. One of the many things you will miss about Fort Wayne is the extremely cheap DDR you can get at Tokens 'n' Tickets and the wider selection of Bemani.
Anyway, the people here are generally friendly. There is no Union vs. Lazerlite crowd like the Putt-Putt vs. Tokens crowd in Fort Wayne. To my knowledge though, that little rivalry between Putt-Putt and Tokens has lessened severely, for me anyway, since I've been unbanned and since Putt-Putt got ITG. Now things have turned into a more universial DDR vs. ITG debate, which doesn't really affect me for I find both games at this present time as having their merits. Tokens still has better pads though and if they got ITG (rumor has it they're getting ITG2 this summer, the manager went to ASI to check it out apparently, big rumor though) then I would definately perfer Tokens over Putt-Putt. But as it stands, they're equal at the moment. Ack, sorry, I realize I'm getting a bit off-track here.
The people who play in Bloomington are pretty much the people who post here. There are only a few people who I've seen play regularly who don't post here. The DDR club here is pretty inactive at the moment, we haven't really had a "meeting" in several months. The main people you should know when you get down here are Kyler (Secef), Chad (Fluffyumpkins), Shannon (UnlimitedmaxX), Merk (Merk), and Jim the event guy (Malictus). These are the people who you will see the most of when you play DDR down here for they are the regular and dedicated players. In terms of skill, Shannon is the best but since I've never seen him play down here this semester I can't comment on how much better he is than Kyler or myself. I've never really thought about who is better between me or Kyler but that's mainly because I really don't worry about that kind of stuff too much. We both have our strengths and weaknesses, Kyler does better in the AAA department and I do better in the 10 footer department. It's sort of like how it is between ChocoboJoe (aka OrangeLounger) and I, he does better at AAAs and I do better at Oni courses. I haven't seen you play in forever so I don't know how good you are now, but at your highest point I'd say you were roughly equal with me in my eyes.
Finally, it should be mentioned that there is a Pump It Up Exceed machine down here at Classic Lanes. The good thing is that it's only $0.50 and volume is extremely loud with good pads. The bad thing that it's Pump It Up Exceed which, in my opinion, lacks the professionalism of the DDR series. It's definately not in walking distance and the only way I can get there is if Chad or someone else takes me. The people there aren't hostile.
I pretty much agree with everything Merk said too. You nailed all of it, basically. I will mention some other minor details though.
- Shannon is pretty far ahead of both of us in terms of skill, I think. If I didn't struggle with 16th note combos at 150+BPM so much, maybe I could close the general gap between you and I a bit more, but yeah. You're right, we got our strengths and weaknesses making us roughly equal.
- Lazerlite's pitchers of water are free, but they charge you 25 cents for a cup. Not bad considering you get infinite refills with the pitcher.
- I'll flesh out the regular/semi-regular players list a bit more... Robbie (dancingqueen) and Mike (I think I'm the only person who knows his name. Track pants guy!) play quite a bit. There're also quite a few regular players that go to the high schools down here, I think. Or there was for a long period of time for a while. I think one of them, Shannon (ANOTHER Shannon), recently signed up for the forums. She could probably say more about that because that's like a little subgroup almost it seems.
That's about all I got. We're a pretty strange group, if I may say so. Down here, we're competitive and like playing for score like other really awesome players in the region, but we don't really insult each other, gripe with one another about locations, ostracize regulars or hate certain ones, or anything. We're just... friendly. If you look at us without DDR, we come from pretty different walks of life, but we all get along pretty well. It's pretty good stuff.
- Shannon is pretty far ahead of both of us in terms of skill, I think. If I didn't struggle with 16th note combos at 150+BPM so much, maybe I could close the general gap between you and I a bit more, but yeah. You're right, we got our strengths and weaknesses making us roughly equal.
- Lazerlite's pitchers of water are free, but they charge you 25 cents for a cup. Not bad considering you get infinite refills with the pitcher.
- I'll flesh out the regular/semi-regular players list a bit more... Robbie (dancingqueen) and Mike (I think I'm the only person who knows his name. Track pants guy!) play quite a bit. There're also quite a few regular players that go to the high schools down here, I think. Or there was for a long period of time for a while. I think one of them, Shannon (ANOTHER Shannon), recently signed up for the forums. She could probably say more about that because that's like a little subgroup almost it seems.
That's about all I got. We're a pretty strange group, if I may say so. Down here, we're competitive and like playing for score like other really awesome players in the region, but we don't really insult each other, gripe with one another about locations, ostracize regulars or hate certain ones, or anything. We're just... friendly. If you look at us without DDR, we come from pretty different walks of life, but we all get along pretty well. It's pretty good stuff.
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Fluffyumpkins
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