New Gold Saucer games

[SirBrighton]

Slot machines in the Gold Saucer would be very problematic. People could abuse them by using 3rd-party software to play them while they're AFK.
Also, slot machines operate purely on RNG whereas every other attraction (besides Any Way the Wind Blows) requires skill to win at and can be beaten easily if you know how.
You could potentially pour all of your MGP into a slot machine and never win once.

In short, slot machines can be played by bots, require no skill to play, can't be beaten reliably and personally aren't fun.

[Nyghtmarerobu]

Slot machines in the Gold Saucer would be very problematic. People could abuse them by using 3rd-party software to play them while they're AFK.

Anyone with a keyboard with macros could afk play just about anything if you knew how to configure it properly, it is the nature of the beast. But really, is it hurting anyone? Everything besides chocobo racing you can do solo, and even now on high pop servers, its hard to find people to race if you're in a middle bracket, unless you specifically choose open, and even then, I rarely see people. Is what it is I guess...

[synesthetic]

In short, slot machines can be played by bots, require no skill to play, can't be beaten reliably and personally aren't fun.

Plenty of people do find them fun though, even if the odds are usually against them. I don't know how real~ slot machines usually work, but the videogame ones I've played are profitable, and tend to be reaction or timing games (you choose roughly when each reel stops) instead of being purely RNG. For an online game, they can add the thrill of winning a cumulative jackpot too.

[Venom]

Slot machines in the Gold Saucer would be very problematic. People could abuse them by using 3rd-party software to play them while they're AFK.
Also, slot machines operate purely on RNG whereas every other attraction (besides Any Way the Wind Blows) requires skill to win at and can be beaten easily if you know how.
You could potentially pour all of your MGP into a slot machine and never win once.

In short, slot machines can be played by bots, require no skill to play, can't be beaten reliably and personally aren't fun.

there are lots of mini games in the gold saucer people could do that with already, such as the mining and botanist ones. There are lots of ways that SE can prevent it anyway and if we stopped adding content because of botters, we would have no gathering in the game at all. The fact is most the botters are because of gillsellers, MGP can't be sold... so it is a redundant concern. The only concern I would have is that a slot machine is more connected to real life gambling and I would hope the mini games would distance themselves and be more against things that could encourage a real life gambling problem. I think Cacpot Lottery is fine, but keep the rest more about skill than range. There is a reason we can't bet on Chocobo races or the winner of a verminion battles and slot machines would make that reason redundant.

[SirBrighton]

Anyone with a keyboard with macros could afk play just about anything if you knew how to configure it properly

The current games implement RNG to prevent people from using the same timings to win. Sliders/balls/hotspots are in different positions, so running the same script repeatedly would only result in you winning a very small fraction of the time at best. When it comes to slot machines though, you only need to click the lever. Sorry, I'm thinking about this from the perspective of a programmer.

The reason I say slot machines aren't fun is because of the illusion of challenge. I'd rather a new GATE that requires actual skill to win at, like memory, reflexes, precision, speed, analysis, or any combination of those. This makes winning feel more rewarding, like eating after a hard day's work. You earned that reward! Slot machines just require you to be able to click a single button mindlessly, and sometimes you're rewarded for doing it.

[Venom]

The current games implement RNG to prevent people from using the same timings to win. Sliders/balls/hotspots are in different positions, so running the same script repeatedly would only result in you winning a very small fraction of the time at best. When it comes to slot machines though, you only need to click the lever. Sorry, I'm thinking about this from the perspective of a programmer.

that is not thinking about it as a programmer at all. I am a computer science student and I can tell you that just because something is more difficult does not make it less plausible. The fix would be easy from SE and they would just stop people having more than 20 goes on the same slot machine, a bit like the fishing measure to prevent botting. I am sure if somebody really wanted to they could program something to get around this too, but I doubt anybody will since as mentioned before, it is the gill sellers that do this for financial gain. MGP can not be sold. Most players won't want to get banned because they care about their character. Gill sellers don't care about their accounts in the same way, they use their accounts for maximum turnover. You are confusing the fact of motive with possibility here... I think we need both to have a problem.

[SirBrighton]

that is not thinking about it as a programmer at all. I am a computer science student and I can tell you that just because something is more difficult does not make it less plausible. The fix would be easy from SE and they would just stop people having more than 20 goes on the same slot machine, a bit like the fishing measure to prevent botting.

Sorry, I was thinking about how to protect against cheaters when the game's mechanics are as simple as clicking an unmoving button every X seconds. Putting a cap on specific slot machine uses is a pretty good solution.

[SirBrighton]

Might as well contribute to the discussion since I'm this deep in. =)

My idea for a new GATE would require analysis, memory and speed. The name is to be determined.

It would be a main stage event where an iconic creature (bomb [red], cactuar [green], flan [blue], chocobo [yellow], moomba [orange], moogle [white]) would be randomly selected and shown to all players from above for 5 seconds and then disappear (a random minion for each player to prevent people from relying on others, the same concept as Skinchange We Can Believe In).

The floor would then light up, divided into quarters, each quarter a colour representing one of the creatures with pictures of the related creature all over each (thinking of you, colourblind players) so that each section can clearly be distinguished from each other, especially when players clump up.

You would then have 10 seconds to move your character into the zone of the minion that was shown.

Either succeed 4/5 times or more and you win X000 MGP, or you win X000/5 MGP for each round you got right.

[Alaltus]

Fish Square, add a new dimension to fishing and to a possible aquarium; maybe something like contest in pokemon. Shooting mini-game featuring pupu.