Arcade Ettiqutte

An interesting topic sparked by nick_th_fury and myself brings about questions.

What is the right way to conduct oneself at an arcade?

Do you ask permission before grabing controler2 and drop in a quarter?

Or do you have as much right to the machine as the other guy?

Does a quarter against the screen really mean "I have next".

How much room should you give the guy next to you?

Or is it like Days of Thunder..Rubbin' is Racing?

I'd like to hear peoples thoughts on this.
Maybe if I missed something?

common practises of etiquette at my arcade hangout:

no bookbags!(stupid school kids hogging all the room with it!)
no leaning on joystick(the dumb fools)
no eating/drinking(they spill stuff!)
no horse play(stupid kids!go to chukkycheese for that!)
theres no putting quarters on the machine meaning that your next!
I ask before putting in a quarter(its polite and I have no intention of ruining someone elses time)
I give plenty of room to others.
theres been plenty of fights at my arcade.people should conduct themselves civilized but some dont.Its just a game after all!
no putting your stupid bookbag on the joystick like you own the place!
no putting your bookbag in front of the machine like you own the place!(I usually kick it out of my way;nobody gets in my way!)

I usually watch the player first, and see if he is on the same level as I am. I'd hate to beat someone really bad, and give them chance{maybe I suck or something, cause people get mad whenever I give them chance} or either get beaten so badly, that he or she was better off playing the computer.
Also I let the weaker opponents get killed off by those who are slightly better than them, My number one rival, who people in our arcade say is the only one capable of beating me on a regular basis, says "WE SHOULD WAIT AS THE WEAK FILTER OUT EACH OTHER, AND AVENGE THOSE WHO WERE FILTERED OUT BY BEATING THOSE WHO FILTERED THEM" That is why people call my rival and I "sharks", but for some peculiar reason, he and alot of others say I am way better than he is. Because I can play in almost any style, whether it's technical, turtling, cheating, comboing, whatever, one handed, one guy on the buttons another playing the joystick. No special moves.
I just try to have fun. When people take the concept of having fun, and turn it into something personal, it is best to avoid the game altogether.

i allways ask if i can play second player.
I put a quarter up on the screen if i am next, well not as much as i used too, now a days people just take them.
I give alot of room, i try to aviod contact, i dont like being really close to people.
Im not an arcade junkie though. But i still love arcades.

I would never start in on a game while someone was playing. That's just rude.

The placing of quarters on the bezel has always meant "nexts" around here. But only after the player quits. Not after his credit dies.

Observers always run for change. That's just the way it goes. The player is entertaining them, so they should help a little.

This is interesting since I remember reading a thread at shoryuken.com where there was a topic on how people from Hawaii were surprised when Californians went to the local arcade and put quarters on the ledgers. Apparently in Hawaii they just line up or something on the machine and shout out who's next. The posts turned into the topic of putting quarters on the ledger and which has the better system, mainlander or islander!

Here's a good one.

Someone says "Hold on, gimme a second I haven't played this game before.."

Do you:
A) Wait for him to do a couple sweeps and jumps and stuff?

or

B) See if you can actually do that 25 hit combo you hear so much about?

It's almost arcade ethics.

Guys... I am a savage. No just playing. I ask "Cool if I join in?" before I pop in a quarter.

If he says no...

A) I don't wanna play with/against him anyway then

or

B) Screw his ass... lemme teach him a lesson

Good topic!

Originally posted by Steve:
<STRONG>Guys... I am a savage. No just playing. I ask "Cool if I join in?" before I pop in a quarter.

If he says no...

A) I don't wanna play with/against him anyway then

or

B) Screw his ass... lemme teach him a lesson

Good topic!</STRONG>

Click to expand...

C! Well AB actually. I'll stand there, looking at him waiting for him to finish or say I can play. After that I cross my fingers that he joins in so I can scream "YOU MUST DEFEAT MY DRAGON PUNCH SUCKBOY".




[ July 19, 2001: Message edited by: Blaine ]

It's true though, us guys in Hawaii line up around the machine, like it's some monument or something. I can't say for sure but I think the number of MvC 2's outnumber the KoF 2000's by a ratio of 25 to 1.And finding a Neo-Geo arcade machine in Hawaii is a miracle.
At one point, if I can remember, there used to be a lot of fights, gang fights, over Street Fighter 2, I doubt that anybody got killed though, but people had to be stretchered out. Some of the fights began because people took other people's quarter and got caught, sometimes it was for not giving second round, sometimes it was for people talking trash, and on a few instances people got licked for cheating and using glitches.
An arcade is a place where people go to have fun. If you don't have fun, it is the same as being in a place you dread. Since people have different opinions on what fun should be, it is normal to have a varying assortment of gameplay.
I can't stress this enough, Don't hit the game because of whatever happened in the game, don't even hit anything because you didn't get your way, cause on my opinion, the fun shouldn't be ruined because of some salty people.

Originally posted by Blaine:
<STRONG>Here's a good one.

Someone says "Hold on, gimme a second I haven't played this game before.."

Do you:
A) Wait for him to do a couple sweeps and jumps and stuff?

or

B) See if you can actually do that 25 hit combo you hear so much about?

It's almost arcade ethics.</STRONG>

Click to expand...

I always let the person try out a few moves. It's just a nice thing to do.

Do not hang coat or jackets on the 2P joystick to discourage other players from joining. This is also damaging to the joysticks, if you live in Alaska where everyone wears a thirty pound parka during the winter. <IMG SRC="smilies/ohno.gif" border="0">

Over here where I live, if you put a peso (ficha) on the arcade it means that you're next after the guy who put in his peso before you. While you're waiting for the other player to lose you can leave the place and come back, and it's still your turn. And I don't even look to see if the other players are good, cause we're all good. The player that's besides can even smoke, I myself smoke. Even if I don't know the other guy we still cuss each other out, he,he. Btw, each machine, even the new ones, costs one peso (10 cents) that's cheap, he,he.

I always follow these simple rules when going to the aracde:

1. Always ask before joining in a game

2. NEVER join in while the other person is in the middle of a boss fight. (I've had this happen to me numerous times, and it is extremly rude.)

3. When someone puts a quarter next to the screen, it means they're next.

4. Never put bags or jackets on the second player joystick. If you must, put it to the side of the machine.

5. If someone wants to play by himself, give him/her their space. Give them plenty of room, and don't crowd him in. No one like playing a game when everyone is perched on their shoulder.



"Just Bring It!"

Originally posted by The Heavenly King Of Wind:
<STRONG>Over here where I live, if you put a peso (ficha) on the arcade it means that you're next after the guy who put in his peso before you.</STRONG>

Click to expand...

Well that's cool that it's a fairly universal rule.

I just got back from vacation in Wildewood NJ and I have to say they don't follow any type of rule, which makes me happy I asked.

People would jump in during a game, in fact some dude stared at me for about 10 seconds when I asked if it was cool to jump in...yeah, they don't. However it is a big vacation spot so people are from all over. I had 2 people ask and 1 who didn't.

Also they hang towels on joysticks and place quarters on the glass.

Also here's a question that happened.

I was playing Capcom vs SNK and I had honestly never played it before. I worked in a video game store and had plenty of time to play it, or even get it on DC but I didn't...can't say why though.

So I'm playing and doing fine (I have very good fireball skills) and I make it to Geese. Some kid want's to jump in so I say "go ahead" and drop into a defensive crouch while the kid puts a quarter in..and he's fumbling..dropping quarters and Ryu get's killed. Luckily, I still had Ken in reserve but...that's something. Have a coin ready. Any way people kept coming for me to play and play and play and to be 100% honest...I won. So I finally lose to a dude, but I wanted to, y'know finish my game and I dropped in a quarter and he said "whoa dude, my boy here is next" *he did NOT place a quarter on the screen...I respect that*.

So here's a question.

If you're challenged and you lose...can you just play again or do you reliquish the machine?

damn these questions are gettting really fucking specific <IMG SRC="smilies/smile.gif" border="0">