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variation of opinion

SaiyanHajime

SaiyanHajime

CF Legend
I didn't really know what to call this topic.

It's concerning difference of opinion between enthusiasts and what causes their opinion of certain rides.

It's also concerning how coasters vary between rides.


When myself and 5 others went to Carrowinds, we all thought Intimidator was pretty fab. But no one who went to the live seemed to think much of it. Why?

A coincidence? Each group just happened to include individuals who agree?

Was the ride running well when I rode it, and bad on the date of the live?

Is group psychology having an affect?

Does it matter how you feel on the day?

Or does the ride vary that drastically?

Something else?

Or, bit of everything maybe? :lol:

Can whatever causes this, account for a number of individuals who's opinions are drastically unusual?

YOUR THOUGHTS?


This topic is a glorious celebration of the right on CoasterForce to think what you like about a coaster or park. Unless you're name is Ben, in which case you have limited rights.
 
Big-Brother-is-Watching-You.jpg


ALL OPINIONS BUT MINE SHOULD BE OUTLAWED AND PUNISHED BY DEATH!
 
I noticed a similar thing with EGF and piraten.

I went to holiday park with TTF, with the exprectation that EGF would be great. But we arrived and realised it wouldn't be opening till later, so we went on super wirbel (which made corkie at AT seem like a brand new b and m!, and then the drop tower - which I was too big for the restraints on, so That was a slightly bad start, the rest of the gang were rather glum about the park itself - (although thinking back - I don't really know why as you can tell from the website it isn't crammed full of rides like phantasialand and europa park)

We were all a bit disappointed bu EGF, except for nearer the front seats, although it wasn't really helped by the painfully slow loading! It did warm uip throughout the day, but the trim brakes spoilt it and the mood of the rest of the group was a bit of a downer..

Piraten on the other hand - I was expecting to be similar to egf - and even thuogh that day of the eurolive had a bad start (when we called stopped by the german police on the way across the border) - I was absolutely blown away by it - airtime, intensity and it really held it's speed throughout.
 
You forget two of the most important factors that causes "opinions" within the coaster clubs and forums...


Sheeping

and

Home Park Bias


Only these factors have the power to turn a genuinely world class ride into a, "waaah my ears! headbang! waaah!" or a world class turd into a, "waaah underrated! top ten international!"
 
^ Oi, bitch, YOU convinced me Millenium Force was very goood. I was less than impressed. =/

You were right about Maverick though omggggawd.
 
Joey said:
^ Oi, bitch, YOU convinced me Millenium Force was very goood. I was less than impressed. =/

You were right about Maverick though omggggawd.
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Depends what you want out of a ride.

It's been nine years or more since a coaster actually scared me or encouraged even the tiniest amount of adrenaline to appear, so nowadays I ride them for the fun value.

A nice, long flowing giga coaster where you aren't strapped in from every angle has excellent fun value.
Same with Magnum Force.

More entertaining anyway than some gimmicky piece of junk that's over in ten second and failed to evoke any level of promised thrill.


If you still get a real thrill from coasters, then sure, they are probably fun. But if it aint doing that for you, a great many of them just come across as try-hard let-downs


But hey, maybe that's why I'm more interested in dark rides and water rides nowadays anyway =)
 
It all depends on how you want to view things.

It's either a ride really is that bad.. and you are just seeing things in the other light.. or the opposite way around.

The fact that people tend to share a common opinion shouldn't be coincidence.. as that is normal in nature. You always have those outliers, good and bad, but the most go to a common ground (of course, communicate that effect to how good a ride is.. and it still can prove to be true).
 
Different preferences will always alter people's opinions of rides.

Some dig nostalgia, which I think is only way the Schwartzkopf Six Flags duo of Mind Bender and Shock Wave ever make any top 10 lists, especially the latter. Sure, they're cool and all, but I think some of the most basic B&M's blow the doors off of them.

Some really like the rides that are so obviously designed to be the absolute best in the world. They like the borderline excessive statistics. Personally, I think Intimidator 305 is a bust, but then, I've only ridden the neutered version.

Some don't care for unbridled intensity and prefer more graceful rides. Some hate inversions, some don't. Some live for the air, etc., etc., etc. The list goes on and on.

Me? My top coaster is Batman-The Ride. I've ridden all 6 in the US (counting only the rides with that inaugural B&M inverted layout and the name). Nothing beats it for me. Why? Pacing means a lot to me. So do high positive g's, and plenty of 'em. The ride never takes a break, something so many of its larger brothers have to do to maintain any sort of respectable capacity, or in some cases do because they've gone on so long they've run out of steam. It's punchy, it's vicious, and I love it.

But then, I'm in a minority. As much as Batman is my favorite, some of my other favorites are rather basic in nature. One of the most enjoyable riding experiences I've ever had was on Superman Ultimate Flight at Six Flags Great America. There was no line at all, and so I took multiple spins on it and had the time of my life. Yes, it's small. Yes, it's basic. However, it's design gives the impression that it isn't trying to be the be-all, end-all greatest ride in history. In some cases (B-TR is another), it just aims to be a cool experience, and that's something I really respect. Just give me something fun. You don't have to shatter records to do it. If I can be entertained, that's all it really takes for me.
 
It also has to do with tho other rides that the person has ridden. If somebody has only ridden dueling dragons, they are going to think they are the best inverts. If another person has ridden dueling dragons, a few Batman clones, alpengeist, and month, their opinion is going to be different. A lot of people do this with B&M hyper coasters. Brits come over here to ride intimidator, having only been on silver star, and think intimidator is awesome. Other people who have ridden behemoth and diamondback may not think intimidator is the best ride. People's opinions differ a lot due to similar coasters that they have been on.
 
Wow, CF seems to have a lot more intelligent, considered posts than I remember (even if people are still putting one 'n' in Millennium). I should definitely visit more.

I'd like to add one more idea to the many good points above. I think the order you ride your rides influences your opinion a lot too. Tonnerre de Zeus and EGF were two of the first decent rides I ever went on and these have remained my top wood and steel ever since. I have since ridden many highly enjoyable rides but I can't say I have bettered those too yet. And that includes Balder and Piraten last week. I think it's just the wow factor of your first trip around an airtime machine that can lead to biased opinions as well as the rose-tinted spectacles of looking into the past.

Really, I think only somebody who regularly visits and re-rides stuff all around the world (and you need serious money to do this!) can have a truly balanced opinion. But they also tend to be total whack-jobs which is a shame!

Talking of opinion, I really hope the Robb Alvey Rebuttal gets to stay. The topic is locked so I have to campaign here to KEEP THE REBUTTAL!!!

It was really well written and Robb is generally a good guy so I would hope he might give it a decent response (maybe even slightly concede...).

LET THE REBUTTAL STAY!!!
 
costar said:
Wow, CF seems to have a lot more intelligent, considered posts than I remember (even if people are still putting one 'n' in Millennium). I should definitely visit more.

I'd like to add one more idea to the many good points above. I think the order you ride your rides influences your opinion a lot too. Tonnerre de Zeus and EGF were two of the first decent rides I ever went on and these have remained my top wood and steel ever since. I have since ridden many highly enjoyable rides but I can't say I have bettered those too yet. And that includes Balder and Piraten last week. I think it's just the wow factor of your first trip around an airtime machine that can lead to biased opinions as well as the rose-tinted spectacles of looking into the past.
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I disagree with this! My opinion of the ever so highly rated Nemesis has dropped and dropped the more I've ridden. I remember Tom, I think, once saying that you only realise how good Nemesis is the more of them you ride. That just hasn't happened with me. I think, however, I'm someone who suffers from becoming bored.

I don't think it helps, either, that Nemesis is a rather unique B&M invert.. Second only in it's weirdness to Great Bear and Alpengeist (out of what I've ridden). It being so unique is perhaps one of the reasons it gets highly rated, because unlike the other two I mentioned it's particularly forceful, fast, relentless and consistently good throughout it's layout. so in over riding it, it's become stale, and "normal" B&M inverts like... the Batmans, become exciting for someone like me.

I don't think my opinions as a whole are that unusual. There's a couple of rides that I particularly like or dislike in which the majority opposes, but I think that's the same with everyone who has a mind of their own. Like Tim pointed out, sheeping is a horrible trend amongst the coaster community and it causes/makes it look like some people try to be awkward.

Really, I think only somebody who regularly visits and re-rides stuff all around the world (and you need serious money to do this!) can have a truly balanced opinion. But they also tend to be total whack-jobs which is a shame!
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I agree and I've always said this, however many people take this as a reason to think that everyone should agree with them...

Talking of opinion, I really hope the Robb Alvey Rebuttal gets to stay. The topic is locked so I have to campaign here to KEEP THE REBUTTAL!!!

It was really well written and Robb is generally a good guy so I would hope he might give it a decent response (maybe even slightly concede...).
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No comment.
 
I think that most things have already been covered.

My opinion of, say, Lightening Racer at Hershy is skewed because it was so much fun me and Jerry racing the two kids. While the ride is certainly good, the interaction and "fun" it generates far outclasses a lot of much better rides.

If I was on my own? I'd have a very different view (probably much more realistic).

I think that wood especially though suffers from "good and bad days". I rode Phoenix at Knoebels in the wet. For most woodies, it should have been shifting like Thorpe fan boys to a new MTDP. However, it was pretty bad... Well, I may stretch to mediocre - but the worst thing? I couldn't even see how it could be good. Often you can see "potential", but here nothing.

Yet this is one of THE highest rated wooden coasters in the world. Even Jerry admitted the ride we had was awful, and he was pretty sad about the fact we didn't get a good run.

I've also known Nemesis run very slowly and be pretty dull early in the day, but by the evening, it's making your legs wobble. So steel coasters certainly get it too.

Good days and bad days. A bad day, is a bad day for everyone - even fanboys, but a fanboy has the memory and experience of their "superb rides" to bolster their bad ride.

It's why Grand National saddened me so. My ride in 2006 (new trains) was utterly gobsmacking. My ride in 2008 and just an exercise in sheer pain. There was such a huge difference in ride quality. Previously, I'd always had at least a "fun run" on the nash at worst.

The point? Erm, no idea.

Just that socially, we can feed on the buzz and excitement of each other. Likewise, we can also feed on the despondency. A bad day for a coaster is a bad day, and it will always get tarred due to it if a lot ride it that day.

Few things though.

1. A ride like Th13teen (to touch briefly on the Robb thing). As a ride, it's never going to be more or less than what it is. It's not like Nemesis having a slow day, it's a family coaster and will never excel in terms of "great coaster design". The enjoyment comes from how much you enjoy the elements of the ride. Some people love the inside drop (Madame_Furie and SSIL_Furie both adore the ride for this), others the backwards section, some people the woodland trip. Hex is, after all, just another Haunted Swing...

2. Everyone is different. Different heights, weights, ear pressure, fears, adrenaline levels, etc. Like Tim, it takes a lot for a coaster to scare me now. Without that fear, you have to look on the fun the coaster gives. Although riding Nemesis rarely means it often give me a good adrenaline rush. However, everyone is going to get something different.

When we went to Sweden in 2007, Balder was the big thing. Out of the whole group of Liesberg n00bs, only Leighton got something out of the ride. He re-rode it again and again on his own - he adored it. I think Loefet was polite in his disbelief we weren't all quite so blown away (yet were the following day with Thunder Coaster). Now, I think we all considered Balder a good coaster, we all really enjoyed it, and we re-rode it a lot (so it can't be terrible, I think we did Kanonen twice :lol: ). Was it group mentality meaning we didn't get blown away? Leighton wasn't part of it though. It's odd, and can only assume that there is something in some people Balder just hits the spot with. For the rest of us, it either wasn't meeting expectations (the dreaded over-hype), or it just wan't pushing our buttons. I think it was possibly a mix of the two, but I know exactly why it didn't push my buttons, yet why similar coasters (Boulder Dash and El Toro say) do.

So here, possibly experience comes into play to a degree. A tiredness of riding coasters and needing a coaster to eek out a particular feeling.

3. As long as we understand and are realistic - it's not a problem. If you know why something works for you, then it works for you. Th13teen is never going to be a brilliant coaster. As a crowd pleaser and "something a bit different" - it works, but only if you like that kind of thing.

Point is, nobody is right. Nobody has the right to force their opinion on anyone. As long as you keep in the realms of realism and understand why you enjoy/hate something, then the opinion is fine and justified.
 
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