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Trenches comic: Tuesday January 31, 2012 - Descent

BogeyBogey I'm back, baby!Santa Monica, CAModerator mod
edited January 2012 in The Penny Arcade Hub
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The night our software gave back to the players

01/31/2012 - Anonymous

I worked for a company who made touch screen gaming software for casinos.

Another QA tester and I were onsite with our largest customer that happened to be on a military base. We were installing the latest build of our newest product thinking, “Who better to let beta test than actual players? What could go wrong?”

Each touchscreen machine accepted credits via a pre-filled card. You add credits to your card, and then you use them in the machines to play the games.

About 2 hours into testing, things were going well. No issues. Then we noticed some players kept changing machines every 10-15 minutes. Now, gamblers are very superstitious, we figured they had run out of luck on that machine and needed a change. Boy were we wrong.

Finally, after about another hour, everyone was changing seats every 5 minutes. My QA buddy and I decided to watch a couple players and see what they were doing. Turns out, there was a bug in our software that allowed you to play all your credits, log out of the machine, go to a new machine, swipe in and BAM, all your money was back.

We immediately told the hall manager who promptly shut down the game and then called the military police to prevent a riot. Rightfully so, as the players were mad and making threats. While the MPs cleared the crowd, the hall manager, myself and my QA buddy hid in the manager’s office bathroom, avoiding what we expected would be a shanking.

After the crowd left, we expected to get chewed out by the hall manager, but he didn’t, he laughed because despite the bug, they STILL cleared a solid 5 figures in the time they allowed the game to go on.

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    GaslightGaslight Registered User regular
    edited January 2012
    The final panel has to pretty much make this my favorite Trenches ever by default, I think, as it is a reference to one of my all-time favorite books.

    Gaslight on
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    RMS OceanicRMS Oceanic Registered User regular
    edited January 2012
    The comic is pretty great today, and the story reminds me that the house always wins.

    RMS Oceanic on
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    oldtakuoldtaku Registered User regular
    Piggy has been GOT

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    HenroidHenroid Mexican kicked from Immigration Thread Centrism is Racism :3Registered User regular
    That third panel is excellent.

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    DextolenDextolen Registered User regular
    Funniest Trenches comic yet! Great! Love the second panel Isaac.

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    Mojo_JojoMojo_Jojo We are only now beginning to understand the full power and ramifications of sexual intercourse Registered User regular
    Hopefully this isn't a rogue good one, but a sign of things to come. Either way, good times.

    Homogeneous distribution of your varieties of amuse-gueule
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    Dark Raven XDark Raven X Laugh hard, run fast, be kindRegistered User regular
    All these crunch ones have been great! It had a rough slow intro, but Trenches has been getting steadily better with each strip.

    The story; I love that even with a mass gamebreaking glitch like that, they were still losing money.

    Oh brilliant
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    PenumbraPenumbra Registered User regular
    Gaslight wrote:
    The final panel has to pretty much make this my favorite Trenches ever by default, I think, as it is a reference to one of my all-time favorite books.

    Are you me Gaslight? Because I feel the exact same way.

    Switch Friend Code: 6359-7575-9391
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    Warlock82Warlock82 Never pet a burning dog Registered User regular
    Why on earth would you do a live test of gambling software that involved real money?

    Switch: 2143-7130-1359 | 3DS: 4983-4927-6699 | Steam: warlock82 | PSN: Warlock2282
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    El SkidEl Skid The frozen white northRegistered User regular
    edited January 2012
    Warlock82 wrote:
    Why on earth would you do a live test of gambling software that involved real money?

    Apparently so you can test the "house wins" setting on your machines... because I guess you need a cash influx to pay the bills?

    Yeah, this was a good comic/story combo today...

    El Skid on
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    Snarkman3Snarkman3 Registered User regular
    Forgive me for being such an uncultured brute, but the third panel is a reference to what book? :oops:

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    Andy JoeAndy Joe We claim the land for the highlord! The AdirondacksRegistered User regular
    Snarkman3 wrote:
    Forgive me for being such an uncultured brute, but the third panel is a reference to what book? :oops:

    Lord of the Flies.

    XBL: Stealth Crane PSN: ajpet12 3DS: 1160-9999-5810 NNID: StealthCrane Pokemon Scarlet Name: Carmen
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    aflyingskypieaflyingskypie Registered User regular
    it sort of makes it seem like he is piggy though... but i guess he kind of is hated by everyone if not fat.

    4th panel is him crushed by a rock. or maybe an arcade machine.

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    Lord_AsmodeusLord_Asmodeus goeticSobriquet: Here is your magical cryptic riddle-tumour: I AM A TIME MACHINERegistered User regular
    Sucks to your assmar Isaac.

    Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if Labor had not first existed. Labor is superior to capital, and deserves much the higher consideration. - Lincoln
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    pyrojapyroja Registered User new member
    “Who better to let beta test than actual players? What could go wrong?”

    I'm pretty sure that's how most software works today.

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    halkunhalkun Registered User regular
    edited January 2012
    I think that one of the key points in the story was the test was on a military base. I'm pretty sure that if this was out "in the field" there would of been gaming commissions involved.

    halkun on
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    MuddBuddMuddBudd Registered User regular
    Haha, her hair got fancier over time.

    There's no plan, there's no race to be run
    The harder the rain, honey, the sweeter the sun.
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    AurichAurich ArizonaRegistered User regular
    edited January 2012
    It does seem odd that they would use real money in a beta.
    Snarkman3 wrote:
    Forgive me for being such an uncultured brute, but the third panel is a reference to what book? :oops:
    You lucky dog. Reading that book in school was dragsville. I was reading The Hobbit and stuff; I didn't want to be learning about human nature. Blech.

    Aurich on
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    ArcSynArcSyn Registered User regular
    MuddBudd wrote:
    Haha, her hair got fancier over time.

    Fancier? Most women that I know put their hair up if it hasn't been washed in a while so it looks less greasy and because it's simple to put it in an impromptu bun like that or a ponytail.

    Aka, the opposite of fancier.

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    TofystedethTofystedeth Registered User regular
    I like that they didn't just jump to like, RC10 or anything. Exponential sanity loss.

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    AurichAurich ArizonaRegistered User regular
    ArcSyn wrote:
    MuddBudd wrote:
    Haha, her hair got fancier over time.

    Fancier? Most women that I know put their hair up if it hasn't been washed in a while so it looks less greasy and because it's simple to put it in an impromptu bun like that or a ponytail.

    Aka, the opposite of fancier.

    His confusion is easy to understand. "Letting your hair down" is indicative of relaxed standards. And she's got some classy chopsticks up ins while Isaac is no longer wearing a shirt.

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    CambiataCambiata Commander Shepard The likes of which even GAWD has never seenRegistered User regular
    Aurich wrote:
    His confusion is easy to understand. "Letting your hair down" is indicative of relaxed standards. And she's got some classy chopsticks up ins while Isaac is no longer wearing a shirt.

    More likely that is a pencil. That, or actual chopsticks, the kind you get for free with takeout. So, not really very classy.

    "If you divide the whole world into just enemies and friends, you'll end up destroying everything" --Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind
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    SaintElmosWireSaintElmosWire Registered User regular
    Trenches is fast becoming the comic I look forward to most.

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    Alfred J. KwakAlfred J. Kwak is it because you were insulted when I insulted your hair?Registered User regular
    edited February 2012
    easily the best comic yet

    Alfred J. Kwak on
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    JetstreamJetstream Registered User regular
    HAH! I haven't seen a "Lord of the Flies" reference that made me feel anything but hate in years! Awesome! :D

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    GreasyKidsStuffGreasyKidsStuff MOMMM! ROAST BEEF WANTS TO KISS GIRLS ON THE TITTIES!Registered User regular
    This comic owns

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    see317see317 Registered User regular
    aflyingskypie wrote:
    it sort of makes it seem like he is piggy though... but i guess he kind of is hated by everyone if not fat.

    4th panel is him crushed by a rock. or maybe an arcade machine.
    It'll be both, he'll be crushed by an Asteroids game.

    Maybe Digdug.

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