Deadwood (Nolimit city) win

[gubbenscf]

Finally it happened, 1000x+ win on Deadwood after a -150x session, during which I managed to get 4 bonuses, all of which returned under 15x (Gunslinger). I will not disclose, which bonus I chose, but just a hint: sorry mister (Skylined87). this time you were wrong, even though you know it all and what you don't know, nobody needs to know.

Word of caution, gamble responsibly especially with this slot, it can rip it all in a matter of minutes and brainwashes you to stay because those programmed near-hits. During base game of my session, all draws for the second Sheriff's star missed along with getting stuck with those visual near-hits that obviously are programmed in (unethical). In short, it is a dangerous and cruel game and should be avoided by any sane gambler. It is just a hit-run game, "have a few spins there, if you win, leave it or it will take it all and more fast". Some arguments below to back this up.

After this win I decided to try out the normal bonus buys (purchasing price around 70x) with stakes 0,4e-0,8e (2 on each stake to try out both bonuses):

0,4e: Attempt 1: 11x (Gunslinger); Attempt 2: 58x (Hunter)

0,6e: Attempt 1: 153x (Hunter); Attempt 2: 2x (Gunslinger, which equals to 1,2 euros, I seriously thought this is a joke)

0,8e: Attempt 1: 22x (Gunslinger); Attempt 2: 12X (Hunter)

Sample size is small, but this portrays the normal gameplay pretty well considering my previous bonus buys and sessions. Furthermore, I have played it now some thousands of spins delivering some dozens of free spin features including a few 100x+ features with 2 misses of the top feature. I think I am done with the game, got my money back with some extra to cover Nolimit's other shenanigans i.e. the nerfing of Barbarian Fury that cost me lots plus a few mouses (not pet mouses).

To: Nolimit (in case you are listening):

Please stop making these poorly delivering and bad games especially flavoured with a 700x bonus buy. Considering and comparing the miniscule potential of a 13k X max win of Deadwood (close to Bonanza's), Deadwood is too volatile, visually programmed to be rigged, and therefore not entertaining in short- or long-run. For me, it would be easier to find your bank account number and send you 70-80% of expected deposits directly or ship it in the snail mail.

P.S. One of my top3 games is your Dragon Tribe that delivers better than Bonanza without Bonanza's 300-600 average requirement of spins for free spins that returns an average of 50 times the stake. Instead, make a sequel to Dragon Tribe with one free spins feature (requiring 4 scatter trigger) perhaps with multiplying sticky wilds and ditch the X ways.

 

[Nolimit City Official]

We're listening, like always, in this forum. 

First off - amzing that you've spent so much time and effort, along with a massive balance - especially if you wouldn't have gotten that 1240x win. Congrats on that win!

Secondly, a response to a few of your findings:

Deadwood is too volatile, visually programmed to be rigged, and therefore not entertaining in short- or long-run.

It is a very volatile slot, the tag "extreme" isn't just a marketing spoof - it's also a guideline for you as a player. It can be a harsh slot, that goes for Barbarian Fury as well (Volatility: High) - big wins comes along with streaks of bad luck, that's the nature of these slots and it can be very infuriating. Seems like you've gone for the slots with a chance of a massive payout - all the slots you wrote about are tough slots. Keep in mind that all our potential wins may be higher, it's based off of real simulations - not a ridiculous theoretic win. 

It's not "visually programmed to be rigged", that's not how we work. We do a lot of bells & whistles to create excitement and it's never with any intention to fool a player to think that's it better than the math behind any outcome - that's important for us to point out. It may feel this way, as you at times don't hit after a so called "tease". We are however sorry that you feel this way and we'll take this criticism with us for consideration for future games.

Regarding Dragon Tribe - which is a favorite of mine - has a more even payout in it's free spin rounds, even tho the potential is for sure there as well. I've seen some impressive Dragon Spins sessions as well as brutal main game wins. That goes for any of our games really, we usually don't build empty main game and push everything into the bonus rounds. 

I will for sure take your remarks into account for any Dragon Tribe follow-up, even tho I like that the xWays feature in this game makes the big bangs in terms of payout. Sticky multipliers in an avalanche type game creates infinity loops which can be hard to keep at 96+% 

 

[vanHooff]

@Nolimit City Official

The following from the Nolimit city website is difficult to understand for me, given the unlimited multiplier in the bonus.
Perhaps this is the maximum win in a single spin in the base game?

Deadwood xNudge reintroduces the now instantly recognizable xNudge® mechanic with a familiar setup. This time increasing the reel set to a 3-4-4-4-3 combination and offering even more potential with a max theoretical win outcome of 13,950x.

And I wonder about the volatility of the slot given that 700x bonus buys are played, must be pretty lowish I guess?
Personally I have done only 12 of these bonus buys, so lol sample size, with 2 of them returning 4-5 times buyin and getting a ROI of 195% overall. 
Any hits of 25 or 50 times buyin on the 700x buyins yet, or is the max win perhaps capped at 13950 = 18,6 times a 700x buyin?
 

 

[Nolimit City Official]

@vanHooff Dammit, that's just wrong, I'll talk to my sales dude about that - it's not max theoretical, it's simulated. Good catch! I must have missed it when I previewed the PR. 

Generally speaking, then buying features is of a lower volatility than playing the game "normally". With that said, splashing out big portions of your balance can be detremental if you're unlucky. It's not capped - it's one of the biggest wins during simulations. The theoretical win would be much higher. 

 

[gubbenscf]

@Nolimit City Official

To my surprise, you read and respond to your customers, negative and positive and cranky old fellas like me. Appreciated and salutations. With online slots I have seen a few decades of playing online slots and in my opinion it is going worse (e.g. Deadwood). A few points below and an update of bonus buy results on Deadwood. Yes, I promised to stay away from the game, but got a bit tipsy (the wine took over), and you know how it goes. Gambled responsibly, happy for the outcome: never buying another bonus on Deadwood nor Barbarian Fury for that matter.

It's not "visually programmed to be rigged", that's not how we work

I have heard that before and typical response from a marketing department selling off or covering up for the brand. You are just doing your job. For other readers and for the record, let's get the facts straight: If one would ask one of your colleagues, the person or person(s) with a degree in psychology, they will say the near-hits are the ones hooking players in. Then let's have a look into your other games alongside games from Play'n Go and Scamatic Play (Pragmatic), they use same tricks of the trade as well. With this I mean intentionally programming in visual illusions of a near-hit (bonus/big win). Tricks of the trade, nothing more. People in your business would officially say "increases the entertainment value", the real reason is exploiting players' psychological and chemical responses (visual and audio stimuli to the brain) to extract more money to stakeholders (to whom by the way, nothing is ever enough). Research measuring the brain activity of players while playing suffices to complement this fact.

Back to my point "in my opinion it is going worse" with online slots, Deadwood is a pinnacle, thus a prime example. Worth mentioning is that it is a fun game, visually appealing, humoristic and straightforward game - made for the hardcore players or heavy users. The mechanics below the hood are mostly off regarding payouts to an average player. With my experience I would expect a max win of 50k+ X with this level of volatility. The race of high payouts and volatility has certainly played a role. But for an average player, it is a disappointment, just a quick fix to lose money 80-90+% of sessions. Instead to listening to high-rollers with little time and lotsa money (not always their own real money); listen to average players depending on your target segments. I would argue: games with lower volatility and decent max wins enjoy a longer life-span generating more returns via higher volumes of players in the long-run (low-stakes to mid-stakes).

Footnote: Deadwood is too bloody fast: 100x balance gone very quickly in base game. Then, I am a fool and decide to do a bonus buy: bonus buy feature is gone in less than a minute. Your business analysts will of course say slowing down the bonus feature will keep the players in the bonus too long= less money for you. Sarcasm, but factual in a business world.

Okay, to my final contribution to this post, the bonus buy volatility:

Generally speaking, then buying features is of a lower volatility than playing the game "normally".

Today's results from 6 bonus buys (0,4eur and 0,6 eur stake, chose 3 of each options): Shortly, buy-ins ate a chunk of the balance with insignificant returns. Only one (hunter-option) came close to the buy-in. And above you say "lower volatility", have a look below (screenshot) of the worst result in real life, gunslinger-option handsomely delivered two under 10x returns. This is why, next time I feel the urge to do bonus buys: I will try and find your bank account number, or company address and send you 80-90% of the cash directly to cut the middle-men and save me the time . Sample size for this post stands (and finishes) at 12 bonus buys, one of which delivered over the buy-in: 153X (see above). RTP: dunno, possibly less than 20% with a "lower volatility" option of the game, according to you above.

P.S. About the lower volatility on bonus buys, as the wine was wearing down, decided to run a few hundred spins on the base game. Gunslinger delivered (in the end, the serious smart man with the plan was of course right @Skylined87), I will not disclose how much, because I feel obliged not to promote such a dangerous game (will post a picture some day). Yet, let's say quite a bit north of 1k X. Cashed most of it out (Leo won't be happy). 10% or a some hundreds of euros will go to booking a few sauna sessions along with the beers and the lot to friends, due to excellent public saunas being closed. Game delivered third-party benefits at least .