Is The Token Line Dead?

The last few times I go play DDR and/or In The Groove, some one is already playing. I put my token up on the machine to say that I have the next turn. Well the last few months, players have took them as tip because they are skilled for playing novice or something I don't know. I thought "OK, new players to the game. They don't know the concept of the token line system". This has happen every time I go to play now. Little kids about 8 years old and even elite players are now just robbing tokens from the token line. Have I played for so long that the token line has gone away with a new generation coming in to play the game or is the token line dead? Anyone else have any issues like this?

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Yup. Pretty much. I don't put my tokens in the machine anymore, i wait for them to finish by staring at them.

Once they are done, and they look back at me they see this

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Then they know, that it's time. GUSTA TIME.

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What players do in my area we use ID's or gift cards that have no money on them as a replacement for tokens, but yeah I've seen a few people getting robbed of tokens because of the misunderstanding of the token line.

Max, I usually do the same thing if I see someone who been playing a bunch of times and is holding up the line

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Something on topic: Yeah, if there is ever a 'token line' here, I'll just use my library card or something

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Depends where you go. I know some arcades that adhere to the line and a couple that still use a piece of paper with your name.

In Japan there are no visible lines. You come into a room with an occupied machine and a couple people watching and you're expected to keep track of who's in the room before you and wait until everyone else either goes or indicates they're just spectators. Then the person who was playing gestures that they are finished and you bow to them and play your game.

Yes I'm being serious.

Oh god that image is so ridiculously funny I can't stop laughing at it, it fit so perfectly.

On topic though, at my theater, there will be a rare person or two who plays it, at time intervals that need no token line. Since I was there today, I actually built a little crowd, watching me playing, I haven't played in a month so I struggled playing, but the machine is old (It's a DDR Extreme machine) so the sensitivity wasn't as sensitive as would be desired. I swear to god, Connecticut is boring state, and is seriously getting way too expensive to live in.

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Over here we still have token line... but some people are just too shy to put their credits on the line.

Even sometimes people left behind their credits. Perhaps due to joint premium. I dunno. After we make sure that the person actually left, that's when we take their credits (Anyway we have joint premium and often we're given free games, so that's no problem)

Once we have free play for DDR SN2 machine, and IIRC the credits went over 400, and still hundreds remain when the game center was about to close XD

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So, a token line only happens when a lot of people has inserted tokens on the machine (4 and above), I keep myself in the know as well as help others to know who's coming up as I wait for my turn, because some people indiscriminately drop tokens into the machine by the packets.

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At the arcade I used to go to, DDR wasn't popular enough to warrant a coin line. The few times someone would show up for DDR, the other guy would look at you when you were done, and you'd know that you were going to start alternating turns.

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The people who play here are pretty much 'who's got next credit?' 'him, me, whoever' 'ok sweet' since we use cards. and the only people who really play ITG are regulars, or people who play it once or twice and realise they should alternate.

As for DDR, not really. There's a few people who play seriously but generally not more than a couple of people play at once, so it's again a sort of 'wait your turn' deal.

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I think here in London, as long as you're waiting for a player who actually knows two shits about the game to finish, then they will understand the coin queue. so i'll put it up on that rare occasion.
it's never been a good idea to put it up when novices are playing, there's no way they will know what it means.

so here, it really just depends on who's playing and whether they look like they'll understand or not

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Depends on the situation, I usually (and mostly) uses token line. I put in my coins when a player selects a song (I'm not rude enough to distract them when they're playing). And if that player (or, kid) tries to use my token, I usually just say "Hey, this is my credit, let me play first, or if you need to play first, put your own coins in, don't use mine".

Well, it once happened to me. Works.

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By the way...


Ahh, I miss the premium machine near me. I usually get free plays from newbies lol

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E-s-g: that's why you use 2p pieces to mark your turn :p

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Well, in Florida, I've only seen one machine so far that actually has a sticker that says "coin line starts here", but there's almost no one there to play the Extreme or ITG2 r21 because no one notices that small arcade in the food court anymore. At our X2, it is usually either me being pissed off waiting for a group of youth to be finished with their turn before I can go just to realize they think it is funny to have their friends play next that haven't been there the entire time and just skip me. Because of that, I usually hog the machine when I get there, but I offer anyone versus whenever I go up there so I don't completely hog the machine and I'lll sometimes and offer to pay for their game. (considering I've had more free games than paid games due to people putting in over 9000 credits and leaving the machine after one song because they either have it on beginner and are bored or failing)

But the last time I've seen a token line like that was a LONG time ago when I didn't even understand it. One of our arcades had a Max with someone always playing freestyle on it and there was always some crowd watching with a small stream of coins on the machine.

I've actually placed tokens on the machine at the arcades I regularly attend and people from out of town go "I'll knock that damn token right off this machine, I don't do token lines". Then I proceed to go "fuck off dick I do token lines so stfu".

There's no token lines/coin queues here because nobody really plays the machines here anymore. Not that people did in the past, but go on.

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I guess maybe DDR isn't that much of a social gathering point anymore? The only place I can think of that warrants Token Lines is Trocadero, and that has so many different dancing games within eyeshot of each other that it's very hard to justify waiting 9 songs to play Pump It Up Fiesta, when you could just play SuperNOVA or DJ Max, instead.

I kind of miss bumming around arcades all day and waiting 20 minutes between credits, though. In most Welsh arcades, the Token Line vanished around 3rd Mix, and was replaced with : "Every DDR player in the arcade puts £1 into the machine, and then takes turns playing one song at a time, until we have to put more credits in."

TOKEN LINE NOT DEAD

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now that sounds awesome. really makes the scene seem communal haha

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I just ask "who's next in the line"...people won't bite for asking, lol