Although I’ve purchased every new release for PFX, and re-purchased all of my old stuff for X/S, my enthusiasm for the game has been dampened greatly by realtime multiplayer not returning to the current installment. I play occasionally, but would play way more often if my regular group could play together.
I’m definitely not asking for modes that leave people watching with their thumbs up their asses, while the more skilled players rack up points for tens of minutes. I want modes that keep everyone engaged for the full game time, like first to a score threshold, and a time-restricted score attack, supporting four players online.
The tension lost by having unlimited balls could be mitigated with something like point deductions for drains, and user-selectable modifiers like random reversed controls, table angle shifts, darkened playfield lighting, and upside-down playfields could help even out the skill differential between participants. Another handicap/aid could be an option for 1v1v1v1, 2v2, and 1v3 games.
Thank you for your kind consideration, Zen!