I think Stern thinks they are doing just fine. They sell tons of machines and have no problem clearing inventory. I hate the lock bar too but really is it the end of the world you have 2 latches instead of the traditional assembly.
Cutting costs is alot of American Business's alive right now. They make a luxury item that not everyone can buy. Collectors hardly buy Stern machines new <I base that info on all the hate on the forums> besides Tron it seems like everyone buys a Stern machine pre-played when they can get a cheap deal.
I hate the 2 stupid black poles instead of the traditional bars to keep the playfield up but its not the end of the world.
As far as shaker motors go you can say the same thing about a car that has a few options that you want......Well sir the car is capable of holding a hemi engine so why dont you just throw that in... Just a quick analogy.
Rubbers are rubbers and thats all im gonna say about that.
I usually dont chime in on the hate posts against Stern but common......
Car analogies? K.
Instead of the engine, it's more like you don't have that little $2 coil that you push into the cigarette lighter socket. The socket is there, but if you want that $2 coil piece, they'll be happy to sell it to you for an extra $35.
You drive the car new off the lot, and 2 of the tires start to shred 2 weeks later after normal use.
Later you need to check the oil, but you can't even get to the dipstick without having a friend come by to hold the hood up for you.
When you're paying several thousand dollars for something like this, you'd expect some things to just be there, at least. It's not the end of the world, true, but if they keep going at this rate, it could be the end of Stern.
And "hate post", please... I have nothing against Stern, it's just these cutting corners crap is going to catch up with them eventually. A large portion of their market is hobbyist... that's usually the type of people you don't want to cut corners with. Having already had to work on the Tron machine, I can tell you that those little legs are a joke.
For something positive... the system they have for upgrades is very nice. Having the USB port there to just plug a drive into is very convenient; and will hopefully be used soon when they fix the audio bugs in their config menus... But I would have gladly traded that for, at least, proper playfield supports.