# Pinball | Lord Of The Rings | A disturbing discussion about Hobbits while almost getting to Valinor

**Source:** Dirtypool Pinball  
**Type:** video  
**Published:** 2025-02-14  
**Duration:** 30m 31s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHaiIjt5BpU

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## Analysis

Jeff Dodson from Dirty Pool Pinball streams Lord of the Rings gameplay while attempting to reach Valinor wizard mode. The stream features casual banter about Fellowship character preferences, discussion of Dungeons & Dragons production issues (cable gauge and zip tie problems causing board damage), and mentions of visiting Carl D'Angelo from IE Pinball. Despite physical neck pain, the host pursues the Valinor goal with community engagement throughout.

### Key Claims

- [MEDIUM] Dungeons & Dragons machines have had cable gauge/zip tie issues causing board damage and fires — _Stream mention that Hardy's channel received distributor email detailing the issue; cable was too tight or wrong gauge, causing intermittent connections and board surging/burning_
- [HIGH] Carl D'Angelo from IE Pinball is visiting the streamer tomorrow — _Direct statement: 'Carl's going to hang out for a hot minute' and they're in the same league_
- [HIGH] No Dungeons & Dragons machines available on west coast except CES early production model at an arcade — _Direct statement about distribution constraints affecting both the streamer and Carl_
- [HIGH] Dirty Pool Pinball channel reached 200 followers within one month of launch — _Direct statement: 'we've only been here a month' and 'we got 200 followers'_

### Notable Quotes

> "Carl and I do use somewhat the same distributor and also there aren't any Dungeons & Dragons on the west coast"
> — **Jeff Dodson**, mid-stream
> _Documents D&D production/distribution constraints_

> "the cable was too low gauge or high gauge I forget what direction it goes and too tight so the mechanic was breaking or making the wire too intermittent connection and it was surging the node board and causing fires"
> — **Jeff Dodson**, mid-stream
> _Details the D&D electrical issue affecting machines_

> "Carl's a software engineer... probably one of the most important people in pinball"
> — **Jeff Dodson**, mid-stream
> _Establishes Carl D'Angelo's stature in pinball community_

> "I'd rather get to Valinor and have a bad league day tomorrow"
> — **Jeff Dodson**, late-stream
> _Shows dedication to reaching wizard mode despite physical pain_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Jeff Dodson | person | Host of Dirty Pool Pinball; sound designer; streaming Lord of the Rings with neck pain |
| Carl D'Angelo | person | IE Pinball founder/operator; software engineer; visiting streamer; described as key industry figure |
| Dirty Pool Pinball | company | YouTube channel/streaming platform operated by Jeff Dodson; 200 followers in first month; focuses on pinball content |
| IE Pinball | company | Streaming platform/arcade operator run by Carl D'Angelo; known for competitive pinball content |
| Lord of the Rings | game | Jersey Jack Pinball licensed game being played; features Valinor wizard mode as endgame goal |
| Dungeons & Dragons | game | Stern Pinball game with documented electrical issues; distribution-constrained on west coast |
| Fox Cities Pinball | organization | Wisconsin-based pinball venue/channel; mentioned as community viewer and reference point |
| Valinor | game_mode | Lord of the Rings wizard mode; final endgame achievement that stream aims to reach |
| Archimedes | person | Stream chat participant; pursuing PhD in mathematics; supportive community member |
| Kerry Hardy | person | Pinball content creator whose channel received and publicized D&D production issue details |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Dungeons & Dragons production and quality issues, Lord of the Rings wizard mode gameplay
- **Secondary:** Pinball machine distribution constraints, Dirty Pool Pinball channel growth and launch, Pinball community personalities and relationships

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.72) — Generally upbeat stream with humor and community engagement, but tempered by physical pain complaints and frustration with missed shots. Positive toward community members and fellow streamers.

### Signals

- **[business_signal]** Dirt Pool Pinball reached 200 followers within first month, indicating rapid audience growth (confidence: high) — Direct statement about channel metrics and launch timing
- **[community_signal]** Dirty Pool Pinball leveraging chat interaction and guest participation to build loyal small community (confidence: high) — Active chat participation, Archimedes and other regulars contributing, personal anecdotes shared
- **[market_signal]** D&D availability severely constrained on west coast; only CES early production model available at retail locations (confidence: high) — Distribution constraint acknowledged by both streamer and Carl D'Angelo affecting multiple buyers
- **[personnel_signal]** Carl D'Angelo positioned as critical software engineer/designer in pinball industry despite young/independent operation (confidence: high) — Described as 'probably one of the most important people in pinball' by peer in industry
- **[product_concern]** Dungeons & Dragons machines experiencing electrical failures due to cable gauge and zip tie tension issues causing board damage (confidence: medium) — Referenced from distributor communication shared by Kerry Hardy; affects customer machines with potential fire hazard

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## Transcript

uh drop a what do you call it which one was it hot dog that hot dog one's good I love that one all right uh let's see we need to get not drain and not waste our pons here like we did you're right you're right NES also picked uh before that before I hazed him for picking uh the Mayar or no I hazed him for picking the also same elf made him change his choice and now he's got back up in this whole elf situation so I feel like I'm getting I was wrong okay elves are a popular choice I thought the dwarves would have been better good Lord let's kill this spider all right big points no uh the good thing about Shob is that the timer is not Global so every time you hit one of the Shob shots it restarts the timer so you can just waste your time all you want and since we have two ball going on right now we can get the extra ball through the back so the only time you can go through the cave backwards is when you have a multiball running or uh I think bar and Back Again counts even though it is not a multiball mode for the game's purpose it counts it as multiball and we'll give it to you so let's kill that spider let's get that ring piece of pie delicious cherry pie yum yum yeah it hold up get up there let's lock that ball give me one I want every man cnk I'm no no man every day I feel is the day I'm suffering from massive nerve pain and incredible incredible slip disc in my neck but here we are trying to do the thing anyways I know I got I got to impress There's real pinball people on this [ __ ] uh Valor hype for sure it is real got to do it got to do it to be fair El's would probably smell good that's true I imagine legala smells like sweet Rosemary pie I don't know what Rosemary pie is all right so since we are on the Quest for valanor we do not give a [ __ ] about ring uh hurry up so we're going to we're going to trap up and get rid of this or not because we started with multiball mode Let's see if we can actually get to level seven I don't care about you ring frenzy [ __ ] off oh my God okay get up there a [ __ ] come on that was a drain give me a RoR rout Rel least also I'm getting some jack pots I feel like the jackpot reward is the least used guys just like to [ __ ] all right whatever maybe we can at least destroy the ring get up there three plays God damn it Carl uh so yeah Carl and I are in the same league and uh in fact I have Carl coming over tomorrow I don't think we're going to stream but Carl's going to hang out for a hot minute uh if you don't know Carl from I pinball unbelievable person and player and programmer probably one of the most important people in pinball that is I wouldn't even say behind the scenes but uh the man the legend yes so yeah then we're going to go League get our I'm not going to get my he's not getting his ass kicked I probably will he's a software engineer so close if you count that absolutely yeah for real H maybe I'll have him hop on and just get us to banor instantly that would be pretty hilarious a [ __ ] what sadness anyways uh I might as well plug the channel since Fox Cities is here really warm that really wrestles my jimmies in the best possible way we only been here a month we did it we hit a month as of I think yesterday or today and uh again I want to thank everybody we got right hand down kitty cat that's cult cat cult cat is a huge supporter of the channel uh yeah we got 200 followers it warms the heart we've only streamed two games we streamed I'm going to plug it again as I always do that's my Twilight Zone and I did all original music and sound design for it it's pretty cool I like it maybe you will but that was kind of before we figured out our setup uh but it still sounds okay it's like our first couple of videos check them out if that's a thing that you want to do uh in the meantime we're waiting for d and d and trying to get through valeno cuz that's the [ __ ] hell I live in now forever welcome to uh dirty pool pinball R I know that Carl did not get his DND D because uh Carl and I do use somewhat the same distributor and also there aren't any D ands on the west coast the only D and D we have which we we do have at aegi uh is the one from CES it was the early production model and it works it's fun I like it so I'm looking forward to seeing uh what mine will be like and if it burns my home down nice you're East Coast though right aren't you uh you know Twin Cities I guess Midwest is it Midwest West Central you know what you know where you're from all right uh oh Lord okay we got to hit Gandalf shot left ramp yeah Wisconsin that's right if you guys don't follow Fox Cities Pinball you're you live under a rock and you should go follow their Channel right now all right left ramp right ramp piece of pie let's do it oh you're from the Pacific or twizzle fish I keep getting all my Engineers mixed up there's just too many of you man all right let's start this multiball mode I know man I'm trying to play for real now got to do it just to impress in case I ever go to uh Wisconsin and play it's some Fox Cities Pinball you know I got to make sure uh I've proven my value all right let's get a second piece of pie we've already completed uh two towers but I'll take take an extra piece of pie I'll take free pie all day let's put it that way all right last stage we need what like [ __ ] five maybe six well now we can get some triple jackpots that'll get us there in no time a there it is let's get that Super Jackpot oh come on hit that op Toto I'll be a I thought I had three I'm glad that one came out to play get up there that was uh for completing a different mode oh my God if I [ __ ] get to valanor this stream with my hurt ass neck with Fox Cities hanging out that would be just an absolute cherry on top there we go that's the Super Jackpot for another piece of pie so I don't really care if we drain or not we're going to take a second to rebuild uh what's Up DJ Huxley man thank you for jumping on I thought they figured out the issue with zip ties being too tight uh no that is not speculation they said that the cable was too low gauge or high gauge I forget what direction it goes and uh and too tight so the mechanic was breaking or making the the wire too intermittent connection and it was surging the node 10 board and causing fires or at least burning out the board but you know if you want a nice expensive fire in your house get you a DND D expensive fire in your house get you a dam all right let's get us an extra wrong yeah that's what I've heard that came from uh what is it Hardy Hardy's Channel he had a distributor email him and he read the email on on stream talking about what was causing the issue uh all right I want another extra ball don't be like that right now got people watching time for you Shenanigans what did I just SP dude drains do happen you are absolutely right uh yeah I feel like man maybe Stern should talk to my channel since everybody here is an engineer uh we kind of have an ongoing joke but not joke for any size drain problem Miss diggle my neck hurts and you know it miss diggle's my wife and she knows that she's feeling bad right now and that I shouldn't be playing pinball but I've got pinball royalty in the channel and we are making extremely good progress to valois so there's no [ __ ] chance in hell I'm giving up right now at all so prep you some new Mobic it's time to get Juiced up yeah [ __ ] it I'd rather get to valanor and have a bad League day tomorrow I'm saying it right now for you guys I would rather get to valanor and have a shitty league night tomorrow it's on tape I said it and I'm not taking it back [ __ ] it now Focus up you got this welcome Archimedes speaking of Engineers although Archimedes is a math man he's getting his Doctorate Archimedes is gonna be Dr math Archimedes we have pinball royalty in the channel please do me a solid type out what your entire thesis is called again so so people can see how horrendously [ __ ] comedically boring it is it just sounds like a perfect thesis like when you think a thesis this is what it is it sounds like a thesis please man for me we have a small following but they're loyal and I appreciate that all right what are we doing let's get we got two more pieces of pie to collect we need this extra ball and I really needed those extra green guys that I did not collect thank you thank you so much for doing that last time he got mad and wouldn't do it give that extra Ball please improvements and optimal sampling methods are functional approximation on General 2D domains does that not sound like the most thesis thesy thing that you've ever heard like boom I thought we looked it up around why are we oh right because it's we need to start a mode which we did D Veron that's good bring bti ball that bring bolti ball is not good I don't think I can make progress towards saon on it does someone hey someone who knows a lot more I mean God where's Joe when you need him somebody tell me oh okay you can cuz I'm I heard the old man scream yeah get get [ __ ] old man all right he's on the roof now we got to hit the butterfly holy [ __ ] are we going to actually do this we got to hit a shot until the uh orank will open when we successfully hit the butterfly shot that's how we will know that we got it which it is open and we just got it that's another piece of pie holy [ __ ] okay we are going to drain the single ball play now cuz cuz only get one of these balls that I actually want to hold on to no [ __ ] [ __ ] my ass got one of these balls but I actually want to HTE you no [ __ ] [ __ ] my ass hey man that's ah you're all trolls God damn it ah what a great film all right all that matters is we got the piece of pie out of that yes you're right Archimedes you're absolutely right thank you sp fish I'm glad that you're burning all your power points on my ass I said it you're right you're right Archimedes is uh is definitely my hype man if Joe if Joe the dragon is is my unofficial manager Archimedes is my hype man if I could give you a microphone and have you uh step up and sing a song in a minor I would uh all right I got a lot of points earned by chatting with about only rings that's true that is very true uh all right let's lock in we can get to there and back again we don't have to complete it we just have to start it one shot right now let's do it oh no I said let's get it right now God please don't do this to me game okay we're going to time it out yes that Kendrick uh song is awesome and absolutely I don't listen to any really of their music but that one is great and [ __ ] Drake for being a horrible person uh yeah let's let's not talk about that as much as we like to be fun on this channel [ __ ] all that uh yeah so let's see what do we have to do here now so we've got we're at there back again you can't you can't shoot the center hole to get extra rings in this because you cannot cheat to get your ring so you got to get legitimate shots uh then we can start there and back again which will complete that and then we only have two multi balls to get through a minor that's hilarious Swizzle fish that is the second excellent pun you have made tonight holy moly on a roll my dude uh the dwarves would be happy they call it a miner uh all right so let's see we need to get combo shots really need give me it yes combo combo no wrong color oh no man okay so you can make your life a whole lot easier by getting combo shots Drake is a scumbag you he's just a horrible person Bar Bar None uh if you if you hit a ringot you can hit any blinking color it will light every other shot for the same blinking color and it will give you an extra plus one ring it's like bringing a plus one to a event it's Ste in a more ringy kind of way so if we can get this elf ring said if we can get this elf ring I know I was going to make that joke Swizzle fish if you don't know he's referring to a pinball getting in my head talking about this [ __ ] man JN tro is a piece of [ __ ] he's in jail Gomez uh had to take over his uh Deadpool game and make it not terrible I own Ghostbusters and it's I think about selling it every day because of that horrible person if you're a dad you know it's just yeah g anyways okay Archimedes he's going to beat you up you're getting you're [ __ ] taking me away from my locking in he's locking in Jerry okay that should have given me three it was a combo shot no that should have given me three it was a combo shot no it's falling apart it's falling apart chat thank you thank you Fox Cities where's the Great Pyramid I need I need the Great Pyramid to bless me ah there it is what's up thank okay that was a terrible plunge we needed green men we needed green men and we did not need that all right we need one ramp shot Center ring now we're in there and Back Again we're going to time it out I'm sorry it's more important we get to valanor much for doing a post catch there you know that was working oh but I replaced the rubbers that's right should stop trying to post catch it see if we can do a uh oh my God that that so much thin okay stop it give me the ball Jesus Christ God damn it all right okay chat give me a story we got 40 seconds to burn you can listen to Anya and tell me a sweet story I do remember that time my wife did a great catch if I had that stone the buffer I would play it but instead she's going to be in chat and yelling at me for hurting my neck and playing pinball uh yeah anyways thanks for stopping by this has been a really Banger run uh I appreciate it if you are entertained and think this has been worth your time please hit that follow button because we're going to be doing this a lot unless my neck keeps hurting and then we'll be doing it more or less and your butt you crazy Hobbit I appreciate you all sharing uh which Fellowship sexual experience that you would choose uh there are no wrong answers in there Sail Away to elf Valor okay and we're done okay we need to get to multiball modes we need to get to Fellowship which we got to get Sam and everybody else and we need to get green guys so our our objective now is to absolutely do multi balls because we're going to get these pieces of pie anyways for completing the multi balls so easiest way to get to that let's do War the ants cuz that'll that'll give us green people all day and let's let's start getting them let's get those Greenies what instruments do I play I play piano as a primary instrument that's pretty much it I can play a bunch of other things shitty but I would not qualify myself as a musician on all of those and I know a number of very talented musicians so I would not even pretend to be in that same I [ __ ] around I don't know if I would say I play drums uh I know you're right well tell tell NES to stop distracting me Ruben was eating chicken tenders getting in my head with that [ __ ] all right what are we at are we at 5,000 are we anywhere near that no we are halfway that is unfortunate 500 more all range of men five range of men seven range of men yeah dude your dead are coming love that flute we actually do have a flute back here it's not a it's not a piccolo oh my God oh my God slow down please stop please stop ball 10 I'm sorry neck 8 7 6 5 4 3 that's fine we don't need it it's just extra it's just it's just you know get in there not the ring friends we want but the ring friends that we need that's okay I'm not even mad about that no I don't like that side to side oh my Lord oh my Lord all right get out of here we frenzy I don't need you I don't need your points I don't want them get out of here you suck points are [ __ ] they mean nothing to me oh don't you dare don't you dare little slingshot I am on to you man how do I how do I know swis oh I don't swis is just OG man we're tight here we chat yeah yeah at The Brick okay what is going to be the easiest way to get souls we need these locks let's get this lock shot what are we at two I want every to be ready for B by we're almost at nine rings of men we don't even need it I have that piece it's blinking because we have it but we do need one more you need seven according to Archimedes who did a little research I thought you only needed six but you have we need seven but it doesn't matter we're going to get it because we have to beat these wizard we have to beat these multi balls and you get pie for beating the wizard or the I can't talk Talking is dumb we're going to get pie for defeating the multiball so we're done we have the pie p is done p is done there and Back Again is done we know we can destroy the ring all we have to do is complete these two multiball modes and we're done I just jinxed it all right I'm surprised we haven't knocked into the Shire yet for Sam 250 more unfortunately that does not count that does okay now we need Pippen we already have borr woo that's Pippen people inell now we need legalist Fox City's sexual preference Choice nothing wrong with that uh let's see now we need the right ramp to start multiball stop stop it you stop it right now got Golem multiball ready to restart the mode that's excellent I'm working on a man free all right here we go I would have taken that Golem multiball that would have been nice get up there you mother [ __ ] all right that's fine this will make that potentially easier yes a new power is wow we don't need two towers the [ __ ] am I doing oh whatever this is this is just for fun we'll use it to get uh we'll use it to get green guys as long as I don't power drain out of it we do need to collect we do need to collect the ring I'm sorry the uh piece of the pie there it is just just to make sure cuz it would suck to get there and not have actually collected it so now we got twox scoring running actually I don't know if you can initiate to exploring in the middle of it uh yeah my dude it's [ __ ] happening it's you're it's it's real this is real I don't know why I'm doing this particular mode but here we are okay I'm going to deliberately drain out of this because I don't think we can get 2x running from it and we're not getting any progress for any of the other multiball modes that's true don't do that to me that's not very nice I saw what you're doing there I agree don't do it okay I was hoping we can sneak in a shot to the 2x okay we need gandal we need what do we need the stuff okay we need Mary that's right orbit that that's awesome yeah he's here he's hanging out how cool is that right Orit you easy a of course ads are running lame a stupid ad break yeah she's right she's right oh wait till this ads over and say thank you to everybody dud my cock's pretty hurt by that too if only a nurse would show up and take care of me I hear you man need legalist to show up and take care of me right now after that disappointing situation uh God

_(Acquisition: youtube_auto_sub, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: df90afd9-e2e9-4bcd-8ba1-8f104dad1008*