# deeproot: Getting Some Closure

**Source:** Cary Hardy  
**Type:** video  
**Published:** 2020-09-29  
**Duration:** 31m 33s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQf3mCEeEzU

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## Analysis

Carrie Hardy provides insider details about her Deep Root Pinball factory tour with five other invited personalities, clarifying selection criteria, NDA restrictions, tour logistics, and why the group expressed concerns about Raza's launch timeline and readiness. She emphasizes that Deep Root's challenges stem partly from founder Robert's attitude and that the team has passion and dedication despite technical issues and design concerns.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Six media personalities were invited to Deep Root factory tour; more were invited but declined including Kaneda and Poor Man's Pinball Podcast members — _Direct statement about invitations and public announcements of declines_
- [HIGH] All six invitees' travel, lodging, and mileage was fully paid by Deep Root — _Carrie explicitly states 'our traveling fees and gas mileage and lodging was paid for by Deep Root'_
- [MEDIUM] Steve Bowden had significant input on selection of invitees, particularly Colin due to their friendship and tournament player expertise — _Carrie states 'I believe...he was primarily invited due to his mental thoughts on tournament style stuff' based on Bowden's conversations during visit_
- [HIGH] All six visitors agreed that Raza is not ready to launch on the stated timeline — _Carrie: 'We were all in agreeance that This isn't ready to launch And the time frame that he stated We were all like no we don't see that being good'_
- [HIGH] Technical issues prevented full gameplay testing of Raza during the tour — _Carrie states 'all of us got to play Raza to an extent. There are technical issues' and 'kept us from being able to do what i wanted to do'_
- [HIGH] Deep Root manufactures metal parts (rails, ramps) on-site and is developing a glass-lifting side rail system — _Tour description of metal works area: 'the rails and the ramps and stuff like that, they're all manufactured on site right there'_
- [MEDIUM] Deep Root is developing multiple games beyond Raza with designers John Papaduke and Barry Owlsworth — _Carrie mentions seeing prototypes and meeting these designers but is restricted by NDA from naming games_
- [HIGH] Pin Pod shipping box is optional, not mandatory for Raza purchases — _Carrie explicitly states 'this pin pod was only an option' and emphasizes this multiple times_

### Notable Quotes

> "I can only parallel it to how it was with Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, where you had a lot of people that did not know what was going inside this building...and then a moment comes up where you're invited into this place, and you will be one of the very first people to see all of these innovations"
> — **Carrie Hardy**, ~8:30
> _Explains the appeal and emotional context of accepting the NDA-restricted factory tour invitation_

> "We were all in agreeance that This isn't ready to launch And the time frame that he stated We were all like no we don't see that being good"
> — **Carrie Hardy**, ~37:45
> _Direct confirmation that all six invited personalities expressed concerns about Raza's readiness and launch timeline_

> "I felt that if i would have brought my concerns up during the whole filming thing it just wouldn't have looked good i would have been that guy and I was like, you know what, I'm going to let him have this moment"
> — **Carrie Hardy**, ~39:00
> _Reveals that critics withheld feedback during filming to avoid appearing negative, and instead communicated concerns later via email_

> "I think definitely that weekend, I'm hoping at least, that was a humbling experience for him [Robert]. and I'm thinking he's starting to note and see that pinball is in fact not easy"
> — **Carrie Hardy**, ~42:30
> _Assessment that Deep Root founder needed a reality check on industry challenges_

> "I believe the issue and the reason why that Robert is getting so much flack for all of this is his attitude and the way it's been over the past few years...whenever he was coming out saying, this manufacturer is doing it wrong, we're going to do it better, and bullish statements like that, then yeah, you're going to have those of you out there that are going to be like, man, I hope this guy falls on his face"
> — **Carrie Hardy**, ~43:00
> _Attributes community backlash to founder's arrogance rather than product issues alone_

> "Talking to like Steve Bowden and Quinn who have all this passion behind these projects...The designers, Barry Owsler...the people that I talked to that were working there were so glad that we were there because I'm thinking that they felt like finally we're going to be able to show the world what we've been working on"
> — **Carrie Hardy**, ~45:00
> _Demonstrates team morale and passion at Deep Root despite public skepticism_

> "their only saving grace is that they haven't taken any of your money yet so as long as that doesn't happen i think that overall they're going to be in the safe space where they shouldn't be having too much flack thrown at them"
> — **Carrie Hardy**, ~51:00
> _Provides framework for evaluating Deep Root's credibility as a pre-order manufacturer_

> "I wanted to be able to just openly talk about all these great things that I saw but then I can't sucks...when it comes to NDAs I'm not a big fan of them so far"
> — **Carrie Hardy**, ~52:30
> _Expresses frustration with NDA restrictions preventing full disclosure_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Carrie Hardy | person | Pinball content creator and YouTuber; one of six invited visitors to Deep Root factory tour; speaker of this video |
| Steve Bowden | person | Elite competitive player and designer at Deep Root; involved in selection of tour invitees; passionate about projects at Deep Root |
| Deep Root Pinball | company | Pinball manufacturer developing Raza and multiple prototype games; founder Robert oversaw factory tour; employs John Papaduke and Barry Owlsworth as designers |
| Raza | game | Deep Root's flagship game with technical issues; visitors expressed concerns about launch readiness; features innovative glass-lifting side rail system and optional Pin Pod shipping box |
| Colin | person | Tournament player and one of six tour invitees; friend of Steve Bowden; selected for tournament play insights |
| Crystal | person | One of six tour invitees; described as savvy on parts, good tournament player, energetic and aggressive playstyle |
| Lauren | person | Host of Backbox Pinball Podcast; one of six tour invitees; primarily reaches female audience in pinball hobby |
| Chris | person | Correspondent for Pinball Network/Pinball Show; one of six tour invitees; described as new to hobby but with journalistic experience |
| Jeff Patterson | person | Host of This Week in Pinball; one of six tour invitees; described by Carrie as 'the almighty when it comes to journalism for this hobby' |
| Robert | person | Founder of Deep Root Pinball; criticized for arrogant attitude and bullish statements; received humbling experience during factory tour feedback |
| John Papaduke | person | Designer working at Deep Root; one of multiple prototype games shown to tour group |
| Barry Owlsworth | person | Designer at Deep Root; multiple prototype games in development; spoken positively of by Carrie |
| Quinn | person | Employee at Deep Root with passion for projects; met by tour group |
| Kaneda | person | Invited to Deep Root factory tour but declined due to COVID concerns; publicly announced decline |
| Poor Man's Pinball Podcast | organization | Podcast; one or both hosts invited to Deep Root tour but were unable to attend; publicly announced decline |
| This Week in Pinball | organization | Website hosting Deep Root documentation; published concerns about Raza's pin armor coating quality (orange peel effect) |
| Pin Pod | product | Optional shipping/storage box for Raza machines; larger than standard boxes; can be repurposed for other machines; positive reception from visitors |
| Houston Expo | event | Pinball event where Deep Root previously displayed Raza playfield; comparison shown between old and new pin armor versions |
| Pinside | organization | Pinball community forum where community members identified design concerns; Carrie references users hitting 'nails on the head' about Raza issues |
| Straight Down the Middle | product | Carrie's YouTube channel; emphasis on straight content about pinball machines |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Deep Root Pinball factory tour logistics and selection criteria, Raza game readiness and technical issues, NDA restrictions and content creator frustrations, Deep Root founder's attitude and community perception
- **Secondary:** Innovative features (Pin Pod, glass-lifting rails, on-site manufacturing), Multiple prototype games in development, Community feedback and constructive criticism
- **Mentioned:** Pinball design and playfield ergonomics

### Sentiment

**Mixed** (0.35) — Carrie expresses cautious optimism about Deep Root's potential and passion of the team, but is critical of founder's attitude, concerned about launch timeline, and frustrated by NDA restrictions. She attempts balance by defending the team's work ethic while acknowledging legitimate community concerns.

### Signals

- **[business_signal]** Deep Root has invested in on-site manufacturing capability for metal components and in professional reveal video production, indicating commitment to production scale-up (confidence: medium) — Carrie describes dedicated machine shop with rail/ramp manufacturing, professional camera crew with industry-standard equipment (clickers, gyros, lighting)
- **[community_signal]** Tension between community desire for more manufacturer options/competition and skepticism about Deep Root's execution and timeline; some celebrating potential failure due to founder's arrogance (confidence: medium) — Carrie discusses community members 'rooting and cheering and laughing at their possible failure' due to attitude; acknowledges this is understandable given his bullish statements
- **[community_signal]** Content creator community expressing closure-seeking behavior and fatigue around Deep Root coverage; multiple creators declining podcast appearances to avoid repetitive NDA-constrained discussions (confidence: high) — Carrie states 'I've had to turn down a couple of different podcasts because I didn't want to be brought on and talk more about this' and hopes 'this is going to be like my last Deep Root thing'
- **[sentiment_shift]** Community backlash against Deep Root is attributed primarily to founder Robert's arrogant attitude and bullish competitive statements rather than product quality alone; this is a reputation/messaging issue distinct from technical capability (confidence: high) — Carrie explicitly states founder's attitude caused negative sentiment: 'whenever he was coming out saying, this manufacturer is doing it wrong, we're going to do it better...you're going to have those...that are going to be like, man, I hope this guy falls on his face'
- **[market_signal]** Deep Root invested heavily in professional reveal event and video production, suggesting expectation of significant public attention and media coverage from tour (confidence: high) — Professional camera crew with industry-standard equipment, wireless microphones for all six guests, scene clickers, multiple cameras with stabilization equipment
- **[community_signal]** Tour guests deliberately withheld critical feedback during filming to avoid appearing negative on record, instead saving concerns for personal emails and conversations after the fact (confidence: high) — Carrie: 'I felt that if i would have brought my concerns up during the whole filming thing it just wouldn't have looked good i would have been that guy...I'm going to let him have this moment...then I'll either talk to him in person or I'll write him an email'
- **[personnel_signal]** Deep Root assembling experienced designer team (Steve Bowden, John Papaduke, Barry Owlsworth) for multiple concurrent game projects; tour was designed as professional R&D feedback session filmed for reveal video (confidence: high) — Multiple designers mentioned; professional camera crew with scene clickers; PowerPoint presentations on development roadmap
- **[announcement]** Pin Pod shipping/storage solution is optional accessory for Raza; can be reused for other machines; differs from mandatory packaging approach competitors may use (confidence: high) — Carrie emphasizes multiple times that Pin Pod is optional choice, not required: 'this pin pod was only an option so that was good'
- **[product_strategy]** All six tour invitees expressed consensus that Raza is not ready for the stated launch timeline; this suggests production delays are likely (confidence: high) — Carrie: 'We were all in agreeance that This isn't ready to launch And the time frame that he stated We were all like no we don't see that being good'
- **[product_concern]** Raza experienced technical issues during tour gameplay that prevented full testing and demo content creation; visitors identified design/manufacturing concerns about pin armor coating (orange peel effect) and glass implementation (confidence: high) — Carrie states 'all of us got to play Raza to an extent. There are technical issues' and references concerns documented on This Week in Pinball about coating quality
- **[rumor_hype]** Multiple prototype games in development at Deep Root beyond Raza with designers John Papaduke and Barry Owlsworth; NDA prevents naming or details of these titles (confidence: medium) — Carrie: 'we actually went in to do our introductions...they got to see what those games are looking like and the titles for those' but cannot disclose which games
- **[technology_signal]** Deep Root developing innovative glass-lift system via side rails and complete machine setup capability without external assistance; appears to be significant design innovation (confidence: medium) — Carrie mentions 'the ability to lift up the glass with the side rails and how they're working on a device for you to be able to uh do a complete setup on your machine just by yourself'

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## Transcript

 Just a disclaimer here before this video starts, the thoughts and opinions expressed in this video do not represent any thoughts and opinions that are of the other members of VIPs that were at the Deep Root Tour. With that being said, let's talk about some stuff that no one else is. what's up guys welcome back to my channel where i talk and do everything pinball so if that sounds interesting to you then hit that subscribe button down below i feel i'm not sick but if i sound differently it's because my sinuses are all kinds of out of whack right now i guess it's the change seasons I don't know but either way I have got the email and list of things that I can and cannot discuss so I'm gonna make sure that I'm abiding by the rules here so according to this then I can discuss a lot of other things that no one else is talking about my goal in this video is to answer a lot of of questions I've seen via Facebook, personal messages, Pinside, stuff like that. So I'm hoping to give you guys some closure and I believe that is the main issue here when it comes to a lot of you and Deep Root is that you're not getting the full story. You're not getting a lot of the details and some of us just need that bit of closure. So let's start from the very beginning. Why were the six of us chosen? Well, first of all, there was more than just six, but there are others that were not able to attend due to various reasons. Kaneda was supposed to go back when they were having it in March, but then COVID blew up and it got worse, and so he declined being able to attend this time around. And I want to say the Poor Man's Pinball podcast, I believe one or both of them were invited, but they were unable to attend also. Now, there may have been others, but those are the other two that I know of that have publicly announced that they were invited, but declined. Now, why we were selected, I can only assume they didn't tell us why, except that, you know, basically we are well-known personalities, but I believe a little bit of that is handpicked by Steven Bowden. And that is going by his conversations with certain people while we were there, particularly Colin because he's a tournament player. So Colin's not real well known in the pinball media, but he's very well known in playing pinball in a tournament. And Steven Bowden is right up there, and they're really good friends. So I believe, I believe, I can't say this is for sure, that he was primarily invited due to his mental thoughts on tournament style stuff. So he was going to be able to give his insights and opinions and feedback to Steve when it came to the tournament style. The whole thing was Raza. But now that I think about it, each one of us six brought something to the table. And you have Crystal that's very savvy on parts and pinball and a good tournament player. When she plays pinball, you better stay back because she's very energetic and aggressive. Cracks me up when she plays. And you have Lauren with Backbox Pinball Podcast. And her primary audience is the women in this hobby. And I definitely do not have female followers because I can show you my analytics and barely half a percent of the people that watch my content are female. So that rules me out on gathering that portion of the people in this hobby. But I am savvy when it comes to the engineering and technical stuff and how the machine is put together and built. That is where my more savviness comes into play. Then you have Chris that was the correspondent for the Pinball Network or Pinball Show. So he was mainly there for journalistic purposes, but after getting to know him through the weekend, he definitely had a little bit more knowledge than my original assumption was. He is new to the hobby, but he wasn't just there because he was invited kind of thing. So that was good to get to know him better over the weekend. Then you had Jeff Patterson, obviously, who's with This Week in Pinball. he is the in my opinion the the almighty when it comes to journalism for this hobby and all the kinds of things that he puts on his website a majority of us of the majority of everybody else in the hobby that does media stuff gets their info from his website i don't know where a lot of us would be when it came to what's going on in this hobby without jeff but i think partially the reason why we were picked at least a good chunk of us was because we were all pretty native to texas and texas is a very large state but i want to say four out of six of us lived in texas so that may have been part of it also i guess the the cost of transportation and everything and uh so let's let's talk about that our traveling fees and gas mileage and lodging was paid for by Deep Root. So let's just get that out of the way right now. None of this was on our dime. We were fully reimbursed for our mileage and lodging for that weekend. A lot of people questioned why we even accepted to go into the factory and sign this NDA, which restricted us from talking about a lot of things. And I can only parallel it to how it was with Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, where you had a lot of people that did not know what was going inside this building. And people wanted to know, but were unable to, obviously. And then a moment comes up where you're invited into this place, and you will be one of the very first people to see all of these innovations and things that this person has been talking about and boasting himself up about. and so there's a lot of excitement in this because you're like man i'm gonna be one of the first to see this and then once it's over and done with i'm gonna be able to excitedly talk and be joyful about what i've seen over the weekend i think that's what all of our intentions and expectations were for this weekend at deep root was to go in there see all these things with raza hopefully fingers crossed to see a lot of other things and we were expecting not to be able to talk about those other things like prototypes and stuff like that that was a given but we were at least expecting to see a lot of the innovations with raza be able to play raza and give our feedback and thoughts and everything about it and just everything was going to be all hunky-dory and perfect and then we would go home for the weekend and then once they released their reveal video then we would be able to openly discuss all that is Raza except for the prototypes and then things did not go that way obviously so let's talk about basically the entire day how it went down so we all arrive in the morning and we are then shown that everything that about to take place with this reveal is going to be like professionally recorded Like things that you see on television guys. There was no messing around when it came to what the potential quality of this reveal video was going to be. I mean when I say the quality I mean I knew it was legit whenever we get into a certain position to explain to the camera who we are and stuff like that that the little clicker came up to the camera like all right scene one take five blah blah blah blah whatever click and I was like holy shit there's a clicker that means business but we all go in one at a time we've all got a wireless mic on the entire day that we were there. And we initially start out by going up to the camera and an individual would ask us a series of questions and we would be looking at this person and answer the questions, just how they were given to us kind of thing. So I can tell you, I can't tell you what everyone else's questions were, but I will tell you, like my questions were, what is your name and how did you get into pinball? What are the things that I like about pinball? What do I feel needs to be changed in pinball? And what do I hope to see during my tour of this building? And so I answered all those. And some of my answers were like, my name is Kerry, obviously, and I'm a pinball content creator via YouTube. And I create channel with straight down the middle. And I discussed how I got into pinball when it came to repairing my first machine and then became a collector, restore, repair, blah, blah, blah. How I'm describing it to use actually longer than what it took me to initially say it. But then I go into the things that I'm looking for in pinball is I love the physicality of it. And I said that I believe a lot of manufacturers these days are putting too much time and effort and money into what's on the screen instead of putting things underneath the glass. So I emphasize what I hope to see is more underneath the glass and less on the screen. So once all six of us did our initial introductions, then we got taken into the wood cutting area where I guess the cabinets and a lot of the prototype machine stuff, like the machine shop. That's where we're going to. So we went into the machine shop area next, and that's where they revealed the pen pod to us. So he goes over the initial cardboard box and how that is. And I was completely on board with the cardboard box that they have in mind. I was like, okay, good. I like that. That's actually better than what I've seen other manufacturers do. And then they brought out the pin pod and did the whole tarp pull-off kind of thing. And like I said, the way this is being filmed, guys, there are like three or four cameras and people with like gyros and everything and the lighting and stuff like that to get all this in real time to get our initial reactions. And of course, we're all wearing masks, so it's a little bit difficult to get a really good reaction from us. So whenever the pin pod gets first revealed, I mean, obviously, we're a little bit taken aback because we're just like, whoa, it's a pretty big box kind of thing, you know, compared to the other ones. and um so what i was glad to hear is that once he showed us how to put a machine in there how the box gets put together uh me and jeff actually built one together that was all recorded and uh i was happy to hear that this pin pod was only an option so that was good yeah i was like because I would have definitely been like, hey, I don't think this is a good idea. This is the only way you're going to be doing this. But luckily, it's just an option. So those of you out there that think that that is the only way you're going to get your machine, no, that is just for those of you out there that would like to have this special way to obtain your game as well as be able to use it for other machines in the future. So it's an option out there if you so choose to do that. actually i needed to go back here guys but before we even did our introductions we literally went right into the prototype room where we saw a number of machines like i don't even know how many playfields there were now at the top of my head but there was at least four or five and he went through every single game and told us what it was and i had a lot of the hardware on there and they were on rotisseries a couple of them were actually in cabinets and then we got shown a topper to a particular game and i can say that the topper was in prototype phase and it was definitely mechanical it was not just a screen that lit up or whatever there was going to be implementation uh mechanical features on it and it looked pretty cool at that current State. And then we got brought in, we met John Papadiuk, we got to see one of the games that he was working on at that time, a couple of Barry Owlsworth's games, got to see what those games are looking like and the titles for those. And I believe that's when we actually went in to do our introductions with the microphones. So then after the whole the pin pod thing, we kind of perused around there a little bit to get to see a lot of the things that they are making when it comes to metal works and stuff like that. It looks like they're doing that all there, so they're able to replicate all the metal portions inside of Raza. That is only the metal parts that I got to see were the ones that are inside that game, so the rails and the ramps and stuff like that, they're all manufactured on site right there. That's when we got brought into the auditorium. Now, the auditorium, when I say that, don't think of it like, you know, a giant, like, school auditorium or anything like that it is probably maybe one one-tenth the size of a usual like theater uh the same kind of seat came the same kind of seating so it goes up a little bit you have to walk upstairs and you can sit all in these chairs there's probably a total of maybe 30 or 40 chairs in there and that's when we get shown a lot of other things when it comes to things that they're working on and that's when he was hinting at you know the ability to lift up the glass with the side rails and how they're working on a device for you to be able to uh do a complete setup on your machine just by yourself the a number of things that's when he went through a lot of the stuff that is actually in this week in pinball when that's when he was going over all that all those items right there so once we got done with that portion I believe it was about lunchtime so we had our lunch and that's when I was able to see the or a Rasa machine that was being worked on and that's when I got to actually see how the rails and the glass came up and I was like oh that's kind of nifty okay it's interesting kind of like to see that in action so then after lunch was done because they have like a whole bunch of pinball machines there that you know we were able to play as well as have lunch and everything like that So lunch is over We go back to the auditorium and that when we get shown a PowerPoint that goes through pretty much everything that you saw on This Week in Pinball, like all the upcoming games and when they're planning on doing their release and stuff like that. I mean, it was information overload that was just being thrown at us and things that they're working on. And at this point, we still haven't seen Raza yet, actually, like in person up in front of it. So then we get the playfields. So they bring in the play field that they used at Houston Expo last year, and then they brought in their pen armor. And it's got different art on it. They've made some adjustments to the art, and they showed us the difference between the playfield that they were using compared to the playfield that they're using now. So by dropping these designated pinballs onto the playfield at a certain height, and then the hammer test also took place. Now, as noted in This Week in Pinball's website, there were concerns about the coating on the pin armor, how it wasn't what a lot of us would rather have a sheet of glass. I do have video footage that I will put here for you to see. I'm hoping that you're able to see the orange peel effect that is stated in This Week in Pinball. Now, it is definitely stated that this is still work in progress. They will be working on this coating in the future for a much more aesthetically pleasing look. So now it's at this point. We're in the afternoon, and we get finally brought in to see the Rasa machine that you saw on This Week in Pinball and the videos and stuff like that. It was there. This is where I got to start tiptoeing, guys. There were technical issues. That has definitely been stated on This Week in Pinball. So with that being said, guys, all of us got to play Raza to an extent. There are technical issues. So that's being said that maybe those technical issues could be all kinds of variables, whether it be hardware or software. That's all up in the air at this point. but there were definitely technical issues let me make sure i'm safe but yeah there were technical issues that's all i can really say that that kept us from being able to do what i wanted to do especially because in a lot of my videos when it comes to me doing a restoration process or a shop and polish i have my money shot scene which is towards the end of video typically and like here's a couple of examples right here Outro Music But I wanted to be able to do that type of filming for Raza. But due to the technical difficulties, I was unable to do that type of recording. When it comes to the backbox and stuff like that, there's been a lot of people talking bad about it. There's also been those of you that have been talking good about it. Honestly, it's not a big thing for me, but I do have to say that I have seen people do Photoshop revisions of their current backbox. And I like those revisions with the Photoshopping better. So when it comes to them getting rid of those gaps on the backbox and just kind of forming it to one solid piece, but still having the nice stainless steel appeal, I like that Photoshop that someone did on PenSide. That actually looked pretty darn good. now here's something that I've got to state guys is that when it's all said and done and there's been a lot of you out there that are like what's so special or what could have these six people as if were like some experts or whatever what could they possibly say that could have made them change their minds and look guys all of us the six of us would all agree with you The thing is, we all agree that they could have randomly picked six other individuals out there or more. And I'm more than confident that all the things that we spotted and we had concerns about would have been easily spotted by a lot of you as well. Now, why do I think that? is because by going through Pennside and reading all of the concerns from you people out there, I'm like, yeah, that is a good concern. Very good, because that was one of mine, kind of thing, or whatever. So going through Pennside and Facebook and listening to podcasts, a lot of you out there are hitting nails right on the head. I just can't tell you which nails you're hitting. After we left Deep Root All of us were a little setback Because we all agreed And we were all hashing back and forth About our concerns and our thoughts About what we saw while we were there And we were all in agreeance that This isn't ready to launch And the time frame that he stated We were all like no we don't see that being good and it's one of those things where a lot of us i believe were gathering and taking mental notes about what we wanted to say to him whether it be in person or email because i felt that at least me personally i felt that if i would have brought my concerns up during the whole filming thing it just wouldn't have looked good i would have been that guy and I was like, you know what, I'm going to let him have this moment, let him do his reveal and everything, and then I'll either talk to him in person or I'll write him an email expressing all of my concerns. I know me and a couple of others did the same thing as well. We all shared what we were sending so that way it didn't sound too repetitive. So a lot of the times it was one of those that they would concur with this and stuff like that. and I know a lot of you really wanted this launch to go off well but I think that's what's affecting a lot of you out there is that you wanted a lot of us are rooting for deep root because what wrong with having more options and more pinball in this world Nothing It just that I believe the issue and the reason why that Robert is getting so much flack for all of this is his attitude and the way it's been over the past few years. I think definitely that weekend, I'm hoping at least, that was a humbling experience for him. and I'm thinking he's starting to note and see that pinball is in fact not easy I mean he stated that it was definitely complicated so I think that's definitely why those of you out there are just rooting and cheering and laughing at their possible failure because of the attitude that he's had I think if he would have been very humble out of the gate and just been like, this is what we're hoping to accomplish. We're hoping to do this. But whenever he was coming out saying, this manufacturer is doing it wrong, we're going to do it better, and bullish statements like that, then yeah, you're going to have those of you out there that are going to be like, man, I hope this guy falls on his face. I can understand that. I get it. But whenever you have actually been in this building and you've talked to the people that work there, it was a little bit of a different experience for the rest of us as well. Talking to like Steven Bowden and Quinn who have all this passion behind these projects that they're hoping to bring to fruition to all of you out there. The designers, Barry Owsler. I didn't really have a long conversation with J-Pop. but the people that I talked to that were working there were so glad that we were there because I'm thinking that they felt like finally we're going to be able to show the world what we've been working on and we can start getting games out moving forward but when it was all said and done And I felt that from an R&D standpoint, yeah, if we were there to get brought in for R&D purposes, like this is what we're working on and we're going to keep on working on it. There's no set date on when we're going to be doing any kind of production or anything like that. And I think that our reaction to everything would have been like, OK. But whenever we get brought in and they're like, all right, yeah, this is this is it. But we still have these things that we're working on. but we wanted to start releasing on this date. That's what I think took a lot of us back. Now, I don't know what Robert's next step is and what they're going to be doing next. But like I said, I'm hoping that this, that weekend, was a humbling experience. And I know it's not the way he wanted to unveil what they've been working on all this time. but he's getting a lot of free feedback from all of you out there good or bad ugly or beautiful whatever you however you want to say it but he's getting a lot of feedback and i think if a lot of you out there gave more constructive feedback then potentially yeah they could be one of the greats i mean it's easy to be a keyboard commando and be like yeah dude this looks like a fishbowl and they suck i hope whatever whatever but to give constructive feedback and reasonings valid reasons behind it that adds a that adds more to it guys so compliments to those of you out there that give constructive feedback and are not aggravated that they haven't released anything to you to you yet they haven't taken your money and that's the common defense and the only saving point for them is that they haven't taken any of your money except for use it where people out there that's a different story but that's their only saving grace is that they haven't taken your money yet so as long as that doesn't happen i think that overall they're going to be in the safe space where they shouldn't be having too much flack thrown at them i'm hoping that the information that i provided you here gives you a little bit of closure on certain things and I know a lot of the things that you want to hear about, I can't talk about. So you're like, some of your questions are like, why wasn't there this? Why is it taking so long to do this? Whatever, whatever, whatever. And those are all valid questions and I would love to answer them openly. For those of you out there that have watched my content long enough, know that this is not easy for me either, guys. like I said I wanted to be able to just openly talk about all these great things that I saw but then I can't sucks this was a big learning experience for me guys so when it comes to NDAs I'm not a big fan of them so far hopefully things change in the future and I get released from it or whatever and I'm able to talk more about it. Or maybe they take this time and start really bunkering down and start solving a lot of the concerns that we had and start pumping some games out. And then maybe we can all come out and go, yeah, back in the day before all of this, this is what we saw. and thankfully they did a 180 and everything's all good now. I don't know. We'll just have to wait and see. But I'm ready to move on. So I'm hoping that this is going to be like my last Deep Root thing. I've had to turn down a couple of different podcasts because I didn't want to be brought on and talk more about this and have to keep on saying that I can't talk about this and I can't talk about that. And once again, I don't want to bring anybody else down with me. so I don't want anybody else, podcasters or anything like that, to be guilty by association. So as per usual, I'm hanging myself out here, and we're going to see what happens. Other than that, I hope to release this video here soon, and then I'll have new content coming up shortly. I've got a video already done for Straight Down the Middle on how to install a hardtop. I will be starting the Johnny Mnemonic series here pretty soon as well. I've got a lot of that in the can, and I still have to work on more content for the turtles back there as well. But I'm ready to move on. I'm hoping a lot of you out there are ready to move on too. Let's just be patient, guys. I mean, if anything, let's just stop talking about it kind of thing. It's not going to do you any good. I mean, unless you want to go out there and do more constructive feedback, then by all means, yes. but just shitting on them is not going to solve anything. That's going to wrap up this video, guys. So if you like what you've seen here, give me that thumbs up. And if you haven't already, be sure to hit that subscribe button down below. That way you can be notified of whenever I upload something for your viewing pleasure. And until next time, peace out. Thank you.

_(Acquisition: youtube_groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: f625ca64-963e-4858-9a20-31bca6258955*