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do we NEED to count credits?

RollerCoastersFrolicking

RollerCoastersFrolicking

Mega Poster
is it really necessary to count roller coasters credits. i get its for braging on how many coasters you have ridden, but than it turns into comptition. one person trying out coaster the next person. this than puts stress on thooises that ride coasters for fun and not bragging that i have ridden a fudge-ton of coasters.
 
If others counting coasters stresses you out, that's on you not those counting coasters.

It's all part of the fun of it. A high coaster count might mean you have more experience, but it doesn't make your opinion any more valid.

By all means don't count. Just be passionate about the hobby. :)
 
Of the group of four oldies I geek around with, not a single one counts creds.
One would put most on here to shame with his count, but never has, never will.
Furthermore, I'm not even passionate about the hobby any more.
I just drink the beer, ride the coasters, eat the pies, and grumble about missing the bloody Mouse and Reel.
 
You don't need to. I personally find it fun to count creds but it's by no means a requirement of being an enthusiast. I've got a pretty low cred count and meet loads of enthusiasts but not one has made it into a competition.
 
Its something to do while not riding roller coasters which is most of the time. Its free. Using a spreadsheet that doesn't make me sad. Recalling various memory's, so many are still a delightful surprise to me that it happened. I don't have all the photos I should as on occasion I like to enjoy the moment. Organising next moves and priorities.

I recently decided to temporally add powered coaster to my count just to reach a big target - because it doesn't matter either way or that much in the first place. and I get to reach the same target for reals later on. Double the smiles. Fun nonsense.

The main advantage of riding a coaster that someone else hasn't, its to ride it with them and get the new reaction and fresh buzz.
 
When I first got into the hobby, cred counting felt like a big part of it. It also felt like a social thing - I was way more inclined to ride kiddie creds when there was a group of people on a CF Live to laugh on a Big Apple with. It gave the smaller park days structure and purpose. It felt like a shared nerdy experience that only us enthusiasts "get" and that was fun.

Now I don't care about creds. I just care about riding good coasters. I would rather spend a day at a new-to-me park getting plenty of rides in on the good coasters and enjoying the dark rides / food, than wasting time riding another kiddie coaster that's exactly the same as all the others I've ridden.

I can still see why some people enjoy it, but when people talk about being "stressed" at EnergyLandia trying to get all the creds, I do feel an urge to question why they're making their day so unnecessarily unenjoyable just for the sake of a bigger number.
 
I count creds because I'm a stats nerd and I enjoy it. It's not a competition to me. And if somebody tries to make it a competition, I will politely point out that I like my quality over quantity. Now, when I get close to a milestone, I feel the itch and I'll start making a point to ride more kiddie coasters when they are available, but again, it's purely for my own enjoyment. I'm not trying to hit a milestone because I want to beat somebody else into oblivion. It's like when I run a marathon. I'm not trying to hit a time because I want to beat X number of people or Y person. I'm trying to hit a time because that was my own personal goal.
 
You can improve your day significantly by just focusing on the ‘better rides’, so I do that.

It is fair to say though that someone with a ‘very high coaster count’ probably does have a well-refined understanding of their own ‘palette’ and may be able to offer some interesting / unique insights that could only come from experiencing many rides and parks in different places. So, credit where credit is due… 👀
 
I counted creds up until 6ish years ago. Ever since then, my cred anxiety has vastly reduced and I generally find myself having a more relaxed, fun experience at parks.

I couldn’t tell you how many creds I have now, and kinda love not truly knowing.

The most important thing is that you should do what you enjoy and not what you may think others ‘expect’.
 
Hixee said:
A high coaster count might mean you have more experience, but it doesn't make your opinion any more valid.
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Correct. Opinions are entirely subjective and therefore cannot really be valid or invalid.

However, opinions are not always of equal weight. For instance, if I was curious to learn about who were the top 5 most important/consequential rulers of the Roman Empire, I'm certainly going to put a lot more stock in the opinion of a PhD level professor of Roman History at a prestigious university than in the opinion of some guy who took 2 years of Latin back in high school.



As for counting creds, count 'em if you want to, and don't count 'em if you don't.

These are easy problems to solve.
 
I would consider myself a fairly casual counter, I visited Energylandia and didn't bother with a lot of the coasters, preferring to focus on the big hitters. But some part of my brain likes to make an arbitrary goal out of things that I like and I think that's fine. I think the number I care about more is actually % of the top 100 on Captain Coaster. Limited resources mean I'd like to direct my time and money at the very best experiences and that's really what I'm after.
 
Serena said:
...I would rather spend a day at a new-to-me park getting plenty of rides in on the good coasters and enjoying the dark rides / food, than wasting time riding another kiddie coaster that's exactly the same as all the others I've ridden.
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This is how I've always felt, but I still count the credz I ride. Who cares if I missed 2-3 kiddie, SLC or other painful/uninspiring coasters that I've ridden plenty of times before at other parks. Although it's not a competition for me, I like to keep track of how many I've actually ridden.
Plus I've met plenty of 500+ counters who've mostly ridden kiddie and family coasters, so a higher count doesn't necessarily even mean someone might have more experience (as Hixee mentioned).
 
I used to be adamant about getting all the creds possible in a park, but now I'll typically skip the embarrassingly small kiddie creds that make me look like I'm at a park to be after kids and not coasters. I actually can't believe we used to ask parents to let their kids ride with us... Having a kid now, I'd be absolutely mortified if someone asked me that (if I wasn't an enthusiast, of course).

I still will endure the pain of an SLC or Boomerang though. I keep track only for me and my joy, not to compare to the person next to me who might have time to drive hours upon hours for a Big Apple. No shade thrown at the people who do so, it just isn't for me.
 
Indy said:
I count creds because I'm a stats nerd and I enjoy it. It's not a competition to me. And if somebody tries to make it a competition, I will politely point out that I like my quality over quantity. Now, when I get close to a milestone, I feel the itch and I'll start making a point to ride more kiddie coasters when they are available, but again, it's purely for my own enjoyment. I'm not trying to hit a milestone because I want to beat somebody else into oblivion. It's like when I run a marathon. I'm not trying to hit a time because I want to beat X number of people or Y person. I'm trying to hit a time because that was my own personal goal.
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I feel that this post by @Indy sums up my mentality to coaster counting quite well. I enjoy counting for my own personal satisfaction rather than because I have any desire to one-up others or compete with them. I enjoy stats and I find it really interesting to track my personal enthusiast journey over the years! And while I can’t speak for others, I find that most other enthusiasts are the same; I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone treat coaster counting as a competition or a way to one-up other enthusiasts.

I do aim to ride every non-kiddie coaster in the parks I visit if possible, including the +1 type rides I’ve done before (such as SLCs and Reverchon spinners). However, I don’t generally ride kiddie coasters, and while I would go to a small park with a Reverchon spinner or something if it was close to somewhere else I was already visiting or reasonably close to home (for instance, I happily went to South Pier in Blackpool to ride their Reverchon spinner because it was so close to Blackpool Pleasure Beach), I wouldn’t travel miles out of my way for a generic Reverchon that I’ve done before.

Each to their own, but I do gain a certain sense of satisfaction from ticking off those +1s and getting them into the count!
 
No, never have. I started riding coasters in the days long before the Internet, and before I realised I was later to become a coaster buff. Seems pointless now as I have riden plenty I have forgotten about.

Also too many gray areas, I mean was the Vikingar (BPB) a coaster?
 
When I got serious about travelling to a lot of theme parks I toyed with the idea of counting creds, but I quickly realised I just didn't want to spend any of my time at theme parks on rides I didn't care about.
I still find it kind of interesting looking at other people's counts, no idea why.
 
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