Earlier quoted context omitted.
Examples of a near miss that are indeed part of the design: - third wheel spins that change visuals/audio to enhance anticipation of landing that last needed symbol - symbols that look very close to eachother - symbols that appear to be stopping then move at the last moment - bonus wheels with false probabilities, or fake-out stops at high value slices - pre-determined picking on features
Do you think there is a difference between a probabilistic near-miss - say, being dealt 4/5 cards to a royal - and a machine that already decided you lost and in attempt to tempt you, grabs 4/5 to a royal and shows them to you knowing full well you wont win ?
In poker the user might expect the presentation to be based on probability (52 choose 5) and the 2nd example would result in more near misses than expected, exploiting the effect of a near miss. In slots there's not really such an expectation rooted in probability beyond what the machine presents on screen