What do you all think about today's articles in `zines.

[Vegeta]

I have talked abotu this before, But I haev new gripes and wanna vent, and I know soem of you do too.
Tell me how you feel about Articles in APG. Most all of us read APG. I have 2 reasons why I am not liking it as much as I used too.
Mods, I will try my best to keep this clean.

Gripe 1) the newb articles. I have mentioned this before. But APG's editor just did the worst thing to pee me off. In This months "March's" APG, there was an article on page 72 called "Meet the fear factor". It was by a person who HAD NEVER PLAYED PAITNABALL BEFORE. What? Huh? Did I miss soemthing? No. He had never played. The article was about this guy who saw a magazie, read it, and was "hooked". For one, this is stupid, cuase its a personal don't give a crap stroy. there was ZERO infor that I, nor anyone could really USE. Now, also i nteh same APG was the usual "Jewels of Newbie Wisdom" i nthe New PLayer ntoebook. OK, so this was informative for hte new player. But what I don't understand is, they post somethign liek thsi in EVERY APG. Mainly, its allways sayign the same things: "Keep your mask on" "Be Buy a squeegie" , etc. Do newbie forget really fast or something? Do they need a refeshing course every month? Then, all in the same APG, there was "Newbie ABC's" OK, I'll stop. But I don't wanna read the same crap I already know over and over and over again! I wanna read stories about pro events, and stroies WRITTEN BY THE PROS. Not stories written by Billy who played for the first time last saturday. I can't learn anything from a story written by joe Newbie about how he got sally out and then Johnny shot him and it was BLAH BLAH YIPPIDY DO BLAH. Now, If they had stories writted by pros about tactics, in game statigies, playing front, mid, rear, etc... I would like that, and I coudl LEARN from that.

2)"ITS THE PLAYER NOT THE GUN"

Arg. I have seen this WAAAAAAY TO MUCH. And I am goign to be the first person to admit to it. A beter gun does make you a better player. IT DOES OK.

"I went to the feild and I shot out a guy with an Angel with my Talon.. and that means that its not the gun that makes you good."

Whoop de (edited out - cphilip) DOO.

(It's not all the gun, you can still suck and have a good gun, we have seen this in those rich newbs with the Angels that really, really suck and dont deserve the gun)

OK look at it this way. If the gun didn't matter AT ALL, then why DON'T pro players USE stingrays and stuff. It would save them a lot of money and they still would be just as good of a player right? WRONG. Cheap things break, its a physics law. Its called the Wal-Mart Principle. Accuracy by volume has been proven true. More espensive guns NORMALLY don't break as easy, and can cycle faster, and electros/RT's can give you a hot trigger finger that you cant get with a low end gun. Therefore, it will increase your playing level a bit.



OK I will stop now. This was a huge rant, and I was supposed to be.

The question is,
how do YOU poeple feel about all this?

[FooTemps]

uhg... This is why I don't buy paintball 'zines... I just go to paintball forums instead. See, 'zines are for newbies these days. I go to the book store and look through APG. I never buy it. This is because:
1. Too Much Useless info...
2. Too many stupid kingman ads...
3. Too many "newbie" articles...
4. Not enough tech articles...
5. You get my point don't ya?

"It's the player not the gun"

(edit out - cphilip)!?!? I say it has to do with both! I can't bear to play with this pg1 pro! I'd rather play with the spyder rentals! At least they don't weigh 5 pounds! Although I am glad I have a paintball gun, I still think that playing "Angel vs. PG1 Pro" would suck. Yeah, if you're good you might need a few shots but it's still not as fun with a sucky gun and paintball is all about FUN.

[Cha0tic]

i notice that alot of the articles are poorly written and, like you said, repetitive. i do believe they have to aim their magazines at the non newbie reader.

[Jonno06]

You should read Paintball 2Xtremes.It has great articles about tech stuff,tournys,scenerios,paintball as a sport,and other great info.There is no newB info in there.example...the december 2001 has chuck hensch on the cover(new president of nppl),and they have articles on "meet the president,The Aruba Open,Clues scenerio game,X games,Gravity games and paintball",which is all very informative to the paintball player.In the January 2002,they have"Paintball Rivalries,NPPL World Cup,Quest for the holy grail scenerio game,The best air america tech article you'll ever read".and i quote that from the front covers.I also have febuary 2002,but it is at my friends house.I will get it later.I love Paintball 2Xtremes magazine!I have only 3 issues,but am subscribed.For only 19.95,you get 12 issues of,in my opinion,the best magazine.

[IceCool32]

Originally posted by FooTemps

(edit out - cphilip)!?!? I say it has to do with both! I can't bear to play with this pg1 pro! I'd rather play with the spyder rentals! At least they don't weigh 5 pounds!

Well, someone sounds a little ungreatful. You should be glad that YOU HAVE a marker, don't start complaining that it's a little hefty, lift some weights.

[FooTemps]

Uhg... I know... I shouldn'ta posted that huh? oh well. I'm using it as a weight so i get some more heft!:D

well, anyways... I was just using major's gift as an example... I'm not ungrateful but it was the best example i could come up with.

[Jonno06]

people....this thread is about the crud some paintball mags put in their pages,not ungrateful Foo,j/k.

[FooTemps]

Originally posted by Jonno06
people....this thread is about the crud some paintball mags put in their pages,not ungrateful Foo,j/k.

Who said i'm ungrateful? Isn't it a good example to countering that quote that most 'zines use?

edit: oops, forgot the smiley ;) :rolleyes: :D

[IceCool32]

Foo, he was just using you as an example, like you used the marker as an example. At least you're not ungreatful, did you give Major a huge hug(lol)?

Anyways, on a related note......APG has slowly started slipping. They have SOME/very little good information anymore, now it's all tips to Robbie Newbie.

[Vegeta]

OK foo, you have a mag now dont you? good for you. Liek you, I won't be happy till I get one.

Now onto my topic.

I just renewed my subscription for APG last november. I liek the mag now not for its articles, but for the pictures and ads. I like looking at the things. Thats all now. not this:

"Last saturday I finally played paitnball and it was soooo cool dude! YEa! Eat my shorts! Me and billy were against sally and john and john had a spyder which was a really good gun and all we had were out stingrays which are still good guns and we had skill becuase we had played tag alot in the woods and sally shot billy so I had to go and get john but then i couldnt find him and sally shot me and they won it was so fun ha ha ha ha and i am hooked on paint ball and I am thinkign abo getting a rainmaker cuase they are hte best gusn in the world."


I hate the ppl who i liek the call the "BE only" players. They are BLIND to all otehr gear and equipment cept BE. They think liek this:

"I am 13 years old and now own a silver eagle btu I used to have a stingray and I went up against poeople with raptors an rainmakers and I won and now I am on a team with people with rainmakers and htat proves its nto hte gun its the player"

BTW that^ was paraphrased from an actual CO2 mail from liek last junes apg.


It gets on my nerves. Soem newbs are ok. like the ones that TAKE YOUR ADVICE. the ones that think they are the best in teh world and that they can beat anyone with their talon piss the hell outa me.

[Jonno06]

APG=2
facefull=8
crossfire=6
pb2xtremes=10
Paintball sports=9
paintball games=10
rated on a scale of 1-10,being 1 being the lowest,10 being the highest,duh.(in my opinion of course)

[the JoKeR]

A lot of people that haven't played before read APG and similar magazines before ever picking up a gun. Hopefully what they read gives them the impression that they won't get toasted the first time out! Makes them more likely to come out and give it a shot. Then, after they get lit up like an Xmas tree, they'll at least know it's fun and come back for more!

[than205]

I recently picked up at my local store (i was surprised it was there) a mag called Paintball Magazine.
I can't do it. I can't be nice..
What utter trash! As has been said on this thread regarding other mags, waaay too much newbie written articles.
The last thing I want is a newbie review on an add-on I might be considering. There was no real evaluation done.
These things "looked cool". Wow, it doesnt tell me whether I want to add this item to review list or not.
What a let down. I would definitely recommend all avoid wasting money on this mag till they improve.

[dawump]

I wrote the article "Fear Factor" in this months APG.

It was a two piece article, a before I played and After, and only the first half made it to print. I don't yet know why. Perhaps it will end up as a sequel next month. It was written way back last year but held up because people who said they would supply photos didn't.

I'm disappointed that the second half of my article wasn't published, because that was the "meat" of it. I worked very hard to create a "first person view" for the reader including what it was like in a 24 hour scenario game.

I am in agreement with you about the articles in general. I am done with the newbie stuff and want to see more in depth stuff and variety. The reason I got hooked up with APG was because I CC:ed them on an email I sent to the Producers of the TV Show Manhunt, and he came back to me because of the writing style.

The two big complaints I read about content are

1) Newbie
2) Unprofessional

As far as professionalism goes, I know that it is hard for them to find people who play and have writing experience.

I think there are alot of Newbie articles, because it is when people are just getting into paintball that they can be bothered to put pen to paper. I wrote this article and a science fiction piece being published in Paintball Magazine perhaps this month, but now that I've played alot I would find it very hard to get the motivation to write anything else, unless it was about some very specific aspect of the sport, or something controversial which I had strong views about. I have two books to complete ( not paintball related ) so writing more articles would just feel like work.

Bottom line is they need more experienced players who are experienced writers. If you can write, then write for them.

Keith

[Webmaster]

As I have repeatedly stated... APG is the most widely read magazine and is availble in grocery stores and book stores and people will buy it even before they play. Hence the repetative newbie articles.

Part of the lack of quality is because of CFWs unwillingness to step it up a notch. But the writers are generally solid - with good event coverage. The tech articles range from poor to great - but to be honest, its hard to find writers who have the knowledge and time to make good tech articles...

as for splitting up Dawumps article - they did that to me once - but I made sure they would NEVER do that again, with out first approving it through me...

[freek133]

(from the cover)

Mxs project ragnarok(scenario game)
Frank scott Clues(scenario game)
Becoming a leader(insight from pros on what to do for away tourneys)
Look out for the ladies(a womans first game)
A firestorm of my own(indoor insight)

I really like this magazine, it is a sister company of apg and any of you who think that apg has sold out just read a little of paintball magazine and you will like what you see.

[Paintchucker]

Back in 1989, I started picking up APG magazine. I used to shoot target airgun and was looking for something different. I read the magazine, looked at the pictures and drooled for TWO Years before I actually found a field in my area and played. I even had my gun "blueprinted" out before I even played. A black bushmaster pump, with stainless steel internals, a 7oz. CO2, 45 grips and a bottom line, plus one of those 200 round loaders and a hopper cover. I built the gun just looking at the pictures and reading the articles.

APG has a place in our paintball world. It was for newbies in 1989, and it still is. There are more hardcore paintball magazine for others. I think you are only complaining because you renewed your subscription and the magazine is not evolving to suit your interest. I buy it like 2-3 times a year. And sure the newbie articles are basic, but not before you play the first time.

[Vegeta]

Dawump: sorry to hear they cut you off. I would have rather read your second half than the first. I am now going to start sending my articles into APG and try to get some good content. Maybe if one of my articles gets published It will make me feel better about my subscription. I read a PB2X the other day, thought it was smaller, It had more REAL info. Maybe APG will smarten up.

[The Mag Man]

Wal-Mart Principle hahahahaha its funny cause its <b>SO</b> true.