Where would be the "best" place to host SPPLAT attack?

[Tyger]

I'm asking this legitimately, because it'll be fun. :)

Where is the best place to host this event?

The things to consider are location, ability to hold 1500 people or more, lots of "Eye candy" and "intresting field props", and to an extent location.

Challenge Park (IL) : Well, IMHO they blew it. air "Fills" of 2000 PSI if you're lucky is the show of bad planning. Nice fields, but they really blew it as far as planing went. Not to meniton the whole paint disaster because BE threw a hissy.

Hollywood Sports Park (CA) : Great props, but the venue may be too small to host the event to it's fullest potential.

Hell's Survivors (MI) : A proven track record of being able to handle the numbers of people (Michigan Monster, SEVERAL scenario games, Tippman vs. the World), but a lack of props and eye candy are a real down point for filming. The most they have is downed cars, noting as spectacular as the CPX "Bedlam"

Skirmish (PA) : A good front runner for this, they too have a proven track record to absorb the numbers. However, Skirmish has often come under fire for referees who can't handle the pressure of big game reffing. They do have many 'theme' fields, (Hood in the woods comes to mind) that would make for good video, but they are predominantly a wooded field.

EMR (PA) : Another front runner, EMR's fields are linked together in such a way tha all the objectives can be played in one huge field. They aso have the infamous "Castle", the museum, as well as so many other themed fields that it would makesome fantastic video. The down side is location, EMR is in the middle of nowhere, and may or may not get the "Draw" from a major city and hte publicity of that.

SC Village (CA) : They can certainly get the numbers, the location, and the eye candy of many themed fields, but SC Village has flaws as a big game field. First is the layout of the facility, it wouldn' tbe easy to run a monsterous game continuously. They've got a lot of really nice arena fields, but that really doesn't make a good paintball video unless you tear down all the netting and make it one large field.

Fox River Games (IL) : This is closer to the original site, but again it's out in the middle of nowhere and lacks a lot of the eye candy that CPX has. However, FRG can absorb a lot of people, and has been getting a reputation of being able to run scenario games and big games. They're close to Chicago, however, which may be a good thing.

I also had a thought about having a "custom field" built for it as well, which wou dbe fun but expensive. Since it's a charity event, building a field JUST for it wouldn't be efficient, let alone easy to do. However, my thought on this is really simple. Rent an indoor dome (Like the Superdome, the Dallas arena, or the like), net it in, and run the game there. I think you could really create an intresting look. Not just airball fields, but some props, purpose built stuff, and I think an arena would be an intresting location, if done correctly. It'd be a paint fling fest, but it would be intresting.

Commentary?

-Tyger

[Dayspring]

I vote Skirmish personally. I know many of the refs there. And while yes, you are correct that some of them are a little "green" when it comes to judging, their staff of Paul Fogel and most certainly Chuck Stoner "The Most Dangerous Man in Paintball," I think they could handle it. There were over 1800 people at their World Record Game (WRG) (although 2100 had registered).

As for field variety- They have their own castle (which is awesome), Hood in the Woods is an absolute blast, and was host to MANY battles at WRG. Firebase Dewey & The Pentagon make for interesting sites as well as Fort Skirmish. Their fields are split down the middle by a powerline road and when those roads are "in bounds," the battles are the source of MANY fireside stories. They recently purchased new lands and they are beginning to fit them into play. They are currently building Hyperball & SupAir fields in a large open clearing as well as a new pavillion with which to handle reservations.

I believe their ability to host this event also comes from their hosting of 5-8 12-24 hr games every year, on top of regular play on the weekends. If they can handle regular walk-on/reservation as well as Scenario w/o major problems, then they can certainly handle Shatnerball 2.

(can ya tell I've played there alot over the years? :D)

[personman]

:eek: Paintball Atlanta is big and has like 10 fields but they are all seperate..
I doubt they could do that many people though..
How about somewhere in the southeast? :D ;) :p

[shockman]

I want to add that nothing has changed about the air fills at CPX. I asked them to run the booster but was rudely told no. Is this type of attitude prevalent in paintball today? They sure seem to go out of their way to be "stuck up".

[magman007]

i would personally vote for skirmish and emr. Both awesome fields, and the poconoes is filled with players. Annother great one is jack frost paintball. It is also a ski resort in the winter. Great fields, but i am not sure about their capacity abilities.


Everyone knows skirmish, and they all know shatnerball. As for big cities, well there is phily. Skirmish can handle the people, all you need to do is setup that paint deal. Skirmish's prices are killer.

they also handled replicant runner without a problem.... and have been dong the WRG for some time now.


For travel, well there is Philly international and Lehigh valley international airports, as well ad 30th street station in philly for those of you who like trains. also, PA has alot to do and alot to see, and is a very historic place. From the Amish, to the signing to the sdeclaration of independence, it has it all

[vf-xx]

I want to add that nothing has changed about the air fills at CPX. I asked them to run the booster but was rudely told no. Is this type of attitude prevalent in paintball today? They sure seem to go out of their way to be "stuck up"

Well the local Challenge park seems to have a little of the attitude too.

[temps]

If paint didn't freeze i'd say a north pole splatt attack. and all bunkers made out of snow!

or what about the moon..? everyone would need to use a warp... or other special equipment, but think of the moves you could pull off! Jump 15 feet in the air to get the hight to nail someone behind a bunker :D

or in water something like the game from final fantasy 10!!!! :D :D :D

[Fred]

Well, I have never played EMR or Skirmish, my question about those is how close are they to airports, and how close are hotels to accomodate so many people?


More on Hell Survivors:

Ann Arbor is less than 20 minutes away, a great place full of fruits and nuts for a Star Treck Convention. Not my bag, but a selling point for Shatnerites.

Housing: Ann Arbor has plenty, plus there are more than enough AOers in the area to throw some wild parties.

It's 5 hours from Chicago... meaning AGD could come out in FORCE! :)

Its an hour from Windsor... where the drinkin age is 19 for all the AO Kiddies that aren't legal here... :rolleyes:

Hell has a large village, a big castle (Not HUGE, but big), and LOTS of land to roam around on. If they can get the national guard, or someone else to drive the trucks around like at the Monster games, insertions and pickups save a lot of foot travel.

and there are the points i mentioned in the other thread: NOT CPX, NOT Brass Eagle, Lots of paint selection, awesome techs and store nearby, experienced, professional, well run facility.

---Fred

[Automaggin2]

Yeah, well skirmish is known for charging OUTRAGEOUS amounts of money for paint. 100 dollers for 2000 rounds of cheap paint. I say that Waynes World place or EMR.

[Blazestorm]

You might want to think about KC Crusaders...

Although it does not seem like a very popular place, its here in washington, they have 1 big woods field (probably 2-3 acres) and 5 private group fields, and 1 sup air 5man... they have over 350 rentals with nitro and sport premium/marbs for paint, the refs are awesome and the place is well run

www.kccrusaders.net

otherwise I vote skirmish... I just want to have a place local :)

[theraidenproject]

I vote Skirmish. I've never played there, but I looked at the drive before, and it would be long, but it's the only possibile venue I could attend. Sure, the paint's expensive, but for an event like this, I would pay that much. I'm sure 1200 people buying paint could drive down the price, though.

[Tyger]

Originally posted by Blazestorm
You might want to think about KC Crusaders...


This got me thinking. Isnt' there a HUGE field in WA state run by Bob Shano? (AKA Sgt. Shano?)

or am I on crack, again?

EDIT ADD : Another point here. It's not nessarily about how many fields a place has. Paintball Blitz in Gurnee has 6-8 fields, but the land they're on, and the parking situation is, that they just can't soak up that many people. Heck, four of thier fields used to be one LARGE field back in the early 90's... food for thought.

-Tyger

[Blazestorm]

I'm not sure... I don't know the owners

There's STP paintball... splat attack both of those are pretty big... operation paintball... all are quite big...but again... not very big, operation might be able to do a 200 person-300 person, but not as big as this, as well as splat attack, STP... they are more of a sup air type place... and well kc crusaders seemed to me like a place that would be good, the parking lot is quite large and well the staging area could only hold maybe 100 people cramped up, people have the back of their cars too ;)

not sure but

www.splatattackonline.com
www.operationpaintball.8m.com
www.stppaintball.com
www.kccrusaders.net
www.urbanpaintballpark.com
www.paradisepaintball.com

are the only ones that come to mind at the moment... but yah :)

[yeahthatsme]

if its too far away from illinois i cant go:( and i really really want to go... i am gonna ask to go as my birthday present....

[jah871]

heres a place to look into, from what i hear its pretty large. http://www.warinthewoods.com/contact.html

[SeeK]

Originally posted by Tyger
I'm asking this legitimately, because it'll be fun. :)

Where is the best place to host this event?

The things to consider are location, ability to hold 1500 people or more, lots of "Eye candy" and "intresting field props", and to an extent location.

I also had a thought about having a "custom field" built for it as well, which wou dbe fun but expensive. Since it's a charity event, building a field JUST for it wouldn't be efficient, let alone easy to do. However, my thought on this is really simple. Rent an indoor dome (Like the Superdome, the Dallas arena, or the like), net it in, and run the game there. I think you could really create an intresting look. Not just airball fields, but some props, purpose built stuff, and I think an arena would be an intresting location, if done correctly. It'd be a paint fling fest, but it would be intresting.

Commentary?

-Tyger

Before this gets out of hand I think we should set some reasonable assumptions:

It's got to be a big location. PB Blitz is 80-90 acres, PB Sam's in comparison is 200+, CPX was probably 250-300 acres.

It'll need a lot of parking or a few shuttles to move people and equipment to/from the staging area.

Staging area for 2000+. We'll need space for players as well as their groupies.
It needs space for a vendor area/stage, RV stations.

Food!!!

Location probably has to be within an hour of a good size city so that hotels should be available. Proximity to air and rail would be nice but it's not like people are going to take a cab to the field so most of them will have rental cars or a ride.

Past history dealing with large numbers is a must.

After the air fiasco we'll probably see a bunch of groups bringing their own compressors just in case.

We can be sure that paint will be nearby. Maybe they'll just invite the paint compaines to bring a semi-trailer and say they have to sell for a certain price. The company can then take back anything they don't sell. It's a big billboard so none of the big companies will want to be left out. Of course this will mean more parking needed.

Eye candy was nice but terrain will be better. The major forts could actually be built in the week before with about 20 people helping. Maybe the materials could be donated so we'll have big Orange and Blue forts with names painted?

A dome would be too small for those numbers? How about McCormick Place?

CPX didn't feel crowded but it's reasonable to expect that the next one will have more people.

[Bront]

I'd love to go next year, and would prefer it to be somewhat close. CPX is close, and they're not that bad, but apparently they did a good job of irritating many people. Maybe they'll learn from their mistakes if they were to host it again, or maybe not.

I've heard Paintball Sams is good for big games, but never been there myself. Haven't been to Fox River Games in years, but they're close to Chicago, and could be good. Paintball Blitz looks to be too small for something like this. Badlandz is where the Chicago Open was held, but it's predominantly speedball, so may not make a great scenerio game field.

I know there are a few other fields in the area, and the Chicago, Indiana, Wisconson area is pretty central so it may lend itself as a good place too look.

[RetroEclipseMan]

Originally posted by Blazestorm
I'm not sure... I don't know the owners

There's STP paintball... splat attack both of those are pretty big... operation paintball... all are quite big...but again... not very big, operation might be able to do a 200 person-300 person, but not as big as this, as well as splat attack, STP... they are more of a sup air type place... and well kc crusaders seemed to me like a place that would be good, the parking lot is quite large and well the staging area could only hold maybe 100 people cramped up, people have the back of their cars too ;)

not sure but

www.splatattackonline.com
www.operationpaintball.8m.com
www.stppaintball.com
www.kccrusaders.net
www.urbanpaintballpark.com
www.paradisepaintball.com

are the only ones that come to mind at the moment... but yah :)

It would be cool to have it held in Washington but realistically I don't think that there is a place here that could do a full out scenario game with that many people. Haven't been to K.C.'s yet but I know that Splat-Attack barely has parking for 100 people, and only a couple of the fields at OP are connected. The idea would be cool. Keep a long drive out of the picture. But hey I'm there if it's anywhere on the east coast near a major city that Alaska Airlines flies to. Gotta love being able to fly for free.:D

[aaron_mag]

Of course we northwesterners would love to see something in Washington or Oregon but it is not realistic. If it is going to be west coast probably should think California Fields. Go to where the people are...

Skirmish has awesome facilities and can handle large numbers. You also wouldn't have the air fill problems at Skirmish. There are two problems with Skirmish. The first is the horrendous paint prices. Still hosting something like Shatnerball might be enough to get them to budge on paint prices.

Second is that it is in the middle of nowhere! Still they are able to attract high numbers for their world record games. Maybe it wouldn't be a problem. I'm not really a fan of their rules (hits below the elbows and knees not counting). Definetely a viable place. If it is held at Skirmish for Shatnerball II, however, the west coast needs to get a shot at Shatnerball III!

[Timmee]

My vote is for either Skirmish or EMR. Both fields seem to have plenty of big game experience.

[Muzikman]

No matter were you go, you are not going to get the location and venue that CPX is. No matter how poor things were, the venue is perfect for this kind of event. Now, are there better fields, sure, EMR is probably the best, but it is in the middle of no were, no real hotel to speak of, and you would have to drive great distances to an airport. Skirmish is also a great field, but again, not many close hotels, sure Philly is not far, but it's also not 45 mins like CPX is to Chicago. As poor of a job as CPX did last year, it is a great location and venue, it can't be beat. Now only if BE would stay out of it, or JJ get signed contracts;)

[Fred]

Originally posted by SeeK
Before this gets out of hand I think we should set some reasonable assumptions:

It's got to be a big location. PB Blitz is 80-90 acres, PB Sam's in comparison is 200+, CPX was probably 250-300 acres.

I don't know the exact number of acreage, but HSI has handled 2500+ players on the field on more than one occasion... with room to breath on field... plus they are expanding this year (rumors abound...)


It'll need a lot of parking or a few shuttles to move people and equipment to/from the staging area.

Big Military style transports... Check!


Staging area for 2000+. We'll need space for players as well as their groupies.

Got it!


It needs space for a vendor area/stage, RV stations.

They usually have a BIG vendor tent at the MI Monster Game and Tippmann World Challenge.


Food!!!

Could pose a problem since Pinkneye is a small town, but Ann Arbor is not far, and AA has TONS of good places to eat.


Location probably has to be within an hour of a good size city so that hotels should be available. Proximity to air and rail would be nice but it's not like people are going to take a cab to the field so most of them will have rental cars or a ride.

See Above...


Past history dealing with large numbers is a must.

Monster Games, Dollack Scenarios, Tippmann World Challenge, Free For All, Global Conquest... just a few big events held there every year.


After the air fiasco we'll probably see a bunch of groups bringing their own compressors just in case.

I don't think fill stations are alowed... but I've never heard of them having trouble with air fills. Having played there for 3 years now, I don't think they would make total FUBAR out of that like CPX did.


We can be sure that paint will be nearby. Maybe they'll just invite the paint compaines to bring a semi-trailer and say they have to sell for a certain price. The company can then take back anything they don't sell. It's a big billboard so none of the big companies will want to be left out. Of course this will mean more parking needed.

The store is a 10 minute walk, or 1 minute drive from the main parking lot... and they have a trailer they bring from the store to sell paint out of. I imagine that paint companies would come along as well.


Eye candy was nice but terrain will be better. The major forts could actually be built in the week before with about 20 people helping. Maybe the materials could be donated so we'll have big Orange and Blue forts with names painted?

True, HSI is a little light on props, but that can be easily remedied, especially if given plenty of advance notice...


A dome would be too small for those numbers? How about McCormick Place?

Now we're talkin, an INDOOR scenario game would be totally sweet, no matter where it is. The Pontiac Silverdome comes to mind...


CPX didn't feel crowded but it's reasonable to expect that the next one will have more people.

Right on, with the DVD and TV promotions, word is gonna spread fast, and all the trekkies who didn't make it this year will be out in force to keep Shatner #1 next year.


---Fred
(Shameless unofficial HSI promoter...)

[Tyger]

I've been hearing rumors, but I don't trust any of 'em. But, seems to me that we COULD rent out the Superdome or something, huh? I mean, how cool would THAT be?

(Kinda silly, but it crossed my mind...)

-Tyger

[AutomagRT1483]

I vote for either PB Sam's or for CPX.

[Gunga]

Originally posted by Bront
Badlandz is where the Chicago Open was held, but it's predominantly speedball, so may not make a great scenerio game field.

Badlandz isn't predominatly speedball. They have 3 Hyperball fields out of about 15-17 fields total...and they have plenty of land that they don't use.

Badlandz hasn't hosted any scenario or big games on the scale of Shatnerball, but as you pointed out, they host the Chicago Open, so they can handle large numbers of players. And there weren't any problems with pathetically low air fills like at Shatnerball @ CPX.

Badlandz doesn't have any fancy movie setlike fields ala CPX, but then, how common are those? Not very. Badlandz does have 3 forts that could be used as bases. It's also far closer to Chicago than CPX.

[ShooterJM]

Originally posted by Tyger
I've been hearing rumors, but I don't trust any of 'em. But, seems to me that we COULD rent out the Superdome or something, huh? I mean, how cool would THAT be?

(Kinda silly, but it crossed my mind...)

-Tyger

Well, outdoor I vote for HSI. Indoor would have a very high cool factor though. Not only domes, but you might look into convention centers/stockyards. I know here in Denver the facility is just huge. Also, they're used to having national rodeos, etc so paint can't be much harder to clean up then um...bovine fecal matter. It might be a better/cheaper option. Football stadiums tend to charge more (so I've heard anyway) due to the cost of cleaning/replacing the turf.

[Thordic]

I have to throw my vote in for Skirmish, and not just because its close.

First off, it's the biggest field in the US, possibly the world. It has over 700 acres of fields, according to thier latest brochure.

They have TONS of experience with big games / scenario games. They do a full run of games every season.

Their reffing is mediocre, I'll admit. Some of their refs aren't the best, but their head refs are pretty good. Anyone who has had the pleasure of witnessing Chaz flip out on some newbie refs know whats I'm talking about :) I'm not sure if he still works there, but he was the best.

As for location, there aren't any hotels within 10 minutes of the field, sure, but there are enough hotels within a reasonable area. Philadelphia and NYC are both within a "reasonable" driving distance. I live about 15 miles from NYC and the drive to Skirmish, while not a quick hop, isn't too bad.

Their fields are very cool. It is primarily woods, but its some of the best woods terrain I've played on. Hemlock remains one of my favorite woodsball fields :)

I REALLY don't think Spplat Attack II should A) be held at a field that hasn't dealt with large numbers of players on multiple occassions and B) doesn't have more than 150 acres MINIMUM.

[Tack]

I have seen a lot of ideas now but the one thing I haven’t seen anyone argue about is where is the most convenient location for travel. California, Penn, etc, are nice places and probably have a lot of good fields. Me personally, I will be there if I have to fly out a week in advance. However, some players can not afford to fly, or even drive long distances. Perhaps we need to think about keeping the game in the Mid-West. There are several fields, including Hell Survivors (which has been listed), as well as the Bunker in OK. The Bunker is the spot for The OK D-Day every year, They are used to a lot of players and have on sight camping, and Miami OK is close enough to spend the night.

If you want to talk about location, props and eye candy, you also need to think about how many people could afford the trip cross country to get to the East or West coast. Keeping in in the middle would be more affordable for many players.

[ogre55]

Surprised that no one has yet to mention Paintball Long Island. Within an hour of NYC with all it's advantages. Hotels abound. They have hosted scenerio games before.

I am not sure how much eye candy they have on their fields however.

And I second Thordic on his observation regarding the ride to Skirmish and EMR. While not short, that are doable.

Ogre

[SGTKennedy]

well, as long as im not deployed, i will go to shatnerball no matter what city its in.

[ShooterJM]

Man. If it was held it oklahoma I'd be estatic. Most meets are on the coasts due to populations centers, but it'd be nice to have one a bit closer.