Is paintball dead?

[Corbet]

I've been playing paintball for 8+ years now and it seems like the industry has really slowed to a crawl. AGD hasn't released anything in years and every company I remember being popular has gone out of business. Hell, I remember when the Halo hopper was incredibly popular and THE hopper to get but nowadays I don't even know what is worth buying.

Hell, every paintball field in my area has closed down. One was doing very good business and randomly closed on one summer day and never opened again. Another closed down due to some safety violations (??) and I don't think they ever reopened.

Why? There's the obvious "smart parts" factor, but I figured it would rebound by now. I come back to these forums every few months and it seems like everyone is disapeering.

[punkncat]

Well, there are lots of reasons for paintballs slowdown. A lot of it has to do with the economy. The shutdown of paintballs grassroots companies is due in part to both the economy and the litigation.
Players leave the sport for many reasons. What became prevelent in open play after the electro became dominant and the "arms race" has a lot to do with it in my opinion. Just not a whole lot of fun for a new player in the average game these days.
With lots of other fast hoppers on the market it is no question as to why an aged hopper design is not the most common anymore....

Relax, paintball may be returning to a more normal state, but it isn't going anywhere.

[Ninjeff]

yea, paintball is here to stay. It'll have some flux, but its certainly not dead.

[2BAD4U]

olympics ??????

when do you think paintball will hit the olympics ??????

[Toll]

Never. It's a game. Not a sport. Internally people can't even decide on their own rules let alone a unified system.

[drg]

Many Olympic sports rely on specific sets of rules that may differ from recreational and/or professional play. That said I'm not optimistic about paintball's chances as an Olympic sport ...

[Swampy]

I feel Like I've had to Much to post but I got a good one brewing. Sorry for the nonsense post but I want to remember this one.

[Maghog]

Paintball used to have a spirit, kept alive by a close relationship between the industry and the players. It was great fun, everyone felt like they were part of something really cool, like a secret club.
So then paintball got popular, getting closer to the mainstream, and the game changed in many ways. A lot of old school players lost interest and left, but the worst thing that happened was that the industry started to get greedy.
A part of the industry separated itself from the community and started to use it instead of contributing to it. As a result the industry fought within itself and the casualties were immense. Those who remain don't really care about the game very much, it's mostly just for the money.
So within the industry, I would say that the spirit of paintball has definitely died, and out on the official playing fields it has lost its taste somewhat. The one place where you can still find paintball's true form is is with the old gunners, going out in the woods and doing it their way. I know for a fact that my friends still follow this practice because it is paintball in its purest form. No refs, no sponsors, no hype, just a bunch of guys with honor, old beat up equipment, air, paintballs, and a big backyard. If you can find something like that, you'll find that the spirit of paintball is actually still alive.

[Al_Steel]

^^ Couldn't have said it better ^^^

[fire1811]

Paintball used to have a spirit, kept alive by a close relationship between the industry and the players. It was great fun, everyone felt like they were part of something really cool, like a secret club.
So then paintball got popular, getting closer to the mainstream, and the game changed in many ways. A lot of old school players lost interest and left, but the worst thing that happened was that the industry started to get greedy.
A part of the industry separated itself from the community and started to use it instead of contributing to it. As a result the industry fought within itself and the casualties were immense. Those who remain don't really care about the game very much, it's mostly just for the money.
So within the industry, I would say that the spirit of paintball has definitely died, and out on the official playing fields it has lost its taste somewhat. The one place where you can still find paintball's true form is is with the old gunners, going out in the woods and doing it their way. I know for a fact that my friends still follow this practice because it is paintball in its purest form. No refs, no sponsors, no hype, just a bunch of guys with honor, old beat up equipment, air, paintballs, and a big backyard. If you can find something like that, you'll find that the spirit of paintball is actually still alive.

You are 100% correct IMO. I was going to type a similar reply but you hit the points. Nice post.

One more thing that I believe has hurt paintball. Cheating has become accepted. Back in the 90's and early 2000 I saw people get kicked off teams for cheating.

[Army]

Not to forget the old rule still in force in many leagues and fields about the RT's trigger....but nothing about ramping.

Wiping is "accepted" if you get away with it.

So, new kid gets his WallyWorld gun, goes out and gets blasted by 15 balls AFTER he KNOWS he tagged some guy good. Instant never again player.

"Fun" has been made obsolete by hype and the industry.

[AltogetherAndrews]

I don't think it's dead by any stretch, but it has certainly changed. What used to be a matter of, you know, playing paintball has become an often quite split market of woodsballers, tourney players, scenario/big game players, simulation geeks, old school events, etc. And of course there is something to the notion that the commercial industry has changed, a lot. And that has inspired segmentation and change in other areas.

What I'm certain of though is that in the end, people are still drawn to the most basic aspects of the game. In running a field, we have also specialized to remain competitive. We are promoting the tactical angle, giving groups of players tasks that are more dependent on team work and so forth. And that's really fun as hell, even if it sometimes means that the game of paintball becomes just a component. But in the end, regardless of how hard we promote this angle, the core of the business and the reason we can even exist doing what we do is the average joe wanting to play a fun game of paintball. In the woods or on a course with artifical obstacles and goals, it doesn't matter. As long as Joe gets to play paintball that's all that matters.

That said, I certainly have some choice words for tourney snobs and their generally crabby attitude to all things less than neon-splashed. Some of these guys seem to think that waging a campaign against the weekend warriors is somehow crucial to saving paintball and make it more mainstream, and that's not a healthy mindset to have. Especially coming from the people who at the same time want the whole thing classified as an extreme sport.

Not to forget the old rule still in force in many leagues and fields about the RT's trigger....but nothing about ramping.

Wiping is "accepted" if you get away with it.

So, new kid gets his WallyWorld gun, goes out and gets blasted by 15 balls AFTER he KNOWS he tagged some guy good. Instant never again player.

"Fun" has been made obsolete by hype and the industry.

We will be cracking down on this for this season. We considered simply banning all electros and RTs, but I don't know if that's going to work. Maybe we'll allow them just for private games, and ban them from the public games. But that's still dodgy.

[pk5]

You can blame the industry for kicking itself in the butt.

5 years ago when i was first introduce to paintball, the game was a bit nicer and friendlier. People would show me how to set up my spyder cause i didn't know how to set it up properly. Now when i go to the local field, the kids with the most expensive marker think they rule the world. I had a kids just yelling at me to run forward, while he stand in the back with his dye and spray. Also the field, especially the advance field seem to has gotten more cocky and rude, to the point of trash talking, and using bad word while my little brother and sister are there. ( I got fed-up with it, so i grab my pistol and took them to the newbie field where they can actually play and not get yell at).

Just blame NPPL for all the flashy promotion without the honor of the game. It's even hard to find a good scenario game in san diego these day.

[AirAssault]

Like some have said here, I think it is the ramping and insane ROF. Now my favorite thing to do is play heavy gunner, I sit back, spray bunkers and allow the kids to move up, then I walk up to the next bunker..... well if I have to I will run. I don't have much time to play so get out maybe 1-2 x month so I pump out the paint when I do play. (2000 in a few hours/games) That being said, I do not put 16bps at a person, Ill fire 3/4 and then pause and continue. I do remember some of the best games I have played were with my 68 classic or VM 68magnum back in the early 90's, and of course we thought we were slinging paint then at 4-5 a second lol. I DO have an issue with being over shot, don't mind 1-2 bonus balls but 6-8 gets me a bit peaved off. I think 10 bps is plenty, but of course the agg kiddie whos mommy just bought him an $2000 ego will prob not agree with me.

[WARPED1]

when do you think paintball will hit the olympics ??????

Feb 30th 2011