What has AO become

[skipdogg]

AO has become what you all make of it. Which is mostly complaining at the moment.

[BigEvil]

AO has become what you all make of it. Which is mostly complaining at the moment.

+2 interwebz

[punkncat]

AO has become what you all make of it. Which is mostly complaining at the moment.

You know, that very well may be true. To a "long" time user of the boards there has been a significant deterioration of the quality of thread and the quality of user. As it turns out, I may not be helping matters when it comes right down to it, but there are a lot of things that kind of have me concerned and ready to rant a bit.

With the evident lack of ethics surrounding a certain service that the creator simply asked people to do what was right...a bit little, a bit late. But on the AO that I knew from years ago, that situation would have been handled a lot different.

A B/S/T forum where about all you find are a bunch of vultures looking for deals. One fine and recent example was when an uninformed seller lowballed himself on a colored valve package. He had people lining up to buy it. The moment that he realized his mistake and corrected his price more in line to its true value not one single person, who knew good and well what it was worth, would even touch it. They were all about it when they could screw the guy over, but heaven forbid pay what it is actually worth.

For days the best and most involved thread on the whole forum was a comparison between a SLG and a Mini....what Maghog said hit really close to home. I think it is not too hard to smell the stench of death coming off from the disintrest in the sponsoring product line, its lack of management, guidance, and the missing force that used to drive this place in TK, and the obvious comraderie that he brought here.

There truly are some good folks still lurking around and checking in here, but it is becoming less and less frequent. I value this place a lot and have enjoyed it for years. I hate to see it rot away slowly like it truly is. It is still my first stop any time I get on the net, but truly find much fewer things worth commenting on....and for me that is saying a lot.

[skipdogg]

You know, that very well may be true. To a "long" time user of the boards there has been a significant deterioration of the quality of thread and the quality of user. As it turns out, I may not be helping matters when it comes right down to it, but there are a lot of things that kind of have me concerned and ready to rant a bit.

With the evident lack of ethics surrounding a certain service that the creator simply asked people to do what was right...a bit little, a bit late. But on the AO that I knew from years ago, that situation would have been handled a lot different.

A B/S/T forum where about all you find are a bunch of vultures looking for deals. One fine and recent example was when an uninformed seller lowballed himself on a colored valve package. He had people lining up to buy it. The moment that he realized his mistake and corrected his price more in line to its true value not one single person, who knew good and well what it was worth, would even touch it. They were all about it when they could screw the guy over, but heaven forbid pay what it is actually worth.

For days the best and most involved thread on the whole forum was a comparison between a SLG and a Mini....what Maghog said hit really close to home. I think it is not too hard to smell the stench of death coming off from the disintrest in the sponsoring product line, its lack of management, guidance, and the missing force that used to drive this place in TK, and the obvious comraderie that he brought here.

There truly are some good folks still lurking around and checking in here, but it is becoming less and less frequent. I value this place a lot and have enjoyed it for years. I hate to see it rot away slowly like it truly is. It is still my first stop any time I get on the net, but truly find much fewer things worth commenting on....and for me that is saying a lot.

While I understand your frustrations, I guess I don't understand why some people feel they are 'owed' something. AO, AGD, & Tom don't 'owe' anybody anything. I'm an AGD user for life, AO is a place to go where the base are basically fanatical about the products, and Tom is/was the single most important person in paintball history...PERIOD.
I mean what's the deal sometimes? Did some people miss out on AGD dominance in the 90's? Now they are either bitter or just selfish to see that return at any cost? Great companies come and go all the time, enjoy it while they are still around. Did some people never get the chance to meet Tom personally or enjoy AGD when he was running it? Does he need to be the savior forever? The guy has a life. Does every single thing people read on the internet have to be profound? It's an internet forum, their mostly garbage and dribble. I beleive some 'complaints' come from the high regard we all have for AGD and the expectations for them to be perfect. it's not reality right now though. Enjoy what you have. It could be worse. AGD could have kept making vaccuum cleaners or whatever in a basement. Seriously the doom and gloom, and whoa is me stuff is just too much sometimes. AGD is great, AO is great, Tom is THE man. Can we move on from the complaining into the appreciation stage???

[Ravenneon]

I have a to say that its probably due to the fact that mags are not as manstream...you even look around on the field you have all these kids with their cheapy electros and then they look at you and say,"hey, what kind of gun is that?"...i just shake my head....i even noticed that not many paintball dealers distribute Airgun designs products anymore. I had to actually purchase my tac-one direct from AGD. But i have to say i will never own another brand other than AGD. I've had my minimag for nearly ten years and have had absolutely no problems with functionality at all...i still have all 4 stars etched on the reg. Its quality at its finest...thats how i justified droping 600 dollars on a tac-one with warp feed rather than some Ion or dye (a.k.a overpriced) product....im a customer for life and i hope to even do this with my kids as my dad did with me.

[paintballbudd]

Paintballbudd-I am not being stupid. Were you aware of the fact that Apple survived in large part by the involvement of none other than Bill Gates? He made a huge investment that sent the company forward, so you might want to rethink your argument instead of using an example that is based on exactly the problem that I am describing.

I'd be interested in your response.

Miracles are fine with me, and I still believe that the mag will one day prevail as the best marker ever designed.
My comments were directed more towards the internet\forum community, which to me slowly seems to be falling apart.
Sure, we'll always have PBnation, but how much fun is that?
Paintball is now run by a huge hydra, a dragon with many heads. Cut off a head and it grows two more, but it still has the same body.
Does anyone see us actually NOT getting devoured by corporate America?

Dan

i was not calling you stupid. it was a general comment, meant in a joking manner. years ago, bill gates made the statement that no computer would ever need more than 8 megabytes of ram. he was stupid. i was just saying, we shouldnt be so stupid as bill to think that we know what the future holds for the sport of paintball.

-buddo

[CaliWagon31]

I've been around for a few years and only recently have I returned to paintball. I used to post mainly in the friendly corner and lurked the rest of the site. This place used to be busy as hell.

I look around nowadays and I'm sad to see few familiar faces and even fewer members than in the past. This place used to easily have over 100 members on at any time, even during the slow times.

I recall the AO days of years past where there would be over 100 show up. I recently read that Tunaball had only 60. Can't AO do better than that?

Who moderates this forum now? I never see PotatoBoy, Tunaman, Miscue or CPhil.

This place used to be the best forum around. It's very disapointing to see what it has become.

Ive also recently just started coming back around. I took about a 4 year highatus(sp?) from paintball and am now just starting to look at getting back in.

IMO, the whole ordeal with Smart Parts (not bashing, just stating) a few years ago really seemed to hurt paintball as a whole.

There were a number of people, myself included that would make thier own markers buying/selling parts, mixing/matching, saling/trading, all sorts of ways. There just isnt the same market as their used to be.

[BigEvil]

You guys want to make AO better? Come around more often, and contribute. Plain and simple.

[ThePixelGuru]

You guys want to make AO better? Come around more often, and contribute. Plain and simple.

QFT. And stop making pointless threads about how dead AO is, how none of the "old" people are still here, and how every other thread is nothing more than pages of complaints. Catch 22, folks.

[lather]

Why is it that a lot of AO'ers cant accept AGD being a niche market company? CCI, CCM, and PPS dont exactly have any marketing blitzes going on, yet you dont see any of their enthusiasts complaining about it.

Lets face it-- AGD is a niche company, yet I feel they are running the business the proper way during these lean times. I wouldnt be surprised if AGD is around longer than other companies like Infinity or Alien--Heck they probably will outlast the company formally known as WDP.

[questionful]

CCI is a good example. They're selling on Action Village now!

http://www.actionvillage.com/is-bin/...paintball-guns

They're a fairly niche product, I would say. But CCI is taking advantage of his great product and selling to the masses.

[Muzikman]

This isn't about marketing, and it's not about the economy either. AO really IS slowing down. Hopefully, it won't die, but it would take a lot to come back to the status that it once had. There have been a lot of really super, intellectual debates on this board, but they seem to have been replaced by, "what camo should I wear?" or, "why hate Smart Parts, Part 57"
The whole paintball scene is sort of in a lull right now. We've hit the pinnacle of technology, old schoolers are dying out and being replaced by fresh blooded youngins who mostly like to mouth off more than listen to someone who has experience.
Honestly, what is there left to talk about?
I love seeing what all of the private custom shops coome up with, even if it is "just" the newest pneumag. I find them incredibly inventive, but then, I think I'm one of the few.
What is happening is that the industry's money grabbing tactics are slowly taking effect. Soon, price will be all that matters and the wonderful feeling of being part of a special community will have completely dissolved.
Try to think of AO as the Alamo, a place where people gathered to defend something they believed in, even though they knew it would fail. As time goes on, and paintball breaks up into more fractions that are all controlled by one greedy monster, AO will be there, gasping for air.
The end won't be pretty, but it will be graceful, of that I am sure, because everything else that AGD has done so far has been honorable.
Dan@Triggernomics

I am a long time member of AO, and even longer Mag owner and an even longer player of the game...I just got burnt out by the very things you speak of.

I use to play paintball for fun. When winning, wiping and whining became all that mattered even at the local rec field I got fed up with the sport.

I still own all my gear, but have not played in years. Maybe one day I'll pull out a pump and hit up the local field, see if it sparks something. My guess though, the attitudes of the players there will disappoint me and I'll put the gear away for a few more years.

I think my run with Paintball is over and because of that I do not visit here much any more. I met a lot of great people from this forum and had a lot of great times.

[skipdogg]

I am a long time member of AO, and even longer Mag owner and an even longer player of the game...I just got burnt out by the very things you speak of.

I use to play paintball for fun. When winning, wiping and whining became all that mattered even at the local rec field I got fed up with the sport.

I still own all my gear, but have not played in years. Maybe one day I'll pull out a pump and hit up the local field, see if it sparks something. My guess though, the attitudes of the players there will disappoint me and I'll put the gear away for a few more years.

I think my run with Paintball is over and because of that I do not visit here much any more. I met a lot of great people from this forum and had a lot of great times.

Welcome back Muzikman! Why don't you try and stick around for a while. Heck, how about posting some 'older' paintball pics. I know you got plenty somewhere still. One's with TK would be cool.

[turbo chicken]

I lurk here anymore... i read a few post and move one... rarely even logging in.

this place is what we make it plain and simple...

& 2-3 years time is a lot when in your 20's lots of things change ... life happens and people move on..


but mainly... it's summer... it's always more slow in the summer... come back december when many people cannot or won't go outside and play ball... what is there left to do... mod your gun and post about it online... it'll pick up here in a few months you just watch...

People are outside doing "stuff" ... heck... i know i sure as heck have been!

[maniacmechanic]

I am a long time member of AO, and even longer Mag owner and an even longer player of the game...I just got burnt out by the very things you speak of.

I use to play paintball for fun. When winning, wiping and whining became all that mattered even at the local rec field I got fed up with the sport.

I still own all my gear, but have not played in years. Maybe one day I'll pull out a pump and hit up the local field, see if it sparks something. My guess though, the attitudes of the players there will disappoint me and I'll put the gear away for a few more years.

I think my run with Paintball is over and because of that I do not visit here much any more. I met a lot of great people from this forum and had a lot of great times.

Muzikman , take it back to the woods , it's still a lot of fun there , very few attitudes . A group of us play every Sunday & it's just fun ; Adults , kids , Semi only , my most fun days are 3 on 3 in the woods , but 15 on 15 is cool to