Why do people think paintball is dead or dying?

[Ninjeff]

we hosted a regional NCPA and regional High School 3 man tourney at the same time
this past saturday and didnt have one single attitude problem at all. None.

[armyboot]

Umm, they do.




Paintball in our area is bigger than it has ever been. It is cheaper than it has ever been. People have been complaining about the prices and locations and operators since the beginning of time in paintball. If someone closes shop, a new shop opens to replace it. It keeps growing because it is a great sport. I don't think its dying anytime soon.

]

We'll agree to disagree. Cheating is no where near as rampant or obvious in other pro sports. Neither is cursing. How many f bombs do you hear during a basketball game? Not only how many do you hear, but how many do you hear screamed?

How often do you hear players SCREAMING at each other for cheating etc etc. Occasionally. This has become an integral part in the world of competitive paintball IMO.

[chafnerjr]

I think I'm getting a nice clear picture here... I've derived three major points from asking this question:

1) Tourny ball is in major flux... probably won't survive as is, but will change/adapt and whatever, yadda yadda yadda...

2) Recball is FOREVER... whether it be woods, field, scenario or whatever. More players then ever... and prices are lower then ever!

3) Some people will always have problems with some other people and how they play the game. Some get lucky and either don't notice or don't run into the people from one of the first two groups.


Does this sound about right based on what we're seeing here?

[Ninjeff]

I think I'm getting a nice clear picture here... I've derived three major points from asking this question:

1) Tourny ball is in major flux... probably won't survive as is, but will change/adapt and whatever, yadda yadda yadda...

2) Recball is FOREVER... whether it be woods, field, scenario or whatever. More players then ever... and prices are lower then ever!

3) Some people will always have problems with some other people and how they play the game. Some get lucky and either don't notice or don't run into the people from one of the first two groups.


Does this sound about right based on what we're seeing here?

i think thats a pretty decent summation.

[chafnerjr]

[corwin_160]

Thats my post

Thats my post above my brother was working on my laptop and I did not notice that he wase singnd in just so you all are not confused.

[stoffa15]

Flux capacitor

]

We'll agree to disagree. Cheating is no where near as rampant or obvious in other pro sports. Neither is cursing. How many f bombs do you hear during a basketball game? Not only how many do you hear, but how many do you hear screamed?

How often do you hear players SCREAMING at each other for cheating etc etc. Occasionally. This has become an integral part in the world of competitive paintball IMO.

Basketball is probably one of the worst sports you could have paired paintball with.do you realize how much trash talk goes on in all pro sports????Cursing???? What ????The problem is that your looking in from the outside.As for cheating, what do you consider cheating???? poking a player in the stomach as he attemps a jumpshot,pull the shirt while battling for a rebound??If your not caught its not cheating right??? Or my favorite, injecting yourself to make you,faster,stronger and recover from workouts quick.

ALL,ALL pro players "cheat" its part of the game,but I think we're missing the whole point about this thread.Paintball started as a game in which a group of friends went out to have fun.These days paintball is a sport controlled by big business,with their poster boys posing in magazines with hot girls and with all the newest greatest whatucallits.

So what do we do about it???What Mag owners have always done,go play paintball!!!!! I go play paintball every other weekend and give everyone there a history lesson.show everyone out there what this game that we love is about.I already have noticed a rebirth of the cockers and the AUTOMAG wont be far behind.


"Hey, what kind oh gun is that, and whats that on the side of it"?
This is a Marker made buy Airguns Designs,Its an Automag and this is a warpfeed
"Is it a good gun"?
It has a flux capacitor in it

Come on guys stop complaining and play paintball!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Old School 626]

Here's an angle I've not seen...

What is killing paintball? The fields and refs.

I am a forty something that played his first game in the late 80's and played 4-7 times a month during the 90's. I took a break from 96-ish to 2005 only playing in a few private games. Since returning to the sport in 2005 I have played perhaps 15 days. My disposable income tells me that paintball is not a cost consideration. What DOES influence the number of times I play is really two things:

1) TIME. Paintball is a full day endeavor and that would be OK except for the amount of time spent waiting around for poorly organized fields/refs to get us on a field and the game started. It used to be that you could count on 10 games per day, six before lunch and four after. Several of my recent walk-on outings have resulted in less than 10 games.

2) RESPECT. There is at least one local field that I am not wanting to go back to because during a few of my recent days there I've been yelled at by the refs. Yelled at not for what I did or did not do but yelled at because that was the standard form of communication from them. Why should I drop my entertainment dollars to get yelled at?

I am the consumer, I have a choice. I've played more golf in the last year than I have played paintball in the last three. Maybe paintball could capture more of my entertainment dollars if I got more game time and less down time and the staff made me feel like they where glad that I was there.

Now I am forced with another decision... Should I sell off some markers to buy new irons?

OS

[halB]

dead? dying? let's wait to see what these miraculous tiberius rounds do for the sport.

[M98Punk]

Hmm this is a interesting question.... and I must be getting old because I agree with Army The big problem is: it is not any fun to play at a field anymore. I know that is why I got out the first time....and the second time...and well you get the idea.

Now me and hardR0ck have realized that we have enough gear for a 5v5 game in our parents woods (who still let there kids have a mob of friends over even as we creep up on 30 ). No more having to deal with ego's and other body parts so that we can have decent sized teams.
I cannot say how excited I am to be doing this.... To be able to play the sport I love with people I love....well Like.... OK I tolerate most of them.

But think about it when was the last time that you went to a field (excluding private games) and had a fun time and everyone was decent examples of human beings???

The fields will let any rectum play as long as they have money....in fact the loudmouthed overshooting tween has a special name at most fields a 'REGULAR' these dopes usually get treated like Norm from Cheers...which usually means when they finally run low on funds they get a job at the field...as the rectum REF that yells at paying costumers.

This pushes away the newbies and the fair weather ballers

Could just be me....could just be my area....but it is my $.02

[chafnerjr]

TO: M98Punk... Sounds like your field sucks really bad! Glad to hear that you're starting in some home recball! We're thinking of getting some going ourselves even though we love our field. That's where I started way too many years ago... ahhh the memories...

P.S. Now that you mentioned that you live with your parents, but have already quit paintball twice is making me feel just a little bit old.

P.P.S You're from Livonia huh... I went to RIT and lived in oh... Genesseo, Henrietta, Victor, Farmington, Charlotte, east Rochester... etc. That was a few years ago... the fields all sucked up there then as well... Have you played at the old Post Office in Rochester?

[armyboot]

.

Basketball is probably one of the worst sports you could have paired paintball with.do you realize how much trash talk goes on in all pro sports????Cursing???? What ????The problem is that your looking in from the outside.As for cheating, what do you consider cheating???? poking a player in the stomach as he attemps a jumpshot,pull the shirt while battling for a rebound??If your not caught its not cheating right??? Or my favorite, injecting yourself to make you,faster,stronger and recover from workouts quick.

Of course there is trash talk in ALL professional sports. The difference is the fact that we, the fans, dont hear it. If I heard all the trash Michael Jordan talked (which he did a lot of) I can guarantee it would have turned me and a lot of fans off. My point is that paintball isn't necessarily a friendly spectator sport, nor does the competitive aspect lend itself to welcoming new players. I remember the first time I played on a sunday at a field with teams... I didn't get shot out right away, but if a ball broke anywhere near me players were screaming at the top of their lungs to check me and that I was cheating etc etc. I was also confronted after the game, and that's happened several times. Who wants to deal with that?

ALL,ALL pro players "cheat" its part of the game,but I think we're missing the whole point about this thread.Paintball started as a game in which a group of friends went out to have fun.These days paintball is a sport controlled by big business,with their poster boys posing in magazines with hot girls and with all the newest greatest whatucallits.

I never said people don't cheat. My point is that it isn't as blatantly obvious.

[tech-chan]

It's not really the cheating. Most feilds I've been to recently have not had that problem.

It's not really the ref's either. I'm good freinds with quite a few and they have thier bad days just like everybody else.

Its the economy and the mindset of people nowadays. I cant afford to play more than twice a month, nor can 90 percent of my buds. And this is not a recent thing, this has been the last 3 years.

I see a lot of lack of respect out there now. Kids think that just because they have a shinier gun than you do, they get to call you out.

However, I have seen the flip side. The guys that come up to you and ask, Can you play on our team? The ones that try to trade food for paint because they don't want to go home to thier life yet. I like those kids.

[M98Punk]

To correct the confusion I live with my wife in Livonia my parents live in Marion and have 50 acres of land..... Yeah I played at the old post office once it was more expensive then a governors callgirl. But yeah at my parents place we have enough woods for recball but we also have a bunch of blue barrels so if I wanted we can have a decent 3v3ish speedball field.... Of course in May we are having a scenario game... I'm so excited and my wife is going to get to play for the first time.... My two real loves finally coming together

[Smoothice]

I guess I am spoiled. I haven't played a normal walk on game in almost 2 years. Its been nothing but AO private party events or other various private parties.