Feedback on the sport for field owners

[Flycatchr]

i ran my own field (in South Africa ) for a long while. most of what has been said here is good and common sense. sometimes common sense needs to be explained (nicely) to peeps.

my two worst accidents in the 12 years where deliberate disobedience to the rules.

what i found with the newbies and the guys that had their own equipment ("pros" ??) was that if the pros wanted to play with/against the rental chaps, they HAD to ask, AND the rentals had the right of refusal. (OH - and this also applied to different age groups) we had two separate ranges, and if we had three groups, then they alternated between the two fields, sure they waited a little bit longer, but rather that than getting wipped.

i also emphasised keeping the barrel of the markers pointed down, as at the time, owning guns in SA was more commen than now, but its still good practise.

the one thing that i always mentioned was that if anyone was found with a marble in their possession, we would call the cops (intent to do grevious bodily harm). that seemed to sober peeps up a bit.

a few years into running the range we came up with a game called "Chaos". the rentals would play perhaps 3 games of flag, and then we would explain chaos to them. basically, depending on the size of the group, there would be 4 - 5 teams (2 - 4 man teams), ALL playing on the field. if you marked someone, then they would be on your team. when you got shot, you put your marker above your head, and counted ALOUD so that everyone could hear you (so that you dont get shot again), when you had counted to ten, you could then be shot at or shoot, and you should be at or near the person that shot you. (and dont count so slowely that peeps think you have finished counting ) simple and fun, it doesnt matter if you got shot, AND it does matter that you work together as a team (or part thereof) and comunicate.

[dreadpirate]

I have created this thread in hopes of attracting constructive criticism of the sport of paintball in general. Feel free to offer new rules suggestions, mention issues you see at the majority of fields you play at, or ways of doing things that stand out as especially good, etc.

In other words, what about the game, which can be affected by a field or shop owner, could be changed to attract more players to their field?

Just to clarify for field owners/refs, etc. reading this thread, this is not intended as merely a 'let's rant about all the things that bug us' thread, but a thread to discuss constructively ways to improve the game and attract more new and regular players.

[Frizzle Fry]

1. Semi-auto means semi-auto. If the jersey wearing prima donnas have to turn off the ramping and 3-shot, then the camo wearing LARPers have to turn down their reactive triggers as well. If it can't be tuned out of the gun, then they either get another gun or they go home.

Should they remove the trigger springs from their Tippmanns as well? It's the same effect; different means.

[dreadpirate]

Should they remove the trigger springs from their Tippmanns as well? It's the same effect; different means.

I think he means people like me, with the automags capable of sweetspotting at 20+ bps with the reg. tuned properly around 1000 +/- 150 psi. I always turn it down to 850 for semi-auto only games. It gets turned back up for full-auto scenario games.

[Frizzle Fry]

I think he means people like me, with the automags capable of sweetspotting at 20+ bps with the reg. tuned properly around 1000 +/- 150 psi. I always turn it down to 850 for semi-auto only games. It gets turned back up for full-auto scenario games.

Hm. I've never un-R/Ted my mags, or chosen not to use my pneumag for semi games. They don't ramp, they don't fire multiple shots per trigger pull, and they're not fully automatic. They're just more efficient than a spring-returned trigger. Hell, a Tippmann with a response trigger setup is legal for semi-play... I've gotten a 98c up to 14bps in the sweetspot. Shouldn't that be illegal too? Is that not semi-automatic? If anything, it's a modification (since the marker can function without it; a mag can't work without an on/off) and should be more suspect than an R/T Pro doing what it was made to do.

Semi is semi... The fact that my automag has a better and more powerful trigger return speed than another marker just means it's a better design (in that respect)... I'm still pulling the trigger each time; your finger is still moving when you R/T, even on the most well-tuned of mags. Unless mashing the trigger down then letting go of it results in more than 1 ball leaving your marker, your marker is "Semi-Automatic". Until someone at a field has a "Semi-Only + No R/T" rule that specifically addresses it I'm not messing with my mags. I achieve 19 balls per second mechanically (if I really try) without utilizing a "burst", "ramping" or fully automatic functions...

I just can't see why a semi-automatic marker should be considered anything other than semi auto. That's like banning a stockclass marker for being more 12g efficient than others...

[Toll]

Back on topic

Pricing of "etc". : At the end of the day if you charge 10$ for a 9v battery and 2$ a tank oring you are chasing away business. The guys who don't have spares are new guys who probably don't have a ton of cash laying around. If they get gouged, they wont come back.

Pacing of etc : Don't make me walk 20 minutes to the front to pick up a 500% marked up 9volt battery.

Thou shalt go the extra mile on masks. : Change the lenses/make sure they are properly cleaned. It makes the player feel better, the refs feel better ("I couldnt see who was shooting at me so I lifted my mask" makes my skin crawl) and I will take clarity and field of vision waaaaaay over a nicer marker.

[Lohman446]

I achieve 19 balls per second mechanically (if I really try) without utilizing a "burst", "ramping" or fully automatic functions...

Measured how? And sustained for what period of time?

[GoatBoy]

Should they remove the trigger springs from their Tippmanns as well? It's the same effect; different means.

In effect, yes. If there were a distinction, I would have made it. If there's an extra return spring which achieves the same kind of excessive trigger bouncing effect, then it should be removed. That goes for Tippmanns, Mags, etc. etc.

It's not that I'm afraid of "full auto"; if people want to waste paint, I'm all for it as long as they're not on my team.

The problems are:

1. Uneven application of a rule, and
2. Lack of gun control (inability to tune down your gun to conform to the rules indicates a lack of gun control)

#1 should be obvious to everyone. When a rule is applied unevenly, then it gets abused.

#2 is what I observe when I see people come out (usually with a Tippmann) with an RT which is bouncing a bit much. I recommend that they turn that down to conform with the rules, and they respond, "I can't" or "I don't know how". Well you know what? If you can't control your gun, then neither you nor your gun belong out here.