.50 Poll - the future

[Lohman446]

Just for kicks. Its January 2013 - the new model paintmarkers are out. We have a system to judge this on Where do we stand, and why if you want to get into it?

[punkncat]

Aside from the hype, and which is better, blah blah....I have a LOT of equipment that is all made for .68. Economically speaking I cannot afford to start over with a new caliber, nor am I inclinded to convert my markers, hoppers and barrels over.

The ONLY ones pushing this thing are manufacturers and that is from a profit standpoint based on the paintballs, and the hopes that everyone is going to rush out and buy all new equipment for the new "standard" they are trying to impose on us.

FAIL

[xero28]

It's good to see where many of us (all of us who have voted as of this moment) stand. I think (that is, I hope) this is just another gimmick that will go away. Obviously there will be a lot of people going out to buy these things. Some because they think it is "The Next Big Thing", others to merely satisfy a curiosity, and others somewhere in the middle. But from the many threads and discussions I've seen on the forums, I don't see a lot of people supporting this. Granted, these are all discussions on forums such as this one, MCB, CC, etc. (I don't really frequent PBN that much since the overwhelming intellect of so many on there would make my brain explode) So I suppose you could say that many of these discussions/opinions are coming from people who have been around paintball for more than 6 months and take pride in quality. I've been shooting .68 for over 15 years, and unless someone can justify with cold hard facts that I can better my game by more than, let's say, 65%, then there is no way I will even consider handling anything new. Just my .02.

[Flatliner333]

.50 cal.

The powers that be settled on .68 cal. for a reason. My equipment works just fine and has for a loooong time. If I want to "Hot Rod" my gun to work better that is my option and I do not want to loose those options. Just like I dont want to be forced to drive a Hybrid car.I voted for .50 cal. to fail but the last choice seems realistic. Something like this will only stand to drive a wedge between the "Old Timers" and the new generation of players.
Besides 50 Automag does not sound near as cool as 68Automag now does it.

[Mechanic79]

If you can't hit me with .68 cal you still won't be able to hit me with .50 cal.
The only application I can really see the .50 cal is in training pistols or peeps that like to carry pistols on in scenario.

No matter the size of the paint the games still the same, so why change?

[RavishingEddie]

The only way this stands a chance of working is if they open up a field that rents out all 50. cal markers for free and you pay a normal entry fee of say $20 and paint at a very low cost.
Players would not have to bring their guns as they will have everything already in place. This i believe might give the 50 cal a chance to survive and let players try something new without investing in the beginning.

The other option ofcourse would be for the goverment to intervene and force a regulation to switch to 50 .cal similar to the HD conversion, However since this is not government regulated, the 50. cal only has one slim chance to survive.


The only upside I believe that a 50 cal. conversion would cause besides paintball accuracy (maybe) is that new companies can be formed. Since all patents are made for 68 Cal paintballs, one could probably argue that 50. cal markers require a totally different redesign than that of the 68. cal. AGD can probably re-introduce the E/X mag without having to pay a license fee

[Lohman446]

The only way this stands a chance of working is if they open up a field that rents out all 50. cal markers for free and you pay a normal entry fee of say $20 and paint at a very low cost.
Players would not have to bring their guns as they will have everything already in place. This i believe might give the 50 cal a chance to survive and let players try something new without investing in the beginning.

The other option ofcourse would be for the goverment to intervene and force a regulation to switch to 50 .cal similar to the HD conversion, However since this is not government regulated, the 50. cal only has one slim chance to survive.


The only upside I believe that a 50 cal. conversion would cause besides paintball accuracy (maybe) is that new companies can be formed. Since all patents are made for 68 Cal paintballs, one could probably argue that 50. cal markers require a totally different redesign than that of the 68. cal. AGD can probably re-introduce the E/X mag without having to pay a license fee

You do realize its SP behind the push right? I am sure all the patent bases are vaguely covered repeatedly.

[RavishingEddie]

You do realize its SP behind the push right? I am sure all the patent bases are vaguely covered repeatedly.

"Smart Parts! I should of known this was their caper. Quick Robin to the AGD mobile!"
*VOOM" *SSST*

[Stayhuge]

Smart Parts probably already patented any marker that uses 50 cal paint, if it's even possible to patent that. This is probably the way that they plan to survive the next decade. Convince all the other companies to produce 50 cal markers, then sue them all for royalties. I wouldn't put it past them!!

[wetwrks]

As I posted up elsewhere. .50 was tried before...years ago. AND not just in the 3357. There was a wood stocked pump rifle that was set up for it too. AND it failed.

It is too small and too light. It is highly affected by the wind. It doesn't easily break on impact. It doesn't leave a good mark when it does break.

[Dend78]

my guess is they will still both be here but it will be like a VHS betamax kinda thing or Blue-Ray and HD

[rawbutter]

Aside from the hype, and which is better, blah blah....I have a LOT of equipment that is all made for .68. Economically speaking I cannot afford to start over with a new caliber, nor am I inclinded to convert my markers, hoppers and barrels over.

The ONLY ones pushing this thing are manufacturers and that is from a profit standpoint based on the paintballs, and the hopes that everyone is going to rush out and buy all new equipment for the new "standard" they are trying to impose on us.

Exactly.

This is why I think it may actually succeed. Even though woodsballers are a huge part of the paintball market, tournament players are even bigger. (Seriously.... a decent tournament player goes through more paint in a day than I do in a year.) And those tournament players are the ones buying brand new markers every year. They're the ones buying into all the hype.

And the manufacturing companies stand to make a TON of money. If they can make this work, then every serious player out there will have to basically re-buy everything. Seriously. The HPA tank is the only thing that can stay. Barrels, loaders, and guns all need to be completely replaced. All the manufacturing companies have to do is get together and sign on the dotted line and say, "We all agree to only make .50 stuff now." It's a risk, sure, but if they can pull it off, they will make a huge profit and "save" the industry (or at least their own companies).

Sure, the manufacturers will keep the .68 stuff around for a while just to string us woodsballer along, but eventually they'll try to phase it out.

Big companies don't exist to service the customer. They exist to keep the shareholders happy. And the only thing that keeps chareholders happy is profit.

[Gadget]

Sadly I think it will succeed. Like the rest of you I have no interest in .50, however once the hype machine starts, it's going to drag all the agg kiddies along with it and once the bucks start getting spent on .50 equipment, you can bet .68 will be marginalised over time.

[Psi]

I have to admit that I am concerned because the principals invloved have a great track record of getting the paintball masses to swallows huge steaming piles of BS. However,if Dennis Tippmann couldn't get people to use .62 when he had a fully automatic and everybody else had a tilt and shoot pistol, these guys should not have a chance.

[Ando]

my guess is they will still both be here but it will be like a VHS betamax kinda thing or Blue-Ray and HD

If that's the case we need to get the porn industry on our side