Need opinions, need input. The state of paintball.

[38super]

I would love to see all-mech games again and I would also be in favor of round count limits. I think it would lead to a higher standard of technical play, better discipline and more fun for everyone. But I guess it isn't going to happen because from a purely cash-flow point of view, a field owner would be rubbing his hands together when all the rich kids with the ramping electros show up and start buying cases of paint. The renters and mech shooters just aren't going to spend as much money. Trouble is; your average guy who comes out for a day of fun and ends up getting ripped repeatedly by some punk (or group of them) isn't going to come back, and if enough of those people stay away then the business dies anyway.

As a simple matter of relative scale, an UZI submachine gun has a cyclic rate of 600 rounds per minute, which is pretty fast in the real world. An electronic paintball gun, even if it's limited to 13 bps is still shooting a rate of 780/minute and if you're able to semi-shoot 20+ bps you're DOUBLING the firing rate of the UZI! Putting that kind of firepower up against renters and casual players is simply insane.

To my mind, it is not the fault of the evil little *****s or their parents or even the equipment; People will merely default to the lowest common denominator of behavior because there is nothing to stop them from doing so. It is the fault of the field owner and the people he has out there reffing the players. I come from a competitive shooting background where safety is the number one concern. The range officer is the ultimate authority on the firing line and his word is the word of God. And as well as for safety infractions, unsportsmanlike conduct is a disqualification offense. A paintball field should be treated similarly. I routinely see people doing things on the field with their guns that send shivers up my spine and I keep waiting for the ref to intercede. Usually they have no clue or aren't really paying attention.

If I ran a field I would post the rules clearly, make sure that they are reiterated as part of the verbal briefing, and then ENFORCE them with well trained refs. Those who cheat or use newcomers for target practice would get get one warning and if it wasn't heeded their money would be refunded and they'd be asked to leave. Come back when you can behave yourself or.....don't. If enough owners did this there would be no place for the idiots to play so they would either have to learn to behave or quit.

I think that a field that earns a reputation for fair, interesting and fun play will build a stronger core of repeat customers long-term. So calibrating the business to the paint wasters is somewhat short-sighted.

[hill160881]

Renters and self equipped should not be playing together. I played against a group with me ICE Epic a few months back, and it would not have mattered if i was using a electronic marker. But i try not to over shoot people.


I never here an experienced player complaining about me shooting 20 bps at them when they are using a pump. They could have grabbed a different marker from the bag, but they chose a pump. I have been shot out in those situations as well. And if the group is mixed with different levels of markers then split them up evenly. Everyone likes good cover fire. Besides all they have to do is ask me to slow down and I will.

Its all about the people you play with. Which is why i only play with private groups anymore.
Good group, good fun.

[RogueFactor]

I think a lot of things contributed to the drop in paintball but there are 3 things that are the biggest. First is the speedball format. This made it possible for any body with a football field of space to open a field. Then they allowed electro machine guns shooting 720-900 balls per min to be used on these little fields. The last thing they did was let way to young of kids out on those fields with nothing but a rental tippmann 98 or some spyder type gun.

For myself and a vast majority Ive known over the years, the speedball format is what brought us into or back to paintball. The industry saw the phenomenal growth it did for the first half of the last decade as a result of this format.

I can agree on your 2nd and 3rd points, because when those 2 things ruined the speedball format, these same players didnt go back to the woods, they quit paintball altogether.

[bbotts77]

One thing I have to remind the refs of at my local field is that they are the boss out on the field. If a player is breaking the rules, pull them. It doesn't matter how big or intimidating or how much money they spend at the park. The ref has the final say out on the field.

For instance: At one of my local fields, there is a group of players who play/played for a local arena football team. Most of them are total hotheads who act like the "kids" mentioned earlier in this thread. These guys spend a lot of money at the field, so they feel like they can do whatever they want to. They wipe, they have their markers set for ramping, they don't respect the 10' rule and they talk back to the refs. The refs are terrified of them because they're physically big guys and they're loud.

One weekend last summer, these guys had a pretty large group at the park. They wanted to all stick together on the same team. Their group actually outnumbered the rest of the open group, so this wasn't much of an option for them. When the ref told them they would have to split up, a few of the players had meltdowns and started yelling at the ref about how much money they spend at the park and that they're going to tell the owner that if they can't play together, then they won't continue coming to the park.

I had to step in and tell the ref to go ahead and tell the owner himself. I had to remind him that he's the boss out on the field. If he sees that the teams aren't fair, it's his responsibility to try to make them fair to keep things fun for everyone.

So, the main problems I see are players who don't play by the rules and refs who are afraid to enforce the rules. The latter falls back on the owners/managers who are not expressing to the refs how important it is for them to enforce the rules.