AO Army, Let Your Voice be Heard!

[Star_Base_CGI]

Well maybe, I mean we all posetd alot of good ideas. The tournie people know what they have to do to offer a good game. Maybe an Espyder along with better refs and they have to do it withen a reasoable price range.

As for Spplat Attack, I guess thats a poor example. I think there will be a pump tournie on friday night, could be wrong and the prize might be an AMP Shatner Illusion or something. We will have to see.

In my eyes a scenario is comparable to a trouniement but in the tournament people will be competing to see who is the best.

[Wc Keep]

1. i would pay a little more to have the tourney be byop.
2. i would pay a little more to have non-paintball related prizes be the prizes. (i would much rather play for a mini-disc player or a dvd player than a marker im not going to use)
3. i would pay a little more to have a better venu. have pavillions with tables and trash cans around.
4. definately would pay more to have real bathrooms.
5. would pay more for having video of your teams games played.
6. would pay more if there was a massage parlor at the event with a cute little blond working there:) .
7. i would pay more if there were little giveaways. [you know just so the team who came in dead last doesnt feel like a complete loser.(not that my team would ever come in dead last. )]
8. i would pay more if there were other events going on at the same time at the event. things like a one on one sydarm duel would be awesome.

i cant think of any other things right now. but my true number one concern is the bathrooms.

and i dont think scenarios can compare to tournies really.

[Star_Base_CGI]

Amen to number 4 brother.

[AGD]

I am leaving this post up to see the after reaction to my post. I am trying to keep it in focus. We all know that tourneys could be better but I was looking for the needle in the haystack that might have been overlooked. If its not there then its not there.

AGD

[AutomagRT1483]

Maybe they could organize alot more tourneys away from the major population centers, such as the LA, Chicago, etc. Move them out in the "sticks" so to speak, in order to make tourneys more availible to the vast amount of players that are not associated with any league or tourney association of any sort. I guess what I'm saying is that there is so much untapped talent out there and we need to let it loose.

Prolly a stupid idea, but I'd love to see it happen

[nippinout]

Although I am not a tourney player, I occasionally follow the larger ones on warpig. I was a little upset about the PSP/NPPl thing. I'm not a big fan of the PSP, BUT lots of good has come of it.

Now we have 2 large scale 'professional' level tournament series competing. The competition forces the two to provide quality. Paintball is not glamorous, even at the pro level. The play has moved out of the woods and into Pokemon and Dorito inflatables.

What I don't understand is the inclusion of odd prizes. Jet skis? Dirt bikes? Not everyone can use prizes like these. This is paintball isn't it? We are pretty much normal people, not EXTREME people. People like plasma tv's though. :)

If I were to win these prizes, I would have no use for them. Sure, the promoters are trying to bring in exciting prizes, but is it merely for the sake of having those sorts of prizes?

The real reason people play is for bragging rights. Pros don't get paid. They still have real 9-5 jobs. Paintball is expensive. Why give them prizes such as jet skis that are also expensive to play with. Why not help teams brag? :)

How about a tournament winner gets free/discounted entry to the next event. Series winners get the next season's entries for free. The team gets first class plane tickets to the World Cup. Hell, even coach would be greatly appreciated. As long as the gear arrived as well. :) Get a car rental company to sponsor a winning team with a van.

The series paint sponsor can give partial or full paint sponsorship to series winners. Event winners get discount paint at the next event.

Stuff like this is what people want. They would love to have less of a burden on the wallet. The series, promoter, airline, car rental people, and paint manufacturer get to have their name on a team banner. Teams get to play with less stress on their money.

GET THE PLAYERS OUT OF REFFING UNIFORMS!!!

Fix the problems with the present tourneys first. Then think about what they can do to spice things up.

[athomas]

For a price:

-good paint
-many good refs
-more games (even if you only play the prelims, you want to feel you got your moneys worth). More games = more profit on paint sales for the tourny as well
-good event organization

[cledford]

In my mind there are two tourney scenes. I only have competed in the local (non-NPPL level) Since I'm not sure what level we're talking about here, I'll comment on both.

Local scene:

Good paint or BYOP.(They really need to start date stamping that stuff at the factory with a born on date - doesn't solve all of the paint issues but would help a lot...) Prizes other then paintball related.(DVD players, Xboxes, MP3 players) Improved, changed (on a regular basis) field layouts, "use" of the static fields before the event. This would be like walking the field time, but each team could have say 1 or 2 10 minute windows to play the field. Kinda like your race entry fee in a local/club motorcyle race buys you at least 2 or 3 practice laps.

At the national scene, REFFING! Also, more entertainment events - like parties, bands, and side contests like speed shooting drills, fastest gun, etc.

In the local sense, they will really have to work to get me to pay more by not only allowing the above, but improving in all of the other areas as well. I fall in the catagory of those thinking that they're not currently delivering what they should for what they already get paid. It is actually worse at the local scene - since their fields, staff, and associated costs are already taken care of.

-Calvin

[Miscue]

Filming of games... would be nice to be able to get a vid of your team playing. Maybe use some good microphones as well... Charge for the vids if people want to buy...

Film replay to review for cheating or disputing calls -
I think it would be cool to allow teams to have their own vid cam guy/team to record game for purpose of disputing bad calls/cheating. If they miss something, too bad. Create facilities such that after game review is possible... create rules/standards.

Some form of marker registration program... to identify ownership of markers... something to help against theft... stolen equip recovery. How about some form of security... nothing fancy... just some people to watch over stuff? Safe areas... a secure place for people to put their stuff.

I'm willing to bet that people are willing to pay a bit more for what they should have got... Yeah... $20 more... sure! :)

Hey, how about stuff like semi-free hotdogs? or food or something...

[Miscue]

How come we don't hear like... commercials over the PA systems or something...

Give vendors more things to spend money on for purpose of advertising or whatever... and... use that money to help lower costs or provide more stuff/services for players.

What I thought would be cool is if... various vendors/marker makers could have a place to do some kinda presentation on their company and their products at some time slot. Maybe some demonstrations. Q&A with the audience... kinda like a Comdex presentation for paintball or something. Put it over a PA. This goes a step beyond peddling their goods from a tent.

It breaks my heart when I see guys like TK, Budd Orr, Glenn Palmer, John Rice... etc... selling stuff in their booths.... and some people don't realize who they are or what they mean to the sport. "Hey man, ring this up for me quick." Glenn Palmer squints eyes, and punches away at register...

[luke]

Originally posted by Wc Keep
1. i would pay a little more to have the tourney be byop.
2. i would pay a little more to have non-paintball related prizes be the prizes. (i would much rather play for a mini-disc player or a dvd player than a marker im not going to use)
3. i would pay a little more to have a better venu. have pavillions with tables and trash cans around.
4. definately would pay more to have real bathrooms.
5. would pay more for having video of your teams games played.
6. would pay more if there was a massage parlor at the event with a cute little blond working there:) .
7. i would pay more if there were little giveaways. [you know just so the team who came in dead last doesnt feel like a complete loser.(not that my team would ever come in dead last. )]
8. i would pay more if there were other events going on at the same time at the event. things like a one on one sydarm duel would be awesome.

i cant think of any other things right now. but my true number one concern is the bathrooms.

and i dont think scenarios can compare to tournies really.

These are some great ideas.

[cphilip]

Well on the question of paying more for something then I suspect nothing is going to be the answer.

More professional Refs should be achieved. We should stop using kids and teams to do this. We need to concentrate on people that are nothing but inpartial refs with a great understanding of the rules. And that is a goal that I know Bill Cookston wishes to reach but still seems to lack organization and resources to accomplish. But then again so does the whole paintball scene at this point.

From my point of view a paint ball tournament is more of a trade show than anything. Even most of the players are there to sell things. They are models of things when they are on the field. And so marketing is the whole influence. So a lot of the expenses are covered by renting booth space much like any trade show. It's not a cheap thing to put on. If they cost more then either the Vendor or the Player has to pay. And in this case they both do. I am not certain there is anything that either one of them wants to pay more for. If anything the Vendors will get stuck with the more now. So my question back to you Tom is this; "what would you as a Vendor at a tournament pay more for? I suspect the answer will be the same as the players. Nothing!

[QUINCYMASSGUY]

ideas

I definitely was aware of the original question, our point is that tournaments are already too expensive for alot of paintball players to attend, and what you get for the amount you are paying is definitely enough to dissuade most paintball players from attending. The general approach of promoters is to spend as little as they can without causing massive uprise or for their profit margin to drop the next tournament.
What would we want if we paid more? Who knows. But the way promoters are right now with field paint only rules then charging $80/case for their expiring and low quality paint, excessive entry fees, extra charges wherever they can get them, and then giving mediocre certificates to the top three teams only for their own stores for their excessively marked up prices, we don't TRUST the promoters/store owners enough to give them more money because we know as much of that as they possibly can will go into their pocket instead of into the game. Show me a promoter who does it for love of the game and not just greed and you'll have the guy players will devote their time and money to in tournaments and to help the game grow.
Mr. Kaye, I don't know what promoter/field owner you talked to, but if he's looking for ways to charge more money it means he's probably using the tactics I already listed and ripping off the players in his area, so he's just some greedy jerk who wants more money for doing as little as possible. Tell him if he wants more CUSTOMERS or for us to CONSIDER paying more, he should change his perspective and help us get the most out of our money now. The promoters need to take the first step in improving tournaments, not us.

[Ronin 23]

I'll pay extra to have.....

the porta potties drained the day before. I'll pay extra for the:

"CREATION, MAINTENANCE, AND DEVELOPMENT OF A WORLD WIDE GOVERNING BODY THAT WOULD DO THE FOLLOWING"

1. Standardization of the sport. From one standard rule to one standard field size.

2. Sanction (at a minimum fee) each bloody tournament whether it be local or a major international event. Minimum standards should be set for promoters as far as the quality of paint used, the number of refs employed, and the safety of the filling stations.

3. Implement an international standard as far as reffing goes. Also to establish parameters for a "professional" organization of referees.

4. Create a global player data base complete with photos and any other information that the player must provide to ensure their identity.

These and any other ideas that I believe would propel the sport onto the next level is what I would personally pay extra for in a tournament.

Some of you may strongly disagree that some of the things I listed above have already been tried. Yes they may have been tried...but they were done haphazardly and not to the level that people outside the industry can look at and respect.

The setting of minimum standards would help in preventing many of the issues that players in this forum have with today's tournament scene.

Kudos to Chuck and his NPPL crew.

/s/ Mel C. Maravilla
Capt. of the PBX Legion

[Ronin 23]

Re: ideas

Originally posted by QUINCYMASSGUY
Show me a promoter who does it for love of the game and not just greed and you'll have the guy players will devote their time and money to in tournaments and to help the game grow.

Check out the Global Paintball League held in Skirmish USA (Jim Thorpe, PA).

Their 6 leg series provides for prices for the top finishers in each of the 3 division and in leg of the series. Plus prices for the series winners.

Price of paint is $70 per case of Draxxus Blaze. Although not entirely a bargain, at least its better that the price that you guys have mentioned in this thread.... and its not Brand X in a white box either.

Because of this, they have grown quite rapidly in the number of years that they've been around.

Not every promoter is a hack who is just looking to make a buck. What we also must consider is that there is a profit motive for people to even bother doing it to begin with. It's just whether they're out there doing it with a conscience or not.