Airsoft - What do You Think?

[Rope a Dope]

Originally posted by Steelrat


Dude, what do you think paintball is?

A sport, tag and some form of hide and go seek. We use hi-tech paintball markers like indy race car drivers use hi-tech cars.

Paintball is not "lets pretend we didn't wash out of police acedemy and became SWAT team members so lets get air guns that look just like real ones and pretend we're gonna kill a bunch of terrorists"

One is a sport, one is make believe.

I own firewrms and I own paintball markers. When I hold my paintball marker I think "I can throw lots of paint and tag someone out of the game so my team can win and the girls will think I'm buff." not "I wish this was a real gun I can pretend to kill people like in movies and get all the glory."

My post above that said "I don't have the gay so I don't play Airsoft" pretty much summed it up.

[MarineRDNC]

Hmm, Alot of different views on the matter. I myself love both. Loving the military like I do, why wouldn't I like to play airsoft?(airsoft the right way I might add. the right way being Military Simulation, not playing on paintball fields.) Airsoft guns are copies made from exact molds of the actual weapon. I own an MP-5 springer and a Colt .45 1911 springer. I would have an AEG gun if I had the money but I play paintball more than I do airsoft. One of my friends from school that also plays at our local field, is really into airsoft now. He bought a Tokyo Marui M4-Carbine (an exact replica of my actual M4-Carbine hehehe). He brought it down the field one day to let us shoot it. It's weight is of an actual M4. Making it identical to a real gun except that it fires plastic BB's.

I've read some of you saying that airsoft is IMMATURE... How do you figure? Just because you don't like it makes it immature? In China and Japan and alot of other countries, airsoft is their version of our paintball. Check out some sites like www.Redwolfairsoft.com and you'll see what I'm saying. They have big games world wide like we do with our NPPL. They have videos just like we do of our tournaments and stuff like PUSH. Don't rip on airsoft because you don't like or understand it. Airsoft wasn't meant for kids anyhow. It was meant for mature adults and MATURE teenagers, to try their hand at Military Operations. It's the closest people can actually get to doing a military operation with lifelike guns, without actually being in the Military. Paintball is totally different as we know. Paintball is a rec and tourney sport where anyone and everyone can grab a mask and a marker (along with knowing the rules of play) and go out and have some fun shooting at each other.

Please, go to the site I provided and check out other airsoft websites before you critisize me.

[Tunaman]

In NJ, Airsoft guns are now ILLEGAL. And for good reason. They look too much like real guns. We dont need kids going to Walmart and buying real-looking fake guns. This just leads to bloodshed and lots of pissed off cops. I think the sport is the worst thing to happen to or compare to paint ball. Stay away from this one TK...they lead to trouble.

[Sir_Brass]

Airsoft is excellent from what I hear. I know several hardcore sceanrio players who play airsoft a little and they love it. If you like milsim realism and paintball, then you'll like airsoft: it's for that kind of player - the honorable, hardcore military-style player.

Also, you don't have to go playing airsoft like you're actually in the military. Heck, I'm sure you could set up a game where it was two mercenary groups fighting each other or something. The ideas for games in airsoft is as limitless as it is for paintball.

[SpongeBobSquarePants]

In my personal opinion, I think I know what your getting at and I say don't do it. If you start to put out any line of airsoft products I think you will take alot of heat form all the major paintball companys along with many players. So stick with what your good at and thats paintball.

[p8ntball1016]

i stopped playing airsoft when i was 12. we still shoot each other with them but thats about it.

[shartley]

[shartley]

Originally posted by Sir_Brass
Airsoft is excellent from what I hear. I know several hardcore sceanrio players who play airsoft a little and they love it. If you like milsim realism and paintball, then you'll like airsoft: it's for that kind of player - the honorable, hardcore military-style player.

Also, you don't have to go playing airsoft like you're actually in the military. Heck, I'm sure you could set up a game where it was two mercenary groups fighting each other or something. The ideas for games in airsoft is as limitless as it is for paintball.

[Sir_Brass]

Yeah, I know that. The point was that merc groups don't necessarilly have the strict command structure of a military: they can be anything from a gang of thugs who's loyalty sways on who's got more $$, to a very well trained paramilitary group.


Also, you most certainly can play games like capture the flag and other standard pball games in airsoft. You can play ANY game in airsoft that you can in paintball. It's just that airsoft people would rather do the scenario game thing.

Perosnally, I'd love to get some airsoft gear, some urban cammo, and some CT-looking gear, and go play some Rainbow Six - style games in an 'urban combat environment'. I've always liked "playing war", that isn't to say that I'm a warmonger, it's just that the little boy who loved to go out back with nerf guns and super soakers and have huge 'wars' with his friends is still alive and well inside this 20 year old (ok, almost 20. little more than a month left) college student who's studying Electrical Engineering.

If you're at the point of saying that playing war is childish and immature, then I pity you: you're letting your inner child die.

[shartley]

Originally posted by Sir_Brass
If you're at the point of saying that playing war is childish and immature, then I pity you: you're letting your inner child die.

Originally posted by shartley
I am sure I would enjoy playing it. Heck, I have enjoyed everything from real combat training, super soaker fights, laser tag, paintball, and even those toy guns that shoot the big plastic balls and foam discs.

[Strider]

To me airsoft represents the things in Paintball that I never cared for. Yes I play recball/woodsball.

[Sir_Brass]

Of course . And I also agree with keeping airsoft obviously seperate from paintball and not allowing the two to become merged in the minds of the ignorant masses. I think airsoft is cool and all, but paintball has been fighting the image of being used for paramilitary training and such, while airsoft hasn't really, b/c it's not as popular. It will eventually have to fight that fight, but lets hope that paintball will have already won that fight long before.

[~WarpedRT#2~]

Strider has an amazing point. It represents the part of paintball that I never liked. Some of those guns for airsoft cost a fortune. Now I understand that our guns cost a fortune too, but still, these are BB guns. I dont care how real they look, they shouldnt cost more than $100. The rules in airsoft arent really established either. If you get hit on the side of your gun, you are still alive. In paintball, we dont allow this to happen. In a real war, if you lose your weapon, you are dead. If you hit someone, how do you know they just didnt lie to you and tell you that you didnt hit them? No marks, or any way to identify a hit. And I am also curious as to what kind of face protection you wear during this. I have a friend from school who says he's been hit in the face before, almost been shot in the eye many times.

Sir_Brass, it will NEVER fight that fight. Airsoft claims to immitate war. The guns look real. Any smart Airsoft player will admit that they are immitating war. There is no two ways about it. The guns look real, using military tactics, and calling it a war game doesnt help.

[Sir_Brass]

Originally posted by ~WarpedRT#2~
Strider has an amazing point. It represents the part of paintball that I never liked. Some of those guns for airsoft cost a fortune. Now I understand that our guns cost a fortune too, but still, these are BB guns. I dont care how real they look, they shouldnt cost more than $100. The rules in airsoft arent really established either. If you get hit on the side of your gun, you are still alive. In paintball, we dont allow this to happen. In a real war, if you lose your weapon, you are dead. If you hit someone, how do you know they just didnt lie to you and tell you that you didnt hit them? No marks, or any way to identify a hit. And I am also curious as to what kind of face protection you wear during this. I have a friend from school who says he's been hit in the face before, almost been shot in the eye many times.

Sir_Brass, it will NEVER fight that fight. Airsoft claims to immitate war. The guns look real. Any smart Airsoft player will admit that they are immitating war. There is no two ways about it. The guns look real, using military tactics, and calling it a war game doesnt help.

About face protection: I know of many airsoft players who will wear the lenses from the paintball masks, or not bother with the work, and just wear the whole paintball mask. JT nForcers seem to be popular, b/c they won't let the bb's through due to the way the vent holes are arranged in the mask.


Also, and I would NOT go around saying that airsoft costs a fortune if you go around with a mid-range to high end gun and shoot lots of paint . . . don't you even DARE say airsoft is expensive. Most of the AEG's I've seen that are high quality are between $200 and $400, that's MID RANGE for paintball guns. Also, 2000 rounds of HIGH QUALITY paintballs will cost you around $70. 2000 rounds of high quality airsoft BB's costs about $5. Also, you don't have to pay for your projectile acceleration. AEG's use batteries, which charge from your wall, so no addition $$ is spent to charge your batteries since it'll be only pennies added onto your electric bill if you charge and discharge your batteries alot.

Airsoft is MUCH more cost friendly than paintball, BY FAR. If I hadn't gotten into paintball first, I would be an airsoft player instead and say "no thanks, it's far too expensive" to paintball. Also take into mind that airsoft players shoot less than paintball players, and thus that $5 they paid for .20g or .25g bb's goes WAY FARTHER than the $70 we pay for a case of marbalizers.

[edit] I asked the same question about player honesty, and from a regular paintball player (read: can take his paintball welts like a man), and he said (this is summarizing his words)

"Oh, you KNOW when you're hit, and if you hit someone you'll see it. It stings like a b!tch, especially if it's on open skin. Unless you have great control over your reflexes, you won't be able to hide getting hit b/c you'll flinch visibly. And if you try and shake it off, you'll continue to get shot. Airsoft players also happen to be more honorable and trustworthy than your every-day walk-on recball player."

[/edit]

[MarineRDNC]

Price

About Price: How can you say airsoft is espensive and shouldnt be over $100? Paintball is BY FAR hell of a lot more expensive. I mean good god, it's some metal molded and milled to look cool and shoot paint at high rates of speed. I've seen car's go cheaper than some paintball guns. AN ACTUAL CAR. A giant piece of metal, that transports people places. Think of all the work that goes into making an engine and the interior and exterior of a car. I mean I love paintball and everything but prices are freaking crazy!What do titanium boomsticks cost? Like $150.00 if you're lucky? A freaking barrel, a piece of metal! It's outrageous. The only way airsoft compares to the price of an expensive paintball gun (angels, timmys, matrix, emags, etc.) is when you get into the SAW's (Squad Automatic Weapon) or an M-60. They are crafted exactly like the real thing, weight and all, and hold around 1,500 rounds in it at a time. They are the ones that cost about $1,000 bucks or more.