Is it irony?

[tyrion2323]

The direction that paintball is heading scares me. Fewer and fewer people want to go out in the woods and blast each other from trees. It seems that everyone wants an electronic marker with all the trimmings. Flashy jersies have taken the place of worn-out BDU's. Competition has replaced having fun (think about that one).

I think that you're blowing things a bit out of proportions here. You have to realize that the majority of people who still play paintball recreationally are still heading out into the woods. Speedball isn't posing a threat to paintball, it's adding to it.

Why is it that you're opposed to speedball/hyperball/sup'air? I started playing in the woods, but I found that speedball was more fun, more interesting, and allowed me to feel like the sport had potential. Woodsball will always exist in any form you wish it to, but tournament ball is what is going to bring more recognition and money to the sport.

I'm not sure why you don't like flashy jerseys and electronic markers - they don't pose threats to woodsball; in fact, some could say that speedball and woodsball are two different sports altogether. I prefer speedball because it's less military and war-like. It is considered a "legitimate" sport by laymen, and it's bringing lots of press to our sport. I think that when you say "more people are worried about tournaments than having fun," you're pushing an implication onto tournament ball that you've created. Just because you don't particularly like tournament ball doesn't mean that it's not fun - in fact, I find it much more fun than woodsball.

Let's all just live and let live - both sports can exist together. The "speedball conspiracy" to eliminate woodsball doesn't exist - it's formulated by old-schoolers who, for some reason, feel threatened by progress. There's no need!

[abarnhar]

Tyrion,

You made some excellent points and did so without being terribly personal... Bravo.

It ultimately boils down to the fact that it's a personal preference. I never expressed anything more than a personal opinion. Yeah, I'm sure I put my impressions upon speed and tournament ball. Many have a different opinion. Thank goodness, it's the only way the sport will grow. Maybe it won't grow in the direction that I'm comfortable with... eh, oh well.

I didn't want to dredge up the "age-old" conflict between woods/speed. It's been done.

I was more hoping to impress how ironic SP's change has been, especially in reflection with AO. Back in the day, SP made some sweet mags, now quite a few individuals on AO dislike SP. I found it ironic.

Guess I should have made that more apparent. Sorry.