The downfall of paintball?

[SlartyBartFast]

p8ntballin007:
Just it drives me nuts when people say paint is high priced.

All right, I'll drive you nuts some more.

Paint IS overpriced. Even at a penny a ball it's expensive for the expected high volume fling fest that speedball has become.

Stupid thing is that back when I played woodsball and paint was 2.50 for a 10 round tube (and deposit on the tube) and CO2 was 0.50 per cartridge, a REALLY expensive day (and a full day 8am-4/5pm mind you) was 50.00. And that included lunch!

Now, 50.00 as a walk-on gets you the crappiest setup available and enough paint to last one game?

But all sports are expensive. Skiing was getting to be 50.00 just for the lift ticket. I gave up skiing.....

[Jeffy-CanCon]

Damn, if I wanted to do all this stuff I would join the Army.

...and most woodsball has evolved to simpler games, on smaller fields because of that. It's a rare treat for a veteran woodsball player to get to play on on old-school 10 acre field.

Then why the hell don't all the scenario teams play a couple seasons in the NPPL to make some extra cash. The reality is that this statement is NOT true. I've been to a couple scenario games with some friends and owned the woods players. There tipmans and "covert" moves just don't cut it in tight, small spaces. To me airball is way more fun, it's more of an adrenaline rush. Like I said before, it's preference. You aren't gunna change the tournament scene and there's a reason for it. Once a person plays tourney style the majority ditch woods for airball.

Check the economics on the NPPL - unless you win first place every time you play, you are losing money. Entry fees, paint, transportation, hotels are all pretty expensive.

But you are partly right, rabidchihauhau's statement wasn't true. He was yanking your chain. But you know what, I've been to a bunch of scenario games, and a few tournaments, and "owned" a lot of tourney guys. Their straight-ahead style doesn't cut it in the thick woods.

We might not like the tourney scene, but most of us don't really expect to change it. It's popular with a small percentage of paintballers, most of whom are wannabes. But if they are having fun, good for them. :)


IMO, most of what you admire is good, though it's not all for me. I am opposed to fast electros, though. I think they do more harm than good. They might be good for tourneys, but they have become common in rec play, too, where they are not really appropriate.

[vonort]

Slarty:
Its not the paint price its your playing style. Most of the time I play on speedball or airfields I take the Illusion pump. Keeps my cost down. But it is rare that I go to an organized feild. Hate the pre-madonna attitudes at most of the local places. So I play bandit ball, and I usally have a pretty good day for around $25, the cost of 1/2 a case of paint.

[jetgirl]

Jetgirl,

I'm aware of how paintball developed in Hawaii (and, historical note, there was a team that some sponsors, JT among them, flew back and forth in the early nineties; there was even a 'national' series based in Hawaii those years...)

Really? I wonder if I played against them. The only "national" series that I can think of was the speedball tournament at Paradise Cove. Yes, there was a team that supposedly cheated and wiped paint, but they never made it to the finals. Young Guns, a team of kids under 18, were a blast to play against. The tournament was all 12g. quick change, 250fps pump paintguns. Totally cool. And yeah, I heard about some kind of turbulence with NPPL and ESPN, but I was never given the full info on that.
Vonort, are you sure about that? I've seen football players grab facemasks and then vehemently deny it. Divak, a pro basketball player, "creates" offensive fouls. Or, am I confusing this with really bad acting? Gotta admit though, cheaters and whiners irritate me. I decided a long time ago that if going pro meant high priced paintslingers, paintwiping, and screaming at refs, I'd never accept an offer. Yeah, right, like I'd ever get an offer.

[peewee]

Wow, reading thru this has been fun. Being an old woods ball tourny player back in the livley days & around the time Dan Bonebrake started his tourny series up here in the northwest. Its brough back many memories. I personally have never stepped foot on a sup air field. There are several in my area but I just have been turned off by the attitude that I run into there. My old teams moto was honor & integrity , which is how we played the game ( call our selves out when others teams wouldnt). Sadly clear back in 95 you saw the shift in cheating etc really take off . Up to that point if a tourney player had a rep of wiping etc they we kind of black listed in our area. We kicked one of the best players I have ever seen off our team because he got caught playing thru a hit in a one game then a blatant wipe in another over the course of two tourneys. He has never played any type of tournement paintball in our area sence. The newer players for the most part sadly never got to see the old ironman, All Americans or phantom force 10 mans in action. They had all the skill that tourny players claim to have now but add in 200% more variables due to terrain etc. I personally feel that they were the better "PRO" players. The whole PRO thing is in a way misleading. Yea some teams make some money.... But at the end of the day part of that money goes back as compensation to your sponsors. Gear you get to keep but in many cases the cash belongs to someone else...Well to the other part of this thread. We are blessed in out area. Most field fees vary from $10 to$15 with your own gear or $20 without while prices on paint are generally about $45 a case. One field doesnt charge a field fee at all but no BYOP they charge $45 a case.

[Beemer]

Ya how bout it

Let's talk ridiculous for a second.

Its embarassing to be a member of a 23 year old industry that can't doesn't even have an independant industry organization.

Its embarassing that we can be this old and still have the internecine fighting going on for 'control' of an industry that can't be controlled.

Just plain stupid.

Over a decade on a left turn on this issue. Not just embarrassing but so sad to

What happened to the IPPA??????????? I still got the t shirt and membership card. Why did it really fail??

Doesnt a SPORT need a governing body?? Ha Ha thats so funny even the newfangled dodgeball craze has a governing body and its just starting to take off

[Cool fool!]

i get a case for $30 down here in texas! woo hoo!

[Destructo6]

I personally have never stepped foot on a sup air field.

I was the same way for a very long time, but one day I acquiesced to the pleas of my nefew. It was pretty fun, to my surprise. I won't give up the woods, but speedball isn't all bad. You should try it.

[kscullin]

Do what I do - skip playing once and drop the $80 into a radarchron. Then find a decent renegade field, take your friends, and play your butts off. I spend about $23 for a day of woodsball (1 bag of paint and a 9 oz fill), and about $35 for a day of speedball (2 bags of paint and 2 fills) - it'd be less if I had the guts to pump. As long as everyone plays safe, stand up honorball, it's all good.

[ronin]

well i love the game in all its forms .i am a turny player and have never owned an electro i find those who use a wall of paint to play well only have fast fingers one or two quick snaps and they are out. i am a firm beliver in accuracy over firepower.i i do shoot a lot when i play rec (more targets) but when im playing serious i play smart and cause diversion by peeking and just wait for my opponet to mess up .most speedballers want fast paced games and end up forcing a move then i got them. last weekend my friend said i shot too much because i played back and went through nearly 400 rounds in a 10 min game (we where out numbered 6-14 .. just for kicks) so the rest of the day i used one hopper for every set of 2 games. if you have real skill you dont need 3 cases of paint for a day of rec (granted it is fun to lay it down ......but very waistful)