New players and $1400 guns?

[txaggie08]

its not the ones with expensive guns who bother me, its the little punks that piss me off. thats what drove me out of paintball last time. The little "look at me i spend all my mommy and daddy's money, and dont have to d anything to earn it". i hate the arrogant little so and so's who do that. ive helped many kids get up and running with expensive markers they got for bday or xmas. im happy to help them and im glad for them. but if your anal about it im not only not going to help you, im going to give you a close range attitude adjustment. I dont care if the kid is ten(although giving a kid that young a 1k+ marker is a little overkill) or 16, if he will come on the field understanding he is not special cause his mom and dad have big $$, hes fine with me. ill be happy to help the kid(although im not a godly player....). but dont come on a field telling me how much you know and how big and bad you are unless you got the skill to back it up. This is a sport you have to go into being willing to learn, cause your going to. either from a more experienced player or from his paintballs.......

[txaggie08]

got a good point about the paint string. if i fire fifteen balls at you from across the field, sorry if they all hit but i fired with the idea they all wouldnt. if i shoot you fifteen times at close range.......well i used to know a ref who had a solution for that. he gave the other guy an electro on full auto, and you a five second head start.......

[Carbon]

Word.

[jewie27]

Well it sure must be nice to play for five bucks. Here in CA, it's about $25 for admission.


The kids are just flat out spoiled. It teaches them that money just grows on trees. They don't know that someone has to work for that money. The more the mother buys them gear, the more they are going to want it. What's the point of giving a 13 year old a $1400 gun when they can't even take care of it.

As for the 8 year old, I thought you had to be at least 10 years old to even be on a paintball field. That's how it is over here. How can an 8 year old even handle a fully loaded A5 anyways??? What does an 8 year old know about paintball safety? They don't even make paintball masks for kids of that age, which I believe is very dangerous.

[germanman]

HELL, I've been playing for 4 and a half years, got my E-Mag 6 months ago and put down 400 for it. I'm 16, JUST got a pair of actual paintball pants (I played in FLECTAR German camo) and I thought I felt unworthy to get such a great marker. Not to mention I go through 1 case of paint a day at most.
I wish I was born earlier just so I could feel the rush of playing for skill, NOT for the gear you had. Damn rich kids.

But hell, now that I've been playing for a while, I feel I'm growing into my E-Mag. I'm getting much better, can hold my own almost anywhere, and to be honest, I enjoy nailing somebody who spent 3 pods of paint on me with 3 shots.

[UpliftedApe]

Let me ask this, don't we want paintball to grow and for people to buy every gun but an automag for little Tommy or Steve so lest he be embaassed when he is the one kid on the block with his 98, as opposed to a Halo B, centerflag 68/4500 and DM5/timmy/shocker/viking or what have you. Personnaly I love these little fellows who have played once, I personally think everyone who buys that over priced DYE crap is quiet amusing running around, or more importantly sitting in the back bunker hoping to have the elves bring that miricale long ball for elminations. These fellows are great, not only can they not reach the fill station, or properly hook the hose for a very potentially dangerous situation, they very rarely understand what si going on in any given game. Now I respect the people who cammo up, have their ragged out, shredded, beat up A5's, who break for the 50 off the bat, nail about 4 guys in the process and fly up the snake like a made rabbit. I have my E-mag, but do you know who I hang out with? The ref's in their stupid DYE pants and the rest of the morons who spent way too much on the game, why? Cammo is just outta style my friends. SO I wear my favorite heavy metal band shirt and a cheap pair of nylon pants I found at a discount seller we have in town for $4. Who in their right mind would abuse $90 pants? Haven't you noticed all thsoe ripped out, shredded knees? I play in pair of comfy ugly *** white tennis shoes, these ugly *** really comfy pants, and a cheap shirt I typically pant houses in, (i.e. it's a godsmack shirt I like the irony on it) Does everyone under estimate me? Yes, because mags are obviously slow and out dated and you know I mean an E-mag I mean jeez I didn't know AGD even made an electro. Yes the last time I played a ref told me this, he then asked where he could purchase one, because they look "bad ***", and you know it's a funny thing about that every time I playa dn own with my buddy who also has an E-mag they ask him the same, and my GF who plays with ULE, and our other friend who uses my buddies tacone, now comes the fun part. How would you respond when a group of ref's and these midget players come up and ask you, how does, and I am not kidding you guys, says " How does this gun CHEAT, that was just awesome with that 5+ or some elims". Seriously everytime now when we play and have an exceptional round, I am not claiming consistency mind you, but hey every dog has his round eh? Our groups is asked over and over how does that gun cheat!

Ohh getting back to the point I worked my *** off at Lowes with my buddy to buy my equipment to own the little children, old or young. It doesn't just take a mommy or daddy with a loose wallet and a lot of love to blow that kind of money, but any naive fellow pushed with a sufficient amount of peer pressure i.e. uniformed refs that think anything BL, or ICD can make is gods gift to paintball.

The players makes paintball fun, not the marker, that why I like AO, NOT pbnation.


sorry about the rambling.

Gentlemen and Ladies START YOUR FLAMING!

[purple]

i agree with ape, mostly because i was the buddy who got him the job at lowe's, i still think of the miles of shopping carts we pushed all over hell and god's creation just to get a taste of sweet paintball candy. Just thinking of the TONS of various cements/tiles/various stuff at lowes into people who looked down on us for being loaders, just motivates me to take the snake and rip faces off
note(he was a physics undergrad, i was a electrical engineering undergrad, having someone explaid polymer ladders to us was one of the more amusing experiences)


Purple out

[Arrival]

It almost seems like some people here are a bit too confident in thier ability to shoot out new players that may own expensive gear and seem to be relatively young. It's really thier choice on what they spend on thier equipment; even if they're not serious about paintball. Same thing goes for thier parents; it's thier choice. Even if they do have a DM5, an Angel, or whatever may it may be, I don't see the need to put 5-6 rounds in them in a bunkering move, and play hard enough to the point of where thier parents will get ****ed off at you.

I wouldn't brag about taking out some people who are new to the sport, even if they do have high-end markers. I'd rather get my *** kicked repeatedly by a pro player rather than not get hit out once all day and be paired with a bunch of new kids. When you get your *** kicked, you tend to learn more, rather than degressing and softening up. When you learn more and more and start getting the better of respected players who are a challenge to play; that's when you start to get bragging rights. But, of course, too much bragging will get you deemed an ***hole; so let's not waste those rights on some kids who are new to the sport.

[jewie27]

HELL, I've been playing for 4 and a half years, got my E-Mag 6 months ago and put down 400 for it. I'm 16, JUST got a pair of actual paintball pants (I played in FLECTAR German camo) and I thought I felt unworthy to get such a great marker. Not to mention I go through 1 case of paint a day at most.
I wish I was born earlier just so I could feel the rush of playing for skill, NOT for the gear you had. Damn rich kids.

But hell, now that I've been playing for a while, I feel I'm growing into my E-Mag. I'm getting much better, can hold my own almost anywhere, and to be honest, I enjoy nailing somebody who spent 3 pods of paint on me with 3 shots.

see the good thing is that you actually put down your own money for a marker. not like these kids who just get one outta thin air.

[Lohman446]

umm... how are you going to stop a whole stream of paint mid air just to make sure only 1 of the 10 balls or so flying his way is going to hit him?

are you playing with a pump or are you just shy with the trigger???

What are the situations that you are shooting someone in the back? If you cannot control your marker than either it or you have no place on the field, especially during rec day.

[TheBigRaguPB4L]

So many people i wanted to quote, but that would just take to long so i'll just throw my 2 cents in.

There is nothing wrong with parents spending x amount of dollars on their kids to play a sport. If people are well off, they're going to provide for their family. If money isn't an issue, they're going to buy the best. Ralph Loren and Tommy Hilfiger are around for a reason too. Anybody can shop at k-mart and wal-mart for clothes, but they can afford designer brands so that's where they go, same situation.

However, paintball is a dangerous sport. There are safety precautions in our sport for a reason. A mishandled paintball gun can be very dangerous. When you throw a 1200+ marker in the hand of uneducated 12 year old that whined his way into the sport, it shouldn't be allowed. It has nothing to do with jealousy or envy. I'm not saying that i don't feel those things. I am slightly jealous of not having all the guns that i want while working hard to acquire them. Then i have to see some kid that didn't deserve it get everything just because that's what he wanted that week. That's life and i get over it very quickly. My problem lies in the parents. They take little to no responsibility in teaching themselves and their children the dangers and precautions of the sport. Then when something goes wrong because an 8 year old didn't put his barrel condom on after the game ended, we're to blame. Then they go back and get a lawyer and file lawsuits and talk to congressmen to get laws passed to restrict our sport even further. Same thing happens with music and video games. We pay because of some parents laziness and inability to be a responsible parent and keep up with educating themselves on the intricacies on thier childrens' hobby.

Someone said something about "My Super Sweet 16". These are the kind of kids that are getting the $2000+ setup deckout in $500 DYE apparel. You think these spoiled little rich brats really give a .... about sportsmanship and a well played game. "This is what i want, give it to me now". You think they're going to be happy losing all the time especially with their Empire Timmy with the Halo and 45/45 Stubby. They have the best setup on the field for the first time playing and you think they want to lose? They're either going to quit or win by any means necessary. Yeah that's the kind of kids i want to play with.

I'm not saying this is the case 100% of the time. But 9 times out of 10, i'll bet it is. This is what is ruining our sport IMO. Kids' attitude are bad from the start and only get worse. I'm sure there are people with money that earn it or may know the value of a dollar. I've met one. She's 29 and she works as a manager at a restaurant. I've met many more on the other side of the fence. It's not just paintball, it's our country as a whole. irresponsible parents raising irresponsible children. Money or no money, i keep seeing it getting worse and worse.

I might have missed a few things i wanted to say. I'll add more if i remember them later. Thank you for your time. Just the misguided views of some guy that's irrelevant to everyone.

[Evil Bob]

This is a common occurance around the nor cal bay area, I used to see lost of kids come in with brand spanking new gear, play one day, then sell the gear because they didn't have a good time. I just have to shake my head at the "I want the best for my kids and I dont care how much it costs" mentality.

A little background info about me: I went to Los Gatos High School (south bay area, silicon valley, Calif) in 80-84. I was one of the poor kids who drove a beat up Datsun pickup. I had friends who drove Mercs, Porsches, BMW's, trans ams, lamburghini's, and ferrarris (one of which went through 3 ferrarris in 2 years, usually driving too fast when the road was wet). That used to eat at some of my other friends who were, like me, monetarily challenged, they were so jealous of the rich kids. One of my friends had such a problem with his jealousy that he ended up getting hooked on some heavy drugs and being committed before we graduated. I never had a problem with it, I just saw it as being a big part of life, which we all know full well aint fair, some peeps got more money, some peeps got less, no biggie, thats just how it goes.

Its like that in all facets of life. I saw kids in tennis who had never played before coming in with $1200 rackets that they parents got them just for school. They'd hit them on the ground trying to return balls, throw them on the ground when they got frustrated, really beat them up, it was such a waste. If the parents had any common sense, they would have gotten the kids a decent starter racket until they could play and wouldn't beat up the rediculasly expensive one.

I do exactly that with my kids when they started playing paintball, I didn't give them the very best stuff to start with, and I explained to them the reason why they weren't getting the very best. "You will learn how to play with this gear first, once you can demonstrate to me that you can play well and not beat the crap out of your gear, then you'll be ready for the better stuff." So my kids started off with some of my old automags lvl 7's, my oldest played with that lvl 7 classic for 2 years, then moved up an RT which he played with for 2 more years, he had an xmag up until this last year, he sold it to buy a drum kit.

I'll do the exact same thing when he starts driving this year, we'll goto the auto auction and buy a POS that runs and that I wont mind gets bumped into trash cans and deer and guard rails and old ladies crossing the street. Once he's got some solid driving experience under his belt and can demonstrate that he's capable of driving responcibly, then he'll get something better.

-Evil Bob

[JAM]

I'm jealous of those kids...
it's all in their attitudes- just getting all the gear doesn't make you spoiled. if the kid's a good kid, then more power to them.

Frankly, why should i care? Why should it affect me and how much i enjoy the game? I say let everyone buy whatever they can- make money for the industry.

lots of times I don't play enough to justify a $200 gun. And most of the time when i really sit down and think about it, how can i justify spending more than $1000 on a TOY? (I have... many times).

I do wish i was "spoiled" in my early playing days, that would have been great to have some nice gear, but I don't tink it would have made me a punk.

[JAM]

I do exactly that with my kids when they started playing paintball, I didn't give them the very best stuff to start with, and I explained to them the reason why they weren't getting the very best. "You will learn how to play with this gear first, once you can demonstrate to me that you can play well and not beat the crap out of your gear, then you'll be ready for the better stuff." So my kids started off with some of my old automags lvl 7's, my oldest played with that lvl 7 classic for 2 years, then moved up an RT which he played with for 2 more years, he had an xmag up until this last year, he sold it to buy a drum kit.

I'll do the exact same thing when he starts driving this year, we'll goto the auto auction and buy a POS that runs and that I wont mind gets bumped into trash cans and deer and guard rails and old ladies crossing the street. Once he's got some solid driving experience under his belt and can demonstrate that he's capable of driving responcibly, then he'll get something better.

-Evil Bob

I like the way you handle it EB, that's how I would do it. BUT, I don't think we should be automatically outraged at kids whose parents don't mind buying them awesome gear to start.
-j

[SlartyBartFast]

The problem isn't just kids.

I played last with a group that has a "decent" deal with the local field. While it's normaly FPO (at $200 a case), they are allowed to bring their own paint (and have a deal for 40$ a case).

So, the "head" guy is decked out in Dye gear and shooting some flash electro or other as are a number of the others.

I'm dressed in old clothes, the overalls from the field, and shooting a rental Tippmann 98.

Trading shots the decked out guy starts screaming "YOU'RE OUT! YOU'RE OUT! Get off the field!!" Yes he had hit me several times, but all bounced. WHen one did break I left the field and was bonusballed several times by a couple on the other team.

THEN, I, my friend, and the field staff had to endure whining about the rules about having to have a break aren't right....

Maturity has nothing to do with age or the price of your toys....

As for the example at hand

a.) Their mother had probably spent somewhere in the neighborhood of $4,000+ on the three of them for Christmas (and that's probably just for paintball related stuff)
b.) Two of them had never played before and
c.) That they saw nothing wrong with this,

A> Luck them. If that's a complaint, you're just jealous.
B> What does that have to do with anything? Just means that the more seasoned players should be sportsman-like and introduce them to the game.
C> That's because there WAS nothing wrong.