Has the Two Decade Climb turned Downhill?

[PBX Ronin 23]

paintball has finally reached it's pinnacle after 20 years...well isn't it about time?

In order to compete today, the prices for a good marker can reach over a grand. That's steep for most of the population of the U.S.! jeez. It's guns like the ion's and wrath's that keep the sport alive in my opinion.

I agree. Maybe the Wrath and the Ion are part of the industry's future wave.

[shartley]

I agree. Maybe the Wrath and the Ion are part of the industry's future wave.

[BlindeSeher]

First off, I'd like to heap some serious kudos on AO for having such an enriching discussion on the subject. Most paintball forums (e.g. pbn) just don't have the brainpower and/or are too washed out by idiot fodder to pull it off. Just seeing that people were really squeezing the grey matter somewhere in the paintball world made my day.

_______________________________

I'm with Shartley on this one. It seems like everyone has all but filled in the grave for small businesses, but some of us aren't nearly in that coffin. Paintball is becoming like most any other business, where someone willing to really work can scratch out a living, but isn't likely to wake up wealthy. Niches exist, markets remain undefiled by Mr. Big. There is yet hope. But of course, those fat-cats that have grown too big for their britches may see the salad days wane (or are doing so already). Maturation is on its way, and there may be some casualties. I, for one, love to see the fattened giants fall.

I'm 19 and several months into a partnership company selling paintball gear and doing small-scale custom and repair work. It may help that I live in the Buffalo area, where paintball is almost purely "outlaw ball" in the woods and in abandoned warehouses. Aside from a few low-grade fields (e.g. Tsunami, for any locals), the business world hasn't done much with paintball in my area. As a result, we're dealing with quite the untapped market. That said, I would have to agree that some of the hype has died off in the non-paintball world. After all, when the game shows up on "I Love the 90s" (and yes, I'm ashamed for having watched that terrible show), you know that it's dead as a "trend". Which is good. Because a trend culture is a false paradise, and not a good place to be building a livelihood.

I, for one, would love to see the sport level-off a bit. Or even a lot. When it shifts into a more stable, sustainable form, it makes it much easier for my little start-up to plan for the future, and lessens the chance of our getting sunk by a sudden burst of the bubble. I'd rather see the thing pop now and move on from there.

Ah yes, and here comes my thoughts on the culture of speedball and its relation to entry-level players. Situation: Little Jimmy shows up at a local field for his first day of play. Using his rented Piranha R6 with velocity set at a cool 265, he should be set for a nice, friendly introduction to the sport. Suddenly, a sinister figure emerges from behind the netting. Decked out in his fire-engine red Dye paintball clothing, with matching gear bag, this Timmy-toting behemoth is ready to go with over half a case strapped to his flank and a mean glint in his eye. His shot is rubbish, but sheer volume will take care of that. Sir Shoots-a-Lot proceeds to light up anything and everything on the field, including Little Jimmy, who winds up clutching some paint-soaked air bag like a bleeding doughboy reaching for his mother as his world goes dark. To make matters worse, our villain flaunts his "conquests" in the dead zone like a rapist showing off a scrapbook of his victims. Does Little Jimmy want to play again? Ha! Little Jimmy has been in therapy for months now, and still screams at night after having nightmares about that fateful day.

The above is a (perhaps slightly dramatized) account of what I witnessed while putzing away a rather wasted evening at an indoor "speedball" field. Call it a real-life corroboration of what a number of others have already said in this thread. Here's what my years of experience have not only taught me, but confirmed over and over: there are some very unhealthy things going on in the more-more-more culture of contemporary speedball. I do not hate speedball as an idea, though I'll always be a woodsball player. Really, it's just a format, nothing more. What I don't like is the direction that many of its adherents have taken. For the love of God and all that is holy, could we all stop worrying that a gun can "only" do 15 bps and just have a good time? The grim reality for a nation infected with the virus of suburban sprawl is that access to woodsball will only diminish with time. But if speedball, as it is now, is the future of paintball, then I see a problem. The electronic gun, which seems to have been the most damaging development in paintball since Smart Parts sold what last bits of a soul it had left and used the profits to pay for an "agg" legal team, has all but taken over. Cheating is seen as "part of the game". Fights in-game? Expected. Genocide? Ok, I went a bit too far on that last one.

As a personal opinion, if mainstream paintball were to collapse entirely, I'd be glad to watch that city burn. It was built on sand, anyhow. When the bourgeois state reaches expiration, the historical inevitability steps in and tears it down. I'd say it's high time for that paintball revolution to come. Who's with me!? Ah, if only real life were so exciting. No, I'd say the gradual trend toward normalization and maturity is what's in the cards for paintball. Which is fine by me.

[PBX Ronin 23]

I'd say the gradual trend toward normalization and maturity is what's in the cards for paintball. Which is fine by me.

Well said.

[Jeffy-CanCon]

Excellent post, BlindSeher. And if you don't mind me saying so, even more impressive for coming from a 19 year old.