Are the "Glory Days" gone?

[JRingold]

So, I'm reading through this article, published in July of 1997.

http://www.paintmagazine.com/wpaint6/cockermag.shtml

Was it really that way? Are the glory days of paintball gone?? Will a similar debate form between the Intimidator and Matrix lines?

Will there be anyone of this age who is singled out as innovative as Tom and Bud are?

[toymyster]

Yes, it was!! Yes, they are!! No, there won't!! And no, there will not be!!!
Sad but true!!!

[JoshK]

You really can't answer any of those answers definatly. Because you never know if the "glory days" will come back. You can't know if there will be a great debate between timmy owners and matrix owners. And lastly it's even harder to know if there will be a great inventor like Tom. But are these things probable? No. And that truely is a sad thing.

[Cameo]

Bud Orr is the WGD? guy right?? I am kinda at a loss here.

[JoshK]

Bud Orr is the WGD? guy right?? I am kinda at a loss here.

Close. WGP (Worr Games Paintball).

[Jaan]

Those WERE the days. It was cool back then, when everything was new and fresh ... it's only ever like that once and no matter what happens it can never be like that again.

[Rooster]

The days when a good gun came in a plain white box, and plastic and colors were reserved for the crap kids would buy.

[Apple_Pie]

The only realy big next step for paintball is a marker that doesnt need a tank, and gets more than 600 shots before you need to recharge it, and doesnt way an uncomfortable wieght.

NPS got the first step done...After that though, what are we gonna do? How can we improve the paintball marker?

[Vex]

Close. WGP (Worr Games Paintball).

Closer. WGP (Worr Games Products)

[dahoeb]

man, i caught the tail end of the "glory days", around 98 i experienced my first rec game. as short lived as it was for me, it so pure and great, was the best memories in paintball i can recall.

there was only like 10 players at my field on saturdays. We'd see the 1 guy with the mag or cocker, and think he was an unbeateable (sp) monster. and those two markers were the markers to have. the rest of us just had spyders or eventually got the model98's. we had heard tales of angels but never actually saw one, and when we finally did see the first angel there, we gathered around it like it was the holy grail. at my current field about half the people have either angels, dm5's or shockers. i use to not have to worry about 15 yearolds who forget to turn off ramping and shooting my up my side 5 or 6 times. that use to be called "overshooting." now its necessary to make sure people don't cheat. now that i think of it, i don't remember ever yelling at anybody for whiping and cheating until about 3 years ago when all at once i just saw person after person whipe. before then i never had a reason to call a ref to go check other players.
nowadays, i go to to the field with my rogue mag and get this:

player1: hey cool shocker, is it octane?
me: nope, its a mag.
player1: a what?
me: a mag.
player1: (has a blank stare)oh how fast does it shoot? what kind of board you running?
me:its mechanical. i probably only shoot about 9 or 10bps.
player1: psshhh why don't you get something else, how can you play with that?

they just don't get it.
and when i use to run a warpfeed, people were just dumbfounded. and if they knew what it was, instead of just letting me run a warpfeed on MY marker, the agg kids would have to come and tell me all the ways it made me a horrible player.

man how the sport has changed, still fun, but its just completely different. it seems like more and more people DON'T go for fun anymore. there are some players that go to look cool, its a fad for some. thats why i stick to scenarios nowadays and not tourneys anymore. People have more fun and cheat A LOT less at scenarios. nobody (in my experience) criticizes a persons marker setup. everyones relaxed, very approachable and there for a good time. great comeraderie.

but these are just my experiences and how its changed for me. dont think i'm not declaring that its like this for everyone; cause i sure hope its not!

[dahoeb]

The only realy big next step for paintball is a marker that doesnt need a tank, and gets more than 600 shots before you need to recharge it, and doesnt way an uncomfortable wieght.

NPS got the first step done...After that though, what are we gonna do? How can we improve the paintball marker?

i agree with you, apple_pie. thats exactly what the first thought i had about the NPS marker the first time i saw it a few months ago, thats probably gonna be the next big thing in like 7 or 8 years, once they improve the design. they could probably steal some of the designs in airsoft guns, maybe? i don't really know much about their exact operation though.

gas tankLESS guns are the only big thing i can possibly think of. almost all markers (except most spyders and tippmanns) don't have eyes or some antichop, efficiency in a lot of markers (viking, ego, etc...) is getting so good its an afterthought, and every new marker under the sun, both expensive and cheap, is far faster than necessary.

hmmm

[Mr. BoBo]

The days when a good gun came in a plain white box, and plastic and colors were reserved for the crap kids would buy.

Good markers still come in plain white boxes . . . they are called Phantoms

[toymyster]

To adapt a great quote "Ahh yes, the CCI Phantom, not random like the electronic marker.... An elegant marker of a more civilized time!!!"

[NewMagMan21]

Ive been only playing for like 4-5 yrs...(im a paintball infant in some peoples eyes)...and I think the glory days were when I was all still learning the sport, the gear, what the gear does...and once I figured it all out...paintball wasnt fresh and new to me...now I see new guns...they all look and seem the same to me, boards, eyes, regs, ramping...only difference is the body
before it used to be Mechanical pull and the fore grip just used to be your CO2...and the only way to help bal breakage was to lower pressure ...in my eyes at least.

This is just how it seemed to me...maybe others can relate...but its stilly a great day when I help out a newb...thats a glory day for me

Honestly I think paintball is just going to turn into airsoft eventually...I really hope it doesnt I love the guns we have and I would perfer a tank on my gun more than none...the hopper IMO is the awkward part...dunno how you'd change it....(other than Q or Wapr)...yeah...

[Maghog]

If you had the chance to play a paintball game in the late eighties, you remember an entirely different world.