The skillset of paintball, should trigger speed be one?

[BD_Paintball]

i think if you put a limit to paint that you could bring on the field then there would be almost no places that would run a tourny like that. they lose money on paint sales and they will also lose money b/c there will not be that many if any that show up. i know i would never play a limited paint tourny. i think if you dont like to play with ppl who have legal guns and fast fingers then play pump.

[punkncat]

There are a lot of tough points and side roads to go down in the above posts. But to get back to the question at hand.
Yes, trigger speed is a skillset that is a definative part of the game and a skill which DOES effect the outcome of games.

To touch on the side note...Ramping's supposed leveling effect is only evident in the # of paintballs flying wastefully through the air. It does not compensate for skill, experiance, and knowledge of the game. It is not terribly difficult as an well versed player to defeat ramping noobs with a trusty straight shooting mech, or (true)semi-electro.

[cdacda13]

IMO, these are the skill sets in paintball(in order)

1) Being smart (its a skill, so many people lack that)
2) Aggesiveness
3) Quickness (not speed)
4) speed
5) fast fingers

If you have the top 4, you dont need the 5th one.

[Arstron]

Yes being able to shoot fast on your own should be a skill set for paintball. If you ask me ramping ranks right up their with full auto, only you do a little bit more work ramping. I will stop there becuse I dont want to go to far into this subject...

[Lohman446]

IMO, these are the skill sets in paintball(in order)

1) Being smart (its a skill, so many people lack that)
2) Aggesiveness
3) Quickness (not speed)
4) speed
5) fast fingers

If you have the top 4, you dont need the 5th one.

You missed one: Accuracy - I don't care if you have all of those, without accuracy your done...

[oldsoldier]

First, I dont support ramping. It takes away from the game. If EVERYONE can hit 15 easily...well, that negates certain advantages. In the league we play in here in MA, it is unlimited, NO RAMPING. Although, rarely does a gun get pulled...even though it is quite obvious when it does ramp.
Having said that, I think fast fingers are VERY important. Like it or not, tourney ball isnt a "one shot one kill" game. Good teams play tight, and dont flag elbows, hoppers, toes, etc to one ball. therefore, shooting quite a bit at a fast ROF increases your chances of nailing the guy popping out to shoot. By the time you see him, you better have balls in the air. 300 FPS just isnt simply fast enough to hit a guy with one shot.
I am a fairly decent snapshooter. I pop out, take 5-10 shots, pop back in. all less than a second. That in and of itself is a skill; one made easier by the fact that I can shoot fairly quickly. the less time exposed+the more balls I get in the air=the other guy getting shot, hopefully. So yes, shooting fast is VERY important in todays game. However, it alone is a worthless skill without the others. Kinda like if you can throw far, but couldnt throw accurately.

[punkncat]

Like it or not, tourney ball isnt a "one shot one kill" game.

The biggest problem with playing in a true tourney environment isn't that you can't oneball someone. Its the fact that you can't trust that they won't wipe just the one off.

[onedude36]

I think ramping is a nice way to level the playing field for those without those talents ie me. One of my friends however, thinks that it shouldnt be allowed. He has practiced his trigger technique to where he is really fast, but that is the only developed skill he has. He wants to make this a big part of the game, and I, the opposite, want to make it a smaller part of the game.

[calcan311]

The biggest problem with playing in a true tourney environment isn't that you can't oneball someone. Its the fact that you can't trust that they won't wipe just the one off.

One shot one kill is very hard to do when some one is moving. The clothing worn in games now promote alot of bounces. So yes being able to shoot fast increases your change of breaking one on your opponet.

[yakitori]

While I believe that shooting fast is a skill indeed, it is not the most important skill in paintball. I know some ppl that can rip like no other w/ some crazy impressive finger speed, me not being one of those ppl. Only thing is, other more important skills come into play that make one a better paintballer.

Snapshooting, bumping up properly, listening for other teams/your teams communication, listening for other teams guns while they are shooting even when you cant see them you can tell where they are and react. counterbunkering, running and shooting are ALL more important than shooting fast. To me shooting fast doesnt serve much of a purpose if the person isnt in sync w/ their teammates, and not good at paying attention to the other team and knowing when and where to bump to.

Thats my 2 cents.

[Jeffy-CanCon]

IMO, these are the skill sets in paintball(in order)

1) Being smart (its a skill, so many people lack that)
2) Aggesiveness
3) Quickness (not speed)
4) speed
5) fast fingers

If you have the top 4, you dont need the 5th one.

I think those are attributes, or qualities rather than skills.

Shooting accurately, snap-shooting, using cover effectiively are skills.

[chairman_mao]

To touch on the side note...Ramping's supposed leveling effect is only evident in the # of paintballs flying wastefully through the air. It does not compensate for skill, experiance, and knowledge of the game. It is not terribly difficult as an well versed player to defeat ramping noobs with a trusty straight shooting mech, or (true)semi-electro.

I agree with this BUT what about two players or sets of players that have equal skills other than trigger speed? Ramping then negates the advantage the group with the faster fingers had. Granted it may not be that much of an advantage but anything helps

[Lohman446]

I agree with this BUT what about two players or sets of players that have equal skills other than trigger speed? Ramping then negates the advantage the group with the faster fingers had. Granted it may not be that much of an advantage but anything helps

But should that trigger speed advantage be an advantage? Not is I remind you. Should this be part of the skill set that is tested in paintball?

[Arstron]

But should that trigger speed advantage be an advantage? Not is I remind you. Should this be part of the skill set that is tested in paintball?

If trigger speed should NOT be an advantage, then instead of ramping, full auto should be mandated. That way you dont keep the people who shoot really slow out of the picture...

[Jeffy-CanCon]

But should that trigger speed advantage be an advantage? Not is I remind you. Should this be part of the skill set that is tested in paintball?

Yes. It's a learned skill. Granted, it's a learned skiil that costs $ to learn, and $ to use. The only way to take it out of the game is to mandate full-auto markers for all players, and that's just silly.

I think I know where you come from, Lohman. As someone who started with Nelspots, and eventually moved on to pump guns and mech semi-autos, I was taken aback by the ease with which even early electros allowed insane trigger speeds. I recall some serious tourney players I knew griping that their hard-earned ability to shoot 15bps on an Automag could now be matched by most any kid with the cash to buy an Angel or Shocker. Putting more paint in the air is an advantage that has to be both learned and paid for ($). In my mind, the most unsporting part is that paintball encourages the strategy of victory through deeper pockets. IMO, competitive paintball should be played with limited paint, and near-identical technology. Technology that emphasies individual skill.