What are we doing?

[etjoyride]

You have a great point, but its not pro-ball that needs to go. Its either the mentality behind these people that do that, or those people themselves. These people get paid to win. I would get POed too if I lost. That means less money for me and my family. It works that way with every sport, whether its shown or not.

We just had a similar thing over at Spec Ops. People saying how their marker owns others. The Tippmann lovers and ION lovers are always going at it. Finally it has gotten to a point that an admin said we are all becoming idiots. I took the time to quote it and state just how true it is. All of these people bash others markers and styles of play instead of understanding the true meaning of paintball. Paintball is like christmas, it isn't supposed to be about recieving, its about much more. Paintball needs to stop the Santa scam. To me Santa is a scam and a half. Telling you kids about Santa and then they learn the truth. Santa is like "the best paintball gun". All these kids (maturity wise) believe in this quietest, most accurate, and fastest marker. Then they finally get told the truth and want to deny it until they get proof. Then when they finally snap into reality, they go on and become like me and many of other people. Christians and paintballers alike need to be more like the Jewish. Instead of inventing a fictional character, people/kids need to be taught the truth from the start. I mean come on, how many Jewish people do you see thinking about "Hanuka Harry"? They dont. They teach their young (as soon as they are old enough to understand whats going on) exactly what the holiday is about. Thats how paintball should be. Paintballers should be taught that it isn't about winning or losing, or what marker is the best, or who owns who. Its about friendship, rivalry, fun, recreation, skill, and just having a good 'ol time. Paintball is one of those things that you hold in your heart. Something that lets you forget everything else and come together. Though paintball has gained a lot of segregation, we should all respect eachother, learn from others, teach others who arent as skilled, make friends, make (healthy) rivals, and have a fun time. I am very tired of people acting like paintball is always a contest of who is best and whos marker owns. Its about the fun, adrenaline of the game, and the people. Its about the stories you gain, tell your friends the next day, and all of your non-paintballer friends think your obsessed. That is what paintball is about. We all need to learn that.

I agree....although i am biased

[Recon by Fire]

Well it just seems that sportsmanship is stressed in all sports to some degree, except for paintball. I think it does matter and should be enforced in tournaments. And yes, I would gladly pull every players armband on an entire team with the displays that some put on. It si bad enough terrible behavior is accepted in tournament play, it is even worse that it carries over into rec play. It will hurt us all in the end.

[lather]

I used to think "pro" paintball was a detriment to paintball as a whole--but once I realized most events are just intricate commercials and clever marketing, I realized its best not taken too seriously.

There is no such thing as pro paintball. It is primarily a sucessful means of marketing and advertisement used to sell markers and gear--providing fair, clean entertainment for fans comes in at a distant second.

The "pro" leagues and the industry are not interested in providing entertainment for us paintballers, they are interested in selling markers. How many fans show up to root for their favorite team is secondary to how many are visiting the vendor booths.

Poor behavior is not discouraged because there is no respect for the fans. The only thing that the industry respects is how many more shockers will be sold the month after a Dynasty win.

[NewbieMagMan10988]

Also, too bad you got shot 9 times, it happens, and get over it. it doesnt hurt that much anyways.

Equipment not making a difference? is that so? how come pro hockeyplayers dont use rentals? or pro baseball players dont use crappy cheep gloves and bats? exactly. equipment does matter, can a pro play ok with a spyder? yea, can they play better with a gun of higher callibur? ofcourse!

at the moment the sport is at, pro paintball is necessesary for survival. Without it, the market has even less of a chance of growing, and we will see alot of companies die off, more so than the ones already dying.


Dont play on a competitive field, if you dont want the competitive attitude, or play with the noobies if thats what you want.

[NewbieMagMan10988]

I used to think "pro" paintball was a detriment to paintball as a whole--but once I realized most events are just intricate commercials and clever marketing, I realized its best not taken too seriously.

There is no such thing as pro paintball. It is primarily a sucessful means of marketing and advertisement used to sell markers and gear--providing fair, clean entertainment for fans comes in at a distant second.

The "pro" leagues and the industry are not interested in providing entertainment for us paintballers, they are interested in selling markers. How many fans show up to root for their favorite team is secondary to how many are visiting the vendor booths.

Poor behavior is not discouraged because there is no respect for the fans. The only thing that the industry respects is how many more shockers will be sold the month after a Dynasty win.

Too true.

[punkncat]

. i once saw a guy go after a little kid who was at least 20 years younger than him who was ten.

I didn't know you had seen me do that.....

[ZapTheMad]

ADDING SOME RANT:

I feel your pain. I ran into one of those smacktards a while back. I came around a corner and his back was to me with no clue. I'm a nice guy so I put 2 in the bunker right next to him and let him know I was there. Then put 2 in his pods and yelled "You're out player!". I'm not out to kill people so no need to go full auto on the back of your head right? I start moving up to take over his bunker and next thing I know he turns around and and wails on me! He shot me 10 times with 4 balls into my bare knuckles less than 10 feet away. I wanted to beat him down with my gun since my fist already felt like I knocked 5 mouths worth of teeth out. All I could do is offer a few words off the field he won't soon forget. My hand was wasted and I had to sit out for the remainder of the day while my kid played. That's the worst part, my kid was there and had to witness that BS.

The other thing that peeves me are the wipers. "I'll just wipe and keep playing because I'm not out unless the ref calls me out". So you're forced to bonus because sportsmanship means squat. It's all about being competitive and getting the bling...

END RANT:

People become whatever it is on the field they play on and all we can do is try to set a better example for our youth to follow. Video footage of smacktards standing around having full hoppers shot at them isn't helping at all. Things will get worse then someone big like the ATF will step in and make changes. Will the game get better when you need a permit to play? I'm just happy there is such a thing as scenario and outlaw!


Merry X-mas!!!

[NinjaoftheNight79]

I am tired of these darn cheaters. I have only cheated once, and the circumstances were of a certain occasion. I was playing with and against all friends, last game of the night, no refs even bothered to watch us so we kinda free for alled it, I had a ton of paint, and we were just typically messing around anyway. I played on, and I will admit to doing it that one time, but I have never cheated in a game that was meant to be a game, or played with people who care at the time. I think we all played on that game, it was just fun and none of us had use for any of the paint we had left.

[Timmee]

So what if the companies die? How does that stop me, who already owns everything I need to play, from going to play? You make it seem like if Smart Parts were to go bankrupt, every SP gun would disappear. Even if EVERY gun maker were to drop out, so many people already have guns, with lots of people have 3 or more. What does that mean? People would still play! Paint manufactures still have a customer base, so they keep rolling out the cases.



Mike

I want to respond to this part of your post. Paintball needs for the marker companies to stay in business, in order to survive. You may have all the stuff you need, but what happens when the new players, that have no equipment, want to start? Without new players, natural attrition will diminish the amount of players, which will drive up the cost of paint, and evenutally nobody will be able to play. Fields will close down, paintball stores will go out of business, and you'll be stuck with paintball gear you can't get parts for.

[siloseven]

Merry Christmas and happy Holidays every body! and soon a New Year!

reading all of this I agree with most every one. but my stand point is that the fields and field owners ect. need to start stepping up to the plate and take responcipility for what happens on their field. I can recall very vivedly recall the amount of times someone NEEDED to be banned from a field, and sadly it cannot be counted on one hand and even two for that matter and that is just this year alone.

I have played for about 8 years now, and I play very hard. I have, in all my years of getting scrapes, bruses and even gashes have to have EMS called because someone tore my skin so deep from shooting me with a ramping bps and DWELL. I now have my very first scar, and a big one at that, that is a constant reminder of this. what happened to the guy? he sat out for 3 games and was back on the field.

in the case of the guy lighting you 9 times on that move, it should have been the ref's and field operators responcibility to yank him. and the one with the getting the guy and then him turning around and wailing on you, Ban him! the field should have stepped up and Banned him. with out recorse from a penilty there is no correction and it keeps happening.

another sport annalogy: remember the NBA and aduince fight where the guy from the Pacers (i think) started fighting the fan. take about that situaton, and add no reprocutions for the player. that is a subliminal message that it is OK to Fight whom ever and it happens again and/or more offen untill somehting is done.

IMO, if I was a field owner, i don't care if you are the Presodent of the United States, I will yank and bann you from the field if you violate the rules and related things. getting hit and then turning agound and shooting the guy who was curdious enough to save you some pain, 10 times, you are getting yanked. and the "pro" level needs to do the same! it sends a message and will help the sport grow faster.

when fields step-up, so dose the sports future.

[BigEvil]

A ref should have pulled the other guy for overshooting. Most fields will discourage lighting players up by eliminating someone who tags an opponent more than 3 times.

[tyrion2323]

I feel that it is doing more harm than good for the way I like to play

Ahhh...there it is. It's harming the way you want to play.

Okay, I understand your post. There have been many, many like it before, all saying the same thing: "pro paintball is ruining the sport" or "Speedball doesn't take skill" or something like that. I'm going to put down my foot and call it all rubbish. Why? Here's why:

1. Your entire post is completely subjective. It's all about what you want, and why you don't enjoy it. It does stink that you were shot 9 times, but you immediately assume that the guy is ramping. What proof do you have of ramping? Most decent players can easily pop off 9 shots in a second, much less an entire run to the snake. Considering the close-range, you could have been hit more. There has to be a realization that as you play airball and speedball, you will be playing with airball players - not woods and rec players. Many times shots don't break, so it can be necessary to shoot more than once or thrice. What you experience is: "Okay, I just tried to run to the snake and got lit up, yowch!" and what he probably experienced was: "Man, I got that guy trying to run to the snake!". I highly doubt that there was ill-will involved, as there usually isn't.

2a. You're taking extreme examples from each side of the sport. Honestly - how many tournaments do you attend? How many tournaments have you played in? Unless you have statistics and evidence to back up your statements, they become void. It's certainly true that tournament players cheat - that's for certain. It's not a great thing that Oliver Lang is the most blatant of them all; however, just because there are highly hyped cases of cheating doesn't mean that tournament paintball is suddenly a bad influence, nor does it mean that cheating and vulgarities are limited to tournament paintball.

2b. You give two very extreme examples about "image". You cite swearing, cheating tournament players vs. a happy-go-lucky, innocent paintball birthday party. While you're at it, you should re-look at your analogy towards Muslims, which was fairly special in its own right, though we shouldn't get into that. You also have to define what "positive image" means, because it obviously doesn't mean the same thing to everyone. Here's the deal: I live in Vermont, which is a relatively non-paintbally area. We mainly have outdoors woodsball areas - the same types of places that your idyllic birthday parties would take place. Yet I have seen cheating, swearing and all sorts of ugly behavior amongst the newbies and younger players that you portray as wonderful and friendly. It simply isn't as simple as you're trying to make it. People are people. It's not like you start off with a bunch of great, wonderful kids who then experience tournament play and become nasty, overshooting jerkoffs. Some pros - many, in my experience - are totally awesome guys. I have played with several EuroPro teams, and I can tell you that pro players are just humans. Some are awesome, and some just plain stink.

3. Newer equipment and play styles are advancing the sport, not ruining it. Woodsball is still there. It will always be there. Same with speedball, etc. What you pine for has nothing to do with pro and tournament paintball. It has to do with interpersonal connections and attitudes. Some people will always be jerks. Man - it's friggin tough, and it stinks. I play against some jerks as well; however, instead of immediately blaming pro-paintball (I'm going to label this the Broflovsky effect, for those who enjoy South Park) , you should judge things on a personal, individual basis. In a recent tournament this past semester, I shot an opposing player a few times more than I should have. It was a mistake, based on an LPR issue I was having. Well, he probably thought I was a big dick - so after the game, I went up to him, apologized, and we shook hands and things were okay. Some kids might be intimidated of you, and you might find it easier to reach out and be nice to them.

Believe it or not, I'm on your side - I just think that you're completely wrong about the source of the problem. It's true - we need to give guidance and show support for younger players. We need to teach them what's right and what's wrong. But blaming tournament paintball isn't giong to help. If you really want things to change, you've got to take action and do it yourself. Help improve paintball by leading as a good example. It works - believe me. My team does it, and we have gone from disliking the people we scrimmaged against to really liking them - I attribute it to our friendliness and willingness to set a good example.

[Coralis]

Personally I think the sport would be better off good sportsmanship was stressed much more at the Rec ball level and especially at the Pro level, like it or not the pro level is the face of paintball that people see on TV so that makes them the ambasadors of our sport. One thing this has done has changed the perception of the game some from neo nazis practicing to take over the world to a what it is today.

[ZEROte]

ADDING SOME RANT:

I feel your pain. I ran into one of those smacktards a while back. I came around a corner and his back was to me with no clue. I'm a nice guy so I put 2 in the bunker right next to him and let him know I was there. Then put 2 in his pods and yelled "You're out player!". I'm not out to kill people so no need to go full auto on the back of your head right? I start moving up to take over his bunker and next thing I know he turns around and and wails on me! He shot me 10 times with 4 balls into my bare knuckles less than 10 feet away. I wanted to beat him down with my gun since my fist already felt like I knocked 5 mouths worth of teeth out. All I could do is offer a few words off the field he won't soon forget. My hand was wasted and I had to sit out for the remainder of the day while my kid played. That's the worst part, my kid was there and had to witness that BS.




Merry X-mas!!!

well the problem with this is that you hit him in an area where he could not feel it. you shot the bunker, he thinks you missed and with all that goes on in a game do you think that it is very easy to hear anyone say your out? next time dont worry about being mr nice guy put two into his back and continue playing. this could have all been prevented if you acted like a "jerk" paintball player and just shot him in the back.

[tyrion2323]

I feel your pain. I ran into one of those smacktards a while back. I came around a corner and his back was to me with no clue. I'm a nice guy so I put 2 in the bunker right next to him and let him know I was there. Then put 2 in his pods and yelled "You're out player!". I'm not out to kill people so no need to go full auto on the back of your head right? I start moving up to take over his bunker and next thing I know he turns around and and wails on me! He shot me 10 times with 4 balls into my bare knuckles less than 10 feet away. I wanted to beat him down with my gun since my fist already felt like I knocked 5 mouths worth of teeth out. All I could do is offer a few words off the field he won't soon forget. My hand was wasted and I had to sit out for the remainder of the day while my kid played. That's the worst part, my kid was there and had to witness that BS.

Next time, shoot him once in the head or back. Shooting someone in the pods where they can't feel it is not a particularly intelligent move, especially if you then turn around and curse him out in front of people. What kind of example are you trying to set?