Airball Sucks

[ghost flanker]

Airball does indeed suck. Rather than employing actual strategy to outwit your opponent and conquer ground, it's all about who can afford to throw the most paint with the most expensive marker... and each string of paint is responded to by another equally impressive but ultimately pointless string of paint.

Now watch them all cry Blasphemy!

Am I the only one that feels this way? Where's all the recballers and woodsballers in the LA area? Is there anyone out here who isn't a total speedball freak and would like to play some good ol fashioned outlaw paintball?

Edit: Airball does not suck and I was wrong to say it does. It does involve strategy and skill in order for anyone to really be any good at it, just like any other form of paintball, or any sport for that matter. When I originally posted this, I was mainly annoyed at the fact that not more people seem to be into recball or woodsball in my area. It was not my intention to start a flame fest and I apologize if I have offended anyone.

[cowboy_00]

No but come to the other coast and we can show you some of the sweetest Scenario in town.

it kicks butt because you can shake the hand of the man you just shot and a ref doesnt even have to check em. AND HE WILL NOT CUSS YOU OUT!

its so much nicer to play in the relaxed enviroment of Scenario/rec. where you can do just about anything thats safe...and only marginally sane. its great fun

take a trip out for Nj NAM, thats gonna be a good game (GO VC!!!)

[Mescalito]

I started playing P-ball back in '95 only playing outlaw ball with pump guns... prolly some of the funnest times of my life (as far as paintball is concerned) But when i play outlaw... you better hope your gun is chrono'ed cause if it aint... you gonna get some retribution.

But as far as your comment about airball sucking... maybe its you who sucks... I play with a full mechanical "classic" mag and hold my own just fine on an airball field. is flanking not a strategy? is snap shooting not a skill? I walk onto the field every time i play looking at the kids with protos, ions and angels and wonder if they will give me achance to shoot em in the back of the head this round...

A warrior will learn to defeat his opponent on thier ground, not his own...

Airball does indeed suck. Rather than employing actual strategy to outwit your opponent and conquer ground, it's all about who can afford to throw the most paint with the most expensive marker... and each string of paint is responded to by another equally impressive but ultimately pointless string of paint.

Now watch them all cry Blasphemy!

Am I the only one that feels this way? Where's all the recballers and woodsballers in the LA area? Is there anyone out here who isn't a total speedball freak and would like to play some good ol fashioned outlaw paintball?

[ShadowNife]

*puts up antiflame shields for you*

they are two different types of play style. Take a good pump player, a newbtastic paint slinger, and most of the time the pump player will win. This argument's been done to death, but the same tactics can be used in both styles of play, one is just more drawn out/camping, other is fast paced though both can go either way.

about the paint-slinging argument, I'm not sure where you ball (you mentioned LA, i go to Jungle/SC etc.) but off the break or in large maps, the same amount of paint is thrown in the air with the same useless outcome. People shooting at each other out of range etc. Laning in speedball actually has a purpose, so it could be argued it actually has more of a purpose than in scenario play. Oh ya, as a disclaimer I tend to play at scenario oriented parks rather than speed, though I like both for what they are.

[1977FordBronco]

You are kind of throwing a very generalized statement there. Granted there are people who can drop six pods in a game and not hit anything, but then there are people like me who can play and entire three man tourney on one case of paint. A large paint budget and any high end electro have no bearing on makeing a good player. I just started playing the tourney scene and to say that there is no strategy to that style of play is just ignorant. Thats like saying that you play rugby and football and think that rugby doesn't employ any strategy. Speedball and Woodsball are two completely different games each with their own unique stategies and playing styles. You prefer woodsball, some prefer speedball...who cares?

[Cow hunter]

I started playing P-ball back in '95 only playing outlaw ball with pump guns... prolly some of the funnest times of my life (as far as paintball is concerned) But when i play outlaw... you better hope your gun is chrono'ed cause if it aint... you gonna get some retribution.

But as far as your comment about airball sucking... maybe its you who sucks... I play with a full mechanical "classic" mag and hold my own just fine on an airball field. is flanking not a strategy? is snap shooting not a skill? I walk onto the field every time i play looking at the kids with protos, ions and angels and wonder if they will give me achance to shoot em in the back of the head this round...

A warrior will learn to defeat his opponent on thier ground, not his own...

i agree. i shoot my mag in speedball every time.this subject reminds me of a couple months back.....

once there was a group of kids maybe 14, all shooting very high end markers, (angel's, DM6, PM6, Shocker). they asked me what my Z-mag was and i told them. then they asked me to see it, so i let them hold it. when they said, "how do you turn it on" i laughed in my head..... i told them it was a mech and they told me "LOL! sell this P.O.S for $700 on PBN and buy a used ego" i said that i liked my mag and it could keep up just fine in speedball. this made them laugh and i got sucked into a one-on-one game. he was spraying paint like no tommorow, and i was just playing how i normally would a one-on-one. in the end, i won, and i didnt even need a fast gun to beat out his super whatchamacallit marker that his parents paid $1000 for


morale; its not the gun, its the player

[BigEvil]

There are pros and cons to both airball and woodsball. Im starting to really like the smaller, hybrid feilds that are starting to show up - which are smaller and in the woods, but with more of a speedball bunker format.

[etjoyride]

I ithnk airball and woddsball are great. Nothing like a little diversity.

I play airball with a pump, SC semi, or angel. And i always play with others that are using high-end electros, and i cna typically do alright with any of my markers. As long as you use your surroundings well, you can play a game of speedball with 20 rounds.

[JKR]

If you think airball sucks, then it sucks.

If I think woodsball sucks, then it sucks.

The view always depends on where you stand.

That's the beauty of America, son...to each his own. If there are some like-minded people in your area, you can find 'em if you try hard enough. With some effort, you can play the game you want. Organize a game through something like the Special Ops game database and give it a try. Just keep trying and you will find others like yourself.

Personally, I prefer a good woods game anyday. If you get the right bunch of guys (and gals) together, outlaw 'ball can work wonderfully. I play these types of games several times a year and it is a great thing to behold.

Justin

[ghost flanker]

I do NOT suck at airball YOU suck at airball Mescalito... waaahh

How much strategy is really employed when the entire field is within firing range at any point on the field? Where's the incentive to advance up the field? Yeah, sure you acheive an advantage once your team bunkers behind the snake, but there's really not THAT much more you can do in such a small area... especially when the field you're playing on has a "no bunkering rule."

I guess what I'm spewing off at the keyboard about is that such an overwhelming majority of people, at least in my area, "spray and pray" and do nothing else. And admittingly it's not just airball either. I actually did go to Conquest Paintball Park last month (they have airball and recball) and every game ended in a stand-off. There were plenty of people playing and nobody was willing to move up the field with me... they were all fine with sitting in one spot the entire game emptying their pods. It was lame.

[Chaos_Theory!]

Airball takes a lot of stratagy and communication, far more then you seem to realize. Its not all about who can shoot the fastest by any means. Sure thats how some people play it but ive seen tons of pump players play against kids with all the newest guns and kill them without using so much as 20 paintballs. If you dont like it then dont play, its as simple as that. Coming here and complaining about it sint going to help the situation.

[Hexis]

... there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.

You have to approach a new game with an open mind. I was quite overwhelmed when I first tried speedball. After a while I caught on and started figuring out things. Sure there will always be people with little in the way of skill that think that there is nothing to it other than blindly tossing paint. That type of player will not last long against somone/some team that has a deeper understanding of the game. There is a lot more to it than simply tossing paint. There is a lot to interacting with the blind areas behind a bunker, and playing the angles.

If you don't like speedball, don't play it. A hobby/game/sport is a worthless activity if you don't enjoy it.

[Jeffy-CanCon]

Accuracy by volume sucks, but it is a valid tactic in any style of paintball. On the speedball field or in the woods, the game is essentially the same. There are some tactics that work better in one place than another, but the basics hold true: shooting accurately, making good use of cover, and knowing where & when to move up. As you recognized with your last post, ghost flanker, you played with a bunch of lame-o's. And that's your real problem. You need to find a regular group who plays the way you like, and stick with them. Once you have that group, you are set. I've been playiing with the same core group for nearly ten years. My friends and I all prefer the woods scene, but we can have fun on the airball field, too.

[Dye Angel Guy]

In speedball you have to shoot by volume just for the reason that the games are so fast paced and you have to shoot a stream of 13bps or some one can run throught it. We actually did a test with some photo equipment a couple years ago and if you are shooting 13bps no one can just run through it and anything more really is just a waste of paint. I do fear that I can't prove this anymore I do not talk with the people that I did this research with anymore.

[hipster]

In air air ball you do use a lot of paint , but that does not mean it does not use stratagy ,air ball is all about being able to read the field, judge when to move and where the best bunker to move to is as well as predict where you opposion will move to next and making sure you or someone on you team is there to prevent it, ( it,s like playing speed chess right down to the game timer)