Airball Sucks

[BD_Paintball]

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)

speed chess is a great analogy. there is ALOT of srtategy that is needed to be a good airball player like hipster said. knowing when and where to move. know where to put ppl off the break, and what rout they will take to get there. predicting where the other team will send players and try to lane and counter their moves. there is alot more strategy then you think

[ghost flanker]

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.

This is exactly what I'm talking about. However, to be fair, when I said airball sucks, I guess I really meant speedball sucks. There's so many balls flying through the air that it's almost suicide to leave your cover and advance up the field, especially early on in the game. It's not airball... it's the type of markers that are so commonly used to play the game. Too much firepower in too small an area.

My idea is that airball could be made much more fun using much slower markers, dare I say pumps. But if that's too much too ask cuz you wanna keep your semis and fully autos that you've spent so much money on, then make the airball fields bigger. Who wouldn't wanna play on a football field sized airball course?

This is probably what I should have originally posted... making suggestions to improve the game of airball rather than just saying that airball sucks.

[ghost flanker]

speed chess is a great analogy. there is ALOT of srtategy that is needed to be a good airball player like hipster said. knowing when and where to move. know where to put ppl off the break, and what rout they will take to get there. predicting where the other team will send players and try to lane and counter their moves. there is alot more strategy then you think

But in speed chess, you don't cut the board in half... airball fields are way too small for the types of high performance markers that are so commonly used. There's no room to really move around undetected cuz you're playing in a little box. Make the airball fields BIGGER... maybe with larger bunkers too.

[AutomagRT1483]

Airball with a pump gun = I'm as happy as can be.

[mobsterboy]

"are you really that stupid?"
thats all i have to say

[Aslan]

agreed

I got really turned off when I saw a speedball match. Three amateur teams were practicing and when they started...all you could see was a swarm of paint in the air. One of the rec woodsball kids that was watching asked the ref how they could shoot so fast and the ref tried to explai to him rocking triggers and ramping. It was actually sort of goofy. 1-2 people on each team got hit off the break...so it was always 3v3 or 3v4 to start. Some of the team would try to move a little...but not really go anywhere. And the guys in the back just kept throwing empty pods on the ground. The had harnesses with like 8-9 pods...and most of the games I saw they went through almost all of them. There was so much paint...that in the corners of the field (it was netted around the outside), there were literally (and I'm not exaggerating) PILES of unbroken balls mixed with some broken paint. PILES...maybe knee deep.

When everyone was leaving for the day I looked over and all over the ground near where the teams were sitting...there were like 15 empty cases of paint and about 10 9V batteries laying on the ground.

I played my first game of airball that day. It was okay. I did well. But, it wasn't the woods. The woods is so much better (to me) because you don't have to constantly be firing at the other team. There's movement, concealment, terrain...and not all of the bunkers look like Godzilla punching bags...everything solid is your bunker.

I definitely think speedball takes some skill...but I also see your point. It's certainly not the game many of us older guys grew up with. But...woodsball isn't dead...of matter of fact, most people and literature seems to be pointing towards the woods as the real bulk of the market share...it's just not TV friendly.

[ghost flanker]

"are you really that stupid?"
thats all i have to say

Who the hell are you callin stupid? You wanna back up your claim with something relevant?

[Hexis]

This is exactly what I'm talking about. However, to be fair, when I said airball sucks, I guess I really meant speedball sucks. There's so many balls flying through the air that it's almost suicide to leave your cover and advance up the field, especially early on in the game. It's not airball... it's the type of markers that are so commonly used to play the game. Too much firepower in too small an area.

I completly disagree. Speedball is like distilled paintball. Speedball is quite interesting, and is a lot more than who can throw the most paint. You gotta play it and get into it to truly understand the game. I have been completly owned by good teams, and I have learned a lot from those games. To be honest (and not trying to be mean) I think you simply don't get it. That's ok. Talk with anyone that understands more than simply the basics and the conversation will get into: approaches on different bunkers, areas of coverage, denial of different areas, playing the angles, doing the things you need to do to completly control the field.

That's not to say there is not a place for other styles of play on an airball field. I'm always up for fun with PGPs.

[kumijia]

At first glance it does seem like speedball is just slinging paint. When actually a well played pro team, works like a well oiled machine. When one player is taken out, another player from that team quickly refills that postion. All in a matter to gain ground and not lose an advantage. Also, there does seem to be plenty of strategy. On the break, each play has a postion to get to....and get there fast. Then each player works their way up the field, or covers the members up in front. The more you watch a team play, the more you learn and pick up. I've never played an actual speed ball event, just some friends playing in a speedball type field. I also play woods ball.....that's what PA has alot of. Honestly, i feel i play pretty calmly, I know the range of my gun, i know if i can hit that shot or not. Most of the time i play i only use 500 rounds. LOL maybe i shouldn't admit that. Now that's playing with Tippman's and piranahas and people without alot of money to spend on paint. I like to take one shot and hit people. LOL But that doesn't mean i don't shoot cover fire either. I don't like to waste paint, that's just the way i play.

[White_Noise]

where to begin...without pouring too much fuel on the flames...


first: i play alot of speedball, for the last half of the time ive been playing ive been playing mostly speedball, but in the begining mostly woodsball. (6 years total) i wish i wouldve played speedball at the same time i started in the woods, ive noticed it has made me a much better player.

the skills needed in speedball are just more refined, quicker versions of the same skills used in woodsball. being able to move quickly and affectively in speedball translates even greater into woodsball from what ive seen.

for instance, for those people here from WI/IL that go to Promised Land, youll know what im talking about:

when i play at PL, i play with the group formally know as the "Bad Boys" All of us play our fair share of speedball, but generally all make it out atleast once a summer to play in the woods. Every time i play with these guys, we play exactly as if we were playing speedball, aggressive, make sacrifices, sling paint, take more area of the field. Not only that, we work together as a team, which i believe speedball can teach you more about than woodsball. In doing this, the team that we end up on rarely ever looses and we are generally on the front lines taking key positions, whereas the seasoned woodsballers tend to stay back and be "snipers" **granted, alot of people do play aggressively in the woods, but im going to use the generalization that most dont**


that being said, we've actually been asked to not play so aggressively so that the other team could have a chance. sorry...not going to change how i play because other people cant figure out how to work together to win.


on that note: i too have played in many tournaments with mech mags, and mech cockers and can deffinately hold my own against guys with the newest $1000+ gun that just spray paint. ive even played with my sydarm against spray and prayers and taken a few out. fortunately, having these skills, and then having a fast marker just adds to what i can do on the field.

just to address another common hatred of speedball: alot of people think that there is no sportsmanship in tournaments, etc. i have played with a lot of teams from WI/IL and know ive seen my share of rich brats with no manners, but there are deffinately far more teams which show good sportsmanship. This is also present in the NCPA as well, which really makes the college tourneys my favorites.

//end rant....play what you like, no need to cut up on another form of the same sport

[punkncat]

The only thing I don't like about airball is that every time some clouds come by you have to pump up the bunkers. Five minutes later when the sun comes out you have to vent them so they don't pop. Owner hasn't gotten the venting caps for them yet....

...but thats only cause I am one of the people who has to actually do it.



As far as the rest of what you have said, its really all just a point of view. At least with the "big budget" guys slinging paint, you know where they are and what they are looking at. Its the guys who don't have to shoot like that you need to worry about.

[warbeak2099]

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?

Seriously, you've either never played airball, or you suck at it. If no skill or strategy was involved, then I guess you're freaking amazing at it. I'd like to see a video of you getting destroy... uhhh I mean playing speedball.

[Mescalito]

Seriously, you've either never played airball, or you suck at it. If no skill or strategy was involved, then I guess you're freaking amazing at it. I'd like to see a video of you getting destroy... uhhh I mean playing speedball.

[warbeak2099]

Thanks, I'll be here all week. Drinks are available at the bar.

[Tunaman]

But in speed chess, you don't cut the board in half... airball fields are way too small for the types of high performance markers that are so commonly used. There's no room to really move around undetected cuz you're playing in a little box. Make the airball fields BIGGER... maybe with larger bunkers too.

I agree...alot bigger. Then put a painted 15' circle around each bunker...and you cant step in there. If you couldn't HIDE behind the bunker by getting up next to it you would be forced to seek cover elsewhere. Every player would be in the same boat RUNNING for their life. There are no rules...just like now. You may get shot 30 times or more before calling yourself out due to the pain factor. Bring it... and don't foget your cup.