Coming back after 16 years - my first post and a question from a shocker owner

[SupremePB47]

Hey everyone!

I'm another one of the returning early to mid 30's guys. I played heavy in my early and late teens then life happened and I had to sell all my stuff. I've been rebuilding my collection and searching for my old hybrid. I'm on the hunt for a hybrid SFT with hygucci pattern. I used to have a black one, but any color will do now. I found a copper/brown hybrid NXT to hold me over and I got a shocker AMP to try out something "newer". I'm building an e2 halfblock autococker as well. The bug bit me hard this time. I happened to buy a freak kit before realizing the Freak XL was the main thing people use. I'm trying to avoid more mistakes like that. I can't wait to meet some more people locally and try to get on or get a team started. I don't remember my old PBN login so I'm really glad this place is still around! If you ball in the Dallas area, drop a line and lmk where/when is the best time to go. I want to join a team once I get up to speed. I was a front player, let's see how that goes now.

Is there anything "new" about paintball that I need to know before getting out on the field? Any advice is appreciated!

[the_matrix_guy]

Welcome back. Nothing to know other than mechs and Cockers have made a huge comeback as well as woodsball and to some extent: hyperball fields. Let's see... also, a lot of fields require electros to have the 10.5 PSP FPS cap now. And most new electros are basically all single tube spoolie clones of the 03 Shocker, and Matrix spoolie drivetrain (with efficiency improvements). Little to no difference almost in any of them whether it is a DYE Matrix, MacDev, new gen Shocker, Eclipse Geo, etc. Those single tube spoolies took over the pro circuit too, I think every team shoots one variation of it now and no poppet double stacks in the pro scene anymore although a few manufactures offer poppets, including Eclipse which still make the Egos.

[jetenginekyle]

The main thing that's new about paintball is that the "entry level" guns from planet eclipse are realy good, like shoot almost the same as $1000 guns and are just as reliable good. The other brands have good offerings as well but planet has the smallest gap between their ~$400 and $1000+ markers. The only differences that actually matter between the cheap markers by pe and the more expensive ones are mech frame swapping and all metal construction making the trigger feel much better.

[iamthelazerviking]

Don't get caught up in Freak vs Freak XL, you won't need to spend the extra money on XL. I'd go as far to say depending on what you're using, barrel kits are pretty useless with how random paint quality is. Paint has gotten small and the quality has gotten pretty bad.

[the_matrix_guy]

Don't get caught up in Freak vs Freak XL, you won't need to spend the extra money on XL. I'd go as far to say depending on what you're using, barrel kits are pretty useless with how random paint quality is. Paint has gotten small and the quality has gotten pretty bad.

Yes, paintballs are smaller and crappier. Even if you see RPS brands like Marbellizers or Diablo brands, they are owned by GI Sportz now and are not the same. The shell and paint quality both suffered.

[SupremePB47]

Don't get caught up in Freak vs Freak XL, you won't need to spend the extra money on XL. I'd go as far to say depending on what you're using, barrel kits are pretty useless with how random paint quality is. Paint has gotten small and the quality has gotten pretty bad.

I never bought into the hype because I never knew about it. I know the freak was great bc you could gauge your balls. *ahem* but I also talked to the guy who makes parabolic barrels and he showed me some research on bore length. anything over 8.6" tends to lose velocity and decrease consistent accuracy, so the freak xl is made right and the freak is a little short. it's a negligible difference if you can tell any with human senses. Sucks to hear about paintballs, I remember bad balls back in the day, might be like the best stuff now huh?

[iamthelazerviking]

Yeah the Parabolic stuff is uhhh interesting. 99% of claims of barrels is marketing. Get a well polished tube, like the CP one piece, and forget about everything else.

[SupremePB47]

Welcome back. Nothing to know other than mechs and Cockers have made a huge comeback as well as woodsball and to some extent: hyperball fields. Let's see... also, a lot of fields require electros to have the 10.5 PSP FPS cap now. And most new electros are basically all single tube spoolie clones of the 03 Shocker, and Matrix spoolie drivetrain (with efficiency improvements). Little to no difference almost in any of them whether it is a DYE Matrix, MacDev, new gen Shocker, Eclipse Geo, etc. Those single tube spoolies took over the pro circuit too, I think every team shoots one variation of it now and no poppet double stacks in the pro scene anymore although a few manufactures offer poppets, including Eclipse which still make the Egos.

i'm hoping to play some speedball and woods ball tomorrow. I'm only going with two of my shockers. Made sure that the board is NXL cap and my amp is legal anyway. I noticed that about the new guns... no more double barrel except lv. I don't mind it because I'm a shockerhead from way back. I always liked the single tube, but having something like an intimidator or a dm6 was pretty cool too. The lv is huge or I would consider it. I want a newer marker while I'm searching for the grails in my collection and someone told me geo 3 with the new bolt system or geo 3.5 is one of the best bets right now. that or a dsr+. (for the money) I like the geo shape more than most of the new guns. I'm thinking about trying one out or maybe waiting til the 4's and 5's* get less expensive. I'm pretty happy with my current guns but I want to try the gamma core system. I hate how far the grip spacing is now on new guns, I know that helps accuracy, but I miss the drop forwards and VASA regs right on the front of the trigger guard. I tried an etek 5 OLED and sold it before I even played with it. The grip frame was way too big, and I didn't like all the plastic and cheap metal. I felt like I would break it with a dive.

[The Hobbit]

I'm pretty happy with my current guns but I want to try the gamma core system.

Well you’re in luck, that AMP is a near identical clone of PEs gamma core.

[SupremePB47]

LOL nice. I noticed it looked very familiar but I haven't gotten into the way it works. There's a poppet in front on both the amp and the luxe instead of the firing can and pass through assembly on the sft/nxt and thats as far as I got. I knew the TM40 was bred from shocker genes, but now that you say that, it looks really close, like the same. I guess thats why the f-16 bolt system works in the AMP. I'd like to try that out.

[The Hobbit]

Yes the amp and TM40 are both gamma core derivatives. The shocker XLS and RSX are essentially ions. Then the luxe, up until the TM40 or possibly the generation prior, are the OG shocker firing assembly. I’m sure someone more knowledgeable on them can confirm where the switchover occurred for luxes.

[nuclear zombie]

Also if you have soft goods from 16 years ago make sure you check on forums or eBay before selling it. Some of that stuff can be very valuable. Vintage sandanas and smart parts girls stuff for example.

[SupremePB47]

yeah I know about that. sadly, most of that stuff was lost, not even sold... long story on that... good lookin out though!

[TF_Aloha]

Speedball rules have changed a bit, dunno what they were when you left, but here's what surprised me when I came back after almost 20 years off:

1) Wiping/playing-on is much less common. Non-obvious hits are now routinely penalized. You get a penalty for shooting your gun with a hit on a pod in your pack. It's worse for hits that you should have noticed, but "wait for the ref to pull you" is no longer a thing.

2) Most tournaments are done with 10.5 bps ramping. Rate-of-fire cheating is pretty much gone because of this. Everyone can tell with their ears that other players are being honest, so there's no reason to cheat to keep the playing field even.

3) You don't say anything once you're hit. Not even "hit." You just silently leave. Saying anything, or pointing, is a penalty. The only real "cheat" people do with this is staring down the player that shot them on the way off the field. Teammates who notice can figure out where the hit player is looking and recognize that there is a player there.

4) Most layouts are released on gunzup.com beforehand. Make a free account there and you can do 3-D walkthroughs at home.

General paintball changes:

1) Like others have said, paint quality sucks. .685 is huge now, with cheap GI Sportz field paint, I get roll-outs with a .677 insert when playing pump sometimes. Paint manufacturing consolidated into a few large companies and they all agreed to make things worse. If you can't hit someone to save your life, don't blame yourself. It probably is the paint's fault.

2) Hoppers have gotten much better. They come apart in seconds without tools and are way more reliable. When everyone mostly went to 10.5 bps, loader manufacturers stopped focusing on getting a higher feed rate and started improving everything else.

3) Pants aren't what they used to be. You can still find some pants that fit like pants, but the current trend is for "joggers" that kinda seem like yoga pants. The kids love them, but a lot of old guys returning to the sport find them a little sketchy.

4) Tanks got better. 77/80ci tanks are now the most popular size, but better materials mean that they're as light and have a similar fit as the old 68ci's.

5) Masks got better. The Pro-Flex is still the most stylish, but any modern mask probably performs better and definitely has an easier lens change.

6) Mag-Fed became a thing. Not a huge thing, but there is definitely a real segment of the paintball community, usually with a more mil-sim orientation, that plays with magazines.

[SupremePB47]

paint quality sounds like it's going to be my enemy.

I have an r2 and 2 HPA tanks, a 77 and an 80. I'm pretty current on the gear.

I didn't know that you can't speak when hit. That makes sense though. I've been watching a lot of NXL and other pb related stuff on youtube, so I'm pretty sure that's the only rule I didn't pick up on yet.

I'm always going to be wearing a proflex. Always have. Some of the wider FOV lenses are tempting, but nothing feels like home.

I've noticed the pants. Not really sure if I care or not, I got some jogger style pants that seem to be less baggy than those 04 core division joints. Now that everyone has pads under their gear, I guess lighter weight outer layers are in.

Mag fed used to only apply to automags and a lot of old guys had them at the time, I can't imagine those guys are still playing but their kids probably have the emek01010101010011ololol lol. those look like they would be kinda fun in a scenario game.

thanks for the info

[martix_agent]

You know, I still haven't figured out exactly what a jogger pant is made from. Best as I can tell, It's "warm up" style of pants that basketball players wear.
It's probably ok to wear on a airball field, but they do not look like they'll hold up to anything else.

[SupremePB47]

mine have the reinforced stitching all around and gortex/kevlar fabric type stuff on the knees. (it's probably not kevlar, maybe nylon or something) They look like they'll hold up well, if they stay on my waist. what kind of belt do you use for these... haha like a sinch belt? a shoe lace?