Paintball Epiphanies

[JonM]

As stated earlier in this thread, paintball isn't as fun unless you like the people you're playing with.

There may be something to that sentiment. Most of the events I play anymore are social events where we hang out, enjoy each other’s company, and play on occasion. It could just as well be a fishing trip or any other activity that gets people together. Still, I enjoy the game for what it’s become.

[Grendel]

I will say that I can not think of a paintball player (that stuck with the game) that I did not like at some level. No there have been a lot of a$$holes in my over 35years of playing but they did not have longevity with the game.

[cougar20th]

Another I found out many many moons ago.
Paintball is not a game about shooting people. That's what we tell our wives. It's really a social event between friends who dont see each other often. And those friends will travel great distances to see friends.

[Snowpuff]

I absolutely despise you people lol you play 1 5 maybe 10 minute game then it's back to the picnic tables for 2 hours until everyone get tired and leaves ...people wonder why paintball is dead.

[cougar20th]

Trust me I play a large chunk of the day. As do most of the people I play with. There is plenty of time to socialize as well.

Also most of the games I play are 2 day games with evening activities. Plenty of
Socializing time.

Paintball In this area (NH) is far from dying. Quite the opposite.


Now tomorrow's gam will likely be a slow day for me. As I messed up my back earlier this week. But I'm gonna give it my all. Whatever my back will allow.

[scottieb]

In much the same way paintball is like bowling, the social aspect being quite important.

[Trbo323]

There will always be renters that "ran out of bullets"

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[Chappy]

There will always be renters that "ran out of bullets"

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We should hope so.

[PBGunny]

When you hear that marker start burping like a drunk on a Saturday nite, it is time to make a move.

[cockerpunk]

when i stopped playing i was shooting more than a case per day with a pump gun. realized paint consumption was more a factor of how i was playing, than what i was shooting.

[TF_Aloha]

Speedball is my favorite format, but it's also the one that I should avoid the most now. I learned to love speedball when you could just throw together 3-5 friends, show up for an unregistered tournament, and have a good time. Now it's all about team culture, and I've never been the type of person that enjoys joining some team.

Modern paint makes most games just not worth playing today. Everything I love about paintball involves paint flying straight, and most fields today only allow paint that doesn't do that.

Expensive guns are stupid. I always wanted to be able to afford top of the line gear. Once I could afford it, I realized that all I really cared about was reliability. I have the most fun when the gun just works and I'm not afraid to scratch it.

Adults who don't join speedball teams need to work hard to make a good game for themselves. Everyone in the industry either doesn't believe we exist or actively hates us.

[iamthelazerviking]

This speedball format you speak of is what I desire in a speedball type setting, but as you mentioned, it's all about team culture, hyper aggression, looking cool. So I stick to laid back walk-on play.

You're right about modern paint...glad my field listened to me and started offering better stuff.

A gun even 10 years old at this point will do just fine with more modern stuff, we've peaked out on what you can do. You can only increase volume so much or change ergos so much, not really anywhere else to go from here.

Old timer speedball needs more attention.

[Chappy]

Paintball is fun. If it’s not, yer doin’ it wrong.

[gabe]

The golden years of paintball are long gone and the nostalgia from those years is made worse by seeing the decline of the game over the last 15 years.

This seems more true every single year. I saw an anecdotal "statistic" that said there is less paintball being played now but more guns being bought/sold than ever. Seems like paintball is mostly guys buying and selling the guns they couldn't afford in high school these days.

[Magmoormaster]

I'm sure paintball is declining in some areas, but it is thriving in others. Here in Phoenix, there are 3 (sort of 4?) paintball fields, and each are very popular. NXL events have huge turnouts. Rec fields are packed.

Maybe it's not where it was back in 2005, but in the 18 years I've been playing I have seen no sign of the sport shrinking.

[scottieb]

Yes, the glory days of paintball are long, long gone. On a macro scale it will never be that again, however on a micro scale it can. This usually happens small peanuts with outlaw ball but can also happen at the field too. Paintball needs something akin to the "40 and over" league my father was a part of for softball.

To Mr master, it's a constant battle to keep the sport going here. There are just a few places in the state to play. I'd have gotten back into the business and started a field but the land prices nearby are outrageous and have kept me at bay for a long time. I keep looking for acreages with enough land and access.

[JonM]

I'll add a couple more that probably break some kind of MCB cardinal rules:

I don't mind playing pump, but it's really not my preferred format. While I really enjoy pump events like Click Clack Bloop, I almost never use a pump when other formats are available to me. If given the choice, I'll grab a Cocker, Mag, or my Emek any day.

When it comes to fields, I actually prefer constructed fields over woods fields.

I guess I'm just an old school speedballer at heart.

[Magmoormaster]

I completely agree

[Refoogee]

I like playing with limited paint more than I like playing paintball. I'd rather pay twice the field entry cost to only play with stock class, pump, and magfed players.

I frequent open play less, and less, as time goes on. It's not that it's not fun, or I can't keep up, I just prefer how much looser I can play when I don't have to deal with as many shots heading my direction. I probably play less often these days, at less fields, but have more fun playing than I ever have.

Big games are usually complete gong shows. It's usually just a giant spectacle, where the points are made up, and the rules don't matter. If you accept that, it's fun to catch up with people you haven't seen in a while, share stories, and show off equipment you've been working on.

The industry needs to completely die for anything interesting to happen. They "tried" once again this year to try and get the exact game that failed 20+ years ago back on ESPN, it has to just be nostalgia bait at this point. Just sad.

[iamthelazerviking]

I have zero desire for big games/scenarios. A billion players shooting a billion rounds at each other isn't appealing, too much cheating, I don't care about themes or props or costumes, or playing several days in a row

[vijil]

They "tried" once again this year to try and get the exact game that failed 20+ years ago back on ESPN, it has to just be nostalgia bait at this point. Just sad.

I agree, such a joke, and the true definition of insanity.

That's another epiphany I had at some point: the people running paintball at the top level are largely incompetent. Those who are competent probably move into a different industry that can pay them properly. I'm a marketing manager and I'm pretty sure nobody in PB could afford me. The fact Kore hired John Dresser as their marketing manager proved that to me. No offense to John, nice guy, but you don't hire someone with near zero actual marketing qualification or experience to run the biggest marketing role in the sport unless you either can't afford real talent or you just don't care. I think it's probably all of the above.

For paintball to work on TV (if it's even possible) the whole thing needs to be redesigned from first principles. No chance of that unless the incumbents are liquidated. If the powers that be were actually interested in growing the sport, leagues would be streamed for free on twitch and YT. The fact they've monetized the streams proves they've given up on the long term and are just extracting what they can short term.

[Refoogee]

Everyone has shared what they feel paintball "needs" to get big as an actual sport, and everyone has different ideas. The only thing that's clear is whatever the hell the industry is doing is not, has not, and will not, work.

As for my opinion? Drop the focus away from single elimination team matches. The paintball markers should just be there to further your team, and stop your opponent. Look at the most popular FPS game E-Sports (paintball scratches a similar itch, let's be real), and you'll see a pattern. Counter Strike is not really about eliminating the enemy, it's about doing the objective. Planting the bomb, for instance. Battle Royal games, like Apex Legends, are very dynamic. There's tons of little goals that have nothing to do with explicitly shooting one another that offer advantages for the team. Landmarks to secure, weapons to secure, a shrinking map, etc. Rainbow Six Siege is an attack and defense game, The goals are clearly defined, the action is funneled. Etc.

None of these games are explicitly about team death match. Even in an environment that has dynamic first person cameras, score counters, tracer rounds, etc. None of the most watched FPS games are about team death match. What chance does paintball have? The reason? People watching have nothing explicitly to focus on. Paintball can't be about just eliminating the other team, there needs to be goals a crowd can focus on.

Another common denominator in these games is an emphasis on dynamic movement. None of these games are static. If you're not moving, you're losing. If someone is staying in one spot, it's because their position is well defended from flanks. A crowd can understand that. All of these games are very dynamic, and it's something paintball isn't. Everyone in paintball races off the break to a bunker in paintball, and they tuck in there for most of the game, and just hold lanes. The focus is purely on the streams of paint from other players. There's nothing for a crowd to get excited about.

But, those are things that should have been addressed back 25 years ago. Oh well.

[Winklebottom]

Stock class is the way, I have just seen the light but after two full days of playing this way as long as it’s warm that’s what I’m doing. I’ve only ever owned the phantom and the Airow gun. I’ve played with cockers, minis, and all sorts of other guns that have belonged to others but the phantom is and always will be my only one.

other guns are HEAVY
can’t stand a hopper
no tanks over 6ci
simple is better
play with friends

[Siress]

I don't think this snuck up on me, but it's good to have it verified after more than two decades of play. In a similar vein as 'stock class is the way': for me, a fun day of paintball has nothing to do with winning, the equipment I have, or the type of field I'm at (e.g. speedball, woodsball, etc)

Some of the most fun I've had is running around with a broken PGP getting shot in new and unique ways for an entire day of play. Conversely, I've had a miserable time even when my equipment and paint functioned flawlessly. It's all about you guys and gals. Let's face it... the majority of any day of play is shooting the shit with your buddies between games. Rarely is that not true. And when you're on the field, one bad attitude spoils the bunch. When I played competitively, I was playing with people who's idea of fun was winning at any cost - and those 'costs' often ruined the game for me. So I played rec/scenario exclusively, finding a local field with a regular crew that were happy to follow rules and enjoy the game - win or lose. Then the BPS wars came and the foreseeable issues it caused. That seems to have created a faction of players only interested in CQB (speedball) and another that enjoy all types of play - to such an extent that I suspect most fields active on any given Saturday are just pop-up airball fields with nothing else around (which maybe a contributing factor here since that's easier than finding suitable woods, and ↑rof ↑paint sales ↑profits for field owners).

A takeaway of this, for me, is that the only tech I think we should be improving is that of supplying quality paintballs. I'll happily play with that beat up PGP if I can get it to shoot straight reliably.