Electronic vs Mechanical

[Seajay]

I shoot everything from my mech spyders, autocockers, and my e-frames and fasors and timmy's. I like to shoot for the sake of shooting. Each has a different feel and is fun.

That said today you can spend a little and get a lot. New Gmek/Emek/Ethas, minis, Enmey's you don't have to spend a lot on and give you that speedball competitive experience in shot capability. It's not a choice between a cheap blowback and an expensive speedball gun for $900 +, there is a huge middle ground now, so you see a ton of variety.

Those that love the sport will naturally seek out the best experience they can and have newer markers.

Also... sorry walk-ons with unlimited semi-auto, My a-bomb is just so easy to walk that trigger when I get into a good battle. I try not to overshoot. But thanks for getting into a good bunker battle!

[ChuckLove]

I think these days it's all about marketing exposure. The bigger brands in paintball and the larger social media accounts related to paintball showcase people using electros. When I started playing 20+ years ago cockers and Tippmann's we're all the rage on the recball field. Now I see mostly Axe's and Etha2's in the hands of newer players. Mech seems to have become more of a nuanced format for those already play.

[MrBarraclough]

Some people do have more money than sense, along with a misplaced notion that they need to have "the best" of everything or else they aren't really trying. That's unfortunate for them, really. I don't find anything objectionable about new players starting out with electronic markers, but do feel like they're wasting a lot of money by jumping straight from rental or entry level to the very high end. There is indeed a very significant performance gap between most rental and very low-end (sub-$200) entry level markers (98s and their descendants, the Cronus, Stormer, FT-12, Gryphon, etc.; and the Spyders) and entry level electros in the $350-500 price range. But that performance increase is very much nonlinear. A $400 marker may be hugely better than a $200 one, but the difference between that $400 marker and a $600 or even $800 one is going to be much, much smaller. The returns diminish rather rapidly as you go up the scale. But someone who doesn't know better may see that huge leap from the bottom end to the low mid tier and assume that a $1200-1400 marker surely must be proportionally better. So they dump a bunch of money into something that is light years beyond what they need for their level of play.

I also agree with the others who point out that airball being the most visible version of paintball in online media very likely contributes to new players thinking that $1k+ space guns are must-haves. If kids are just getting into paintball and looking around online, they're probably not watching D4 or D5 matches streaming on Facebook, or finding videos of ICPL or ICC games in the woods. They're watching pro NXL teams go at it with $1500+ markers.

Some commenters on Reddit moan and groan about the r/paintball subreddit invariably pushing EMEKs on every excited kid who pops up with "What gun should I buy?" But they would do well to bear in mind that we're trying to steer those kids away from thinking that they need a CS2 or TM40 or M3+ or whatever. If we can get a mech into their hands that performs well enough that they don't feel overmatched, they're much more likely to both stick with the sport and to develop skills that would be stunted if they immediately became dependent on having an electro.

[Toestr]

I hold less weight on mech vs electro, but more to if the required maintenance and technical knowledge levels are appropriate.

When I reffed I saw many 12-15 year old kids with low-mid end electros who didn't understand that routine maintenance is required and equipment can't be put away dirty for months and be expected to work. Hell, some didn't even know that you had to clean the breech after a chop. They would play the day with malfunctioning guns. For one game I asked an adult to change from ramping to semi for a specific game and he told me he didn't know how to do it. I have no problem helping newer players with technical issues (I actually quite enjoy being a know-it-all), but as a ref it's incredibly annoying when equipment owners have no idea how to do basic troubleshooting and ask for help on their own equipment.

The amount of modern guns I see at the local proshop in for routine maintenance is unacceptable in my mind. Sure if you're going to have specialty work done (ie Angels) that's a different story, but a lube and oring change? Unacceptable.

In the context of modern rof caps beginners using electros is less of an issue in terms of the gameplay. But that is assuming fields use these caps. I know of fields that do not have either rof or fire mode restrictions; and the gameplay suffers. I was relieved when the Emek replaced the Mini GS as the YouTube talking head recommended gun for beginners for this reason (although I would still recommend a good blowback for reasons of economy and technical complexity).

Armchair rant over.

[glaman5266]

I agree. When people come to me with gun problems I ask if they’ve read the manual. You can probably guess how many have.

[Daltech]

Hilarious. My ANGEL LED, never stops. DSR+ goes down, use the ANGEL LED. PE 170R goes down, use the ANGEL LED. Maybe I am a good technician, I didn’t think I was.

Best $250 EBay purchase I’ve ever made.

Refs think it’s a mech because single trigger. But it slaps out 15bps!

[FullContactUSA]

My first marker was a brass eagle stingray 2, I don't necessarily recommend that one. But I got it when I turned 10 and I had no one else to play against. Years later the I bought my little sister her first gun, (an Ion)

More important than the type of gun is kids having a coach. Someone to teach them the game. Angles, communication, gun skills, teach them those and keep them safe. That's what it's all about.

[Marbo40k]

I am happy to hear that people are still buying their first paintball guns regardless of how it operates. When I started it was pump or blowback because because the cost difference was so massive from entry level guns to electro I couldn’t afford it (because I was a kid). Fast forward 5 years to when the ion was released that changed the game. Competitive performance to high end electronic guns for the price of an a5 - if any “sales person” at a field or pro shop counter was even halfway doing their job, you as a new player should be walking away with the affordable electro.
These days with ROF being so slow, it’s not as big of a thing but eyes, ramping, and the overall comfortable shooting experience are much nicer than an entry level blow back.

I love old guns and gear. The vast majority of what I shoot and play with was made well before the rise of affordable electronic guns but - I do believe affordable electronic guns made the game better and leveled the playing field a bit.