Brain Vomits: What's on Your Mind?

[iamthelazerviking]

People can just go play paintball and think "yeah that was fun" and never do it again, or just casually whenever and use rental equipment. They don't put much effort or thought into the game, the history, the "science", the novelty.

Then there is those of us who are a different breed, the best way I can describe it is....well, if you're an active member on MCB...

The various elements of this game have always really fascinated me. You use a device powered by a compressed gas to chuck a round object at an intended target in hopes that the object breaks and marks the target, eliminating the threat who has the potential of doing the same to you. Add in physical obstacles and specialized playing areas for more of a challenge.

I am sure the comparison has been made before, but similar to golf. Chucking a small ball through the air on a specialized playing field at an intended target. There are rules, equipment, strategy, tactics.

Then you have to think, "how can I move or position myself to not get marked but be in an advantageous position to mark opposing players? How can I most effectively send an imperfect, spherically-shaped gelatin capsules at 200+ MPH out of an aluminum tube?". And then the quality of the ball of paint also determines how effective and accurate you can be. (But we're seeing the quality of the one thing we depend on most dwindling)

Long-distance hide-and-go-seek golf paint tag.

[Ecapnation]

I want to create a paintball onlyfans where it would just be videos of old guns shooting and the history behind each.

Wholesome.... But monetized lol

[MrBarraclough]

So basically you want to create a Patreon page for Dan Bacci?

[Ecapnation]

Except using my equally strange collection

[caylegeorge]

It would just devolve into un-boxings in a hot tub XD

[Shaftski]

I was drawn to paintball because I played capture the flag a lot at camp every summer growing up. Loved it. Especially the night/overnight games.

Then I found out you could mix it with shooting people in a fairly safe manner and that's all I needed to hear. The player personalities keep me coming back for more. We're all kinda nuts.

[punkncat]

When I was a kid, paintball didn't exist yet, and even when it was, it was not known to me for well around a decade. We played BB Gun warfare with the "one pump rule" and didn't even wear goggles until after an accident with one of the group of players. He was nearly blinded.
By the time I did find out I was aloof about it at first due to the stereotype (at the time) of a bunch of militia fanatics running around in the woods training milsim. It wasn't until I played that first time and realized what a sheer joy it was to go be a (pretend) homicidal maniac and then talk to the people I "murdered" (or got murdered by) around the staging area afterward.

Far and above the most overall enjoyable hobby I have had to this point in my life.

[Chappy]

I gravitate towards hobbies that keep me in the moment. Keeping my head in the game means a better experience, as well as a couple hours of not thinking about ANYTHING but what is going on around me. Nothing beats stress like concentrating on something that does not matter but takes all my focus while getting the adrenaline flowing. I haven't played enough in the last 2 - 3 years and it is honestly starting to wear on me. Not to mention I miss all the crazy bastids I've met through this silliness and our on and off field shenanigans.

[punkncat]

Well said, sir.

[Cdn_Cuda]

This is me as well. Also played hockey with a team in the before times. Have skated only once in the last year. Miss the stress relief, the physical activity and the guys. Paintball is more tinker, building and buying and selling. Haven’t played in close to 2 years.

[Bang*Bang**]

PaIntball shenanigans are shenanigans of the best caliber.

[Jonnydread]

It's cowboys vs. indians, but you actually get to shoot the other guy, what's not to love?

... and obsess over... and form a huge part of your personality around... and... hmm

[Magmoormaster]

People can just go play paintball and think "yeah that was fun" and never do it again, or just casually whenever and use rental equipment. They don't put much effort or thought into the game, the history, the "science", the novelty.

I imagine this is true of most of things. The one that really blows my mind is architecture; people give it such little thought, yet it can have a profound effect on our mental health. And of course there's millennia of rich history behind it. How can people just not care? It's crazy.

In terms of paintball, yeah the history and the technology is as much, if not more, fun than actually playing. I've reached a point where I really only want to play with specific people. If my team isn't playing, I most likely won't either.

[vijil]

Things I've learned from paintball:

• How easy it is to get shot. I think video games and etc give this idea that we're invincible, but paintball is IRL. It's not at all like a real gunfight, but you quickly realise how much luck is involved, and how you probably would actually get shot in a real firefight and probably would not be the Rambo guy dominating everyone.
• How weird it is that cops and soldiers think time on the range equates to performance in a firefight. Targets don't shoot back, and the fact people are shooting back changes everything. Accuracy is great and all but is probably less than 20% of winning a firefight.
• Running a field is *hard*.
• Paintballers are somehow less organised than most other sports. Even unicycling and disc golf are both vastly better organised on both a national and international scale than paintball, and always have been even when they were tiny. The level of politics and business corruption and general BS in PB is way out of proportion to our size. I sometimes wonder if this is due to our testosterone fueled demographic and some kind of self selection in which mature folks don't get into it
• Second to that, the business skills I've seen in paintball, from the top down, are generally poor. This may be reflected by the money on offer. I'm a marketing manager and I'm pretty sure nobody in the industry could afford me (and it shows...). I'm not even that great or experienced. Of course then you've got PB companies hiring unqualified ballers for roles that they have no right being in. Even the biggest companies in the industry do this.

[Shaftski]

Unqualified ballers will keep getting the industry jobs because paintball companies need them to keep playing tournaments. Pro tournament gigs don't pay enough on their own. So they get subsidized with jobs they can't always handle. And companies can underpay because they are unqualified.

[vijil]

Shaftski which means the companies don't do well because they have crap staff, which means the pro scene stays small and can't pay much, which means they keep hiring crappy staff, and we all spiral down together. Weeeeeeee

[Bang*Bang**]

SPOT ON!

Paintball could be huge! But, it would have to stop holding itself back.

[iamthelazerviking]

I often wish I were born earlier, so I could live the magical days of paintball. In the 80s, 90s, early 200s. I only got some of the early 2000s.

[Bang*Bang**]

I think there is the potential for another golden era!

A lot of sports go through an adapt or die phase, where old business practices and thinking get ousted for the betterment of the sport. Ironically, it's usually when the Professional Players organise (NFLPA, NHLPA, Soccer Leagues, ex: https://nflpa.com/about).

[Arthur]

I just wish I could stop ADDing and get some work done. ajfklsdjafaklsdjfklasdlf

[Ironnerd]

I feel your pain.

[MrBarraclough]

My only regret is that I have but one like to give this.

[Paintzapper]

I need more sleep.
someone should put a few more hours in the day.
how much does a personal assistant cost per hour?
I should really schedule some time for myself.
I need more sleep.

[Toestr]

Right now, what I'll reply to this thread is on my mind

Generally, my daydream thoughts are Paintball related. How can I make x marker the BEST (subjective) it can be? What types of markers do I want to own in my lifetime? Do I want to keep them forever (if so, how do I maintain them forever?) or just have them for a while as a novelty? What do I currently have that I want to sell? What SHOULD I get rid of? What condition is best for me to sell it in? What good deals have I seen?

Then there's just the general questions about life. What will I do? What would I do in x situation? What should I do in x situation? Was I in the right in x situation? How can I do better? What would really help others? What would really help me? What does the world need? What ideal should I strive for? Is there an ideal to strive for? These sorts of things.



Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk

[Toestr]

Things I've learned from paintball:

• How easy it is to get shot. I think video games and etc give this idea that we're invincible, but paintball is IRL. It's not at all like a real gunfight, but you quickly realise how much luck is involved, and how you probably would actually get shot in a real firefight and probably would not be the Rambo guy dominating everyone.
• How weird it is that cops and soldiers think time on the range equates to performance in a firefight. Targets don't shoot back, and the fact people are shooting back changes everything. Accuracy is great and all but is probably less than 20% of winning a firefight.
• Running a field is *hard*.
• Paintballers are somehow less organised than most other sports. Even unicycling and disc golf are both vastly better organised on both a national and international scale than paintball, and always have been even when they were tiny. The level of politics and business corruption and general BS in PB is way out of proportion to our size. I sometimes wonder if this is due to our testosterone fueled demographic and some kind of self selection in which mature folks don't get into it
• Second to that, the business skills I've seen in paintball, from the top down, are generally poor. This may be reflected by the money on offer. I'm a marketing manager and I'm pretty sure nobody in the industry could afford me (and it shows...). I'm not even that great or experienced. Of course then you've got PB companies hiring unqualified ballers for roles that they have no right being in. Even the biggest companies in the industry do this.

I agree with everything else, buy I'll disagree with you on the range time not equating to real world skill (for combat anyway). I'm not military/LE so this is all just my armchair operator thoughts, with absolutely no practical experience from that side.

Paintball is basically mostly about tactics and teamwork (and being daring) since the guns are woefully inaccurate at normal engagement distances (for rec woodsball - cause that's all I've ever played). You can have excellent gun skills in paintball and still miss guys by a mile, even when you're in a good steady position and not under the stress of fire.

In real combat, I'd say both are about equally as important. Gun skills to know how to aim properly and get a steady shot off, and tactical and teamwork skills in order to get into a position where you can make these good shots. Obviously there is also a much greater threat, and therefore fewer daring moves are attempted compared to paintball.

The issue is that while paintball guns are far less accurate than real firearms, they both have about the same average engagement distances (because it becomes far more difficult to conceal oneself at any closer range).

Hope this makes sense, not trying to argue, just trying to get my mind vomit out.

Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk

[vijil]

That's fair. The longer the range, the less impact movement and flanking have in a moment to moment sense, and the more it's about taking your time and making the shot. The extreme case being a sniper camping out for a week for that one perfect shot. Real firefights probably sit somewhere between that and paintball.

Of course as you say it will completely depend on the engagement distance. Room clearing and firefights in warehouses full of shipping containers would be very much like paintball and there would be skill transfer, while engaging in open dusty plains Afghanistan style would be all about the shooting. And 99% about calling in air support, but I digress...

The same principle happens in paintball. If you want slow longballing games, you increase the field size, decrease the cover density and decrease the player count. The opposite if you want run n gun chaos. There's a happy medium in there that nobody has found . That said, increasing the field size in paintball can also promote movement. I've played games where, due to the long range, I could stand out in the open and just move to avoid incoming paint that was totally visible. Even if it hit, it's only breaking on your mask or gun anyways, so...

[Ironnerd]

Things I've learned from paintball:

• How easy it is to get shot. I think video games and etc give this idea that we're invincible, but paintball is IRL. It's not at all like a real gunfight, but you quickly realise how much luck is involved, and how you probably would actually get shot in a real firefight and probably would not be the Rambo guy dominating everyone.
• How weird it is that cops and soldiers think time on the range equates to performance in a firefight. Targets don't shoot back, and the fact people are shooting back changes everything. Accuracy is great and all but is probably less than 20% of winning a firefight.
• Running a field is *hard*.
• Paintballers are somehow less organised than most other sports. Even unicycling and disc golf are both vastly better organised on both a national and international scale than paintball, and always have been even when they were tiny. The level of politics and business corruption and general BS in PB is way out of proportion to our size. I sometimes wonder if this is due to our testosterone fueled demographic and some kind of self selection in which mature folks don't get into it
• Second to that, the business skills I've seen in paintball, from the top down, are generally poor. This may be reflected by the money on offer. I'm a marketing manager and I'm pretty sure nobody in the industry could afford me (and it shows...). I'm not even that great or experienced. Of course then you've got PB companies hiring unqualified ballers for roles that they have no right being in. Even the biggest companies in the industry do this.

[ChuckLove]

I just want an extra arm or two so I can play with multiple guns at the same time. That is the only way I can justify how many I have.