Do People Still Play Paintball?

[Magoo]

I've been out for about a decade. Life and all that. Now I've got a toddler. But I miss it regularly, and I keep telling myself I'll get back to a field one day. Coming from a sponsored scenario team, that's kind of a wild sentiment but here we are.

It makes me wonder. How many of y'all still play? And what are y'all's fields looking like? Is it a struggle, like I think it is, or are things a-bustlin'?

So yeah. Do people still play?

[Socalpumpballer]

It’s more expensive to play regularly than it was a decade ago. Paint has stayed relatively the same price but is horrible quality even into the higher end paint. Most fields seem to be struggling and offer less. Higher entry fees, Less days open, shorter hours, little to no special events. Went from playing 5 days a weeks sponsored speedball to once a year playing walk on in the last decade. Have an infant and toddler so getting out of the house for a day is even Harder. Coming back into scenarios shouldn’t be too hard to do. They still exist and usually are the same time anually so you can plan them out to take time off. Scenario games also have the best turn outs compared to the day to day walk on crowds or lack there of. Most scenario games are less larpy than they were a decade ago

[NONOBLITUS]

Yup, I play all the time with a group of guys who do the same. You need to make yourself some time to play. Include it in your life don’t let time go by for that long. I have 3 kids one finishing high school this year the other 2 in college. It’s way too much fun to not play and you need to make the effort when your kids are young to also make a moment for yourself ,If it’s obviously feasible and you have a support system to help watch them for an afternoon.
Paint is all over the place and the fields here in the Northeast are still swinging and have some great turnouts. I always travel to Skirmish for the ION event with my oldest son and we have an absolute blast at the scenario game. What part of the country are you in ? If you are in the Northeast follow the games thread for up here and hell I’ll treat you to an afternoon of play for one of our pump games.

[Frmrspec]

Last several times I've been to the field, I've been shocked by the turn outs... could be a higher body count than I'm used to in staging because airsoft has grown in popularity but I'll still be playing walk on games of 100+ people.

I know the struggle well, I have a toddler and a second due any day now... I already get frustrated with how little time I get to spend on any of my hobbies/side hustles but getting time with the kiddo is worth it.. I may just grumble from time to time.

[Hellion360]

i play at least a couple times a month. Except in January.

Attendance at big scendario games seems to have gone down near me. But open play is pretty typically well attended. Where are you located?

[ChuckLove]

I'm one of the lucky ones. Normally, I play every weekend unless there is bad weather or have other plans. Playing pump, shooting a bag (or less) and having field memberships keeps it relatively cheap.
We have an amazing group of pump players here in the greater New England area that make playing fun and challenging.

[Ecapnation]

I'm out at minimum once a month.... I'd love to do more but my schedule doesn't always allow that

That being said.... Local field has had nobody show up on several Saturdays lately

[Grendel]

I try to play once a month given my health will let me I guess the average for me is every other month.

[OpusX]

Locally, the walk-on scene went down a bit, but with a change in ownership it seems the fields direction is turning for the better (refs being refs, actually enforcing rules, etc). People do play, and we are fortunate to have a small and growing contingent of local pump players who just want to encourage fun game play.

Personally my play dropped off a lot this year, I've been out maybe 4 times, when it was a once a month thing. People still play, and the best we can all do is try to make the experience great for everyone else on the field to encourage those newbies or casuals to become more regular.

[SignOfZeta]

I go at least once a year…sometimes three. It’s hard to do more than that.

[Riot]

I play like 7x per year, between scenario and pump, but I’m trying to shave that number down.

[Trbo323]

I have two little girls now so that's probably the largest reason I don't play more but I'd guess 4 or 5 times a year. One of those is a large 3 day event

Sent from my motorola edge 5G UW (2021) using Tapatalk

[Jonnydread]

I'm one of the lucky ones.

+1

I ain't go no kids, I have a M-F job and my wife is in school so it behooves me to be out of the house for at least 1 day/weekend.

I made a 2023 spreadsheet and found I was playing an average of 5 days per month. I feel like I play quite a bit compared to the average MCB-er, I am fortunate.

[Ego10Baller]

4-5 times per year for me if things go well. Tough with little kids but once they get older I can't wait to take them out to the field with me and that 4-5 times per year should go up quite a bit. Great memories to be made and great ones to be made in the meantime

[Cyberpyr8]

I try to go about every other week, including through the heat of summer. We have a field with great turnout and there's always groups playing. Some weekends, they have to split group up to play because there's so many people. I would love to play more in November and December, but it seems that we always have something going on. I probably will only play 1-2 times this month but I will be back to playing every other week in January, starting on the 4th. Going out at least once a month helps me keep my sanity. Going more just makes me generally happier. So my wife tries to send me out more often.