Do People Still Play Paintball?

[Chuck E Ducky]

I play 2-3x a month.

[Jordan]

Almost all the local fields are gone now, closest decent one is almost two hours away - I think I got out three times this year? I'll be honest, I don't really miss playing.

[The Hobbit]

2023 was good, i was almost getting to play monthly. The one local field (15 minute drive)was doing open play and had a decent group showing up. Then I tailed off and is back to private groups only. I have had some success putting a group together but nothing frequent. Though there is some rumblings of it being sold and maybe the new ownership will be more focused on cultivating the local “scene”.

the one field 2ish hours away seems to get decent walk on turnouts on sundays, so next year I may try to get down there every other month or so.

plus 1-2 scenarios a year as they fit my schedule. Like others I have young kids that make it difficult to travel even a few hours to play regularly.

[Blackmagic71]

This year I think I made it out six total times to four different fields, which I thought was pretty good given that paintball competes with at least three other major hobbies for me. Plus the weather around here isn’t favorable for paintball for about 1/3 of the year.

Each time I went to the field there seemed to be pretty healthy turnout.

I’m seeing a lot of people bringing their kids to play at big games which makes me optimistic for the future.

[Cdn_Cuda]

I think I am about 3-4 times last year. I did start going to the local field by myself. There’s a nice group of regulars that know me, so it makes it easier. Also have a bunch of extended relatives that make it out once a year. My kids are still fairly young at 8 and 10, which makes it harder to hit the field.

[DarkApollo]

My last game was in 2016 after 20 years and playing at least every other weekend between 2001 and 2008. I just started back this summer when my oldest took an interest. Ive been out 4x since August. I HOPE to go once a month after the new year. My oldest is getting an EMEK and bunch of gear for Christmas and he is excited to have a new hobby. Local fields used to be packed with multiple groups and teams. Now, 10, 15, maybe 20 people unless it is a private party.

[JeeperCreeper]

The Northeast is still doing well. Plenty of good fields to choose from within a couple hours drive. I didn't play as much this year, but the opportunities were there. I try to get out at least once a month. We have plenty of stock class or open pump games to choose from. Sometimes small meet ups, or the 2 day Slims events twice a year. Theres meet ups for every kind of paintball you would want. Stock class, mag fed, tournaments, even some super exclusive single shot / limited paint games.

[Chappy]

Welcome back!! I personally got back into music about few years ago and I’ve slowed from my 1-2 times a month. But on the other hand, my daughter started playing with me so that gets me out a bit.And I also put
together a loaner fleet of 6 or so old procarbs and throw games on my property. With the cheapo compressors and ANS selling $25 steelies, backyard ball is easier then ever.

[Hp_lovecraft]

I can remember way back to the late 80s, every town had at least one small field. Sometimes a couple renegades on the side. Crazy, considering that nobody could advertise, and most fields did not even allow chidlren. It was easy to just walk on, and play with minimal equipment or commitment for a couple hours.

The early 90s, there was a recession, and many fields closed up. Most of my friends quit paintball because they didn't want to drive. The nearest decent field was 2 hours away! I did that almost every weekend in the 90s, but it really burned me out. But the late 90s, most towns had fields again, but most were indoor or speedball. Nobody was opening new woods fields, and I didn't care for that. But it was nice having an indoor field just 10 minutes away for some fun.

The tech and housing crashses of the 00's wiped out most fields again. Paintball has never really recovered from that. Just the strongest fields remain, and most have had to diversify with airsoft, and "low imact paintball". The nearest good fields are again about 2 hours away. But now I have 7 kids, and its just too much to juggle, except on very special occations.

As a result, its usually just 1-2 big games a year

[Magmoormaster]

I played twice this year... would have liked to play more, but weather made it difficult. Both times I played, I had gun issues and had to borrow a gun from the field. Think I have those fixed now. Hoping to play more next year, but it really depends on what happens with my wife's school schedule.

[Drcemento]

Its been the start of new era for me - I've been lucky enough to play at least once a year for the last 15 years thanks to Bacci mountain, and more before that, but now I have two sons who have grown up enough to play and have caught the bug in a great way. We are trying for once a month, and we are fortunate to have a woodball field 15 minutes away. not the greatest of reputations but now that we are regulars I've noticed that ebs and flows depending on whos reff'ing and who shows up. I'm just thankful for the shade and a big woodball field, and we;'ve never failed to have fun - big game full of lame-o's? we'll break off and play hopper ball on one of the smaller fields. The itch is starting to spread to their friends as well so we can almost always have 6-8 in our group when i put the word out.

[ATBen]

Yes, people do play a lot around my local field, Adrenaline Paintball outside of London Ontario. Nowhere near the numbers Viper's Canadian Carnage had in the heyday, but approaching 300 players for big games is coming. I too was on a sponsored scenario team from 06-09 and was out of it for about 5 years, doing life, playing recball occasionally. Now that I'm back at it I feel spoiled being so close to the field. They have four big games per year, they added a castle attack and defend game (or brought it back rather). They added a night game this year which was really cool. The head ref there is Cliff Meir of the Discipline Lords, so all the field refs have really taken a shine to big game mechanics and role playing (their October Walking Dead game has melee wielding zombie refs).

Its a great field with a thriving scene, and they're hosting CPX's Canadian Legends next September. But sadly, the reason that scene has been growing there is partly because we've lost six fields in Southern Ontario over the last 4 years.

[flyweightnate]

The fields here have struggled to balance a pretty intense tournament group with lots of casual players, so it's not the best experience. I'm down to 1-2x per year, but my son is nearly old enough for .50cal on an insured field, and will probably be up for real paintball shortly thereafter.

So I tinker a lot and hope it leads to more excuses to play outside the confines of my back fence.

[cougar20th]

I play about 8 days a year. Trying to increase that.

Play with people you like. The groups I play with here inhNew England are awesome. Great player and great games.

I'm fortunate there are many good fields within a 3 hrs radius of where I live.

[homerj]

I’ve been trying to play once or twice a month the last couple of years but i still go a month or more without playing occasionally. I mostly hibernate in the winter though. Can’t stand the cold. I recently lost about 1/3 of my income so i don’t know what playing going forward will look like but hopefully it won’t be affected too much. Attendance at my local field is usually decent but it can fluctuate wildly. Some days there are only 15-20 players & some days there are 50 or more.