Has Paintball "Peaked"?

[iamthelazerviking]

Innovation and technologically speaking, I think we've hit the ceiling. The same markers are being released over and over with little changes, which nearly all are marketed to the speedy tournament crowd. How much more technology or lower operating pressure do you need to shoot 10.5 BPS? You can only do so much.

There's several options for every marker and every other piece of equipment, all of which outperform anything that was out 10-15+ years ago.

I really doubt there will be a new marker platform or advancement or product that will "revolutionize" the game. Everything has been done.

All that's really left now is to put money and thought into BETTER PAINT.

[ford]

I agree from my cave the next innovation is around paintballs themselves.

Paintballs are THE cost keeping people out of the sport.

In my fever dreams we've developed a way to simplify paintball manufacturing so fields don't need big manufacturers, either taking on the work themselves or through regional co-ops.... Effectively making the paintballs during the week to be used over the weekend.

And no, my dreams don't offer any insights on how to actually do that. Does the market pivot to using overgrown .68 caliber orbeez? Does Jack Wood get bored dominating marker innovation and decide to build a holy grail that infinitely drops perfect paintballs? Not sure.

[JeeperCreeper]

I know the current state of orbees, they don't like to be shot with co2 pressure. They turn into a mist of jelly goo. Might try again with the Ion though, low pressure.

[morkrom]

wildcrafted cottage paintballs

[$L!mBo]

i think theres still plenty of innovation to be had.
new materials and tech are being developed all the time. all of that will eventually trickle down into paintball.

lighter force fed loaders in smaller sizes, more durable lenses and coatings, paintballs with sensors inside to let you know if a hit broke or friendly fire, paint size/quality consistency, better air efficiency, upgrades to older markers that are still popular
tons of room for improvement
until you are able to barrel tag/surrender the entire other team, have you really even hit your personal peak?
🤣😝

[Chuck E Ducky]

They definitely are not interested in durability. More marketability.

[$L!mBo]

i get that but also if someone did that theyd sell great and everyone else would do it too. i think it comes to a point where everyone just goes "yea, its time"
were the antifog spray guys able to stop thermal lenses from coming out?
did the freak inserts keep everyone else from coming out with their own barrel system anyway?

[JonM]

Looking back over many years, I've seen this comment countless times before. However, there always seems to be the next innovation that comes along, becomes the standard, and people then ask the same question again and again. I'm not sure what that next thing will be, but I'm sure someone out there somewhere will come up with something that will surprise us all.

[Cdn_Cuda]

I really want to see better mask options, especially for those with larger heads. I haven't been thrilled with any of the new offerings. The newest mask I've picked up was a Push Unit but the mask basically touches my mouth. If I'm dropping $300+ (CAD) or a mask, I at least want some proper protection.

[Jonnydread]

The "Extend" variant of the Vio has pretty good coverage. They're my go-to mask and I've got quite the melon.

[Cdn_Cuda]

Jonnydread - Thanks! I'll check them out. No stores left so I can't try on masks. I just lurk waiting for decent used masks to pop up. I've find the Vio naming conventions a little confusing between their various models as well, as it seems they only make the Bio Ascend and Vio X6 now.

[Slangwhanger]

+1 on the VIO Extend. I wear a size 8 fitted hat and have quite the beak of a nose. It’s is the best mask I’ve found. I’ve tried the flex, profiler, and grill. They were all meh.

[Psycho91]

Slide triggers on these new mech guns....everything comes back around right

[Jonnydread]

Yes! This is why I love the OG Gmek so much. No doubt the hinge triggers are fast as hell, but I don't need speed I want the F E E L Z

[Chuck E Ducky]

I would love to see a good paintball innovation. Fix the ball I don’t care how consistent and low pressure it is. Tiny light out of round balls fly like crap. I’m hoping with manufacturing being forced back to the US to Compete we will get a better ball with newer machines. Of course we will likely pay more for it. I’m cool with that as long as we get a better product.

[$L!mBo]

Make Paintballs American Again

[Ecapnation]

Yes years ago. I think it's been down hill since 2017 around there

[Daltech]

I’m trying to brainstorm an idea to get paintball considered as “arts”. Everyone is throwing money and bad art and music calling it “culture”. How can Paintball capitalize on its history and create a new level of acceptance among mainstream viewers ie: county officials that will allow empty land to become a paintball field. We really have to discover our identity and grow into something like motocross or downhill Mountain biking. Think about it, both of those sports rely heavily upon history and positive culture. They both generate money for sponsors also.

Just a thought, wearing tiger stripe and being all testosteroned out doesn’t help create a family friendly image.

In the late 90’s there were kids dropped off regularly at paintball fields. I got dropped off at 9am and picked up at 4pm. Now a days there’s no kids, occasionally there’s a kid with a group of birthday goers, but the diehard kids like me that would do anything to get to the field are few and far between.

I used to get a case and all day co2 for $65 now it’s $85-$95 so that’s not too bad, but I used to beg at the gas rations and pump gas like a vagrant, walk dogs, sweep, work at Xmas tree lots, babysit etc.

We need a marketing research firm to develop a successful image campaign, the brains working at Specialized and Yamaha have figured this kind of thing out already, they just don’t work for free.

[$L!mBo]

i disagree. Tigerstripe rules

[BretG]

Tigerstripe will always be cool.

[Daltech]

All the game needs is more publicity. Celebrity endorsements like , Keanu Reeves, or Kyle Mahomes. The population has plenty of disposable income…Just look at any ski resort. Ski resorts are packed, the prices for lift tickets are through the roof and to the moon, and yet, the ski runs and the mountains themselves have not changed one bit. Same ski run, 3x the cost to get to it.

[boomersruckus]

Skiing is a family event. Moms and little kids hate getting hurt by paintballs. Sure they can absolutely get wrecked on the slopes but the intent is to not. In paintball we intend to hit eachother...which hurts.

[Cdn_Cuda]

Offering more of a variety of "paintball experiences" would help. There is no reason why a field can't also run gel ball for the younger kids on basically the same field. The downside is the cost to the field to have multiple different marker classes. But you could do gel blasters, .50 cal and .68 cal and cater to a much wider age range. I've brought some 12 year olds to the field and all are hesitant to go again because it hurts to get hit

[boomersruckus]

I’m trying to brainstorm an idea to get paintball considered as “arts”. Everyone is throwing money and bad art and music calling it “culture”. How can Paintball capitalize on its history and create a new level of acceptance among mainstream viewers ie: county officials that will allow empty land to become a paintball field. We really have to discover our identity and grow into something like motocross or downhill Mountain biking. Think about it, both of those sports rely heavily upon history and positive culture. They both generate money for sponsors also.

Neither of those sports are based off of shooting your opponent with a gun. Motocross wouldnt exist if motorcycles werent invented and used in sporting purposes which drew crowds and investors. Think Isle of Mann and its racing history from 100 years ago. Honestly, think of any racing whatsoever and man has wanted to do it. Downhill Mountain biking the same thing. People have been using bicycles for well over 100 years. Deciding to ride the bike where it wasnt intended to go lead to advancements in wheels, suspension, and frames. Riding motorcycles where they werent intended to go did the same thing. Before long there are alternate versions of the base model item. Dirt bikes, adventure bikes, street bikes, road cycles, gravel cycles, mountain bikes, downhill bikes.... The vast history for both bicycles and motorcycles indeed supports your argument about relying heavily on the history, None of them have as bad of a wrap as paintball or any shooting sports where you actually shoot at living, breathing, opponents. Paintball has peaked because society has says it has. The interest in it becoming mainstream does not exist. Not now, not ever likely. Back in the early 2000's it was close. Paintball video games were the best chance we had and they failed.

Technologically, I feel there is room for improvement. Lotus Founder Collin Chapman said, simplify, then add lightness. Better words for engineering improvements have never been spoken. I am sure we will see more things that are more simple is design and function and they will get lighter.

With the advent of social media, million upon millions of people could have witnessed paintball and made it viral. Instead they watch tiktoks of morons and do tide-pod challenges. They invest their time and effort in comfortable pursuits. Paintball is not whatsoever comfortable for anyone other than us crazy social rejects who love pain and love to meet up with other peeps who love pain.

[Chuck E Ducky]

I would say paintball markers have peaked. But the actual paintball is in a downward spiral. It’s dam near killing the game!

A better ball would be a game changer!

[Socalpumpballer]

The only way the game of paintball it self could be innovated is if people are willing to give up certain aspects of the game. Indoor reball seems like the logical conclusion clean, cheap and the balls shoots straight like airsoft. That or the game gets curated back to strictly stockclass/pump/ true magfed, mechs with shake and bake hoppers and we start paying per air fill and more for lesser quantities of higher end paint. Otherwise it’s just the same industry has beens chasing an impossible dream of professional paintball with all other parts of the game feeding off their scraps and poor decisions

[uv_halo]

From a performance perspective, roundball paintball objectively hit its peak before the tournament scene started to dial back the BPS limits. I say 'before' because, all of the markers, even the lowly SP Ion were capable of exceeding the new limits.

Now, that is only the BPS performance factor. Accuracy peaked around when the paint got it's roundest and, lowest/smoothest seam but, probably not enough for significant difference to be obvious unless you were able to do a side-by-side shootout between the best from the past alongside the garbage a lot of folks seem to be complaining about these days. Efficiency and Consistency hit when folks finally figured out that having a 9"+ Control bore followed by a larger, ported section was slightly better than all of the other barrel designs (most of the barrel kits offered today). All of this is because, the game community and industry are clinging to the design parameters of the paintball: .68ish caliber, made of gelatin, with a non-toxic fill weighing no more than 3.1grams a shot. There's only so much you can do with this, or similar projectiles (i.e. the Perfect Circle paintballs that Tom Kaye tried to bring to market). This not only limits the guns but, also the game play (field sizes, structure density, time limits, etc).

The biggest and probably the longest lasting area of paintball performance-related changes have been in regards to maintenance/cleaning convenience. Being able to quickly strip, clean and lube the gun for the next day of play, or even the next match.

The First Strike rounds were the innovation that brought the biggest performance change in terms of accuracy and range. However, large segments of the community and industry rejected this improvement so, it's slowly growing in its own direction (i.e. MagFed).

[Psycho91]

Big companies could maybe try and get paintball out there instead of investing in the next thing that isn't any better then last year's, give kids the chance to try it it might change their life you never know, I know paintball isn't cheap but come on companies like PE and dye surely can afford to hold an event here and there and they have the overhead and markers already, yeah it's an idea but I understand that there's aspects to it that I don't know