Future trend predictions

[hunter47]

I think from a production/manufacturing standpoint, electrical engineering improvements will probably lead to different marker design/architecture.

The board size required to operate a paintball gun is very tiny, yet this is a foreign concept for PE, Dye et al.. Having someone like Morlock serve as the Method of electronics would be a healthy step in the right direction, especially because that can also imply better unit cost economics with more standardized/universal board dimensions across more platforms.

I think mechanical poppet valve markers is going to be a big deal whenever it rolls around.

Idk. I really want RX and Angel style enclosed bolt poppets to come back.

I'm not so sure about different marker design/architecture being driven by EE requirements, the designs are dominated by pneumatic physics.
I was thinking about how to make a mechanical poppet design last night, I was thinking some sort of 2-way valve that closes the charge chamber so the HPR doesn't recharge the chamber as long as the poppet is open.

[flyweightnate]

The IV core and Torque have some good ideas here, where it's essentially a reverse regulator in the valve chamber to seal it as pressure drops. For poppets, might look more like a sensing line with a check from the valve to the hammer so as soon as pressure in the valve drops the hammer lifts automatically, with a latch that doesn't reset until the trigger lets off.

[Spaghetti Overdrive]

I also expect folks drawing from the spoolie book to make it happen.

Like the ram and valve assy are essentially a spool valve drivetrain with a dead air chamber where the bolt connects to a shaft in the drivetrain.

But regarding EE - I think that's very much a part of the packaging. The space that takes up in a planet eclipse or dye gun is huge. That space could better be utilized to put both regs in the frame like with the macdev cyborg x. Although personally, I think it's smarter to take inspiration from multiple places.

The HPR in the ASA like with the axe is a really smart and ergonomic choice that keeps the body/frame dims down. An LPR in the frame would be great, as would the board being in line with the solenoid in some kind of skeletonized tray/carrier that also holds the trigger switch in place - sort of like an axe, sort of like a modern macdev gun. The battery can be a rechargeable pack in the frame, or if it's a tri tube layout could be a 14550 in the back of one of the tubes, which would last forever on a single charge as well as offering USB-C charging.

Putting all of the electronics into a sort of carrier could also double as weatherproofing if it encloses them and prevents any damage from water ingress.

These things don't have to be bulky either if they're thoughtfully designed, and if there's grooves/cutouts in the body/frame to fit the carrier/manifold, it can serve as a structural component instead of something that needs to be built around.

[hunter47]

I was thinking about that exactly, a spool valve with a dead air chamber and the bolt connects to the shaft. However, I think the development cost greatly outweighs the benefit, because I'm failing to see what a stacked tube mechanical gets you over an inline mechanical other than being able to clearing a chamber break mid game?

[flyweightnate]

This would create significant industry friction because it's creating opposing business models, but an equipment- provided league might be an interesting wrinkle as the economy gets squishy.

Sort of like Sunfish racing, if everyone starts at the same equipment, there's more focus on skill. Quality variation would force a lottery each game to select your gun, with a 10 minute window to clean/ tech before the game given field- supplied spares.

It would provide paint sales to the field and reduce barrier to entry, but the manufacturers wouldn't enjoy it much. It would be great to run the day before or day after another tourney, the way they run the Porsche widowmakers before the F1 race.

[gabe]

The trend will be the large companies continuing to squeeze the last blood out of paintball. Paint will continue to go up in price, guns will keep getting little updates but remain the same, fields will come and go but they will all be speedball. Follow the money and that's where paintball is headed. It's at the point where PE companies that own the major brands are just doing the minimum to keep people forking over money for paint and gear.

Where I would like to see it headed and what would save paintball is more woodsball fields, more outlaw play, and pump/stock/limited paint. I think most players that are in it more than a few years get tired of the paint throwing meta in speedball and just want to shoot at people not areas between inflatable bunkers. People want to move around the field, make pushes, capture objectives. Monetarily this is a problem for fields as they would sell less paint and would require more land for fields. For the industry is makes no sense in the short term either. More of a wish/hope than a prediction.

[The Jayster]

1000% right.

[Sneak Miester]

Can only hope the new trends are

release a new marker THAT DOES NOT NEED AN UPDATED PART, like a bolt, value or any numerous other parts

a mini air compressor, no tank needed

a built in range finder

a barrel bore that changes by twisting it

[flyweightnate]

The Aradus was another such adjustable barrel.

[Spaghetti Overdrive]

Yeah the twist bore thing was tried a couple times and failed not because of machining technology or whatever, but because the seam created by that mechanism will tear apart a paintball

[shadow191]

I have an Arudus that came with a gearbag I bought. It's basically just an inner sleeve that gets compressed when you twist. But as others noted, there is a seam. I haven't used it in a long time but I do remember a decent amount of barrel breaks. And sometimes I would get weird slices and hooks when using it.

[vijil]

I'd like to see magfed speedball become a thing. Non milsim using emf100s and the like. Maybe even as a division at major events, like pump used to be and mech is now.

For me that's a happy medium between what I love about speedball and what I prefer about limited paint.

But I doubt it'll happen soon.

[Spaghetti Overdrive]

This isn't so much a prediction, but I really wish that indoor fields would set up their fields with overhead high pressure spray lines so that they can basically flip a switch and hose everything down at the same time in one go at the end of the day.

It would make maintenance so much easier to where I think running those kinds of places would be more realistic of an endeavor.

But i guess as far as predictions go - businesses finding ways to make indoor paintball in larger metro areas more financially feasible. There's a lot of old warehouses that can't handle event venue status but could handle the much lower concurrent pop size of a sports venue. If you compare the cost to stand up a field compared to a fitness club, for example, it's orders of magnitude cheaper. Just the treadmills would be the cost of the spray system and the ellipticals would be the equivalent of the air system, cost of free weights would really eclipse the cost of creating indoor field setups.

And since it's indoors, if you're using rigid bunkers you can put them on those large industrial locking casters to make rearranging the field seasonally much easier.

[Spaghetti Overdrive]

Other things i think could be a big deal: rechargeable electric hoppers which are on the low end, but waterproof/don't need the battery removed to be recharged. Just like the system includes a charging cradle where you pop the hoppers on and there's a wireless charging pad which comes in contact with the battery housing in the back.

That way fields can offer something better than shake and bakes without dealing with the maintenance.

I think that along with just more innovations from a field owner's perspective would be big to have the focus shifted towards.

I want to see more indoor fields closer to offices and higher density areas with gokart style pricing and staging so that after work/rental walk on play is popular enough.

The gear is in the staging area within the field so there's no "off field" staging area, and there are lockers, laundry machines, and showers you can rent for day or regular use with a pay-per-game setup. Everyone gets a keycard/badge to scan at the gate to get let into the field. You can also badge in and pay on the spot if you're a game short or something. $20/game, limited to an emek with the e-hopper that holds 150 or 160 rounds and 1-2 140rd pods and that's it. Every third game is 25% off, 4th 50% off, 5th is free. Showers are $5/day, laundry is $5/cycle, lockers are $5/day or $40/wk, $100/mo.

Have onsite concessions with a big hangout/plaza area

[vijil]

I like those ideas. But they're ideas rather than trends, which unfortunately

The after work social sports market is super untapped. I agree.

When it's been attempted, it's been attempted badly because let's face it, most field owners have very limited business sense. They wouldn't be in PB if they did xD

We had an indoor field in the middle of the Wellington CBD. Literally on the main street. It did reasonably well in the after work social function market, but the mess was unreal because they had no effective way to clean up. You couldn't touch anything without getting completely sqwudged.

[Magmoormaster]

This isn't so much a prediction, but I really wish that indoor fields would set up their fields with overhead high pressure spray lines so that they can basically flip a switch and hose everything down at the same time in one go at the end of the day.

It would make maintenance so much easier to where I think running those kinds of places would be more realistic of an endeavor.

But i guess as far as predictions go - businesses finding ways to make indoor paintball in larger metro areas more financially feasible. There's a lot of old warehouses that can't handle event venue status but could handle the much lower concurrent pop size of a sports venue. If you compare the cost to stand up a field compared to a fitness club, for example, it's orders of magnitude cheaper. Just the treadmills would be the cost of the spray system and the ellipticals would be the equivalent of the air system, cost of free weights would really eclipse the cost of creating indoor field setups.

And since it's indoors, if you're using rigid bunkers you can put them on those large industrial locking casters to make rearranging the field seasonally much easier.

I think a roof-mounted spray system would be great, but from a building science perspective it's going to cause a lot of problems. Water penetration is one of the single worst problems a building can experience, so the fields would need really good waterproofing and an even better drainage system. Both are definitely manageable, but they'd get expensive quick.

I think I'd go with some sort of floating floor system with a hidden drain underneath similar to floating decks. The trick, of course, is figuring out how to get the turf cushy enough for sliding/diving without hindering water permeability. Or you convince players to use hard kneepads like airsoft.

The gym comparison unfortunately doesn't work. On one hand, the cost of the spray system (and the cost to deal with subsequent waterproofing and drainage issues I just outlined) would be quite a bit higher than the cost of a dozen treadmills. And then the bunkers, air systems, rentals, etc, are all quite a bit more expensive than you'd think. But beyond that, the throughput of a gym compared to a paintball field is dramatically different. A decent paintball field might see a few hundred players a month; a gym would see that every day.

I do agree that indoor fields are a potential sector for growth, and I think it'll be important for businesses to figure them out as time goes on and available land continues to dwindle.

Indoor play with powder balls and Roombas between rounds.

I actually love this idea. I don't think you'd need to run roombas between rounds, just at the end of the day. They probably wouldn't be able to clean much of the field between rounds anyway. The ceiling mounted spray system would be super handy here too. Wouldn't need nearly as much water pressure or volume either.

Powder balls do exist, but as I understand it they kinda suck.

I'd like to see magfed speedball become a thing. Non milsim using emf100s and the like. Maybe even as a division at major events, like pump used to be and mech is now.

For me that's a happy medium between what I love about speedball and what I prefer about limited paint.

But I doubt it'll happen soon.

I think realistically paintball needs to go that route if it wants to survive, and I think with a cool indoor field using powder balls it would be a really decent product. But I agree, I don't think it'll happen.

My actual trend prediction is exactly what Gabe said; paintball companies will continue to make decisions based on short term gains because they know there is no long term. I'd be surprised if paintball continues to exist in 5-10 years.

[vijil]

For the indoor after work market, I actually think arena scale VR has that sewn up. You just can't beat what they offer. There's even (bad, but it's early days) leagues starting to pop up https://www.eva.gg/en-US

Eventually, as the tech improves, I think arena scale AR/VR has more potential as a major Ranged Combat Sport foundation than PB ever did.

[flyweightnate]

There's still something about actual pain, though. A lot of the kids are saying gel blaster/ paintball/ airsoft is better than nerf just because it hurts.

And for the after-work camaraderie, the splat and welt will continue to be more interesting than an "I got you first".

Team color pullovers and locker rooms could make the difference, and a really watery paint that cleans up well for indoor maintenance. Pea gravel over a water permeable grid, with steel roofing panels underneath. Wash down a lot better and be less slippery than slimy turf or wood.

[TencenT]

On a slightly uplifting note. A walk on asked me today what they should buy and I realized my advice for the last twenty years hasn't changed at all. Buy a good mask and a good barrel then whatever works in your budget after that are probably all you need. Kind of funny that all this time has past and the more things have changed the more they haven't changed at all.

[vijil]

Barrels are overrated. Pretty sure cockerpunk did experiments about this back in the day. Yep: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzjRf22Ma-0 (wow that's dated). Bore matching is kinda pointless.

I tell people to get a good mask, anything new and twin pane will do, and leave it at that until they can afford a full setup like an emf100 or an emek, and then I tell them that upgrades are a waste of time and they should just leave their marker stock unless something particularly bothers them about it from a taste/feel perspective, or the paint sucks.