[The Great Equalizer]

Operation Red Risk will be held at Three River's Paintball in Freedom PA. This event will feature an "open sandbox" style of play, putting the generals in control of what missions to run and what areas of the field to assault.

Full event details can be found at http://68paint.com

2019: Russia becomes the largest failed state in modern times.

Shortly after the turn of the century, signs started to manifest that Russia’s apparent stability was untenable. With its political and economic systems exhausted, its rulers had grown rigid and were mired in corruption. For years, the Russian government’s budget had become more dependent than ever on oil and gas. Energy revenue paid for more than half of government spending. In 2012, President Vladimir Putin compounded the problem by promising vast new outlays: a doubling of the wages of doctors, police, and teachers; higher payments to families; and $790 billion in new defense spending. However, with the development of large, new oil and gas reserves in Europe and the United States, along with further progress of clean energy technology, the prospect for export revenues quickly dimmed. Meanwhile, criminal networks within the Kremlin infected every part of the bureaucracy, siphoning off billions of dollars in what should have been public revenues.

The Russian government quickly found itself unable to meet even the most basic needs of its citizens. Widespread food and water shortages swept throughout the nation and a lack of medical care was a concern in even the most populous of cities. Unemployment rates soared and gasoline became nearly non-existent in a country that had only years prior been a top exporter of oil.

In 2016, an uprising rapidly lead to civil war after outspoken government critic, Nikolay Speransky, was killed by Russian troops during a protest in Moscow. Farmers, factory workers and businessmen alike all took up arms against the government in the following weeks. Some government troops inevitably left their posts as well and joined the rebel cause after going unpaid for months. The fighting spread like an unchecked cancer, crippling what remained of the economy as the world stood by, unable to agree upon an appropriate action. By 2019, both sides had fought each other to exhaustion with no practical end in sight. As NATO finally prepared to send in troops to quell the violence, it was at this time that a despairing Moscow contacted Beijing with a request for assistance. China, not wanting to see western influence flourish on its doorstep, offered to send support if Russia was willing to parcel off some of its eastern territories after the conflict in order to provide land to China’s growing population. Russia, desperate to regain control, agreed.

Instead of mop-up operations against weary government troops, NATO suddenly found themselves eyeball to eyeball with a very determined and very powerful, People’s Liberation Army. As new fighting ignited, the state of the country was that of a fractured nation composed of many territories with no discernible front line. Some areas were held by Russian troops and the PLA, while others were held by rebel forces as NATO raced to reinforce and secure those areas. The result of the conflict, which became known as Operation Red Risk to the western world, would shape global power and politics for the next century.

On May 4th, join Three Rivers Paintball and .68 Caliber Productions as NATO and PLA forces lock horns to establish control in the former Soviet nation.

[inzaneflea]

Very excited for this game tomorrow, can't wait!

[Galaxee08]

Game sucked altogether. Wont go to another .68 caliber event. Was a social gathering for most of the refs, and a drinking event for our general. Also rampart wiping on blue team. Have never seen such blatant disregard for it.

[wooties]

When mentioned to the refs and general how one sided it was we were told "a bunch" of red team were drinking, as if its our priority to make people play (maybe make some people switch?) Also, the spawn point never really changed except for the first few minutes so basically that means we walked all the way across the field to spawn and be surrounded and get hit right after spawning. Being yelled at to go rush in by some old guy transporting beers to the general really pissed me off. I will not be at another 68 game.

[HUNK]

Hate to say it but there is not much a field, or production company can do if most of your team decides to sit in the parking lot. You can ask if people want to switch teams at some point but you can't just make them switch if they don't want to. I've been on both sides of unbalanced teams and it does suck. Us refs did try to push players back from the spawn area and make sure they were only going for the pie pan target. But due to what happened we are looking at other ways to revise "General eliminations" to get rid of the easy excuse of players "trying" to hit the pie pan and the opposing team getting trapped.

As for socializing on the refs parts, I'm not sure what you are talking about. As far as I saw refs seemed on top of being at flags when they were needed, and .68 staff was running side missions/coordinating generals info.

[wooties]

I remember specifically we were battling at a "castle" and there was a player from the blue team on the other side of the wall. He popped out with 3 or 4 people shooting at him, got blasted, then hid behind the wall. I was thinking "ok he must be out but got revived as a medic" then he pops back out and we get shot from him, same thing happens. There was literally 3 or 4 people yelling at him to get to get out, and we were quite frustrated when nothing was done. There was a couple ref's but they were standing around talking to eachother while everyone yells at this guy. I can understand there being a medic, but it was to the red teams understanding you get one "revive" and you are out. Otherwise, that is just dumb. In fact, medics were a dumb idea in the first place.

It's not just the people posting on the forum, there were a group of two or three people that left out of frustration, and another group of 3 that refused to go in because of how bad it was. It was also not just the blue team. The red team in some cases were ramping (more than likely out of frustration.) At the end of the game a ref finally stepped in and had to explain to another ref what ramping is.

In short, don't pull the "its your fault" card. We paid a fee to join the game, which supports the refs and production staff, and you guys failed to deliver and fix the issues at hand. Also, you CAN make people switch teams, its quite simple. "Hey guys, this isnt fun for most people lets even it up and have an even game." I didnt see one head count from you guys. I did see a few players and a ref or two join red but it was so one sided it didn't even matter.

[HUNK]

We were constantly asking red team players what said player that was wiping was wearing. The only answer we had is he is wearing orange. No description of mask, gun color, gun type. All we can do is inform the ref staff to watch for a player with some form of orange on him for wiping. We can't be everywhere. Same goes for players that are ramping. Both teams had players doing it by the end of the day. It's extremely difficult for a ref to catch someone using ramping, especially so with today's high end guns.

As for making people switch teams, no, you cannot force other players who have payed the same money as you to switch to the other team. You can ask nicely, but if they decline that is there choice. Productions companies cannot control how well players are going to play, how long they will play, and how aggressive they will play. As for player count we did count how many players we had in the spawns before we started the second half. It was pretty evenly split at about 45 on 45 when the horn sounded. We don't start games up if we see an obvious lopsidedness of players. Just because you don't see us do something doesn't mean we didn't do it.

In short, the blue team was more aggressive, and better organized. Out of the dozen some games I've reffed in the past 3 years, these are the two common qualities of every side that wins.

[brandondeckerpb]

I did not attend the game, but have been reading the response's to how the game went.
Just going to throw my 2 cents in to help HUNK's post out.
I started writing and producing games this past winter and he is 100% correct. All you can do as a producer is politely ask people to switch over, but remind them "Im not forcing you, just asking. Its your decision". You as a producer can always add a few more missions that have a small amount of points to help out the one team that is losing if it is by a very large amount ( First game I produced I didnt event read the score).
At my first game I got a bad rating because of simple things ( weather, paint wasnt the end all, be all in the middle of January and no lunch break). Paintballers are a unique bunch. There are the ones that will spend as much time on field as they can, and then there is the socializing ones that spend more time in the parking lot. In the end its a hobby/sport that we all volunteer to play, so its up to each individual to decide if they got their entrance fee worth.
-Smokey

[Galaxee08]

It is what it is. At 2pm after I was coming off the field we had 21 red players sitting around in the pavilion area. At the same time there were 6 blue players. It was significantly lopsided, and you are saying you couldn't do anything about it; I understand. I respectfully disagree. It is no fun for either team when one is pushed to their spawn the entire day.

My 2 interactions with our general was him telling us to take the castle, and at the end of the day to push the far tape. Neither could be accomplished.

These things are not the fault of the producer, but I will fault them for their apathy towards not even trying to remedy tr game mechanics. I will also fault them for the ref coverage. There was blatant wiping, and not a ref in site other than the one in the distance being a cheerleader twirling the flags around.

It's done and over with. I do not need to further this debate, but I wanted it to be known that on the red side it was a joke. Multiple people just making fun of the situation at hand. It was my first and last .68 caliber event.