[Pump Scout]

I was just saying a couple weekends ago, I've got a gun in my gear room that won't adjust below 14bps. That one doesn't get much field time these days, which is fine with me.

Ramping at big games is nothing more than the event looking the other way to sell more cases. Just my opinion on that one. Ramping in tournaments was legalizing the cheats many were using at the time in hopes of gaining some control over the cheat. Swift, brutal, uncompromising penalty upon discovery of a cheating player/gun would have solved the problem long ago if any event had the stones to perm-ban a big name player. Since that didn't happen, other paths had to be explored.

[inertstatic]

Originally Posted by Pump Scout

I was just saying a couple weekends ago, I've got a gun in my gear room that won't adjust below 14bps. That one doesn't get much field time these days, which is fine with me.

Ramping at big games is nothing more than the event looking the other way to sell more cases. Just my opinion on that one. Ramping in tournaments was legalizing the cheats many were using at the time in hopes of gaining some control over the cheat. Swift, brutal, uncompromising penalty upon discovery of a cheating player/gun would have solved the problem long ago if any event had the stones to perm-ban a big name player. Since that didn't happen, other paths had to be explored.

I see your point about the big games. I'm neither here nor there about it.

I've always thought capped semi was the best option for tournament play... but i see the benefits of ramping. The idea of swift brutal justice would change that. The other thought is that now, high end guns don't have aftermarket boards.. so no god mode/cheater mode/gangster modes available. We even have high end replay available to check firing modes...

[cbrstar]

After coming back into paintball after not playing for 17 years. I've been out playing 2x now. And the biggest problem I am seeing is refereeing.

The first field I went to was awesome. It was a bunch of older guys and they were playing fair like the old days. And I will be back.

The second field, I went to a big game and it was a complete GONG show. The refs didn't call a single person out for bad behaviour. They didn't re-chrono a single marker. The refs may's well not have been there at all. In the end people were swearing at each other and they were even threatening to beat each other up!!! In any sport when sportsmanship isn't enforced people get fed up and quit.

[primadog]

Originally Posted by vijil

My take: the best thing paintball could do right now would be to go hard on *non* milsim magfed. Tournaments, everything. Adopt modes like push the payload etc that have more tactical depth than boring old TDM. Keep the bright colors and sport look, massively drop the paint consumption, tie it even closer to gaming than airsoft. Milsim isn't that big in gaming these days anyway. There's nothing milsim about fortnite.

There seem to be a big untapped market for companies to create shells for paintball markers based on whatever FPS/battle royale is popular these days.

Not sure why that doesn't happen. It's not like the internals saw much changes in the last decade.

[dekdo]

can we bring back 15 bps? my god 10.5 is slow.

[evanorah00]

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[Daltech]

Originally Posted by cbrstar

After coming back into paintball after not playing for 17 years. I've been out playing 2x now. And the biggest problem I am seeing is refereeing.

The first field I went to was awesome. It was a bunch of older guys and they were playing fair like the old days. And I will be back.

The second field, I went to a big game and it was a complete GONG show. The refs didn't call a single person out for bad behaviour. They didn't re-chrono a single marker. The refs may's well not have been there at all. In the end people were swearing at each other and they were even threatening to beat each other up!!! In any sport when sportsmanship isn't enforced people get fed up and quit.

Glad I'm not alone in this sentiment. It's a joke when the ref's promote seeing some get hurt.

[Pump Scout]

I actually stopped reffing at a particular field because they stopped giving a darn about safety. Same sort of thing, it just got super lazy. Chrono once at the beginning of the day, 310, 315, close enough, whatever. Goggles, try to keep 'em on when you're on this side of the net I suppose. If you lose your barrel cover, just point the gun at the ground until we can find you another one.

Hell, I've done the "Doc the Bear" bit and carried a roll of duct tape with me reffing, with the active threat to tape masks to heads if I saw them get lifted. Never had anyone lift their mask more than once!

[inertstatic]

Originally Posted by Pump Scout

I actually stopped reffing at a particular field because they stopped giving a darn about safety. Same sort of thing, it just got super lazy. Chrono once at the beginning of the day, 310, 315, close enough, whatever. Goggles, try to keep 'em on when you're on this side of the net I suppose. If you lose your barrel cover, just point the gun at the ground until we can find you another one.

Hell, I've done the "Doc the Bear" bit and carried a roll of duct tape with me reffing, with the active threat to tape masks to heads if I saw them get lifted. Never had anyone lift their mask more than once!

That freaks me out. My last 2021 summer outing for rec days had me telling a specific group of kids to keep their masks on... I was just the guy on their team. Refs did make a big deal about it though when they saw.

[WSBdegen]

Lining a contract with media conglomerates is a tough sell today when E-Sports can promise more revenue. Televised tournament style paintball sounds great... and there was definitely glimpses (prior to the 08 crash) of it almost breaking through to mainstream television regularly. That ship sailed when paintball plateaued in the mid 2000s, with the crash being the final nail in the coffin.

Paintball makes for a very poor spectator sport despite technological improvements in cameras (drones etc). Just enjoy it for what it is: a niche sport for a niche group of individuals. Definitely not for coddled adderall addled Gen-Z'ers either - who would rather stay home.

[blue ronin]

I played a lot in the mid 2000s. Just now trying to come back at 32 years old. I haven't played since 2007. I will say, some of the new guns and gear look pretty cool.

[WSBdegen]

Originally Posted by blue ronin

I played a lot in the mid 2000s. Just now trying to come back at 32 years old. I haven't played since 2007. I will say, some of the new guns and gear look pretty cool.

I've noticed lots of us getting back into it.

It's much better when you've got more disposable income

[Daltech]

Originally Posted by blue ronin

I played a lot in the mid 2000s. Just now trying to come back at 32 years old. I haven't played since 2007. I will say, some of the new guns and gear look pretty cool.

Originally Posted by WSBdegen

I've noticed lots of us getting back into it.

It's much better when you've got more disposable income [IMG class=inlineimg]https://www.pbnation.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif[/IMG]

A pop up tent, chairs, cooler and a small grill makes for a fun day with friends. I bring two markers now also, because it’s great to give your back up 97’ WDP Angel LED to someone and have them like it in addition to modern DYE DSR. Especially when the DYE DSR micro reg leaks from the handle.

I played against three rentals towards the end of a rec ball game and just let them shoot at me for a while, cat and mouse style. One kid ran up on the bunker to my left so I got him once or twice. The other two I just tried to let them goggle me. After 5 mins the one was out in the open so I only got him ONE time, not 4-6. Time ran out and I went and congratulated the 3rd player. Idk. I was trying to pump them up not just rain paint on them.

[PinDrop]

It's a dark secret, it boils down to greed. I watched greed destroy every team, every field, every franchise, everything. Paintball became profitable and corporations began to ruin everything. SpecOps paintball was a glowing beacon in the sport, they were steaming hard in the right direction and building up an incredible following. The industry was organic, independent, and beautiful...and it was killed because of it.

[blue ronin]

I was shipping orders at work the other day, and paintball had been teetering in my mind for a bit, and one of the names on an order was "Bonebrake". I figured that was a sign that I should get back into the sport I once loved.

[Marmaduke]

Originally Posted by dekdo

can we bring back 15 bps? my god 10.5 is slow.

Most underrated comment of 2021.

[ncoco252]

Just played for the first time in maybe 3 years. I've been playing since around 03 (early thirties now), casually played, once a month or less mostly woodsball/big games but milsim aint for me, seems futile with paintball. Lots of good points already said by others here, and I hope people that can make these improvements are reading and doing something about it. Little necro, but this is supposed to be the current state of paintball thread so...

Fix the PAINTBALLS! You'll never get the greasy, oblong, missized paint to shoot a good rope or let you have the confidence in an easy 30ft one shot. The last time I played was the worst paintballs I'd seen (GI Sportz of course), jammed my Z2 up even on a lower speed setting. I'll chalk it up to an awful batch with humid weather this one time, but since GI Sportz took over, I've been disappointed.

Field paint only? Next time I get bags like that I will be asking for a full refund for the day.They can either take it up with the paint manufacturer or they know they stored it badly and call it a lesson learned

But I love the field that I go to. Season pass, great rental gear, new and improved fields, fantastic customer service and people. It's probably the best run business I've seen firsthand, paintball or otherwise. But they use GI Sportz paint, the same paint I just ranted about. The field is probably rated top 20 fields in the US via Google reviews, I'd rather not say what field for privacy reasons, but if youre anywhere near it you'd know it and they're doing it right.

I'll echo some other peoples opinions quick:

Lots of paintball shops/companies (especially online) don't know what they're doing.

Edit: I don't know enough about the speedball/tournament side of things to have an opinion on it's future.

ROF rules are better than they were before and manufacturers aren't focusing on that as much. My locals regulars are respectful enough to use some kind of mech or keep the electro ripping to a minimum. I have no problem with 12-15bps semi capped for rec fields.

Every other piece of gear (other than paint) is near perfect. So many options. Someone mentioned SpecOps. Them, and Rap4 to an extent, were the only higher end, woodsball/scenario paintball purpose built gear. SpecOps went under, Rap4 improved and became MCSUS, and bigger companies copied their formula and made a pretty penny. R.I.P SpecOps, but the same style gear is available everywhere now, and that's a good thing.

Without good paintballs, there's no reason to play paintball for me. Fields can host other types of activities, and thats who I want to support.