I don't think it's fair to price it as a punter if you're playing as a regular own gunner. Yes sites charge what seems a lot per hundred but if you go and spend £40 or £50 on a day out I think that's fair. Go karting costs about £40 for a run out, off road driving, shotgun shooting, zorbing and all those other outdoorsy things you do once in your life cost money too. Most people who come to our site end up paying no more than £40 for a decent day's craic and that gets 700 balls which is enough for anyone shooting a rental marker.
Overall for a new player to get into tournaments, paintball has got cheaper for equipment. £350 will have you a tourney legal setup from top to toe if you spend wisely and buy used..
Playing a tournament, I don't know. I don't reckon Millenniums offer good value for money personally but i find flights etc cost prohibitive from where I live and driving usually isn't a practical option. Last time I played was in Toulouse, so a fair number of years ago and I think the weekend cost me £700. For a few games of paintball that's not good value. A couple of hundred quid would probably see me through a CPPS or big game which isn't bad for a weekend away doing something I enjoy.
I also fly quadcopters and that's not cheap to get started on with decent equipment, my current setup stands me around £1300 but it costs nothing but charging the batteries and fuel for the car to go away for a day's flying.
Everything is relative, at the end of the day if you really want to play paintball, you'll find the money