A new beginning ….

[Robbo]

I couldn’t have put it better .....
I spose you and I better start stirring shiit up Missy.

Where’s Piper when you need him.
Come to think of it, where the fuhk has barnett gone

 

[Missy-Q]

Pete, you should also get into John Amodea's project. He is doing a 'history of paintball' movie and has a facebook group with all the old-timers in it. There is some fun stuff being talked about, and its a great source of content for you and the site. Lots of familiar faces talking about the fun times we all had back in the day. I am sure you know John.

 

[Missy-Q]

One thing you could do is Segway some of their content into here and ask them to comment on it.

 

[Robbo]

I’ll remind him that paintball isn’t only played in the US
I’m on it O.

 

[pestilence]

Well, the time seems ripe!! We have all-new P8ntballer and the NXL seems to be throwing out some good stories.
The rivalry between Mouse & Raney Stanzack
You've got the Russian legions 9-second point in Texas
Xfactor just taking an event title in 4 years.

Love it or hate it, the NXL is the showcase for our sport.... be great to get some inside scoop!

 

[Dup]

The problem with paintball, as this article shows, is everyone is stuck in the past... I was lucky enough to start playing when paintball was in its "prime", for lack of a better word, but all anyone seems to say and focus on is...remember back in the day....its nice to see you wanting to do something about this, but some of it still seems a bit like you're just trying to write an article to reminisce about how great it was in 2001.

What's killed paintball is the price, for some of us lucky few that can afford a £1500 gun and drop £100 every weekend to train, it just isn't feasible for alot. I remember selling 100 paintball for £4 a pot back in 2006... I think most sites nowadays charge double that?

It's nice you're trying to rekindle the youth of paintball as it were, and having a fresh look on the forums by keeping up with the times, but at the end of the day, everything put in a magazine can be on a Facebook page... look at CPPS, they're doing the "where should this team place".. it's getting people interested and looking at how they've played etc, all on FB, and its creating alot of interest. I remember when I used to root for certain players, but the problem with nxl is it's just the same guys recycled over and over now, so it loses its, "oooooo someone new, let's watch lang mug him and teach him who's boss".

I think CPPS FB has started to nail it with the way they are approaching how teams are playing, what they need to do, their place compared to their seed position, but in this day and age, that's all that can be done really. Unless you can reduce the price of paint, nothing much is going to change unless you do something new and inspired...

Something stupid and interactive like a fantasy paintball team, or putting bets on winning teams, just making this somewhere a bit more fun... you are going to struggle getting anyone new onto this site by just posting articles, because your audience are all on Facebook, bored at work, scrolling through their feeds... not thinking "ooo a new article on pballer"

I dont mean to be a neg ferret, but if you're trying to get the sport alive again, digging up the graves of people that have retired wont do it. You have to do something fresh and new.

I do alot of marketing with my job, as well as graphics design and I'm more than happy to help think of ideas, I love the sport, love the forums, but if you want new blood, you need to do it differently.

 

[ant290]

@Dup, Facebook being the easy catch is a big thing to compete with for sure.

One big thing this place has that FB doesn't tho is marker trade, but also content space... You can't post a marathon article on FB, you can link a video sure... You can link a news story too. But those things need a venue to live in.... And here can still be that venue.

I wonder what impact patreon could have on this space... NikkyT is doing things in that subscription region, is there any need for that kind of approach from p8nt?

Was paintball really that good in 2k1? People were playing all sorts of events... With mixed rules, which meant even if you knew a lot about one format... There was things to learn to just watch another format.... Let alone play it well!

These days, we have a set ruleset (your opinion may vary) but at least it exists ... We have a central event series, and we have kit that just works, game after game without needing new batteries / o-rings every day.

Paintball is too expensive for Johnny the 15 year old to play each week... Or even each month in a lot of cases.... Is that due to us only having one tournament series? Not bashing the cost of cpps but more the fact that if Johnny wants to play... And play well, he needs to train. Which turns his weekend into 2 days of paintball away from home.

One thing I have been thinking about a lot recently is this:

Other team sports, that you go and watch. They have matches, where one team visits another, and they play for a reasonable amount of time.
Football, rugby, basketball, cricket. Is there a way we could play paintball in a more lengthy format? Can we make it so that it's worth travelling somewhat to watch your favourite teams?

This turned into a lot longer a post than I was expecting. Not sure where I'm expecting the ramble to go, but there must be a way to support local, and push local to be national

 

[Dup]

@ant290 I completely agree,

Although what the redesign is based around is making the forum like a magazine, so the market trading will always be here and I think the trade side of things is probably what's currently keeping the forum alive...

 

[Dusty]

@ant290 I completely agree,

Although what the redesign is based around is making the forum like a magazine, so the market trading will always be here and I think the trade side of things is probably what's currently keeping the forum alive...

Points are being duly noted and taken on board. Fb is a quick fix, we are planning to develop this forum into a resource but all good things take time and we are only getting started now.

We need users to interact and create content too, so why not have a bash yourself? You're clearly articulate and have a current knowledge of local events, I'm sure people would love to read your thoughts

 

[Dup]

@Dusty thanks but I dont think me writing an article would be the best idea, my humour is far too sarcastic and I fear I would offend even the more clinical of you lot

I am more than happy to think of ideas and put my right foot forward, I dont want to see this place die and I think it just needs something more interactive to make people want to come onto here. I do not for 1 minute think that fb should be a replacement, it just needs to have something fb doesnt, which in the current climate of article writing, is not something new...

Something like rating players, I know back when I was playing at a competitive level I was "stoked" as the kids put it, to be mentioned by teams I aspired to be in. When it comes to the vets on the forums, instead of them reliving their youth, rate the young guns, show them that even the old school elites are thinking "pwoarr, wouldn't want to 1v1 him, even in my hay day." It makes it a competition, and this day and age, everyone love a competition where they are recognised on a "social media" platform, which is essentially exactly what a forums is, just on a very bespoke level...

Rank them, seed them, do what CPPS did, but on a personal level, not a team level, and I guarantee you'll get everyone wanting to be on here thinking, have I moved up?!