A Wind of Change

[Biscuit]

for those so called pro tournie players ,that frequent the local tournie,s get a reality check the paintball companies like dye,smartparts and many more have seen the light and it ain,t sup-air.how many players take part in your average sup-air day, 200 approx thats for a good event.now look at woodsball and scenario this includes rental you are looking at nearer the tens of thousands every weekend you only have to look at events like the big game and staargate that have between 700-1000 players for a weekend and the players treat each other with respect ,also they do not act like knobs away from the sites and get paintball a bad name, i know this does not apply to alot of tournie players but it is not good pr,so companies have decided to go back to the woods were the real money is to be made.think guys how many use ego,s shockers and dm,s in the woods a hell of alot of players and they don,t ask for discount so wake up and smell the coffee the woods is where it,s at that,s why woodland tournies and walk-ons are growing in size

 

[Cusack]

Ok, enough of the tourney bashing please - it's quite obvious that the lack of a clear progression from woodland to tourney is what's preventing the same increase that's being seen in the woods, because if paintball as a whole is growing, (from the realisation of some that it can be played regularly and with cheaper kit), then naturally an amount of these people will move into tournaments.

But hey, wait a minute, why aren't they? People don't know about sup'air, and probably cus they're not told about it, or shown it, or have had it explained to them. OR they feel intimidated by all the people with the shiny guns and shiny-er kit at the field (if it's lucky enough to include a supair that customers can actually see). I know I was scared to crap the first time I saw a sup'air field and all their players, unfortunately it was too late to back out by then. Meah, thinking about the target market we have it's definately gotta be that they don't know anything about it; how to try it out without buying loads of kit, where the site is, and so on.

You can't kid yourself that decline is caused by woodland being better or all that crap, because different people will like each format for their own merits, we're just missing our target market of the competetive 'hide-n-seek laser tag badgers-on-crack' players. Why did the NPPL just get bought if there wasn't the potential for making money out of sup'air. I hope shawn walker isn't going to take us back into the woods. I realise it wasn't making money, but thats not to say with promotion it won't pick up.

Oh, and cast aside bitching greedyness and tantrums as a reason why tourney sucks. This can and will happen with people in any sport. Most tourney ballers are quite friendly and at the first tourney a newbie is likely to meet, the atmosphere at the masters / KOTH is great, there's only a select few behaving irresponsibly.

I think in conclusion, sites like the Northern Quarter with their newbie days, coaching and rental kit are in need of our support and help in promoting them, that way our big companies get the sales and profit from their new customers, tourneys get more attendance and non industry sponsors come in to get some pie.

...or not? Can we get the official Robbo view on it?

 

[sumo89]

one thing id like to add to that is the importance of advertising. Woodland punter days are advertised everywhere, you can even buy days of it with tesco club card points. We need this with sup air and it will inevitably grow.

 

[Jonny 03]

Personally I've always seen supair taken far more serious than it needs to be.

I used to play a sh*t load of five a side footy before I had to have knee surgery and give it up (couldnt give up balling though ). A five a side tournament is set out identically to a standard masters event. Now I understand that comparing football to paintball is slightly unrealistic but hear me out. When we played we didnt think for a second we were gonna be picked up by nike, addidas , reebok etc. We played because it was fun. It was competitive at the best of times, just as competitive as paintball but there was respect. At the end of it all the winner took the trophy and everyone else went home exhausted but completely content at a day of doing something they love. I played and never for one moment thought about going pro, hell even when we had scouts on the scene you still just played your best and enjoyed it.

The problem in my opinion is sup-air is so far up its own ar*e it cannot see where its going.

Wheres the fun gone? It just feels like its all about getting better to step it up a notch, to go pro! It's all about doing everything right and sponsors. I dont see enough people playing for playing sake anymore. If a regular woodland player is holding a marker incorrectly do you see do anyone telling him to adjust and get it right? I'm sure theres instances when we do but generally people just do whatever whenever... because its fun. Supair players in my opinion need to stop looking down on recball as a lower form of paintball, not even as an equal format but instead learn from it and do what was done in the first place... take a great idea and develop it. This time we need to go back and remember why we all started (and I'm talking to the 14 yr old wannabes here), it wasnt to go pro, it wasnt for free sh*t, it was because this wonderful game we play is fun, its fast, it delivers everything your average adrenaline nutjob could want and it gets you out the house.

 

[Cook$]

I've dipped in and out of this thread as some of the clever chaps have posted, and thereby made it worth reading. After careful deliberation I have come up with the following conclusion....

I couldn't give a f**k what happens to tourney ball.

I made money from our site. Not tourneys. Tourneys were an excuse for me to get drunk with my mates. And the better I got, the more I got told off for drinking. I didn't like losing, I didn't like the pressure to win that came with having to win. What could I do? i quit. Got a better hobby.

Sorry, I've been drinking again, but my spelling is perfect.

 

[evoonline]

reading thru some of the previous posts in this thread and my opinion is that seperate sup'air and woodsball sites need to be established but in a way which works. (if that makes sense) i.e. Northern Quarter, people say that there is no money in tournament paintball but isnt NQ a supair site only, for tournament training and newbie tournies and watnot? wondering how they stay afloat if they are losing money hand over fist. my local site has a simple speedball field and 9 or 10 woodland fields and most perfer playin the speedball because of the tight, aggressive play. most of these players had never played paintball before.


++ element gunfighter has a very good point ++

 

[Robbo]

...or not? Can we get the official Robbo view on it?

Yeah, course you can, just buy next month's PGi and you'll read what I think is gonna happen

I quite like watching some people meander here and there brining in occasional irrelevancies and debating them to the death but for the most part, this thread is really good even though Rancid did join in...

I'll let it go a few more days and pop in then with what I think (not that my view is any more valid or erudite.....oh sh!te, sod it, why bothering going into denial Pete, it is )

It's good to see intelligent comment though, well except for Cooks that is

 

[Dusty]

Yeah, course you can, just buy next month's PGi and you'll read what I think is gonna happen

I quite like watching some people meander here and there brining in occasional irrelevancies and debating them to the death but for the most part, this thread is really good even though Rancid did join in...

I'll let it go a few more days and pop in then with what I think (not that my view is any more valid or erudite.....oh sh!te, sod it, why bothering going into denial Pete, it is )

It's good to see intelligent comment though, well except for Cooks that is

Hey 3 months ago who would have though Robbo would have been singing the praises of the Rambo types?? I thought we would have seen the pigs flying between the two blue moons first.................


Not meant in any way to some across as condescending to those said Rambo types.

Obviously..............

 

[impamiizgraa]

The majority of em think that Euro ball breaks down into 2 camps "goober punters" and them "pro". It's laughable. Then this conceited "pro" bunch think their entitled to gratis or discounted shizzle. No way, as you say what have they done????

I know this doesn't apply to all those who taken free ****, etc...but some of them own sites - some successful and profitable. The paintball companies want their products sold there, so in return, give the owners team free stuff.
I know this works more for paint - as paint companies will give a team 25 free cases an event, so long as the owner of the site continues to buy a palet of paint a month off that company.
So in this respect...some of them do deserve it.

Also - players using certain firms gear will increase that firms sales - companies aren't willing to sponsor unless there is a return for doing so...

 

[Biscuit]

the problem with sup-air for companies is that they are not getting value for thier lay out,why because where are all the potential new customers at a tournie ,there aren,t any most people at a tournie are players and staff so they are not going to get lots of potential sales.so this is why the companies are changing thier stratergies and aiming at the woodland and punter scene with a potently larger player base thus having a larger market to sell too this is why products like the ion have done so well.the knock on effect of this larger player base could benefit the sup -air scene but this will take time and sup-air will suffer till there is a steady flow from punter to rec-ball then maybe sup-air,i know most people on here think that sup-air is the dogs dangles but alot more just want to play for fun