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Do people here care less about the major leagues these days?

PBWill

Well-Known Member
Mar 18, 2013
308
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England
id say im new, playing 10 months so yea. I love watching the streams, ive watched about 4 livestreams and i havnt got bored of any of them, there all exciting, i love all of it! but as there isn exactly a massive stream of new players that have the time to watch these streams, so interested people go down, you can see where its going.
 

Ash - GI Sportz

GI Sportz
Jun 14, 2006
403
211
83
39
GI Towers
@hipjaw and @frobinson those are the kind of responses i was hoping to see.

The Nexus series was fun to make and we had a bunch ideas to include for future episodes to that effect, but unfortunately we never got around to making them. Given the chance there are a whole host of things I'd like to put into a project like that.
 
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hipjaw

pbplayr.blogspot.co.uk // Reading Entity // #22
Apr 8, 2011
185
91
38
Bristol
pbplayr.blogspot.co.uk
It is upto to a middle man to tell the elite teams most interesting stories well, and enough to naturally command the uninterested players attention.
Is there any incentive for a middle man to do that? PBA has Matty Marshall interviewing players for podcasts as well as commentating on the live feed - somebody who knows a lot about the US and major league scene. That there is a man being paid by a body to construct interesting content for the end viewer which helps promote the sport, give more insight to players and therefore more people care about the teams and so want to watch the live feeds and support the teams they like.

I don't see the MS / EPBF or CPPS or even P8ntballer paying for someone to do the same job, but maybe that's what we need. Someone to stimulate people to talk about teams and events and results. You would still need co-operation of the teams and I would love to see teams make more of an effort to put some REAL content out there as opposed to 'we did well this event, thank you to our sponsors we couldn't have done it without you' / 'we didn't perform as well as we wanted to, thank you to our sponsors we couldn't have gotten this far without you'.

But with somebody asking these teams the hard questions, why do you think you have underperformed? Why are you not giving 'x player' many reps? What could you have done in retrospect to win that game? What part of your game plan let you down / what did they do to stop your game plan working? I agree with you, a middle man could be what's needed to stir some excitement and make teams seem like real rosters made of real people as opposed to just a banner.
 

hipjaw

pbplayr.blogspot.co.uk // Reading Entity // #22
Apr 8, 2011
185
91
38
Bristol
pbplayr.blogspot.co.uk
The Nexus series was fun to make and we had a bunch ideas to include for future episodes to that effect, but unfortunately we never got around to making them. Given the chance there are a whole host of things I'd like to put into a project like that.
In my opinion that's what people want to see - music videos of events definitely have their place and FATTfilm to a great job of that as it stands at the CPPS. But when it comes to getting players / viewers to support teams, we want to know more than what goes on on the field, we want to know the behind the scenes. People may love watching football matches, but people TALK about individual player performances as well as their personal behaviours and lives. People criticize managers (or coaches) and their decisions on and off the field as well as the transfers made between teams. We have the option to watch games and see team results, but what will get people talking are the parts in between and behind the scenes.
 

Dave284

Platinum Member
Jan 4, 2008
1,573
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@hipjaw and @frobinson those are the kind of responses i was hoping to see.

The Nexus series was fun to make and we had a bunch ideas to include for future episodes to that effect, but unfortunately we never got around to making them. Given the chance there are a whole host of things I'd like to put into a project like that.
Those videos were actually very good to watch, and generated a fair bit of buzz, not only for nexus (and obviously dye) but for the European scene, saw them being posted around the US forums.

I said this at the start of the season, there needs to be an insight into the teams, not just a music video with slow motion dives and muggings. It will obviously take someone skilled and dedicated. Sure it'll take a lot more time than your average video as well. But if Kent could do it for, not only nexus, but other British teams (Disruption, Relentless, Shock II) over the course of a millennium, then someone should be able to do one for a CPPS, get the Elite teams and show some insight into how these teams work.

The buzz has died, for example; usually there's a massive buzz around World Cup, you see a scores and updates thread, the new releases, and the English teams going out keeping everyone updated. I saw little of this this year. In fact, looking at it, the last Scores and Updates we had was from WCO. I think this might be to do with the webcast honestly, people are more keen to watch it (obviously) than to chat about it on a forum. It's a shame, because we used to have threads 10+ pages long, discussing scores and who's doing what. But now it's a more social thing, I guess, sit down at your mates house who has a better internet connection, have a few beers and watch the webcast. Which is great, it's what I'd prefer, but it doesn't get the community aspect back. People don't really discuss what they watch, not in the same level as people used to discuss what they would read. Weird.

One thing that was touched on, and I have to disagree with, is clinics. I think they're only truly valuable when you're learning from someone who is at the pinnacle of the game. It pains me to say, but there's very few people like this in the UK. Jason Wheeler and Nexus would obviously be up there, Jason serving time in the PSP and placing a respectable third at a point this year and Nexus placing the highest they have done since 2008 (citation needed)
What I do agree with, is teams openly helping, for free. Making themselves approachable, instead of what you usually see (teams sticking between the higher level teams and very rarely going on the field without their scrim team for the day) if another team is using the field, step on and give a bit of guidance. "don't make your move without checking the lane off" "if you get put in, just tuck in and shoot for the bump" etc, show people where they're going wrong. By being more open as teams, it can only create a fan base, and interest in higher level teams in return.

As a team, Entity will have some things in production for next year, we're extremely fortunate to have a team member who is not only interested in editing and film making, but quite gifted at doing so. We also try and get people more involved with the tournament scene, through our home training ground. Teams can help build the community again, high level teams should be leading from the front. Teams should be trying to be as open as humanly possible, like the Nexus documentaries made them.

{/thinkaloud}
 
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f1nut2

Team Kinetic
Feb 28, 2008
100
28
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St Austell
I personally do take an interest in the major leagues. I have watched a lot of all the PSP webcasts this year and watched all the Sunday millennium webcast. I support all the British teams and players and then like most people I have my favorite pro teams that I like to support and see do well.

The question that started the thread was how much do people care about the major leagues now. But I'd be interested to know how much do those in the major leagues and elite at CPPS care about the lower leagues? Don't underestimate how much some people in the lower leagues look up to and respect the top guys. In particular the younger players. The more the top guys can make themselves accessible to those in the lower divs the better. And for free. Small gestures like that in my opinion will go along way to making the top teams followed.

Guess the basic message of what I'm saying is the more the minority take an interest in the majority, then the majority might care more about the minority.

Cheers Craig P - Team Kinetic
 
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frobinson

#14 Din Eidyn
Oct 25, 2011
445
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Edinburgh
Following on from what Dave said, there's got to be a side to this which is 'only get as good as you give'. Whilst he is bang on about influencing and inspiring the community, if the question is 'how do we make those already in paintball, care more about the bigger leagues and aspire to play in them' then there needs to be a degree of involvement from people. For instance @Dan! Dan! Dan! did a thread a little while back telling some stories of a particularly player whose name escapes me right now. Now I'm not trying to say that telling past stories is going to inspire interest in the big leagues, but it's a prime example of someone taking it upon themselves to share with the community and generate interest. If teams were willing to share their stories and people were more open to discussing events, it'd be much easier to grab the attention of those new to p8ntballer and show them it's not just a buy/sell site.

And yes, I personally would love to write more about paintball, about all the rubbish/rumours/team chat etc that I stumble across. But I'm limited by the fact that my current experience only ranges for CPPS (which I'd obviously be happy to write about) and the mills/PSP webcasts which I try to watch religiously. Hopefully next year I can write a bit more things that are "through my eyes" for the couple millenniums that I plan to play and the CPPS series, along with general chat/rumours that I find about the PSP and MS, but I fear that it just won't be of interest. Maybe if someone with more experience was willing to instigating these kind of discussions/threads, they would be more attractive to players.
 

nick

Member
Jan 14, 2002
44
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Devon
www.ucz.info
I think a lot of this is down to natural peaks and troughs in terms of players leaving the game in general. At the same time though I think many players have probably experienced a Millenium event by now and come to realise that they are very expensive for what you get.

Personally I think high level paintball in the UK has never been more accessible in terms of watching the top teams but actually interacting with those teams off the field is very difficult. Players could go up and talk to the pros but given the attitude of some of them they are likely to just get blanked, or laughed at once they have walked away (I have seen both happen). On the flip side, most of the pros are like the teams in the lower divisions, groups of mates who enjoy playing paintball, but at a much higher level.

As Dave mentioned, pros offering their services for free would really go along way to generating interest with teams. Maybe through field walking the day before a CPPS or something. If teams know the pro players they are more likely to take interest in the international events. Why would players cheer and support a team they don't know.
 

Kevin Winter

Well-Known Member
Dec 10, 2008
1,957
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We need more of this sort of thing for the UK

http://www.pblife.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=101:the-end-of-houston-heat

I think this is possibly the biggest problem - familiarity with the teams. I've done a few clinics with Clint Moore, and follow him on facebook, which makes watching Nexus Games a bit more meaningful and fun at Mills. But how many people could name the entire roster of a pro-team? A central center for following the personalities and gossip would be a big drive for support IMO
 
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Stephen

RIP Topcats
Apr 27, 2008
378
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Yeah I agree, the only pro that I have had contact with is Jason Wheeler. He's often training at Bricketwood, or working at LiPS and is the most approachable guy in paintball. He even took time at the end of a training session to talk us through the field layout. It's good to know that some of the pros still care about grass roots and take the time to talk to people and offer advice.

And in terms of the pro teams over in the states, then it sounds stupid but the main way I follow them and keep up to date is Instagram! The dynasty boys are always posting pics from their travels, training, and competitions and it's good to see things through their eyes and what they do to prepare for an event.