Is tournament paintball heading in the right direction?

[ShimmerShot]

I thought the idea of ramping was to even the game out. You can most likely shoot faster with your predominant hand then your weaker, meaning players are more likely to play on side of the field all the time. Don't get me wrong semi is good fun as that's how I started, but I could never shoot properly with my left hand until I started playing ramping!

I don't think that changing things back to semi would make the game more enjoyable, you will still get people shooting ropes of paint out of bunkers, there's nothing stopping them otherwise. Is the mills 10.5bps not slow enough to promote movement?

For me it has always come down to the person shooting at me, and their skill at shooting.
If it only takes 1ball to eliminate a player then isnt the skill of aiming is more important then bps?

 

[Biscuit]

the tournies have got the bps right ,maybe even up it to 12 bps
the problem is the fields they are too small and not enough bunkers
how many times do people get shoot out before they get too their first bunker
if this happens to a player 4 or 5 times in a tournie think how much playing time this player gets in a day this is not value for money
so if todays fields are say 100m long,make them 150m long
if fields today have 50 bunkers ,make it 75.
stop players getting shot out from the break.
yes it make the games slower and yes you may shoot more paint,but look at the scenario big games,i,ve played afew and shot three times more paint in a day,but i,ve come off the field and away from the event with a smile on my face and believing that i,ve had value for money and had fun yet i had spent more money than i would at a tournie

 

[Buddha 3]

The problem with that though is that 50% more bunkers equals roughly 50% more money spent on bunkers. And larger fields equals less fields on the same plot of land. All of which results in event promotors asking even more money for entry into their events.

Doesn't mean you are wrong though. My first game of paintball was played on a field that was roughly 3 hectares in size, had a grassy area with some shrubs in the centre and large patches of woodland around that. Plus there were ditches, dips and hollows you could hide in as well.
It felt like forever before I actually shot at somebody, rather than a suspicious looking bush. Seriously, that first game lasted over 90 minutes and it was one of the most exciting things I did in my life. Didn't shoot more than 100 paintballs though.
That was fantastic value for money.

 

[SabreWolf]

SabreWolf,

Post #54 - I said people, as in individuals. Individuals make teams, if one person is hung over, that will affect him and this i turn will effect the team. Why don't you get your team supported? Don't get me wrong, it takes time to build up sponsors, but building always takes time, nothing happens overnight. Teams need to show a longevity to stay after their first year, first year is always a hard year. once you prove what you can bring to the table in the form of rankings you can express where you believe the team will end up next season. We're not talking about factory team support here, its all very limited, paint manufacturers have cut paint support for nearly all UK teams, which is the main drawback, and with the price of a single paintball at more then 00.01p then your right, a case of 2000 isn't cheap, 1 shot drills, simple 15secs break out drills are all very much achievable one 1 box of paint, and whilst your already in a field, do cardio? We want to bring this out as a sport, perhaps we should do some actual Physical sessions.

I do agree with pretty much that your saying here in this post, however, i was reffering to people still competeing after a few drinks the night before, however i didnt read your post properly(speed reading FTL).

As for not turning up for training cause of drink, now i guess thats something different all together, but easily countered by a later starting training session?
I guess it depends on how long your team spends training.

Post #55 - Its great you saying that, but you offer no alternatives to how it can be changed. Paintball will never be classed as a 'sport' in the terms that cycling and hockey are sports, the interests of outside companies investing into paintball are nil. You find me a Nike, haulage or a watch company who will be willing to invest money towards a team and continue to support that team right through and through, season after season - it wont happen, our sport is still perceived by the general public as mates shooting each other with headbands and camo face paint, and lets be honest and I doubt that perceptions are going to change, not because its a bad sport, but because we've tried in the past to get it out to the public and failed. No other shooting sport in the world involves shooting other people, its just too difficult to sell and promote.

I can only suggest alternatives, same with most people out there and on here, i hold no power in high eschelons to make any changes, so this is why i offer no solutions, if i did have any would they be used?
For the later part of the quote, i think many of us forget a massive part of why this sport isn't regarded as a sport by the joe public.

I'ts pretty much all about cost, it can cost up to £80 for a punter to go play for a days paintball at alot of sites (not naming names), most other sports can be played for free in parks or at a small fee at a proper place, so most outside people will percieve paintball as a hobby rather than a sport.

 

[SimonGiles]

It is in the nature of everything to evolve. It is all the variations and wacky changes along the way that made our sport constantly engaging (pump to semi, wacky automag / sideslung hopper combos, 'cockers with half a 2stroke engine on the front (or 'Turned Back' - gasp), cricket pad style knee pads, no-camo, hyperball, supair, cheater boards to ramping etc).

The current multi-point format and a 10.5 bps limit is a 'pure' evolved end point to have gotten to. However, we have lost the colour, variation and constant change that precipitated us getting to this point.

Hence it is now becoming boring, ...

To quote a line from a song in the Matrix, "Maybe going forward isn't the answer. Maybe we should go back."

 

[Dusty]

Tricky topic this one, as different formats appeal to different people. Some people never had the chance to play 7 man, some people may never have played Xball.

I’ve played most formats and 7 man was my favourite by far. The glory days of paintball with different unknown field layouts, massive fields, HUGE features constructed of loads of massive bunkers. Rubbish that people can’t get a team together for it, look at the current format for the race to whatever, you need a squad of seven people to play so what’s the difference? As for it being a game of laning, I’d say the layout could be arranged to compensate for that. Yes the bunkers will cost more, but they can be re used into a multitude of different formats and layouts, probably even split into two smaller fields as well if required for a 3 man tourney or something. The millennium fields last year seemed to be a slight variation of a theme if I’m honest, having said that I only played a couple of the layouts so am probably not the best person to venture an opinion and believe me a single MS field is far from cheap.

Back in Esher which I believe was the last full 7 man event I think our team went through about 13 boxes of paint shooting semi only. I can’t distinctly remember which paint it was( maybe Chronic?) but it was the best paint I ever shot, a full loader over the chrono with not a single ball under 295 fps and not a single ball over 299 fps using an Angel Speed 04, Angel Air and Dye boomstick. I played a small tournament this year in August with only 6 or 7 teams in total at it. 4 matches and we went through 12 boxes, believe me some of those points were over in a handful of seconds so I don’t think paint consumption is a big an issue as some people are making out. Even if it was you could limit it to a set amount of pods per team per game to keep costs down. Say one box per team of 7 men per game and you are looking at a cheap tourney.

I preferred 7 man as there was more of a feeling of players actually being able to outplay and out think their opponents as opposed to Xball where it feels like whoever can move quickest and shoot most paint, or whoever has the loudest coach will usually come out on top. 7 man games could easily go on for 5 or 6 minutes which is a hell of a long time to be out there when you’ve become used to 5 man games which are over in less than 3 minutes or xball points which last 60-90 seconds. You take 10 x 7 man games at 5 minutes each that’s a lot of trigger time. I played 19 points at that tourney in August and can guarantee there was nowhere near that amount of time on the field.

The emphasis on fun has long been lost, it’s been about revenue. The emphasis on actually playing the game, I mean with individual thought and real individual gunskills, reading a field, reading how the game is moving and changing in that short space of time and adapting as a team has all but gone. As I already said these days you get a man in the zipper, make him listen to his coach and it’s game over. One good snake player can go and shoot 3 or 4 of the other 5 guys and the other players are shooting at an empty space waiting for someone to run through it.

 

[Dave S ECI]

I'd like to see 7 man make a return to the UK

 

[ShimmerShot]

1)As for not turning up for training cause of drink, now i guess thats something different all together, but easily countered by a later starting training session?

2)I can only suggest alternatives, same with most people out there and on here, i hold no power in high eschelons to make any changes, so this is why i offer no solutions, if i did have any would they be used?

3)I'ts pretty much all about cost, it can cost up to £80 for a punter to go play for a days paintball at alot of sites (not naming names), most other sports can be played for free in parks or at a small fee at a proper place, so most outside people will percieve paintball as a hobby rather than a sport.

1) Maybe so, but whats happens if its a scrimmage day, where the other team will arrive early? Seems a little impolite to just roll up a few hours late.

2) People notice forums like this, for example on the first page of this thread I saw Syd of the NSPL posting up on here, even if you set off a spark in his mind and he changes something at his events, you would have helped in that process, thats the great thing about forums, people share.

3) Unfortunatly nearly all punter sites make their money from actually selling the paint, the cost of hire is cheap to cover the basic costs and to get people interested, I know someone at work who went with his two kids to one of these a spent £200+ just on paint, fair to say he was pretty shocked. Paintball unfortunatly is designed to bring in the monies for punter sites, but without them we wouldn't have myself and probably most other people on this forum. A necessary evil? for the time being, until they find an alternative to bring new players to the sport. (was the blackpool exhibition successful in bringing new players, i fear not)

 

[SimonGiles]

People have mentioned ways of making playing fields easier to play (i.e. more bunkers on the field). Another option is larger bunkers. Replace all the pies on a millenium field with cans, and the M with something solid that completely blocks line of sight, and the field will immediately become 'easier' for slower / older / larger individuals, with less lanes making movement easier too.

Ironically, I believe this is how fields used to be when supair first began. The bunkers got smaller to make the games quicker (to reduce paint useage).

We could 'evolve' to capped-semi (8bps), possibly with limited paint (like KOTH), and fields with larger bunkers, and have a format with all the benefits we now enjoy, with games that will be just as competetive, but with a more player base and wallet friendly approach. I say 'evolve' to capped-semi because as others have noted I don't think this has been done before in UK tournaments. I too remember the crazy days of uncapped-semi with bouncing guns pushing 30bps. I certainly would not want to go back to that !

 

[DJForbes]

might sound harsh but paintball is always going to be expensive. i always feel rather than trying to change the sport and make it "cost friendly" which will never happen. lets look at ways you can bring your playing costs down, or ways to raise extra cash to play with.
if everyone had that extra cash then i dont feel so many people would complain about the costs. after all this isnt tennis where all you need is a bat and ball.

most teams should be able to raise funds as a team. i.e sponrored walks, bag packing or even a simple car wash. doing these is also good for brining a team closer together.
cut cost by limiting training paint and doing more paint friendly drills. car pull and look after your gear, dont always worrie about having those new pads etc.