It's late, it's long, so if I missed anything . . .
Originally posted by Wadidiz
The new, much debated, marker rule has just been added to PSP's rulebook (from PSP's website):
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A---3.5. A marker may fire at a maximum rate of fifteen balls per second.
B---3.5.1. A player on the field of play during a game whose marker shoots more than one paintball within 60 milliseconds will receive a gross penalty.
3.5.2. A player on the field of play during a game whose marker shoots more than one paintball within 65 milliseconds will be assessed a minor penalty.
C---3.5.3. A player who carries a marker onto the field of play that can shoot more than one paintball within 60 milliseconds will receive a gross penalty and a minor suspension.
D---3.6. A marker may fire no more than three shots per press and release of the trigger, and no more than three shots between presses of the trigger. A player who carries a marker onto the field of play that fires more than three shots per press and release of the trigger, or more than three shots between two presses of the trigger, will receive a gross penalty and a minor suspension.
E---3.7. A marker that has not been fired within the previous second may fire no more than one shot per press and release of the trigger until after the marker has been fired three times. A player who caries a marker onto the field of play that will fire more than one shot per press and release of the trigger before the marker is fired three times will receive a gross penalty and a minor suspension.
F--- The rate will be measured by the shortest time between two shots. Players whose markers have no electronic components and fire no more than one shot per press and release of the trigger will not be penalized under 3.5. (If you have a mechanical marker and your trigger is slightly sloppy, but you never fire faster than 65 ms between shots, you’re ok.
G---If you have a mechanical marker that sometimes fires faster than 65 ms between shots and your trigger is absolutely, positively, no-slop-whatsoever semi-auto, you’re ok. If you have a bouncy trigger and exceed 15 bps you’ll be penalized.)
Timer reading of 60 milliseconds or less. (16.7 bps)
Timer reading of 66 milliseconds is ok, 65 is not. (15.2 bps)
H---Markers will be checked before/after game play. There will be no penalty due to this rule if the only way to get a marker to fire faster than 16.7 bps is to actually pull the trigger faster than 16.7 bps. This penalty is in addition to any in-game penalties, so if a player is pulled for breaking the limit in the game, and then the marker is checked after the game and found to shoot faster than 60 ms between shots, the player will get an additional gross penalty.
I---Shots may not be buffered past trigger pulls – if you pull the trigger, the marker fires, and you pull the trigger again, the marker may only fire three more times, not five.
J---If the trigger is pulled one, two or three times, the marker may fire no more than the number of times the trigger is pulled. The marker may fire up to three balls per pull after that. If the marker is not fired for a second, the trigger must again be pulled three times before the marker may fire more than one shot per pull.
K---Essentially, anything that can adjust velocity, shot mode, de-bounce, etc, must be locked-down so it can’t be changed on the field.
Let me say off the top I approve of the ideas behind these rules and the need for something like this, at this point in time. I think it's broadly the right approach but I have real doubts about these specific rules as written.
A--cool so far.
B--this suggests--and in fact means--that the time between any two shots must be in keeping with the 15 bps cap. (More on this in a second.) And that--in addition to on field penalties makes the user liable to additional penalty after the fact.
C--the distinction made in 3.5.3 is one of potential, not actuality. That means it is possible for you to be penalized and suspended if your gun is determined to be capable of being in violation of the rules whether you were or not in actual practice. (Just how is that to be determined?)
I'm guessing this is included primarily because of the remaining fear of circumventing these rules during play using coded, programmable cheats. This in effect comes close to requiring a PSP compliant board.
D--this is simply unclear while trying to cover every possible base. More with the "capability" and which is it--3 shots for each press and release or 3 shots between to two presses? In order to press the trigger the second time you had to release it once, right? Unless the
between refers to some degree of bounce in which case it better not actuate faster than every 66 milliseconds.
E--This is a conditional requirement and is more sloppy writing. The intent seems to be similar to the NXL requirement but isn't clear particularly given the preceding rules. What it means to say is that upon initial activation or any time thereafter when there is a lapse in firing of a second or more the gun will revert to the three single shot sequence. But it doesn't say that and just adds to the potential confusion. Nor, of course, is this relevant if the gun in question is semi only--unless it's "capable" of bounce in which case it's potentially in violation--though that too isn't (I presume) the spirit of the rule--but the letter.
F--this is the wrong way to do it for a number of reasons particularly if you're gonna allow for as many methods as possible. It should be an average over a range of shots, say 5-7 minimum. Otherwise, lots of markers may readily fall into the "faster than allowed" category not on the basis of actual, sustained ROF but on the basis of a fractional measurement. As has been noted many times elsewhere lots of markers registered misleading ROF values using the same standard and now players are to be penalized using this same standard? It seems ill-advised. There is also the question as to whether or not this means of measurement refers only to mechanical trigger guns since that is the other reference in this subhead of 3.7. I don't believe that to be the intent however. Note too, that it is a MECHANICAL trigger gun. This does not, as I read it, include any electronically actuated triggers of any sort.
G--What exactly is the concern over slop with a purely mechanical trigger? (And what is the definition of 'slop' for purposes of rules interpretation?)
H--If there is a cap how does a marker fire faster than the cap unless it's illegal by rule? And if such a semi-only gun isn't illegal how come the player can be pulled during the game (but not penalized as well after the fact)?
I--what this amounts to is NO BUFFERING but since the new rules allow quasi-ramping or burst fire modes any marker will be judged to be buffering if it fires in a manner outside the rules. This may, in fact, not actually be buffering but since some element of ramping is okay they can't really tell in ordinary legal use.
J--adds some clarity to E but why is stated and then restated, and in neither instance plainly?
K--how does one lock down a button, or a sequence of trigger pulls?
Most of the problems here arise from, 1) the effort to avoid the F/A tag and, 2) the lack of precision in the writing of the rules. There are simply capabilities that cannot be controlled which is why the cap is necessary yet these rules seem to try and split the difference and (in my initial judgment anyway) aren't doing much but changing one set of problems for another. Hopefully that won't prove to be the case.
As for what I'd do differently. First, change the method of measuring ROF. Second, I'd make it a hard cap and I wouldn't much care how they got there so long as the cap isn't exceeded. The reason I wouldn't care is because the existing electronic shenanigans can't be monitored at this point in time. Any rules that try to accommodate or hedge the currently uncontrollable is a pointless complication, possibly exchanges old problems for new ones and invariably leaves room for maneuvering in and around the rules as written. Check for obvious, excessive and therefore unsafe bounce and properly enforce a hard cap and that is the best you can do. It isn't ideal but it offers the nearest practical thing to a level playing field.
