UK Press Release

[Robbo]

I was going to stay out of this and watch from the sidelines, but I have come to realise that I can't. .......................................................... Lets hope that 2009 heralds a new beginning for paintball.

Bedlam, I get the feeling you were holding back when you wrote this out and that concerns me for more than one reason.
I have been told, and so it's probably true, that a lot of people find it somewhat daunting to post in a thread where some supposed 'big hitters' (i don't mean this in the literal sense) are already airing their views.

To get to the point here, if I am deterring people writing their opinions then I really need to take a look at what's going on in terms of my responses.

I genuinely do NOT want people holding back just because they think they will get flamed, especially if people think I am gonna flame them.
Bedlam, please feel free to say and suggest whatever you like mate, i mean, as long as you keep within the boundaries of what most would decree as 'acceptable'.

As an afterthought, you guys have my word I won't be flaming anybody for expressing an opinion: I might not like, or agree with that opinion but I have no right to flame anybody for holding it ...I better qualify this though, because, opinions vary, and sometimes they vary a lot, the more radical ones attracting hatred ..... and so you see where this is going, if your opinion is racist or thoroughly unacceptable to the majority, then I, as well as others may well see this as provocative.
I think you guys may realise what I am trying to say (not very well I know) here, anyways, Bedlam , please rewrite your post and say what you feel.

 

[Bedlam]

Pete, I have to say I wasn't really holding back, I just chose my words carefully. I have kept quiet because you can wind up with a lot of noise and not a lot of content and everyone shouting at once doesn't help us.

But, and there's always a but, I want to ensure that all aspects of our sport are regulated by the same rules and that proper representation is made of the players. I don't mean, give them the vote, but for us players, the board represents the most positive and negative parts of our sport, something that is not always understood because "they weren't there" when the decision was made.

Ok, so cut to the chase, what we want from you Pete, is a balanced and steady hand when the decision making occurs withn that board room. Whether we question those decisions or not, fair representation to our players, traders, site owners and organisers on the basis of the majority is necessary, even demanded. I am not talking about what has already been done, I am talking about the future. What the board do will be questioned and sometimes refuted, but if those decisions are in the best interest of the sport and are supported by the majority, then we can expect no more.

I am not here to question or harangue you for the decisions that the board has made. I chose the word "metamorphosis" in my last post because it is part of our life cycle and cannot be avoided anymore. I do not expect any of this to be painless, but the board (and more directly, the chairman) will come under fire for some of those decisions, but if it is felt as fair and necessary then we must accept it, if we are to move forward.

No veiled threats, no reading between the lines, I just want what is right for our us as a community. I hope that answers your questions.

 

[Codiak]

Here's my observation of the way new-blood is brought into the sport, and maybe the board can try to see how they can tackle this area and retain some of it.

My observations are these, punter sites are a meat grinder, the majority of the business now comes in from the likes of stag and hen agencies and what I call site re-sellers. It is not very often you see a group turn up because they found a local paintball site when looking to play, they have more chance of finding a one of the above and when searching google etc and get referred on by these places who charge per head for the service.

Seeing as these punters have been referred to a paintball site, no cash comes the way of the site from the referral company as they took what most site owners would see as their walk-on fee, referral company earned their bread on to the next. This in turn makes the days play more expensive for the punter as the site hosting their days play needs to charge more for a pot of 100 balls than they would have had the group booked direct paying for a package deal or a walk-on fee.

If we are lucky some of those who went through the above process liked paintball and wanted to play again, if they were lucky the site marshals or site owner may have told them about the benefits of booking direct with the painball site and as such get a better deal. Now hoping they are in within a reasonable distance of the site you might start to see these as regulars and some site owners will also recognise this and reward loyalty with reduced prices (not always the case). Now couple this new blood with site marshals and their friends who play you have the makings for that site to run a proper walk-on for those who have invested in some kit of their own and those who want to still rent gear and take their game up a level.

At this point we can very easily lose these players, they perceive playing to be a very expensive hobby, buying kit is like a mine field as they don't really know what form of paintball they are wanting to play. Confidence can quite easily be knocked by getting well and truly humped by players who have better skills, their own gear and the attitude of laughing at these guys to top it off. This in my eyes is one of the most important times that new blood need taken care of but there is nothing realy there for them, its the luck of the draw as to how good the local site owner is and the guys why are regulars there.

So on we go, lets say they have survived all of the above process and have formed a team out of regulars of a similar level to themselves. What next? hopefully they will have found websites such as Pgi and talkpaintball where they can discuss the sport, seek advice and find events that they can turn up to as a team and stretch themselves, this is where the feeder events need to come in and should be designed in such a way as that the guys who went out and bought tippy's are not at a disadvantage to those that opted to go buy an ion, the format should cater for any marker to be used like "no battle pack series" for example as its limited paint so rattling off your paint isn't an option. OK we have new paintballers, some might like woodsball, some might prefer mil-sim other might fancy sup-air but we have them and at this point again the federation needs to be able to help these players with their next step.

The other form of new blood we get into the sport are those that WE bring in, friends / family weather it be a days balling for a birthday to wet their appetite, get them a job marshalling, eventually they will want to try the sort of things YOU are into and look to YOU for advice and support and luckily YOU are in a position to do it, this form of new blood is not easily scared off as they always have someone looking out for them every step of the way.

I may have missed a point or two as its hard to put down in words, and the federation is probably aware of all of the above anyway given their backgrounds and experience.

Maybe I just put it out there so you can all have a think about how you treat the new guys or those who play a different kind of ball to you.

 

[Robbo]

$

Pete, I have to say I wasn't really holding back, I just chose my words carefully........................................No veiled threats, no reading between the lines, I just want what is right for our us as a community. I hope that answers your questions.

I didn't really have any questions mate, more, I didn't want anybody holding back because they thought they might attract the wrong attention shall we say.
Anyway, lets move past that; your concerns re the decision making process the board employs?
I honestly think the board have a common interest with the players here; I don't mean we all want to improve the sport, that's a given but you kinda imply there will be some areas of player's interests that may not be represented on the board ... but I will contest that.

I can't think of one thing that players may want put before us, or we make decisions upon, that we would not be acquainted with, or qualified to decide upon.

It just so happens that everything the players may want (within reason) is more or less what we want on the board, and I can say this because we have all realised, the paintball product, as exemplified by our previous tournaments, is in drastic need of a radical overhaul and that is exactly what we are doing now.

And the basis of that change is firmly rooted in the customers' (you guys) expectations .... and so you see, metaphorically speaking, you guys are sitting on that table with us ....

 

[Bedlam]

your concerns re the decision making process the board employs? I honestly think the board have a common interest with the players here;

I can't think of one thing that players may want put before us, or we make decisions upon, that we would not be acquainted with, or qualified to decide upon.

And the basis of that change is firmly rooted in the customers' (you guys) expectations .... and so you see, metaphorically speaking, you guys are sitting on that table with us ....

So, the points you make are ones that I agree with, but as you have said" that was a given". I think what I was after was more about ensuring what others have mentioned (consideration for all aspects of paintball) and ensuring that the board is steered by the chairman with a view to the big picture whilst ensuring the future of our sport at all levels.

I do not doubt the qualification or capability of anyone on the board to make those decisions. My statement "Whether we question those decisions or not, fair representation to our players, traders, site owners and organisers on the basis of the majority is necessary, even demanded" was intended to strike at the heart of "making decisions because we can" over "making decisions because we need to". I do believe that it is easy to slip from "need to" to "can" and that doesn't help the community at large..

I am beginning to sound a little preachy for my own tastes and for that I apologise. We sit on the outside of this process and hope that our vision of a unified paintball community is in-line with that of the board. We can take your word that it is but until those changes come tumbling down, we just can't know for sure.

We may metaphorically be sitting at that table with you but that also means that actually, we must ensure that the board does the right thing. Only time will tell with that.

 

[paintballguru92]

it amazes me how far this thread has gone when the answer is clearly right infront of our faces.

1. Make paint Cheaper
2. Let players run their own games

its never going to happen though because who are we to go to all those site owners and thell them they cant charge 200 pounds for a case of 2000???

 

[Codiak]

it amazes me how far this thread has gone when the answer is clearly right infront of our faces.

1. Make paint Cheaper
2. Let players run their own games

its never going to happen though because who are we to go to all those site owners and thell them they cant charge 200 pounds for a case of 2000???

Wrong, players running their own games without set guidelines will fragment paintball even further, the idea is to bring it all together with unified formats and rule books so we are playing the same game wherever we go and whatever the type of ball we are playing, thats where the federation comes in.

And as for cost, its not about just making it cheaper, I would pay a little more for my paint if I knew I was getting value for money from the event I was attending.

 

[Sid Sidgwick]

Totally agree with Kev here. Players running their own games would be a terrible thing, cheating is bad enogh now but running your own game would make it worse into a somwhat "Its Jonnys game and he cant be shot out" situation.

+ making paint cheaper aint gonna solve anything, cheap paint=poor quality, poor quality=poor games, poor games=unhappy players. I think most people would pay a little more if they were getting value for money.

 

[jagerpirate]

Isn't Players running their own games basically Renegade? Or are you suggesting site owners let people use thier sites in anyway they please? Either way its a bad idea and really quiet dangerous. The idea of a uniformed rulebook and guidlines would not only protect investor s in the game but also players as well.

 

[paintballguru92]

all culture bashing aside, The U.S does it and if you ask me paintball is a hell of a lot stronger over there than here

Edit: all you have to do is make sure someone ensures all barrel socks are on outside of the net. and of course there will be reffs to help run the site. but players need to have the freedom to go on the field (when available) play a game against anyone they want and walk off it.