Will we shake this image?

[KillerOnion]

Wow, I taught an English person a bit of vocabulary! Now THAT is an achievement. Interestingly, I got quite a few compliments on my speech while over there. I need to get back to England sometime soon. Hey Sparklie, have some cookies waiting for me!

 

[Wookie]

Hang on....

You taught a northerner a new word. That's easy! Hehehehehehe

Seriously though, Duncster has a very good point. When was the last time you heard of someone coming into a tourney team straight after watching a tourney like Skyball or Toulouse? I haven't. But, most of them will see one and want to play, so they find a rec site or something similar and try it a few times to see if they get on with it.

That's how I started and I think that is the same for pretty much 100% of the players around.

Bouncy castles and woods _can_ exist in harmony, both need each other. If it wasn't for one, we wouldn't have any players for the other, and, like F1 racing, if we didn't have Tournies, we would not have technology advances for the woods.

Ok, you don't see many sites (if any) using Angels on a site day, but you do see a lot of rec players with their own kit using shockers, cockers and the like. Think about where most of the research gets done and what drives it. Ok, so most of it is shiny, but you get my point?

Wookie

 

[Skywalker]

no thats not what i'm saying. I love rec-ball i grew up playing it, i'm going to NvS. But it seems to me that our image has not changed too much, not in the public perception anyway, in the 14 years i've been around p8ntball. i guess i feel a little sterotyped and annoyed that we havnt lost the weekend warrior image yet. I still feel that the public need to be exposed more to the pro-side of the game so that we might go some way to shed the " boys playing at war" image. When i meet new people ( i do get out) and tell them i play, they do look at you if your a member of the TA or som'it ( no offence to the TA), joe public still beleives that we arent a sport, that we were some thing the millitary invented to train soliders and thats all we want to be.
Ok i'll stop now, here to those who remember the challenge paintball club in manchester ( thanks)
i think i took a breath

 

[Duncster]

Maybe we should all arm ourselves with the nicest tournament piccies we can find, and everytime we find ourselves defending our sport/obsession/religion, just whip out the photo's and try not to bore them.

Maybe carry a picture of an Airsofter, or general rec-baller, and then compare the two....

Dunc.

 

[RePete]

Originally posted by Duncster
Maybe we should all arm ourselves with the nicest tournament piccies we can find, and everytime we find ourselves defending our sport/obsession/religion, just whip out the photo's and try not to bore them.

Don't you do this already? I used to carry the like '99 Smart Parts catalogue in my wallet. Then I started carrying photos on my PDA (Compaq iPAQ, so the pics are nice). Then I started carrying around small MPEG movies on my iPAQ. Drag em out when ever anyone asks (Most often in job interviews...)

 

[styles mugger]

U may think that showin/forcin people 2 see our sport as it really is(Supair etc)is the best thing.
But have we all had a think & come 2 the conclusion that mayb people/the public are not interested & happy to think that its all trees etc.Mayb they want 2 keep thinking of wot they perceive (trees,pumps etc) because of their arrogance or their not willing to open there eyes?or possibly because their still so far behind in how concepts,technology,style of play etc that they struggle to see how or why it has become this way(tournys anyway).

Ithink we are getting there,mayb not at a very fast pace but its being done the right way so that paintball can be seen for a good sport etc with no(/major?)cock-ups along the way that cud make things worse or put us back years by getting on the wrong side of people/public,government etc.

 

[RePete]

When I started the thread my main question was 'Will be shake the war game image?'. While this borders closely with 'Tourney vs. rec-ball' it isn't quite. There will always be rec-ballers in camos playing Rambo and there is no need to do away with this as it is what the game is for most new players and other who continue to enjoy that sort of thing.

What I really meant was, 'Is this the main/only thing John Q. Public will think Paintball is (Rec-ball)?'. The other day I was looking for a new pair of trousers (Anyone else go through a pair of pants per game?) and I was asking for 'heavy duty black cargos for Paintball'. Most shops I went to the sales staff looked at me with this knowing look on their faces (Like I didn't have to explain Paintball). Unfortunately they didn't have any. Maybe things are moving along.

 

[Robin Hood]

Originally posted by RePete
Will we shake the war game image

No. Never. It just ain't gonna happen.

As it's been said before - the rec ball scene just contributes far too much to the world of paintball for it to ever to out of style about 98% compared to the 2% tourney ball or whatever.

Paintball is not only a game that we're all nuts about - but it's also a fantastic team building activity the thousands of companies actually use to their advantage every year for employee trips etc. No matter how big the tourney scene is, it's never going to interest that kind of crowd.

Similarly you have the people who just love going out to play maybe a couple of times a year for whatever reason, whether it be for a couple of birthday parties or because of the price of the sport. After all, it's pretty damn expensive compared to most others. Again, these people will never will never be interested in tourney ball (some of them will make the move for whatever reasons, but I'm talking about the sticks in the mud - and there are plenty of them)

Also, I don't personally think that it should be thought of as trying to 'shake off' the image. People simply need to accept the fact the paintball has so many resemblances to perhaps war like situations - but it still ain't the real thing, it's a game. The rec ball is an escapism for many people who enjoy the war image, and just a great day out for those who don't.
But as long as people are playing in the woods, wearing the camo (which only makes sense in woodland situations whether your into the war look or not) and shooting paintball 'guns' as such then it will always portray that 'warlike' image to many people. And I'm pretty sure that the woodland scene will almost never fade out, it's just too popular.

Also, you hear all about people saying how tourney ball is progressing in leaps and bounds all the time now. Sure it is - but that don't mean that the rec-ball scene and it's accompanying 'warlike' imagery is getting any smaller. Heck - what's all this about getting a record no. of poeple to a scenario game in September, it's getting bigger than ever people!!! - And will continue to for a long time still. At least I hope so, because although I'm trying to get more into the tourney style of things I love a bit of good old woodland rec-ball.

Just what I reckon.....