X-ball Versus 7man

[Q Tsunami]

After reading all the debates regarding how X-ball is better than 7man because that’s what the pro’s play, I would like to comment.

I personally would love to give X-ball a go, I do believeif we are to take paintball to the general public as a workable sporting format this is the way.
But at Tsunami’s level we could not compete with any of the teams that currently play X-ball and would get our arse’s handed to us every single point.

As a div 2 or Am B team we are required to play our competitive paintball at the 7man level, which leaves us at tourneys like Campaign Cup playing the less glamorous (to most people on these forums) fields where the audiences cannot get involved, which has caused people to slate the 7man side of Campaign as without atmosphere.

Why not try a 7 man format where the spectators can communicate with the players?

Or dare I say it could someone maybe run an X-ball tourney for us lowly Novice, Am B and Am A players who are too slow, too ugly or like me all of the above and just don’t have the skills to enter the X-ball open with our teams.

Lets try and get the crowds involved with the Novice and Am games more.


Q

 

[shwoomie]

why would you get your arses handed to you at every point on xball? simply cause your a div 2 team?

hasnt colin,stongle,buddha and just about everyone else been saying that when you go on to the field with that kind of an attitude you will loose?


Xball is a great format to play i give it that but it gets boring in the long run IMO. but the good point is that you can adjust your weak points during the game wich cant in 7-man...

7-man wich i currently like better gives me more in the sense of strategic thinkin and game play since its just those 7 magical minutes that deside the fate of your team although the format can be a little harsh conserning advansing to semi´s and the finals but that gives me the hunger to train more and work out my weaknesses!

admitted that this can be done in xball too but i just like as much as 7-man... and yes i have played x-ball about 5 games all in all!

 

[Collier]

Most the players who play for the Sharks have come from an AmB level (with a few exceptions).

Paul

 

[Bolter]

NEWS FLASH:

You will not get any better if dont play anyone better than you. Enter Div 1 and give it a shot.

 

[Collier]

NEWS FLASH:

Originally posted by Bolter
You will not get any better if dont play anyone better than you. Enter Div 1 and give it a shot.

QFT!

Paul

 

[Q Tsunami]

Firstly Swoomie

I don't actually think that if a team is seeded higher than us we will automatically lose, far from it what i said was a generalisation, when i go out to play i play to win and give it all i have.

Bolter.

i do believe that a team will not get better unless they play a better team, but i also believe that for example a totally new scratch team of newbies would learn better if they were playing a team that is only a couple of steps better, than if they were playing Nexus.

Also you said to step up to div 1, we have only just stepped up to div 2.


lastly i have just checked last years caledar and i can't seem to find any Xball tournies advertised, so how would a team play/ practise?

This thread was to try and open up 7man or get people thinking about pushing for a Xball tournie in this country.

i am pretty open minded to Xball as i said i would love to give it a go and think it is the way forward, but as far as i can see the only option i have to play it is to go abroad and play it at the millenium events, which work commitments won't allow.

Q

 

[shwoomie]

Originally posted by Q, Tsunami
Firstly Swoomie

I don't actually think that if a team is seeded higher than us we will automatically lose, far from it what i said was a generalisation, when i go out to play i play to win and give it all i have.


Q

i know that and think everybody does that in a game....its just the thought you mentioned i the first post

"But at Tsunami’s level we could not compete with any of the teams that currently play X-ball and would get our arse’s handed to us every single point."

thats what lifted my eye brow! nothing personal just came curious and a little buggered by it! but as collier and bolter said go out and try it you dont know if youre good at it or not until you try it out!!

 

[stongle]

Whilst a different mindset is required fro X Ball, one other factor should be understood.

We play the same field every point, and we get to practice it before hand. What your seeing as a spectator looks to be a load of crazy gun fighting mofo's pulling the crazy zen shiznit all done in about 15 secs flat. It's not that simple. We generally have seen the field will beforehand, played it so have a huge advantage as far as knowing shooting lanes and whose going well. Primaries are generally known well in advance as the lanes people will be shooting. Of course adaptation on field takes place but there are a lot of "known constants" in X Ball you don't get in 7 man.

You don't have to have complex game plans, just knowing the lanes and blind spots is enough. Also being a mirrored field, it's fairly easy to predict what the opposition is going to do. So again what may look Zen, is really a known quantity. It's allot of repetition, through practice to the games itself. This speeds up the games to a point where the team that gets to impose dominance generally will finish the game quickly.

Take away the preplanning and practice of the field and just show people the field before play will probably result in long drawn out points and very low score lines. You'll end up learning the field by trial and error in a live game situation. Approach X Ball with no preparation and you're basically playing 5 man with a lot of bunkers.

I'm not trying to put people of X Ball, but there is a lot of misconception. Some people see it as an individual game, with players "show boating", if anything it's the exact opposite. Players are busting move because of 100% reliance or belief that the team mates are doing their jobs. If your team mate behind you says go, you don't think you do. After playing all Millennium X ball events this year, this is the first time I trusted my team mates 100%, and I probably played the best I have all year. You can't practice teamwork, you just have to put faith in other people, and that's not as easy as it sounds.

X ball seems to have caused quite a stir as it's the first time the home crowd have seen it played out for real, with pro teams. What you see, is just scratching the surface. Of course it looks mustard, you're seeing teams blow the crap out of each other in fast paced games, players are pulling run throughs n' sh*t, but a lot of factors have gone into making that possible. A lot of us have been immensely fortunate to play X Ball this year, cos it should have been well outside our ability envelope, so this may sound hypocritical or elitist, but X Ball I believe was always intended as a super Pro or exhibition format. You need access to a full field for practice, you have to shoot a high quality ball, you have to have support staff and coach's, you have to have a large squad and you have to have a leadership structure 15 players with different opinions will cause you serious issues! Even if you put all these together, there's no guarantee you're gonna rock the house plus you will lose some of the variation involved in 7 man.

It would be great for a more established X Ball league or format to take hold in Europe, but you need think long and hard before you do so. Campaign really was the tip of the iceberg, but maybe it will make people start thinking how it "could" impact there game.

Anyway, it's all getting far to serious, let's go back to debating Samurai Cats.

 

[Collier]

Does a Samurai cats breath smell of cat food?

Paul

 

[Niceboy]

so what you are telling the likes of Q, Tsunami and his team is that unless they have a field of their own to practice on, and are superpro's they might as well not bother even thinking about playing Xball, this does smack of elitism

someone else said to give it a go, how can they if they haven't got a field to train on, thus preparing to find the lanes and breakouts you mention.

none of you seem to be helping, just trying to keep Xball to yourselves, the chosen few.

FCUK this is just like when we went from pump to semi, and woodsball to sup'air, the more you hold this up the longer it will take for the sport of Paintball to be recognised as not being a bunch of blokes in camo running round the woods.

i don't mean to stir this up but the guys trying to suggest a way we can all benefit in the future.


Flame me all you like

Nicey