Comments on mwerne04's Review

mwerne04 Monday, October 5th, 2009 Period of Field Use: Just once Date There: October 4th, 2009 Paintball Experience: More than 5 years Other Fields in the Area: Warplay Paintball - Similar woods ball setups to AG, but different play formats. AG has a LOT more property than Warplay, and as a result, several more fields. The game play formats are also different--Warplay is WWII scenario based with player respawn while AG was about single elimination and the occassional CTF. Review: I've been playing paintball regularly for the last 14 years. I've seen the best of the best fields to the worst. You could tell that AG Paintball was at the top at one point in time. I hear that AG was (or still is?) owned by Pevs and that when they bailed on AG to build their megalopolis on Rt 15, most of their infrastructure fell with the move. This is most evident with the Hyperball field where the fields are overgrown with hay, tubes lay scattered like wounded soldiers, and tattered nets lay hanging from the poles and stainless steel zip lines where once some pretty amazing tournaments took place. I was impressed with how diverse the landscape and field offerings are! Some bunkers really need some work but most were decent. Many of the fields need TLC to keep from falling into a deteriorating mess. This place could have one of the best paintball field offerings in VA if they had money to maintain the fields. The competition wasn't that impressive for someone who enjoys solid gun battles but not the over-zealous tournament junkies who believe they need to overshoot everyone. I have to admit, however, that my assessment isn't fair because I've only been there once. Maybe other avid tournament/competitive players can offer their feedback. I would have preferred a bit stiffer competition. Maybe most of the experience has flocked over to Pevs on Rt. 15? The reffing staff was fairly pathetic on the field. Excellent off the field in terms of keeping up the pace of play and managing the air / chrono lines. On the field, they were afraid of getting in on the action and checking players. When it came to player checks, they were abysmally slow/unmotivated to step in and do some work. They also did not keep track of the kill box and how many players remained on the field. Very poor field management. All of the refs had to be <21 years of age. Some were helpful and knowledgeable, and others were not. One in particular had a power-trip/ego personality that doesn't mesh well with providing good customer service. There are other, more diplomatic and encouraging ways to dealing with human behavior. The atmosphere seemed pleasant enough and people were rather friendly. I saw a few younger birthday groups that were floating around doing their own thing. It seemed conducive to familes/parties. The place was fairly clean, although they could do a much better job picking up junk off of the fields and in the parking areas. The club-house is dilapidated and blue tarps covering a water-logged roof. The interior is reminiscent of a dank concrete bunker that's neither warm nor inviting. The covered picnic area seemed outdated to me. They could clean it up a bit. Summary: Pros: -Field/terrain Diversity -Cost ($18 field fee + $10 all day air + 0$ BYOP) -Pace of play Cons: -Lackadaisical / Inexperienced reffing -Field/bunker maintenance -Overall facility maintenance NOTE: My review is based only on a single playing experience at AG. I am open to the possibility that my views could change if I were to revisit it again, especially with the customer service aspects. Last edited on Monday, October 5th, 2009 at 12:40 pm PST