"Then and now" or "How things have changed.." (longish)

[Evil_Kat]

The "what happened in your first game" thread has made me compare my very first game of paintball to the one I played in on Sunday and the way things have changed...and not completely for the better.

My first game was in the fall of 1989. it was played with a group of co-workers (I'm in law enforcement) on privately owned land. I was the youngest plaer at 21 and no one under 18 would have been permitted. We didn't have a referee as no one wanted to sit out the game and not participate. However, the owner of the land offered to settle any disputes that arose during the game.

I, like most of the players, was armed with a splatmaster rapide double action pistol. (anyone else remember these?) Every player there wore some sort of camouflage uniform, either military surplus or hunting camo. Some even went so far as to adopt a sort of milsim apearance with modified military web gear. I actually wore am authentic WW2 German helmet both for looks (I was wearing the camouflage smock from WW2 reenacting kit) and to protect from head hits.

No one had even heard of chronographing guns at this point.

The game was was played both in the woods and in a mock town made up of large pakcing crates. We didn't use a flag and instead played military style objetive based scenarios. Our rules required a hit to a "vital spot" such as the head or torso. Limb and gun hits did not count.

It was probably the most fun PB experience I have ever had, bar none. some since have come close, but none actually matched it. As it turned out, everyone had a blast and no one dreamed of cheating. We called our own hits and played with honor and courtesy.

Contrast this with my experience this weekend. I playd at a largish comercial field in Austin. I knew no one aside from the friend I came with. I think I was probably the oldest player on the field, with even the field staff being young. Many of the players were swaggering trash talking punk in their early teens. While over half of the players in our walk-on group wore either camo or street clothes a sizable number adopted the latest Pb player style of a bright jersey and skate boarder style clothing.

On the field, this shabby crowd failed to work together as a team and seemed to believe that firepower rather than fire and manuver would win the day. Most disturbing were the attitudes and cheating. I saw at least half a dozen examples of blatent wiping. Several of the kiddies threw temper tantrums when they got hit an one obnoxious little snit hurled profanities at his opponents and constantly accused those he shot at of ignoring hits.

The staff was even worse, being teenage "k3W1 D3Wd$" themselves and giving much of this a pass.

I still had a good time, but not anywere near as much as i did some 15 years ago.

You might write this off as a bad experience. However, in my experience it's quite common. It's the changed face of the sport today.

In closing, have things changed? Sure. Have many of these changes been for the better? I think not.

"Evil Kat"

[slushii]

Well, I cant fully identify with you because I have only played PB for a few years. My first game was great and all, but I have had more fun times on the airball field. I guess airball is just more my style, and at my field the staff is nice and people hardly ever wipe...so im likeing paintball right now.

[punkerx1]

thats the whole reason im going stock class. (the crappy speedball attitude.. gets old FAST)

[ZeroSkillet]

Well if you havent notice...us "punk" speedballers with our bright and agg clothing are the ones raising the sports to new levels. "Our" style of play is whats making the competition rise, defining true pro players, and bringing huge amounts of people into the sport. Whether you like it or not paintball is at its highs now...with all us punks and idiots in it...not when you were at your prime. Dont get all pissy because you are a washed up 40 year old who cant make it to the 50 if it saved your life. "Well I would've made it back in 1734 when we didnt shoot 30bps"

[nahthan]

I like it now... only because I haven't really played it "then", however, at the fields I play at, most people do not wipe, and if they do, the ref's are all over them. (I dont go to many other fields )


Huge amounts eh?

What about the number of newbies the newbie who went once and told everyone at work what great fun he had. Two years later, he and his co-workers quit. Why? Cheaters, thats why. So, what would say the "Thousands" who happen to watch TV at extreme hours get more people, or that 1 guy who gets at least 5 people to play who at least get another 5 to play and another 5 etc etc etc.

[pEnNyWiSdOm225]

Originally posted by ZeroSkillet
Well if you havent notice...us "punk" speedballers with our bright and agg clothing are the ones raising the sports to new levels. "Our" style of play is whats making the competition rise, defining true pro players, and bringing huge amounts of people into the sport. Whether you like it or not paintball is at its highs now...with all us punks and idiots in it...not when you were at your prime. Dont get all pissy because you are a washed up 40 year old who cant make it to the 50 if it saved your life. "Well I would've made it back in 1734 when we didnt shoot 30bps"

definetly not cool and definetly not true.

I know 40 year olds that run Triatholons and races, age doesn't mean a thing until you get up near Killer Kat.

[Jaster]

Originally posted by pEnNyWiSdOm225
...age doesn't mean a thing until you get up near Killer Kat.

Careful there Penny... I'm close to KK's age





I miss the old days of the splatmaster. "Splatball" and "The Survival Game" It was a great way to play.

I don't really the like the attitudes of the sport now but, it seems to be leveling out. As any sport grows you always get the few idiots that think they're God's gift to the sport and usually ruin things for the "real" players.
The things I really like are the safety upgrades and improvements. Shop goggles to our current masks for example. I remember taking a shot to the ear. I was blowing paint out my sinus's for a week. Shots to the mouth were no fun either. We never had "real" places to play either. No serious fields. Just friends back yards. No chonos. so you end up with some seriously hot shots as the markers improved. Even when they did come out, they were so expensive, only the true fields had them. Now, there's no real reason why any person or even group couldn't get one.

Things have changed a lot over the past 15 years I've been playing. I'm very curious to see where we are 15 years from now.

[pbhippie ben]

My whole first time expirience is here

[SilentButDeadly]

Originally posted by Evil_Kat
Many of the players were swaggering trash talking punk in their early teens. While over half of the players in our walk-on group wore either camo or street clothes a sizable number adopted the latest Pb player style of a bright jersey and skate boarder style clothing.

Welcome to the new millenium...
Of course you're going to experience cheaters, punks, and other shifty characters when you play walk-ons.

[xXniTemAreXx]

Hey! I wear oversized clothing when i play. :x

[ShadowWalker]

I yell profanities at people who I see cheat more than once, usually. Then I just get set-up for a bunker on them if they don't go out. I'm anti-cheater.

[Evil_Kat]

Well if you havent notice...us "punk" speedballers with our bright and agg clothing are the ones raising the sports to new levels.

And lowering the tone as well.

defining true pro players

Don't make me laugh. The so-called pros? You mean the pretty boys who's blatant cheating, trash talking, and all too public temper tantrums harm the sport's image and actually help to prevent it from going more mainstream? I'm amazed anyone can look up to those clowns. Sadly however their behavior seems to be rubing off on today's kiddies.

I wear oversized clothing when i play

I'm sorry. But admitting you have a problem is the first step on the road to recovery.

Of course you're going to experience cheaters, punks, and other shifty characters when you play walk-ons.

Well as a casual player there are not too many other options.
I think it's a maturity issue. i have been in airsoft for about two years now. In many respects that game is at the point of development that paintball was when I started. Despite the greater potential for cheating that airsoft's "honor system" gives, cheating is almost non-existant. (I'm talking about organized airsoft here...not playing with springers in your back yard) The reason is the greater maturity level of the airsoft community. Also they are smaller and more tight-knit. Blatant cheaters are quickly black-balled.

I yell profanities at people who I see cheat more than once

Then you are in the wrong and if they field staff were on their toes they would eject you. The proper way to handle that would be to notify field staff.

"Evil Kat"

[timmyfreaker]

My first game. Good times. I got a blade for easter and my friend mike and I decided to give it a whirl. I put on the mask and he gassed up and the whole game was me running and getting shot. The whole point was for the other guy to run out of air, then he would switch the marker over. The second game, where I had the marker, I discovered the autotrigger mechanism of the blade. My friend thought it broke and went full auto even though I was shooting about 2 BPS. I think that when I finish my stock class spyder, Im going to play another one of those games.

[Tipp98WhisperEx]

Lol, Evil_Kat, I thought you were banned?

Anywho, People just do what's "cool". Sadly, I happen to be one of those people. When I first started playing, I was the BIGGEST woodsball junkie you would have ever known. And I only played outlawball. Now that I know whats "cool", I buy faster and faster guns month after month and spray paint like a crazy mofo. Paintball is going to change, over and over, and everyone is going to change with it, except for maybe a select few, and those few, are the people who played back when paintball was first born. Maybe some people will see (not me) that paintball can be fun, even if you aren't yelling, cheating, spraying paint, etc. but but you're just going to have to get over it. As much as I realized what I'm saying, I probably will never change. I'm probably going to stay on the badwagon for a loooooooong time.

Like I said before, get over it.

[teufelhunden]

So, evil_kat, there isn't trash talking, 'cheating', and temper tantrums in other sports, right?

Why is it that people always try to hold paintball to a higher, unattainable level? And why do you care what Joe Schmoe thinks?

Because you're insecure?

Also, since there are rules and penalties in place, it is not cheating. It's breaking the rules. Like traveling in basketball... rule and punishment in place. Due to the inherent problems of having humans reffing, it'll be missed from time to time.

But that's cheating, right?

And, on top of that...

quit *****ing or quit playing.

[Tipp98WhisperEx]

Originally posted by teufelhunden
So, evil_kat, there isn't trash talking, 'cheating', and temper tantrums in other sports, right?

Why is it that people always try to hold paintball to a higher, unattainable level? And why do you care what Joe Schmoe thinks?

Because you're insecure?

And, on top of that...

quit *****ing or quit playing.

Thank you, Teuf, thank you.

[Evil_Kat]

Lol, Evil_Kat, I thought you were banned?

Not here, otherwise I would not be posting. I was banned from another PB board for expressing unpopular opinions like this one. Thankfully PBreview is not so uptight.

Anywho, People just do what's "cool".

Only children who are more suseptable to peer pressure.

So, evil_kat, there isn't trash talking, 'cheating', and temper tantrums in other sports, right?

of course there is. And it's just as reprehensible there as it is here. I would fully support greater penalties for cheating in all sports.

But we are talking about paintball, not other games. I would content if you look at our so-called "pros" they tend to engage in more blatant examples of misbehavior on the field than other sports figures do.

It's the attitude that you seem to exhibit: "hey, other sports have these sort of probems so it must be ok" that is part of the problem.

quit *****ing or quit playing.

So very mature....

"Evil Kat"

[Tipp98WhisperEx]

Originally posted by Evil_Kat
Only children who are more suseptable to peer pressure.

Ok, so I am a child who is "suseptable" to peer pressure... I just try to meet the demands of the sport as it is today.

Buddy, I think you don't know what the hell you are talking about. Seriuosly, if there were a baseball forum, would you go in there and ***** about baseball players who give the game a bad image? What about basketball and Dennis Rodman? Everyone thought he was a horrible influence on their children, and gave basketball a bad look in general, would you go in a basketball forum and ***** about him too? Posting something on a forum isn't going to change the way people act, it's just going to get people pissed off, and they will just take it out on you, since you started this thread. What I'm trying to get at here is that bad things will happen in EVERY sport, not just paintball. The only reason you seem to notice it more in paintball, is because you're looking for it. It's almost like you think of all sports as a document, but you just read Document: Paintball over and over and over, trying your damnedest to find things wrong with it. Once you find something wrong you exploit it. Try reading other "documents". Focus on them for a while. I'm sure you'll find stuff just as bad.

[Evil_Kat]

Ok, so I am a child who is "suseptable" to peer pressure...

(yes, yes, I can't spell)
At least you admit you have a problem. That is the first step on the road to recovery.

Seriuosly, if there were a baseball forum, would you go in there and ***** about baseball players who give the game a bad image? What about basketball and Dennis Rodman? Everyone thought he was a horrible influence on their children, and gave basketball a bad look in general, would you go in a basketball forum and ***** about him too?

I probably would. However I neither play nor follow either of those sports. However I do play paintball and have an interest in how it has evolved...or devolved if you like.

Posting something on a forum isn't going to change the way people act

Probably not. I would be arrogant to think otherwise. I'm venting....if it's that big an issue to you, then why read something you don't like? Which brings me to my next point...

just going to get people pissed off, and they will just take it out on you, since you started this thread

if anyone gets truely angry over something the read on a 'net based disscussion forum about a HOBBY they have a problem and truely need to reexamine what their priorities are.

As for them "taking it out on me", I could care less about what a bunch of anonymous "K3W1 D3Wd$" who have never met me say.

What I'm trying to get at here is that bad things will happen in EVERY sport, not just paintball.

So that makes it acceptable?

"Evil kat"

[teufelhunden]

No, it makes it a fact of life that you deal with.