The "tactical" rec-ball bandwagon

I played a little this weekend, thankfully. If you've ever survived a Midwest scorching summer, you know what kind of hell it is to play around here. You folks down south may deal with heat, but there's something about the Midwest that makes it worse. Personally, I think it's because there's nothing else for the weather to do here other than make tornadoes and the like, so it tortures us with extreme heat.

I went out to Fox River games to play, which is good on one hand as I get to bring my own paint. The down side is because since I can do this I experiment with off brands. For the sake of this blog, I was going to do a "rough guide to cheap paint", but after this weekend my patience with the stuff has not only been tested, but the threshold was met and exceeded. This brings me to this rant, in particular, about a phenomenon in paintball lately.

Many companies have decided to wake up and smell the rec-ball game. I like this as someone who does not enjoy tournaments, but I feel like many of these companies are giving rec-ball the backhanded slap to the face. They recognize the rec-ball market, but then unload the worst and cheapest crap on us as "Tactical Gear" for rec-ball play.

I'm aiming this specifically at JT, as they're the easiest to point at as the johnny come lately company to it. But they aren't the only company doing this. It's no secret that many companies sell to the rec market. I don't think that Tippmann or Kingman honestly thinks their products are real tournament material. They have stunt teams, but come on, really. But many companies have suddenly looked at the exploding scenario game scene and decided that was a bandwagon they needed to be on.

A couple of companies did it right, like AGD and Worr Game Products. A couple of companies never really left the rec ball scene at all like Palmers Pursuit, but come to think of it they have always made solid products and market them to anyone who likes quality. But now a lot of companies are trying to make gear specifically to throw into the woods player market. The problem is that, for the most part, it's complete and total crap!

So we return to JT. As we all know, JT was bought out by Brass Eagle some years ago along with Viewloader. BE was, in turn, bought out by K2. So what you have is a company that made a name in the ski market pounding out products for paintball. To me it feels like the time that AMF owned Harley Davidson? JT used to be a great company; but they got committee'd to death.

They've recently released an entire line of "Tactical" paintball gear specifically for the rec-ball market. I guess this is to say that the other gear they make, in their opinion, is not fit for woods play or it's too bright or it's something. I'm not sure. But take a quick look over at their web page, and you'll see that it's sort of the typical for companies trying to sell stuff to the woods players. A lot of camo on the page, a dark background, it's all supposed to look a little military. And I thought it was a cool idea.

I actually tried their "tactical paint". Nothing tactical about it, to be honest. The paint rolled out of a .683 barrel. ROLLED OUT. At least the round balls rolled out, anyway. The fact I hit anyone is a miracle, the paint fought me every step of the way. I mean, I had someone's foot to shoot at, and I shouldn't hit them with 100 balls from my Phantom at 75 feet. That's simply unacceptable, and I know it was the paint that refused to fly straight. Even on the chrony range it was all over the place out of a clean barrel. So I took the time to really look again at their stuff, and it really doesn't keep in step with what they could offer paintballers.

First of all, their "Tactical Assault" goggle system is something I recognize as the "X-Fire" goggle system that they've had for over ten years now. I remember playing in my old x-fire in 1993! In fact, a quick look on their main site will show you they still offer it as the "X-Fire" as well.

Next is the gear, a "Tactical" ball hauler. It is two camo covered 3 pod pouches that hold 100 round tubes. First of all who uses 100 ball tubes anymore? This weekend I certainly didn't see anyone. The idea of a barrel plug pocket is actually not a bad idea, if fields around here would allow barrel plugs. More and more, they all want the barrel "sock". Ok, fine, that's fine. So they made an innovation that was actually pretty cool.

But the real thing that got me is the "Tac-5 Recon" and it's variant "Stealth". Let's see, blowback semi, removable handle like an M-16, a feed port that switches left / center / right, and it comes in black or camo. Oh, and you can get a package that includes "JT goggle system (looks like an old school "Softstream" style), VL 200, BE 9 oz. refillable cylinder, VL Proflex squeegee and JT barrel plug." And this is the ultimate "woods player" package. Everything you'll need to play in the woods, in one box.

Look, who are you fooling? Really? The package has a pair of goggles, yes, but the protection it offers your face is negligible! I remember the soft stream goggles from back in the day, and I remember helping some guy with a bloody nose because of them! This is what I'm talking about. Instead of offering something with adequate protection and usefulness, they give us junk. The hopper, plug and tank, that's cool. I'll even be happy with the squeegee too. But it's still useless as a complete player package. Fine, it's a beginner's package, but can't you do better?

Oh, and under the main catalog JT sells a camo "do-rag" with a black mesh liner that goes over your head. And it has a big "JT" logo on the black mesh. Yeah, really tactical. The website photo shows black, but the real product has the logo on it. Seen it MANY times myself.

And since I'm on the topic; Why does JT and other companies jumping on the bandwagon all do their stuff "mil-sim" style? For example, the "Tac-5 Recon" will be coming out with a barrel sleeve to make it look more like a real firearm. Why? I don't want everything I own to be militaristic. I want it to work, and I want it to work well. I guess some people care and want to mod out their gear to look like a real gun, but I have no interest in it.

Something else I find humorous. Dave Youngblood once said he was proud that his company was taking paintball out of the woods and into the arenas. So what do I see of on paintballgear.com? CAMO DYE PANTS. Not C5's, but they're being sold not as casual wear, but as playing gear. Then again, I find it funny that tournament players scream about how recballers give paintball a bad name then rush to buy camo ball caps from Empire and Bunker King so they can look "old school".

By the way kids, a do-rag with mesh is not a "Sandana". "Sandana" was a company that sold head coverings in the style of do-rags but they were solid cloth material. A year or so into their existence they made a mesh-style covering with a sweatband to hold it in place. Wearing one does not make you old school or even look old school. It makes you look like you're struggling with your heritage at worst or you're just covering your head at the best.

But all of the companies jumping on the rec-ball bandwagon really pisses me off. It's like we're being told that we exist, but we don't deserve or want top end gear. Apparently, they haven't been to a big scenario game lately. Hey, major companies? Here's a clue-by-four across the backside. If you make a decent product that works in the woods game, we will want it. We will use it. We will seek it out!

Hey, JT? If you could find it in your cold, corporate heart to remake some of your woods products, we would buy them. Camo goggle straps? Please! I see you're still making the olive drab Flex-7 and Proshield, but can we get them in a color that will actually not stand out in the woods?

Same goes for the rest of you folks in the industry. I'd snatch up a Proflex in green if it wasn't so bright. I probabyl still will though. I'd consider buying a pair of DYE pants if they were in camo or subdued colors. I'd even go as far as to think about possibly buying a camo jersey from Empire or something, if anyone actually made a logo wear jersey that was useful in the woods and didn't have a huge white corporate logo (read "Bull's-eye") on the chest in center mass.

Some companies do it right. Spec Ops, AGD, WGP and others actually sit down and create products that solve problems that rec players have. But it seems to me that the majority of the industry is trying to jump on a bandwagon and make some quick money while the market is hot.

The industry needs to stop condescending to the rec-ball market. Instead of offering up the lowest quality product and slapping a "tactical" name on it, how about actually putting something decent out there? Just because we don't play arena-ball does not mean we can't appreciate quality. It's an insult to tell us that what we want is the lowest end gear you make. Would it kill ya to take a little time to research the woods style play, and ask us players what we are looking for in products? And yes, I'm available for consultation. E-mail me at tyger@webdogradio.us for more information.

All I know is that on August 13th there's a scenario at Fox where I can bring my own paint. Hell with "Tactical Paintballs", I'm bringing Chronic or Evil. It'll be worth the money.

What's in Tyger CD player :

Paintball and Airsoft

There's been a lot of talk on the Spec Ops forums about "airsoft". I know, you're rolling your eyes already, but hear me out. Besides, you're here anyway so you may as well be entertained for your dollar. Oh, wait, free blog. Someday I'll stop giving it away.

Anyhow, let's take a look at airsoft. Airsoft, for those of you who don't know, is a game which is played in a similar way to paintball. The guns are often replica in appearance, except they use either gas or springs to launch a 6mm plastic pellet. There are "paintball" versions of the pellets available, but most don't use them. The games are usually of a "milsim" style.

Beyond that, I'm going to honestly tell you that I don't know how the mechanics of the games work. I'm guessing that it's different from group to group how they deal with "kills" and "eliminations". But these groups all have one thing in common. The honor system. If you're hit with a pellet, you are expected to react accordingly. From what I can gather, it's anything from laying down "dead" to not using a particular limb that's been hit.

I want to focus on that. The honor system. Paintball used to have something like that too. It lasted all of a few games when someone figured out they could rub their hand on a fresh hit, and it might look like an old one. Naturally in the old "oil based paint" days, this was a lot harder to get away with. If you want to freak an old timer out ask them what a "turpentine party" was. But you've gotta find some of the REALLY old guard for that. It's even past my years, and I'm ancient. Hear that? That's my back creaking.

But back in the day, there was more of an honor system in place. Yes, when you talked to the tournament style players they did what they could and tried to get away with anything (just like today) but the social game had a rock solid honor system. I've played paintball games without referees, based solely on the honor system. You get hit; you go out, end of discussion.

Airsoft, as a game, is in the same place paintball was about ten years ago. It's small, loosely organized, and very much an underground thing. The exception is that airsoft can ride the coattails of paintball into mainstream stores like Dicks and Wal-Mart Many fields are now recognizing that Airsoft players are an alternative to paintball. In my area, at least four fields have dedicated weekends specifically for the airsoft guys. Not just one trial weekend, Fox River has a standing gig with airsoft players.

So why? Paintball is big business, why take a chunk of that away for these camo-clad gun-toting milsim freaks? For starters, they don't take up a lot of resources. One or two referees and they only exist for time checks and to make sure nobody gets hurt when they dive into a hill or something. Second, they don't bitch and whine like paintball players do. If they have a problem with a player, that player is not invited back to play again. And third, a lot of these fields like the attitudes of the airsoft players.

In the previous entry I talked about a field that ran an airsoft style paintball game called "Wappball". It didn't work, because they put a punishment on failure and they had no restraints to curb cheating. On my way out the guy behind the counter commented that I seemed to be an "older style" player. Which really got me thinking about this stuff in the first place. Airsoft is almost a return to the "old school" play where players were expected to do their own checks and play their own way. A lot of the airsoft players are in fact old school paintballers who are discouraged by the attitudes of the modern paintball game.

To be honest with you, I don't see a problem with airsoft. Even the replica guns aren't that bad in the larger scheme of things. I mean how many paintball players mod out their gun to look like an M-16 or the like? So we shouldn't appalled at that. "What about the milsim aspect?" Again, I fail to see a problem with it. Paintball has scenario games based on WW2 and the Vietnam War, so it's frankly hypocritical of paintball to pretend to be offended by role-play of minor skirmishes. I may not like the reenactment games of paintball, but when you try to make it a TRUE reenactment, that's different. But that's another rant entirely.

Airsoft has its place in the genre of "pursuit" gaming. Just as Laser Tag has its place and FPS games have theirs, Airsoft fills a niche and a need. Some people want a more realistic milsim than paintball can give, and Airsoft fills that need. To be honest, paintball players are hypocritical all around in an absolute rejection of airsoft as a pursuit game.

We whine and complain that nobody understands the sport, that the media thinks we're all gun toting crazies who want to train for war. We bitch and moan when the media runs negative press or dumb press about "our sport", and we all scream "why can't they just accept paintball as a sport?" Then we look at airsoft, say they're all gun toting crazies training for war and they shouldn't be allowed to exist as a game or a sport.

As far as I can see it, no harm no foul. If they want to play a more milsim style of game, all power to them. For the most part, they're playing safe (just like in paintball, there's a few freaks out there who don't) and they're enjoying what they do. So why not let them? It doesn't impact the arena game of speedball, many airsofters cross over into paintball as well, so where's the problem?

Do I think they should be at certain events? No. When a Canadian airsoft club hosted a "CQB KILL HOUSE" at Skyball, that wasn't well thought out by all parties involved. Then again the fact the Canadian military had recruitment officers there too wasn't well thought out either. I would think that they would be well suited to run in conjunction with scenario games, or at fields looking to broaden their markets.

And before you say that they're too warlike, and that it's a bad image, keep in mind that's what most people think of paintball. I'd rather experience something for myself than take someone else's word on it.

What's in Tyger's CD player :

Red Flags at Paintball Field

I'm updating this more than I thought I ever would, but A few things happened lately to encourage me to do so. Like a field I went to tonight. Field review is up on my web page via this link, but here's the long version of the story.

Anyone familiar with NASCAR knows what the "RED" flag means. It means stop immediately. Dangerous track conditions. BAD THING AHEAD! Every once in a while, I get that "red flag" in my head about a paintball field. Today was one of those days. And I didn't listen to that little voice until I had wasted my time and my money.

The "field" is not paintball. It's a variant called "WappBall" played on an indoor soccer field. The ball itself is a solid ball that looks and feels like solid plastic with a smooth surface. Now right here red flags are popping up. But they're only shot at "210" fps, according to the website. (This turned into "200 PSI" when I got to the field. Red Flag.) So I bring gear with me that I know I won't mind getting wrecked. A 10 year old barrel and old paintgun, check.

I get there, and I meet the field owner who's name I didn't really get (Gary, I want to say). It's this point where I'm made familiar with some of the house rules of the game of "wappball". Some make sense. Take off your goggles, you're done. Misuse or break the equipment, you're done. Ok, I can see that. Shoot the Referee; you're done for the day.

Red Flag.

Fine, as a player I'll just be cautious. Besides, this isn't hardcore paintball. I'll take it easy and have fun. But having performed the ref duties in my life, I know that mistakes happen. I've never thrown someone off a field for shooting me as a ref. Oh, I've WANTED to, but never did. But I digress.

Then the employees start to tell me that they like to put people on a "Firing line" for game infractions. This gets my attention, because I've seen kids dropped like stones because of a moronic "Firing line". Some kid took 3 simultaneous hits to his kidney when he was put on a firing line facing away from the shooters. That lasted long. I doubt the kid ever played again, and I doubt his "friends" played again after debilitating their best friend because a ref told them to do it. The staff at Do-It-All, however, tells me it's ok because the shots are from half court of the field so "it doesn't really hurt." So what kinds of infractions get you on the firing line? Directly from their sign:

1: Lose the game, 1 shot / whole team.
(Meaning your team is lined up and penalized for losing by being shot by the winning team.)
2: Shoot after whistle, 1 shot / individual penalty.
(So if you're in mid motion and shoot a ball, even accidentally, you get put on the firing line.)
3: All other violations, 1 shot / individual penalty.
(Even when the violations aren't spelled out, you'll get punished for them.)

Red Flag.

I express my concerns to them about this practice. But since there's never been problems before they aren't worried. Never mind that they're inviting a lawsuit. Never mind that the waivers don't cover this kind of activity and a hack lawyer could rip their waiver to shreds without blinking (for starters, you can not consent to allowing someone else to injure you.) Never mind that it's asking to hurt someone by shooting them without letting them defend themselves. They say that "a lot of people go on the firing line" and they like it that way. They laughed as they talked about the practice.

I tell them that I won't be taking part in the "firing line", shooting or being shot. They tell me that they'll put it up for a vote, and give me this look like I'm some kind of pussy for not "taking it like a man". No, I'm a realist. Reality is that you're asking to hurt someone, and that's not anything I'm comfortable with doing. Reality is that I've seen too much, and I remember the things we used to do in paintball. There's a reason the game evolved the way it did.

While waiting for the other players, I take quality time to stretch out. Go ahead, laugh, I'm old and I have the scars and pains to prove why I need to do this stuff now. I'm feeling loose and limbered, I'm ready to play. They call up front, and I pay the money for my "license" to play and the hour of time on the field. The people I'm with are mostly new players; everyone is renting gear to play but me. Fine. Teams separated randomly, and the orientation begins.

First thing said is about the gun safety. Next the goggle safety. Next "If you lose the game you will be put up on a firing line and take shots." No vote, just standard operating procedure. Red flag. But the money is already spent, and I figure I'll make the best out of the situation. If they make me stand on a line, I'll call a lawyer before I'm even out of the building.

After telling the players that they would be done for the session if they removed their goggles, our referee takes us all onto the field to test out the guns. After making sure everyone had goggles on, he gives us commands. "Ok, safeties off." He says. We all do. "Take the plugs out" We do. "Now take a few practice shots." One of the players is having a hard time with the rental gear. I look to our referee to mention it, and the referee is not wearing goggles. In fact they're not even on his head. In fact they're in his hand, hanging from the strap as he's helping someone else fix their gun.

Red flag. BIG red flag. BIG WAIVING red flag with a marching band behind it playing the "Grand Sousa March" out of tune and out of rhythm!!!

I decide it's not professional to yell at our referee to put his goggles on, so I help the player myself and make a note of the referee to bring it up later. Then we get the rest of the rules. We may not cross the mid-line of the field. Any overshooting will be sternly dealt with on the firing line. And if you get hit, you go out by going to the back line and reinsert yourself.

The game objective was "hostage". Each team had a human-shaped dummy on the center line they had to grab, bring back to their start zone, and then bring BACK to the center line. My back isn't up to dead lifting 30+ pounds of dead weight, so I'm just trying to deny the other team access to their goal.

I played for 6 minutes out of the first game before I was so disgusted with the entire thing I walked off the field and suited down. It takes a lot for me to walk off the field of play in mid-game. It takes even more to pack up while games are in progress and turn my back on it. I'll admit I had some lofty ambitions for this whole situation. And I've been going back in my mind to replay the game and I've come to a few possibilities of why I was so disgusted with the game play.

Option 1: Unknown to me, I was playing with the best paintball players on the planet. Indeed, these people were so good, that they could not be hit. Indeed, the laws of physics bent around them, and they could stop paintballs from touching them entirely. Out of 13 players, I only saw 4 call themselves as "hit" in a 10 minute game. So it's very possible that all the other players had control of the universe, and could make it bend to their will. But since telekinesis is not a real thing, I'll assume this is not the case. And since most of them didn't know how to tighten their goggle straps, I'm going to assume that Dynasty or HK did not put on clever disguises and play against me. The lack of swearing told me that too.

Option 2: As a player, I suck. This is a viable option, as I only think of myself as an average player with extraordinary backlogs of games played. It's very possible that I hallucinated when I rocked someone's head back and heard a ball hit their goggle lens. I'll ignore the guy who swore to himself when I clocked him in the protective covering of his Extreme Rage goggle helmet. I'll pretend that I didn't shoot the hopper off of someone's paintgun. Heck I'll even pretend I didn't see someone's hand flinch when I hit them in the fingers 3-4 times in a row. So this could be the case that I suck as a paintball player. I don't like to think this, but I'll entertain it as a possibility.

Option 3: People were blatantly cheating. This goes without saying, actually. I had to remind myself that seeing no paint on a hit spot was normal here. But even I figured it out very quickly about hit means out. As I said, I only saw four people, myself included, who actually called themselves as hit. And I can't believe that 9 players could not only move around the field without being hit, but they could shoot and shoot and shoot without anything coming at them. But I don't think that this is the whole problem.

Option 4: The overall system at the facility is inherently flawed. And this is what I think the real problem is. In order to make the activity of shooting a solid ball safe, they manufactured rules that also made it impossible to play well. But to keep it edgy, they instituted rules that would punish losing. The threat hanging overhead that losing a game means you get pain inflicted upon you made the desire to win VERY strong. I mean who wants to get shot by people outside of game play? So when you know that losing means pain, you do everything to win.

This isn't to mention about the referee. Where was he? Standing out of bounds with no clear view of the field. How does he get attention? Shine a flashlight in people's faces and blow a whistle. There were no rules on the field of play, it was anarchy. And if there were rules, the ref certainly was in no position to enforce them. The honor system goes out the window when the threat of pain is held over the player's heads.

Plus the rules hobbled the ability to win. Since you can't go beyond the center line and there are no bunkers near the goal position, it's impossible to achieve the goal. And since the penalty for failure is having pain inflicted upon you, the players will play safe to avoid risk but they will also play to win at all costs to avoid being literally beaten for failing to win. And that means that cheating is the rule of the day.

And finally, the red flags waived around my head the whole time I was there. I didn't feel safe in the least. I should have known when I was chronographing my paintgun things wouldn't be good. I had my goggles on, the referee walked up behind me without anything on his head to protect his eyes to ask me how it shot. That should have been the ultimate warning before I paid any money to play.

When I walked out, I told the field owner "I'm done." One of the other workers asked me why I was done. "I don't play with cheaters." He said he'd talk to the main ref. But what are you going to say? I mean really. What will he do to curb the cheating? Call a Paintcheck? "HEY REF! Check that man! I hit him with a… ball… That doesn't leave a mark… So I can't prove it. Dang. Never mind." So when the price of failure is literal pain, a few words of "stop cheating" will not work.

As I was packing up the other employee asked me if I wanted the proof that I paid for a "license" to play there. I told him no, as I had no intention to come back. What I then got were the usual excuses field owners give to prove that my lack of an enjoyable experience was not their fault. "You look like you're one of the old style players. If we get an older group in here we can call you back." He said to me. So I guess my stance on the game is flawed seeing that I'm old school. For future reference I should just keep playing through the pain regardless of how much I get hit. I guess its old school to call yourself out and follow the rules. But I'm a traditionalist in that way.

He then made excuses for the players. "They don't speak English." I don't care, if I don't speak Russian and I find myself in a game in Moscow, I think I'd know the basic concept of "I get hit, I leave the field." Then "Most never played before" Still, no matter. If they know how to cheat, they know how to play right too. Cheating is a choice you make regardless of skill level.

He also said he was "sure" that I'd get a credit if I wanted to play again. You know what? I don't want a credit. Even if I got it I know they'd never honor it down the road. I'd like my money back but I know that once spent it's impossible to get it back. And why would I want to play again? Get even madder and put myself in danger at an unsafe facility? No thank you.

You know why I had such a lousy time? I'll give you a hint, it's not because I couldn't eliminate players. That's frustrating, but I've forged on beyond that before. It wasn't just the teams, or the location, or the field or the hard plastic balls. You know what it was? It wasn't just one thing, it was everything. The fact the players overshot and wouldn't leave the field if they got hit was only a minor part of the greater picture.

No, it's the lack of safety. It's the lack of a professional attitude when I'm paying someone for that. It's the knowledge that the pressure is needlessly put on players to perform well or be punished over a social game. It's the pressure cooker atmosphere. It's that they didn't listen to a players concern for his own safety and forged on without a care if someone gets hurt. That's why I had a lousy time. And making excuses for other people's actions was not only condescending but was an insult. Rather than take responsibility for the things they could control the blame was sluffed off on others.

It is my opinion that the game they play is unsafe. The guy that runs it has a very safety unconscious attitude, and the game they play at this facility is a disaster waiting to happen. The safety netting does not enclose the entire field, and in fact the back netting is wide open for hard plastic balls to fly out of the play area and injure a bystander. The fact that nobody has been hurt yet is a miracle, and a miracle that I don't want to be around when it ends.

I'm often times a believer in the concept that you should try everything, at least once. Let me reassure you that you can definitely miss this one. I've told people in the past that the most you can do when things go from bad to worse is walk away. But I'm going a step further. I'm actively recommending you do not go to this facility. At all. Ever. Avoid it at all costs.

So, if you're in the Chicagoland area, and you're asked if you'd like to play "Paintless Paintball" at a place called "Do It All", recommend to your friends they go to any other indoor real paintball field in the area. Or recommend that they go bowling at the alley right next door. It's a lot safer, cheaper, and they'll have a lot more fun. Unless they enjoy having pain inflicted upon them because their team didn't win a game of "wappball". Some people like that, but it's not my cup of tea.

And What's in Tyger's CD player now :

Booth Babes (CONTENT WARNING)

Caution : Bad words and harsh language follows. If you're offended by these things, don't read this. Thank you.

---

I want to take some quality time to talk about the phenomena of "Booth Babes". I want to say this right away, that I'm as much a fan of the female body as the next guy. Women just LOOK better in BDU's, dammit! But that does not mean that a woman in a bikini will convince me that "Brand A" of paint is better than "Brand B".

And yet, every time there's an event, they trot out women and display them like racks of meat for players to drool over. "No touchie, just lookie. And while you're looking, isn't that paintgun in their hands so nice? You gotta have one, don't you?"

Fine, the demographic for paintball is male, 18-25, single with raging hormones. This might explain the state of tournament affairs. But beyond the obvious eye candy (and in some cases, WOW what eye candy!) does the booth babe actually serve a purpose? Not really. They stand there and say "Would you like to see the Intensifier? *giggle* I mean Intimidator?"

I really feel bad for these young women. No, really, I do. Surrounded by guys, most of which look and smell like they've been crawling in mud all day. (And in some cases, they have) And either sweating their bikini tops off in the summer or freezing their tailbones off in March or October. They know little, if anything, about paintball, and this is just their weekend gig. And they get oogled at by guys who can only stammer out "Your purdy." and "Nice guns." It's like being in the cage at the zoo, except the people outside the cage want YOU.

It's common. You go to Comdex, booth babes. You go to any electronics show for that matter, booth babes. You go to car shows, booth babes. Come to think of it, you go to any male dominated venue and you'll find booth babes. I wonder if there's a power tool convention out there. If so you know there's a booth babe. So they do serve a purpose, they get a guy's attention.

But I won't say it's degrading to women, because they have to want to stand there and get stared at by guys. No, it's actually a sad state of affairs when you have to have scantily clad women sell your product because your product sucks so much. Either that or it's the only way to get someone's attention from all the other booth babes milling about. Sex sells, and we're all buying.

But I wonder if they've gone far enough with the booth babes? How 'bout a catfight? Can we do that? A product on product catfight? Whoops, there's the cold water jug and it spilled all over them. Whoops those T-shirts are so wet they're ripping apart. There's TARGET MARKETING!

Hey, if the booth babe means you make more money, all power to you. But honestly, I'd like to see a product that works more than the woman holding it. But then again after so long the paintguns all look the same to me now, so I guess the nearly naked babes can make a difference. At least a little.

---

What's in Tyger's CD player :

(And yes, I wussed out on a HUGE portion of this post. Down the road, I'll republish it. But for now, it's just about the booth babes....)

Paintball gear in mass market stores

Well no time like the present to get started then. Besides, this is something I've had on my mind a while. In the future I'll actually have better writing, but this is on my mind now and there's no real better place for it than here.

Having set this blog up I also set up the WDR blog as well. I wanted to make sure the "feed" system was working out for me, so I checked it over on Yahoo. Being somewhat curious, I also did a quick search on the word "Paintball". Here's an eye opener for you.

Out of the first 20 hits, over HALF were of paintball vandalism. HALF! Ok, a few were repeat stories that got picked up by the news and spread around, but here's a highlight reel.

Man tagged in leg from Drive By paintball shooting

Teens accused of paintball attack on bicyclists

Horse shot with paintball gun

And finally, my favorite : "Paintball terror suspect sentenced to life" And with the exception of the title there's no mention of paintball anywhere else in it. There were other stories too, but those jumped out at me.

Yes, it's modern journalism where red = green, but in the larger sense it's showing us what the outside world still thinks of paintball. Hooligans. Pranksters. Vandals. Paintball players aren't the main problem. The problem is partially stores like Wal-Mart and Dicks Sporting Goods. The problem is partially the industry's interest in turning a fast buck over long term growth of the sport. And the problem is partially cheap gear and disposable income combined to make it worth tossin paintball gear in the trash after a few uses.

How do I figure this? Well let's look at the reality. With $100 in my pocket, I can go into Dicks and pick up 500 paintballs, a semi-auto paintgun and a CO2 tank which they'll also help me get filled. I don't need anything more than money, and sometimes a parent nearby if I look underage. Yes, cheap gear is cool if you want to get more people into paintball, but it also means disposable tools for people who want to vandalize places and things. Sure, they'd use spray paint if it wasn't paintballs. But with paintball gear they can "SHOOT PEOPLE". Paintball gear is cheap, it's easy to get, and if you're in trouble throw it away because it's not that expensive. I used to think it was cool to have paintball stuff in Wal-Mart, now I'm not so sure.

I hate to say it's not just them, however. Skyball '04 we cleaned splat marks off of the Skydome from TOURNAMENT PLAYERS who decided it'd be funny and cool to deface our host's building and property. In 1998 I cleaned up splats 150 miles away from the Skirmish World Record Game at a rest stop where paintball players shot the hell out of a garbage can. These are players who should know better. These are people who don't help the perception, but nobody in the industry wants to say or do anything because it's lost revenue.

Solutions? It would be stupid for large companies to pull out of the major stores at this point; they'd lose a lot of money in the process and it'd do more harm than good in paintball at this point. But does the industry not have a responsibility to the game? To simply place items on the shelves without some kind of message to teach people how to use it properly is no better than handing lawn darts to grade school kids and letting them play catch. I still think that the solution is to get paintball gear out of the Wally-World and only in paintball shops, but that won't happen anymore. And it's obvious to me that the industry as a whole won't take action. So we have to look elsewhere.

The real solution is with the players and field owners. When it all comes down to it, we are the ones who have to make the difference. It's one thing to say how disgusted we are with people using paintball gear to vandalize property. It's another to offer to find the people or report activity. And it's yet another to tell a friend "Dude, that's not cool."

The media loves to run paintball stories. It's an easy way to drum up overused clichés and gang or military visuals. We as players need to pick up the slack. We can't control the media, and we can't control the morons who abuse paintball equipment, but we CAN make a difference. Help educate people who buy gear. Invite a reporter out to play paintball. Show them the other side of the sport. They may be closed minded, but they also might gain a new perspective. Instead of "4 paintballers vandalized a car" it becomes "4 teens used paintball equipment to vandalize property."

You may not think that's much of a difference, but believe me. It is. In one the black eye is on the paintball community. In the other, it's on 4 morons who would have used baseball bats if they had 'em. Realistic? Probably not. But entropy is easier than action.

Future home of a cynic

I believe that cynicisim is not something you're born into. It's something you turn into.

From Brainy Dictionary :

"One of a sect or school of philosophers founded by Antisthenes, and of whom Diogenes was a disciple. The first Cynics were noted for austere lives and their scorn for social customs and current philosophical opinions. Hence the term Cynic symbolized, in the popular judgment, moroseness, and contempt for the views of others. "

Diogenes often would wander the streets in broad daylight with a lantern, looking for an honest man. And in paintball, I would often times feel like Diogenes. Except that I don't live in a wine cask and I wouldn't consider myself a dog.

So what can you expect from this blog? Views from someone who's been burned by the best, ripped off by the worst, and tired of towing the party line when it comes to dealing with these people. Paintball has problems, and instead of dealing with them the entire industry would rather pretend they didn't exist at best, or cash in on them at worst.

This is simply unacceptable.

Am I a "Shining light" fighting for justice? No. I'm just a player who's fed up with dealing with the fallout. The world is a stage, and this is my monologue. Updates will TRY to be weekly, but no promises. If I've configured it right anyone can reply with or without a blogspot account. And the ads are there to try and offset costs of my normal websites.

As for who I am, your best bet is to go to my normal websites. http://www.tyger.us and http://www.webdogradio.us. That'll give you an idea where I come from.