Reinventing the wheel. Again.
Paintball, as a whole, has a tendency to reinvent the wheel every 5 years or so. This isn't surprising, as paintball's turnover rate basically consists of 85% or more of the game leaving every 3-5 year period. So with each new crop of players, they all think they have the answers. The real problem is that it's simply history repeating itself.
Like what? Well let's talk about the latest craze of "hop up" barrels. Barrels like the BT and Flatline, where the concept is that you put backspin on the ball to create lift. Lift creates more range. Well, umm, that's nice and all. But it's hardly new. I could talk about the Z-Frame for the Automag, as well as other "finger" systems that were designed to put backspin on the ball. Most weren't reliable for the one-ball accuracy people wanted back then, so it was abandoned.
But I can go even further back to the 80's, when players would put a little tape or glue on the inside of the barrel. If placed correctly, the ball would tap the tape or glue at speed, and get a backspin. If not, you got a nasty spray of paint goop. MANY barrels were trashed in this drive for range. The only difference between this and the BT? Well the BT is $120 or so, and probably just as reliable as the old glue trick. That and unless you had a Bushmaster pump you couldn't rotate the barrel and get a snug fit. But that's another story.
Technology always has a tendency to repeat as well. That's just paintball. We've pretty much topped out on the ability to shoot paint, so now we keep going back to the old stuff without knowing it. You know those 3X4 packs, with the elastic loops? JT did that in 1990 with 10 round tubes. How about the V-forces with rubber gaskets instead of foam? Sounds like the old UVEX goggles to me or possibly any of the old goggles we tried at the time. I'd get on jerseys being bright colors too, but I'm thankful that they're not making the pros wear bright pink anymore.
Sad part is I'm not joking. The "Ironmen" in hot pink. No joke.
I also want to talk about speedball too. I'm saving my airball bunkers rant for another time, but I want you to take a look at an airball field one of these days. Then look at barrels, wooden wire spools, and pallets from those "middle of nowhere" fields you've been to. Guess what. Airball bunkers are the same basic shapes as the speedball bunker fields we played on in 1990! Paintball players and tournament promoters talk about the "changes" made, and in reality they haven't budged. They've revolved in circles.
And for what it's worth, let's look at the social problems paintball faces. People outside of the sport think it's a war game. Same as 1985. People see a lot of cheating at tournaments, no new news here. The difference is that the fighting has become more accepted, and the organized cheating might have been phased out for a savvier "sponsor cheat" system. You know what I mean. You don't? Oh, well, team "A" is told by their sponsor to roll over for team "B" so that "B" can make the finals. As a reward, team "A" will get a sponsor bonus later in the season. Like free guns or they'll pay for the next tournament or something. That's an old one though; they used to do that in 1994 or so.
And last I checked, there is no independent referee / officiating arm of tournament paintball. That's been thrown around for the last, what, 20 years? There are a few referee squads ("Lords of Discipline" come to mind immediately) but I have yet to see something like the "World Umpires Association" for paintball.
So what am I getting to? Paintball has the same problems, the same style, and the same BS it's had for the last 20 years. We've been running in CIRCLES for a long time, trying to do the same things over and over again with, surprise surprise, the same results happening every time. The problem is that paintball is more than often we're so eager to get "the prize" we throw away our past without thinking of it. But, as it's been observed before, "Those who do not study history are condemned to repeat it."
Paintball, as a whole, has no sense of history. It also has no sense of next year. It's in a constant state of "right now". It doesn't matter what team you play on next year, or what gun you shoot next year, or who's sponsoring you next year. And it doesn't matter what you did last year, or what rivalries you had last year. It's all about getting the most out of the game RIGHT NOW. Immediate gratification at it's finest.
Solutions? Know your history. There are a lot of old timers who will wax poetic about the old days. And if you ask they'll even go into the attic to pull out the old artillery pieces so you can see for yourself what they used. Know what you want out of the game, and know where you want to go. If you have a 3-5 year plan, you're ahead of most of the players I've met. Even if it's "Play D-Day next year, then travel to Canada for a game!" that's a good plan.
And if you don't know about the history of the sport, ASK! Take a little time to search for it, or ask on and number of forums about something. There are tons of resources you can use to feed your head, employ the "rape and pillage club" mentality and raid websites and books. Knowing the history of the sport is up to you, and it'll prevent you from repeating mistakes we made 15 years ago.
Trust me; you'll be a lot happier if you don't do that. Not to mention that your wallet will be fuller because you didn't buy "hype of the month".
Like what? Well let's talk about the latest craze of "hop up" barrels. Barrels like the BT and Flatline, where the concept is that you put backspin on the ball to create lift. Lift creates more range. Well, umm, that's nice and all. But it's hardly new. I could talk about the Z-Frame for the Automag, as well as other "finger" systems that were designed to put backspin on the ball. Most weren't reliable for the one-ball accuracy people wanted back then, so it was abandoned.
But I can go even further back to the 80's, when players would put a little tape or glue on the inside of the barrel. If placed correctly, the ball would tap the tape or glue at speed, and get a backspin. If not, you got a nasty spray of paint goop. MANY barrels were trashed in this drive for range. The only difference between this and the BT? Well the BT is $120 or so, and probably just as reliable as the old glue trick. That and unless you had a Bushmaster pump you couldn't rotate the barrel and get a snug fit. But that's another story.
Technology always has a tendency to repeat as well. That's just paintball. We've pretty much topped out on the ability to shoot paint, so now we keep going back to the old stuff without knowing it. You know those 3X4 packs, with the elastic loops? JT did that in 1990 with 10 round tubes. How about the V-forces with rubber gaskets instead of foam? Sounds like the old UVEX goggles to me or possibly any of the old goggles we tried at the time. I'd get on jerseys being bright colors too, but I'm thankful that they're not making the pros wear bright pink anymore.
Sad part is I'm not joking. The "Ironmen" in hot pink. No joke.
I also want to talk about speedball too. I'm saving my airball bunkers rant for another time, but I want you to take a look at an airball field one of these days. Then look at barrels, wooden wire spools, and pallets from those "middle of nowhere" fields you've been to. Guess what. Airball bunkers are the same basic shapes as the speedball bunker fields we played on in 1990! Paintball players and tournament promoters talk about the "changes" made, and in reality they haven't budged. They've revolved in circles.
And for what it's worth, let's look at the social problems paintball faces. People outside of the sport think it's a war game. Same as 1985. People see a lot of cheating at tournaments, no new news here. The difference is that the fighting has become more accepted, and the organized cheating might have been phased out for a savvier "sponsor cheat" system. You know what I mean. You don't? Oh, well, team "A" is told by their sponsor to roll over for team "B" so that "B" can make the finals. As a reward, team "A" will get a sponsor bonus later in the season. Like free guns or they'll pay for the next tournament or something. That's an old one though; they used to do that in 1994 or so.
And last I checked, there is no independent referee / officiating arm of tournament paintball. That's been thrown around for the last, what, 20 years? There are a few referee squads ("Lords of Discipline" come to mind immediately) but I have yet to see something like the "World Umpires Association" for paintball.
So what am I getting to? Paintball has the same problems, the same style, and the same BS it's had for the last 20 years. We've been running in CIRCLES for a long time, trying to do the same things over and over again with, surprise surprise, the same results happening every time. The problem is that paintball is more than often we're so eager to get "the prize" we throw away our past without thinking of it. But, as it's been observed before, "Those who do not study history are condemned to repeat it."
Paintball, as a whole, has no sense of history. It also has no sense of next year. It's in a constant state of "right now". It doesn't matter what team you play on next year, or what gun you shoot next year, or who's sponsoring you next year. And it doesn't matter what you did last year, or what rivalries you had last year. It's all about getting the most out of the game RIGHT NOW. Immediate gratification at it's finest.
Solutions? Know your history. There are a lot of old timers who will wax poetic about the old days. And if you ask they'll even go into the attic to pull out the old artillery pieces so you can see for yourself what they used. Know what you want out of the game, and know where you want to go. If you have a 3-5 year plan, you're ahead of most of the players I've met. Even if it's "Play D-Day next year, then travel to Canada for a game!" that's a good plan.
And if you don't know about the history of the sport, ASK! Take a little time to search for it, or ask on and number of forums about something. There are tons of resources you can use to feed your head, employ the "rape and pillage club" mentality and raid websites and books. Knowing the history of the sport is up to you, and it'll prevent you from repeating mistakes we made 15 years ago.
Trust me; you'll be a lot happier if you don't do that. Not to mention that your wallet will be fuller because you didn't buy "hype of the month".
posted by Rob "Tyger" Rubin at
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
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