And as always, there's the WDR store. I really need to add stuff to it. All proceeds go to keeping WDR going. Gotta get some film down next week, after all....
A part of me thinks I'm being hoaxed here, but for the moment I'm going to take this post as really coming from a CPX rep. You may remember a while ago I found that Challenge Park now has a "no camera" policy at their field and wrote about it, and other CPX stuff. Well, someone posted this in my blogspace:
CPX Representative said... Dear Mr. Rubin,
We are sorry that in the past you have had a negative experience at our park. We strive to give players the best experience available to them with amazing fields and a great staff.
We instituted our no-camera rule because we now have a Private Photographer that is more than capable of taking great shots for the players. We feel that when players are having to film their own games, they arent fully experiencing CPX. We also feel that it is an inherent safety issue when players are fumbling with cameras and such. The rule was never meant to be aimed at you.
Our Search Sign can be viewed by all. We do not understand why you feel so strongly about this. Our Security staff placed it where they felt it would be necessary, and we agree with them 100%.
In the future, we here at CPX hope you will come back and enjoy our fields. We look forward to seeing you!
Sincerely, CPX Representative
Ok, let's take this one step at a time. The letter is not signed with a name nor any contact information. That alone screams hoaxer. It does, however, read like a form letter. So that works in favor of legitimacy. A few typos aside, and the fact that someone had to enter this into the system manually, makes me really wonder. PLUS I know for fact that CPX is doing very heavy spin doctoring and damage control from the other weekend. So hearing from them wouldn't be too much of a surprise.
So, let's go over a few points again, for the sake of argument.
The CPX no-camera rule. By the tone of the letter above this rule looks like it's in effect for paintball and airsoft. I find the above argument not only weak but more than a little condescending. The insinuation is that players can't work a disposable camera at the same time as wearing their goggles, or that they think that people will be unable to safely snap a picture on a field of play while keeping goggles on or a barrel sock in the gun.
See, here's the interesting part of the equation. This rule was put in place AFTER FPS 7.1 came out. And AFTER it was shown that a media presence filmed games under the noses of the management. I went back to play in June, and the manager on duty gave me dirty looks the whole time. He knew who I was, he knew I had already filmed, and I got the idea that he knew about the proposed rule and was looking forward to kicking me out.
Let's also re-state a problem. A kid has a disposable camera in his pocket. He walks onto a paintball field at CPX. BY RULE he needs to be thrown out now. Will that happen? No. BUT if I show up with my helmetcam again, you better believe they'll toss me out by my ear. The difference? I'm "big". So I'm told, anyway. I already filmed and put it on the web. So it's almost preferential treatment, or unfair scrutiny. Either way, it's interesting that the "no camera" policy was published AFTER I posted my films online.
Now let's go to the sign. For the sake of argument, here's the video again.
The claim made is that the sign is viewable by all. Ok, the sign is on the BACK of a pole. As you can see in the video, I had to enter the establishment, TURN AROUND and read it, thereby agreeing by action to be subject to this policy. This is entrapment. It's like software companies putting a warning on the box saying "By opening this box, you abide by the terms and conditions of this software. Terms and conditions can be found inside this box." So you can't read the conditions until you already agree to them by performing the act of agreement.
By the same token, by placing the sign in such a way that it can not be read until you are leaving, it's too late to make a decision if you wish to agree or disagree with the policy. Even if CPX business people agree 100% with the placement, it does not change the fact that it's still entrapment. I would venture to say that 90% of the players who enter the premises do not turn around at the entrance gate to read a sign. Especially a sign hidden behind another sign on the same post that says "no off-site food or drink". So the sign hidden, reversed, and the only chance you have to read it is once you're already IN the park and subject to the park policy.
It's common knowledge in the area that CPX is a thieves den. You go with ANYTHING of value and it's gonna get ripped off. Guns are routinely stolen there. 2004 two guns were stolen at high profile scenario events. This year I know people who have had backup guns stolen from their gear bags. I've personally had paint ripped off from inside my gear box, which sucks when you're playing stock class. You report it, and you get blown off by "security". Rental air tanks are stolen with frightening regularity. The locals joke has been "I'm going to CPX, want me to steal you something?" You leave paint in your gear bag, it WILL get stolen. It's not just a probability, it's GOING to happen.
And that has not changed since the "gear bag" search was instituted. If anything, it's made thieves get sneaky. The guy guarding the gate even told me that if someone left before 2 PM they'd never get searched anyway. So, in theory, I could steal something before noon, and nobody would be any wiser until 5 hours later.
So what you have is an untrained person under the age of 19 searching bags for paying customers and not knowing what he's looking for beyond rental gear. The first time I was searched I was told that I would be physically prevented from leaving if I did not allow my bag to be searched until the police could be called to FORCE me to submit to search. That's unlawful imprisonment on top of a violation of privacy. And for what it's worth, are the people at the gate trained in security? Seeing that my gearbag is not checked going INTO the park, there's no way to tell what is mine when I leave the park either.
And based on the last time I went to CPX, I very highly doubt they are "looking forward" to my return. My project for the year is to film all my games and document my year in paintball. But that involves me having my camera, which is a violation that, let me quote this, "5. No personal cameras or video recording equipment will be allowed on the fields during play. There are no exceptions. Any violation will result in immediate and permanent removal from the park. No refunds will be issued." So I'll be thrown out before I get on the field.
After, naturally, paying $18 to walk in and $25 for 500 rounds of RP Marbs. I wouldn't expect any less.
All of this is not even counting the "Challenge Park Effect". CPX ran a scenario game last weekend, and this weekend all I heard from players was how much it sucked. CPX sent out e-mails to scenario teams basically BEGGING them to come to their next game. My understanding is that they're giving a case of paint and entry discounts as a way to get them to come. Consider that the whole weekend CPX could not even fill 3000 PSI Nitro tanks, you can understand why players are not happy to fork over the money.
The back history, EVERY major scenario game run at CPX has had air fill problems. ALL of them. Shatnerball 1. MXS games, Dollack games... The only time they were able to keep up was when a THIRD PARTY showed up and did air fills with a semi trailer. That was Shatner 3. EMR has a smaller fill station, and THEY can keep up with 1050+ at Castle Conquest. No wonder Shatnerball 4 is moving to Cali.
Mind you, all of this rant is based on the concept that a rep from CPX actually did post in my blog. Hey, CPX people? If you want to reply to this, PLEASE include a contact name. That will give me a lot more respect AND it could potentially open a dialog if I have a real person to talk to. I understand you're all in "damage control" mode right now based on completely blowing the Dollack game, but take the extra second or three to type a name and make me believe it's written by a rep.
Seriously. I know you guys are owned by K2 and all, but the least you can do is pretend to put on a human face.
I originally posted this over on the Spec Ops forum. Someone asked about speedball and why people hate it. It's not a matter of hating it as much as I know going into it what's going to happen. I said it before, speedball is predictable. But instead of the field, let's talk about the people you meet.
When I go play, about 60% of the people there are pretty cool. They're just playing 'ball, and that's fine.
The other 40% think they're tournament players. Or more correctly, they think they can act like the worst you've seen tournament players act because they know they can get away with it. These are the guys screaming profanity, doing "wiper slides", overshooting people, and acting like morons. See FPS 5 to get my meaning here. These people will act "normal" if they think there's a possibility of getting something out of it, or if they know you're filming them. FPS 5 I saw a lot of people behaving VERY poorly, because they had no idea they would see themselves on the net later.
And out of those 40% you get specific stereotypes.
"I'm-Tha-Leader" Before the game they're telling you where to go, what to do, and they usually do so in order to put themselves in position to get a flag hang or more "kills". But he's more subtle than to just admit it. He's "trying to get the team a win". It's even more humorous when this person hasn't been alive longer than my paintgun has existed. Come to think of it, this is the stereotype player who's most likely to try to steal paint from my box.
"I'm-Tha-BESTEST" This is the guy who knows he's the best player in the building. Just ask him. He'll brag for hours about his gun, his jersey, his pants, where he's been, what he's done... but on the field he hugs a back bunker and screams profanity at someone while doing his best to ignore or hide a hit on his brand new "Halo". This guy is almost always the one who shoots a string and starts screaming stuff that the "TOS" won't let me replicate in print. And if you DO manage to shoot him, he'll talk for days about how he could have lit you up and how you got a lucky shot on his back like that. He's so much better than that, he let you get him. No, really, he did.
"I'm-Tha-PRO!" Every field has one. The guy who's been to "NPPL" and "PSP" events with his team, which qualifies him to denounce any product he doesn't use or isn't "sponsored" by. And by "sponsorship" I mean that this guy bought stuff with his team at about $10 under retail price direct from the company. Funny, they never tell you that their team has never made it past the first day of an event, but that doesn't matter. He's sponsored, he's on an "NPPL" team, and he'll be buying a new gun next year because the one he has now won't be "cool" enough next year.
"I'm-Tha-CHEAT" If they were small and yellow, I'd like this guy. But they're not. This is the kid who watches the videos to learn how to get rid of hits, and decides that doing this to walk-ons would be really cool. "They won't know." and if he gets caught he's full of excuses. "It's an old hit" "It's splatter" "It's not like it's a real game." You know what kid? When you graduate high school and get a McJob because you cheated on your SAT and can't hack it in college, I'm gonna laugh at you.
"I'm-tha-SHOOTIST" This is kinda like the "Bestest" player except this guy showed up with one goal in mind. He has $100 to burn and it's hard to get Cuban cigars. He wears the largest pod pack his body can, and usually has 9 pods and a full HALO with the fastest shooting gun he can find. This guy can actually be useful, providing that he can actually hit something more than the ground and walls. He shoots "lanes", which is a fancy term for putting 100 balls downfield.
"I'm-tha-GLORYHOUND" He's easy to spot. He's making the most noise before, and AFTER the game. He's like the "leader" except this guy doesn't hide the fact that he wants to be LaSoy Sauce. He's usually a front guy, and doesn't as much slide into the 50 as much as has a controlled collision with the planet. He also is fixated on "Bunkering foos", and will rub it in people's faces that he "Bunkered" them. Yeah, really hard to bunker that new guy who isn't sure how the safety of his rental gun works.
Edit add from "usagi_tetsu", which I'm putting in this because his descriprion is just too perfect :
"I'm-teh-AGG". This player will always have the utter edge of coolness in paintball. What's cool this month, a bathrobe, some bunny slippers and a kid's floaty with a duckhead on it? He's got 'em and swears that he couldn't play without having them. The latest marker, hopper, air tank, drop, etc., all can be found in his gear bag, which he could try to make money by letting the paintball rags take their cover shots from. And it does not matter what he used last month, whatever ain't cool is downright "stoopid" and won't do at all. Usually seen being transported around by Mommy, 'cause let's face it, she's the one doing all this heavy money dropping.
There's probably a lot more, but that'll do for now.
So how about woods stereotypes? I'll save that for another rant. Believe me, there's more than a few there too.
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