CPX policy revisited

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.

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