The "Photon Problem" in paintball

I went to a "Family Fun Center" last night to play. In reality, I wasn't expecting anyone to be there. But, it was a shot in the dark that got me away from the computer so it can't all be bad. I got there, and predictably nobody was there. That's ok, I ended up walking the field and talking with the refs.

But just listening to the refs and what they were saying was an eye opener. "Oh, yeah, these two guys were here earlier. They didn't have anything special. Just Piranha's." So I asked what was special. "Any gun over $800. Those guns are better". So I decided to mess with this guy's head and ask what made a gun better. "I don't know. Just BETTER." Eventually, I figured out what he meant by "better". Anything you'd wander into a tournament with was "better" than everything else.

But it really made me think on the way back out. In three years this location has gone from being a rec-ball "for fun" area to a tourney course. Partially because the location owner's son plays tournaments, but mostly because the tournament players are the loudest complainers when it comes to what they want and demanding they get it. And it's more than a little depressing, really. The reason is that I've seen this before. It's the "Photon Problem".

Back in my youth, I played a laser-tag game called "Photon". It was fun, but there was a problem. There was a group of players who played there 2-3 times a week in their mid-week league. They were called "Leaguers" by the rest of us. They were the minority of players, but since they were always there, and were the most vocal about getting the most for their money, it was assumed that they spent more money than the average player, they got "rewards" and "bonuses", and not just free mugs and t-shirts.

After a while, the "leaguers" had run of the location. Since the staff, including the manager, would give them what they wanted at will, they effectively drove away all the "for fun" players. They had the place to themselves, and they liked it that way. But without fresh meat to beat up on, the "leaguers" eventually got bored and stopped playing. This left "Photon" without ANY players, and they closed their doors after a few years.

Thing is, I'm seeing it happen again.

Last year this paintball field created a "BYOP" night, and now they have two nights they do this. And, apparently, two local teams show up and hog the course, so nobody else can play. They just got HPA fills so the tourney guys would have them, not for ease of tank fills. They went from "hyperball" pipes to the old "sup-air" tube filed to a full-blown "x-ball" field because it's what the tournament players wanted.

They've also shifted their focus from the "tourists" who play mini-golf & drive go-karts (who the refs deem "boring to watch" and they hate it when the "newbs" show up) to the local "D-3/D-2" tourney scene. They're even building a second airball field on grass, trying to make it faithful to the "field of the month" tournament scene. And they'll put the "old, crappy airball field" up as well, so that the "tourists" can have a place to play out of the way of the real players.

And I hate to say this, but this is the cycle. The FIELD is driving away money to focus on what they think will bring them more money. They think the vocal minority of tournament style players is the majority, and they're catering to them. Meanwhile, the attitude towards the renter kids I get from the staff is "go play lazer tag n00b".

The ref even told me that the location loses money on these nights, as the main teams that show up to BYOP nights are sponsored by the field. This means they get field fee comped and paint at 50% cost at what the field buys it at. The field drives away the recreational dollar on the busiest night of the week, and they do so happily, to lose money to tournament players who, by the ref's admission, get into fights in front of the families who are in the area.

It wouldn't be so comical to me if I haven't seen this pattern before.

What's not understood by most people is the distribution of money. A tournament player, on average, spends more money than any other player on paintball. When you play every week and drop $50 to do so, then yes you're spending a lot more money than the rec-baller who plays 4 times a summer. However, as a group, tournament PLAYERS do not spend as much as the recreational players.

See, tournament players always want more. And they, as a group, will follow the promises of a better deal. I can point at several teams locally who abandoned their home field to go to another one that promised "paint at $10 cheaper a case". Or they'll chase a sponsorship deal that saves them money on this year's outfit or whatever. Tournament teams are rather notorious for their lack of loyalty. And all power to them, tournament paintball is a business, they follow the money.

Recreational players, however, tend to be loyal to one field. They get the gear they want, because they intend to play with it for a long time, and they just play. And they may not come back every week, but they always come back, year after year. And they bring friends.

What happens when you drive this guy away? In the short term, nothing. In the long term, this one guy can impact 5-10 people. And that's another 5-10 people who could impact another 50-100 people. The ripple is quite staggering when you go 4-5 steps out. Plus when you cater to one style of play, the word gets out fast. "Don't go there, the guys with the screaming e-guns go there. You'll get killed." And they find somewhere else to go. And they tell other people not to go to your place.

Plus add the burnout to the mix. The average "lifespan" of a tournament player is 2 years or so. Emphasis on "average". Meaning most of the guys you see copping an attitude on the field of play won't be there in 2 years. They'll move on after paintball is either "boring" or "bullshit". What does that leave you with? The rec guys, who come 4 times a summer, bringing a few friends with them every time, who never get burnout because they play for FUN.

Catering to one crowd or the other is vocational suicide. It's like opening an ice cream place that only sells chocolate. You'll have your fans, but without variety you're going to lose business. Too many fields will cater to who they think is going to make them the most money, and that's the tourney crowd. On an individual basis, yes. "Tourney Joe" will spend more money than "Rec Joe", hands down. But let's case it, "Rec Joe", "Rec Bob", "Rec James (Bitch)" and the thirty other rec guys collectively spend more money than "Tourney Joe" will. And they'll pay your prices without demanding some kind of discount.

Employees also need to understand this. Instead of looking down on a guy because he doesn't have a $1000 gun, understand he's playing within his means. He's having his fun, let him enjoy the game. Don't scoff at his gear, just do your job and help him play. Because he'll be back if he has a good time, and he'll bring friends.

Long dollar over short profit. It's ultimately the choice of a field owner what they want. But having seen the pattern over and over again, I can tell you which model works. And here's a hint, Photon doesn't exist around here anymore.

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"Woods" and "Speedball" guns

I first heard the phrase used by Maggie Estep way back when on MTV's "Spoken Word" episode of unplugged. Her spoken-word piece was not only biting and satirical, but also bloody well hilarious. And it ended with her saying "I don't have anything against men, just stupid men."

I've modified that a little, and so has a lot of the western world. "I don't hate people. Just stupid people." Stupidity comes in many forms from outright lack of intelligence to willful ignorance of the way things are. Some people are willfully stupid, some people don't know better and appear stupid.

As a case in point, I would like to direct your attention to a video available online (see below). It's from a place called "Expert Village", and it features a professional paintball Orestes Guada, a player from Miami Rage professional paintball team, talking about paintball guns. And in it, he says that there are two kinds of paintball guns; Woods paintball guns and the "Airball" / "Speedball" guns.

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And he points at a wall of guns, and declares after 30 seconds that "woods" guns are good for "range". And the Speedball guns are good for "speed".

Hmm.

A part of me knows I shouldn't really care. I mean this is basically this persons opinions being presented as fact, and that's really no skin off my back in the larger scheme of things. But on the other hand, it's the wanton ignorance that grates me. I mean this is a guy who's played for 6 years, according to his own biography. He plays professional paintball. He obviously has store connections. AND, the ultimate insult, he's a so-called "Expert" giving this lesson. So people will believe it.

Please, allow me to set something straight here about this subject.

There is no such thing as a "woods" or "speedball" paintgun. My e-mag, in the woods, is just as effective as a Tippmann. In fact, I know a lot of woods or scenario teams who use so-called "Speedball" guns in 24 hour games. On the other side of the coin, I've destroyed teams on the speedball field with my "woodsball" Tac-1 and A-5A2, running remote and wearing my digital cammies. I can also recall last winter a group of camo-wearing pump-toting "Wannabees" spanking the local experts at an indoor field.

It had to be the guns tho, I mean we all know pumps are more "accurate". At least that's the myth. Myth, in paintball, is more powerful than provable facts. So let's set some myths straight.

All paintball guns have the same effective range. This is because paintballs are regulated to a standard top speed on the field of play. Indoor is traditionally 250 FPS, outdoor 300 FPS. There are only a few ways to get more range from a paintball gun. #1 is to put spin on the ball, creating a version of the "Magnus" effect. #2 is to use a heavier paintball at the same velocity. The trade is it takes more energy to move a heavier ball to the same exit velocity, so you lose air efficiency. But the extra energy give the ball more range. #3 is to cheat, and crank your velocity up. But this is not only stupid and illegal, but around 350 you lose accuracy.

Or, simply put for those who don't want to read all that stuff, all paintguns shoot, effectively, the same range. So your electro-monster shoots the same distance as my pump gun when we're at the FPO field, unless you're a cheating bastard.

The argument that speedball guns have more "speed", well there's two ways to take that. #1 is the literal "FPS" translation, and if your gun shoots faster that way I have a problem with that. #2, and more than likely what he meant, is in balls per second. But here's where it falls flat on its face. I can take that gun into the woods, and play just as well or poorly as with a slower ROF paintgun. Just as I can take a pump gun into a speedball game, and play just as good / poorly as with a higher ROF paintgun.

Old timers say this many, many times. And new guys never believe it until they actually become old timers and get the point. The gun does not make the game, the player does. If someone sucks with a pump gun, they're going to suck just JUST as much with the highest ROF semi auto they can find. The difference is that the latter will cost them more money to suck than the former will. This is why a lot of old-timers will swap guns mid-day. It's cheaper to suck with a pump than suck with an electro gun, and your "windshield to bug" ratio really doesn't change.

However, I want to add something to the mix. There is no such thing as a "woodsball" or "speedball" gun. After playing a winter with my "woodsball" gear in the arenas local to me, I've come to the conclusion that you can play anywhere with anything. I can take an ION into the woods just as well as the arena, and play my game just as well. It's all about what you're comfortable with, and what you want to play with on any given moment.

The perception comes in the fact that "most" players in the woods play with Tippmanns, and "most" players in the arena fields play with high end electros. That has more to do with demographics than physical location. Most woods players are 1-3 times a summer players, or backyard enthusiasts who really don't want to monkey with their gear. The Tippmann is good for them. The "Speedball" players think they need screaming ROF guns, so they gravitate to those. In reality, they could play just as well with a Tippmann or a Spyder, but they want speed. So, they pay for it.

Reality is that the gun really doesn't give a damn where you shoot it. It doesn't know you're in the woods or on a field filled with colorful bags of air. It doesn't care if you're in camouflage or color-coordinated Grranimals gear. And it doesn't determine the accuracy of your shot. The only difference is where you're comfortable playing, and what you're comfortable wearing while you're there.

But I'd like to modify what I said earlier about "stupid people". I'm not saying that Mr. Guada is "stupid". On the contrary, you have to have some intelligence to play and maintain a "professional" career of any kind. But I will say that his commentary is ignorant, and less than truthful. In his mind, it may be 100% fact. However, I can easily point out the flaws with 30 seconds of internet searching and with some very basic common sense.

All I'm saying is that a lot of the myths in paintball are propagated by the "experts" from generation to generation of players. I would like to think that the buck has to stop somewhere on all the myths, and it stops when everyone realizes how ignorant we're all being. It may take one bastard to point it out, but it takes a community to end ignorance once and for all.

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The new "tourney players"

I've been sitting on this since April. But I think this needs to be said. And I may as well take the hit, heaven knows I've been smacked by everyone else in this industry for talking about the 900 pound elephants they would rather ignore. So hell with it, I'll take the potshots.

I really hate to even have to say this kind of thing, but nobody else has. Scenario paintball has become the new "tourneyball".

It's been coming for a long time, but only after the Blanding game can I really put a voice on it. It's one post among many, and it proves the point more eloquently than anything I can write about. If you don't know, "Blanding" was a game where one team was represented by Special Ops Paintball. The other side by Smart Parts. Smart Parts won the day. But this isn't about that, as much as it's about the post-game attitude.

The post I'm talking about comes from a player on the Smart Parts team. Member name "BoogyMan". Post 175 in the thread, well into the self-congradulations and back-patting / chest thumping. And what's said made my blood cold.

"Well the Roughnecks (the 2 of us that were able to make it) are proud to have been a part of one great Spec Ops butt kickin. Maybe next time the will take it a little more serious."

This stopped me mainly because I've heard this before. Perhaps not in those words, but in that attitude. I hear that from tourney players.

It was inevitable, actually, and I've seen this coming for years. But, like everything else in this "sport", nobody cares until it's too late. When large companies began to sponsor teams, the die was cast. Teams no longer go out to play scenario games for fun, but they play to win. They play to get "MTV" or "MVP" so they can represent sponsors and give "shout outs" after the games and get their sponsor logos in the magazines. It's no longer about playing the game and having fun, it's about "the job" and getting "the job" done.

Scenario "teams" are looking for sponsors, they feel that the industry owes them something now because scenario has "come into its own". It's funny, in a way. They do the same things that they complain about when tournament players do the same. They smack-talk pre-game. They smack-talk post game. They'll push the rules to the breaking point, and play the gray. And it's all about winning, and winning at all costs.

And that's only what I've seen first hand. Post event I hear the same things I heard post-event from tournaments. Game fixing, playing favorites, biased reffing and downright thrown events to ensure someone wins. Then there's the cheating. Yep, I've been told point blank that "Scenario Producer A" is a wiping, cheating SOB when he plays, and "Scenario Producer B" lets him do it because of a political reason. I've also been told that "Scenario Producer C" even uses his status as a producer to get his way at events.

(Why don't I name names? I have no proof. I have "he said / he said". I'm not into rumor-mongering. Sorry, I'm not going to do that.)

Why does this all feel familiar? Oh right, tournaments. Scenario players have become the new tournament players. The clothing is different, but that's about the only thing. The emphasis is on winning, and more often than not winning at all costs. At least that's what it felt like the last time I played a scenario game. And I've heard the same phrase used to describe scenario players as tourney guys. "Off the field he's the nicest guy, but on the field he's such an asshole!"

And what do they win? "respect"? Hey, that really feels familiar to me. Most prizes are random draw. So they're only competing for sponsorship dollars which translates into "respect". Specifically, any recognition that will get their picture in the magazine coverage. And that's "resume material", my friends.

I know what you're thinking. It's just how they want to play. Or "So what, Tyger. You're expecting them to not play at 100%?" No, but there's a way to win with class and a way with crass. The term "stand-up player" is used to describe a lot of people but in the end nobody seems to know what that really means. Tournament paintball has long ago forsaken "Stand Up Play", and that suits the style of the tournament set. They justify that "athletes push the rules all the time" and if it works for them fine. That's their world, and if they want to pretend to be athletes they can do that.

(and before you start to bitch and moan, 90% of so-called "tournament players" wouldn't hack it on a professional team, but damned if they don't carry themselves like they're the hottest thing to hit paintball since water-based paint. Just ask them, but slate out an hour to hear the stories and penis-thumping.)

Scenario paintball used to be the format for people to get away from that attitude. It was the competitive game with no assholes allowed. But more and more, as money is poured into the scenario game, morality becomes the first casualty to profits. Not just from the producers, but the players as well. Once there's perceived value in winning, everyone is going to do what it takes to win.

Do they all do this? No. But enough have to make me sit up and think "I've seen this before." There's shining examples of scenario teams who can be classy. However, as with tournament players, all it takes is one team to put a sour taste in a lot of people's mouths. And I can already hear it in 4-5 years. "Scenario play? Fuck that, if I wanna play with cheaters sure, but I'd rather just play with my friends closer to home. I don't wanna spend $300 to get screwed all weekend."

Now, where have I heard that before? Oh, right.

We've seen the cycle play out before. Now I'm just going to wait to see if it plays out again in the same way as tournaments have. Bookmark this post and come back in 2-3 years. If kids are scrambling for a "vintage scenario team jersey" or wearing the latest "padded scenario ballah cap" or talking about using camo neoprene tank covers to induce bouncers in the woods, then you'll get it too. But, by then, it's too late. They're still trying to "clean up" the tourney world, and they've actually forsaken it and said "cheating is going to happen, get used to it."

There comes a point where the insane becomes the routine, and what was once something that caused outrage becomes almost blasé if not quaint. So take a moment to think about that when you talk about your next scenario game. What's more important? Winning or playing? And does your opponents and teammates feel the same way?

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