"Blood Red Paint" revisited

this post is mirrored from one I made on the Special Ops Paintball forum. The question was asked if red paint was considered ok. A lot of replies were, for lack of a better term, laissez-faire. "I don't care" Or that it made the game more "realistic" and was cool. This is my public response.

*turns on "Dead Kennedys" CD*

You know what? I've argued against this, I've written an article that was published in APG some time ago. And you know what? It dawns on me that, for the most part, nobody in paintball seems to give a rats tail about what anyone outside of the game thinks about it.

So I would like to make a proposal here. Let's just go all out. Pull out the stops and make paintball so close to the "real thing" that calling it a simulation would be doing it a disservice. Let's bring back the "Wolf's Lair" style of play where paintball is a completely immersive experience. Why not bring back the old catchphrase of calling paintball the "Friendly wargame", but let's put a 21st century turn on it. I mean it's no different than playing some of the more violent video games now, except this is realer than real.

First of all let's all use blood red paint. That'd be cool, right? Even better we can buy paint based on our owd blood type! "A" being like whitebox, "B" being like a low end rec-ball, "AB" is like your high end, and "O" being like your high-grade tourneyball. Let's embrace the whole "We're killing each other" mentality. Heck, let's even make a "paint knife" we can mount with a bayonet lug on the barrel too. It could even be removable for throat slashes when you get close to an enemy.

Next, we'll all use the same guns we have now. No need in making everyone buy a replica gun, right? But in 2-3 years we'll make it necessary to use an upgrade body kit to make your marker look more like an M-16, H&K of your choice, or any given machine gun. We'll still let you shoot all the paint you want, unlike real firearms which would MELT if they were shot as hard as a paintgun. I mean this is all "fantasy", right?

Everyone must wear BDU's. No jerseys allowed. You can wear replica WW1, WW2, Korean or Vietnam uniforms if you want, but no pullover, jerseys, jumpsuits (unless you're a pilot). There are exceptions. If you're chosen persona is a guerrilla fighter, you may wear jeans and a t-shirt. You can also wear specific clothing associated with other ethnicities of war-torn areas as long as you can prove it with a photograph from a major news source.

When you arrive, you will have a name card printed out with your chosen persona, and you will be expected to have dog-tags made within a month to replace it. If the field is on the ball, they'll have an embossing machine on site. Nobody will use barrel plugs or socks, as they don't look "realistic" in the staging area. So if a gun goes off and hits someone in the face, so be it. Stupid things happen in "basic" all the time. You may wear goggles and mask, but only if the mask has been modified to look like something militaristic. This is, naturally, a judgment call from the management. Otherwise, goggles only is preferred. Face paint optional, but recommended. Teams will be chosen based on what people are wearing. If you look "American" you go over there, if you look like (insert racial slur of the week) you go over there.

Then when you play, a few special rules apply. There is no point blank rule, instead your team gets bonus points for making an opponent surrender. Surrendered opponents will be disarmed, handcuffed with plastic strip-tape binders, and marched back to base. Once there, they can, at the discretion of the capturing team, be interrogated in any way that is deemed fit. a referee "adviser" will watch the interrogation to make sure it does not leave any long-lasting wounds or marks. Any player who permanently injures another during an interrogation will be thrown out for the day. And the waiver you sign hold the field harmless for any injuries through interrogation. Really, it does. Srsly. k thx bi.

If you are hit in the chest of head, you're dead. You can not move, and you have to have your body dragged back to a staging area. Once there, you will receive your death certificate and be escorted back to your vehicle as you are done for the day. If all your party is killed, you are given your exit papers and you must leave the premises. If you come back, you must have a different "character" in mind.

If you get hit in the arm or belly, you're wounded. You can heal yourself, or have a medic heal you. But you may not use that limb anymore. If you return to the field on later weekends, your wound will still be in effect until the "natural" heal time has taken effect. 2 months or so should be enough, I mean this is all just "for fun" right? Any gun hit disables the gun. You have to spend money (real money, not fake stuff) to get it "fixed" before you can play with it at the field ever again. The gunsmith will fix the damaged gun (wipe it off) and return it to you.

And cheaters? Well if you get caught cheating let's say that the punishment will be worse than any interrogation a player can come up with. And you will be gently persuaded to never cheat again, let alone come back to the field.

So let's do this, really. Let's make paintball more "realistic". Let's embrace the war-like ideals and the "we love combat" mentality. And when the press grills us, and the law-makers make the citizens terrified of us, and laws are passed to regulate paintball we can take the usual paintball stance of "WE have no idea why you hate us! We're just having fun! We're not doing anything wrong! You'd understand if you played once! Paintball isn't like war!" But it is when you intentionally blur the lines.

Perception is half the reason that paintball is still held in disdain by people with some governmental power. We learned this back in the 90's and worked to change the image of paintball. "We" because all the players did what we could. We stopped talking about "guns", calling them "markers". We didn't talk about "kills" and "bullets", we changed the field locations and toned down on the para-military look. And now, we've come full circle. ESPN airs players talking about "killing" the other players with their "gats", and the rec-ball world wants to make the game more "realistic", as if playing paintball wasn't "extreme" enough.

"Blood red paint" is a small thing, but it blurs that line. Paintball ceases to be a sport and becomes mock combat, if only in the eyes of a paranoid lawmaker. Seen it before, listening to the Wisconsin DNR "expert researcher" who lectured to a group of lawmakers about how paintball warriors would storm the woods using fully-automatic machine paintguns and shoot blood red paint at each other in order to kill opponents. Sobering moment for all us players, industry types and field owners in attendance, because he passed this off as absolute truth.

There's a reason that we tried to get rid of these perceptions back in the 90's. Yes, it's a pain in the tail. Yes, it's overly "PC". Yes, a lot of us didn't like changing the language to suit people who didn't even play paintball. But you know what? If it means that a person in political power doesn't get the wrong impression about paintball and decides to not throw paintball markers into a proposed ban or regulation of firearms, I'll inconvenience myself and call it an "elimination" instead of a "kill".

Oh, and before you say this is unrealistic, ask "AussieBloke" about his gun cabinet.

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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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