Grendel

I’m not against technology changes that make an improvement to the game I know and love. What I have a problem with is technological changes that completely make over the game for no real apparent good reason. For every “advantage” to the player, I’ve heard, I easily come up with twice as many reasons that it is not an advantage and I’m sure if I gave it even more thought I could come up with more.

On top of this I am tired of the “gods” of paintball telling me what I need, should use, how I play, what, I’ll buy…..etc. Anyone who knows me can affirm that I am not an idiot who has to be told “my opinion” or “what is best for me” and I know I am not alone in this. What I think the “gods of paintball industry” seem to fail to understand is paintball while smaller than some sports, has now become a mainstream sport. The demographics of the complete sport are as widely diverse as the diversity of the country.

We are Doctors, Scientists, Engineers, Mechanics, Ditch Diggers, HVAC Techs, Marketing Executives, Molding Technicians, Designers, Cosmetologists, Salesmen, Chefs, Waitresses, Pilots, Longshoremen, Actors, Writers, Database Managers……the list goes on and on.

We are not stupid as a collective and we take offense to someone telling us they know what is best for us and the game we love. We get enough of that from the government we do not needed it from the manufacturers of gear and equipment we buy for the hobby we try to enjoy.

Let them beware PAINTBALL IS A HOBBY!!!!!!!! We do not need it, it is something we do for fun and if you can make a living off providing us products or services fine, but do not for even one moment think that we have to buy off of you. There are many more companies created that ever turned a profit. There are many successful companies that do not exist today because they forgot who their customers are and did not pay attention to what customers want and customers stopped buying from them. So BEWARE you do not bite the hand that is feeding you.

In this economy everyone’s stress levels are up and I relish my opportunities to play a game I so love. That being said I am not getting the chance to play as much as I like because of time and money. Now the industry wants to turn paintball on its head and force me to invest more money into new equipment when I have perfectly serviceable equipment already. We are not talking about a new improved paintball but instead and NEW PAINTBALL that will require NEW EQUIPMENT and NEW SAFETY GEAR and NEW RULES. Sorry right now I do not think that is a good idea for the sport and definitely would drive me in the direction of a NEW HOBBY.

Since this “debate” has started all of the comments by those supporting a move to .50 cal have given very few reasons why this change is good and most of those do not necessarily translate to good for the player. Most of the positives are for the manufacturer, the distributor, the paintball store and lastly the field owner. So let’s list some of these Pros/Cons of this debate.

Pros:
1. cheaper paintball
2. more accurate
3. flies further
4. breaks on contact
5. hoppers will hold more

Cheaper Paintballs? Sounds good to me even though I do not shoot a lot of paint paying less is a plus if I the consumer sees and actual decrease in the cost of paint.

More Accurate? Again sounds good to me, I’m one of those guys who “accuracy over volume” is important to me so more consistent accuracy is good.

Flies Further? If true and it is accurate at this range good. Though I think the laws of physics dictate how far something will travel at a given velocity. Will the velocity limits for paintball be rising?

Breaks on Contact? Good it better this is paintball and that is how the game works. .68 caliber already breaks on contact [most of the time ] so I do not see this as a pro for .50 cal over .68 call. Lets for the sake of argument call it a wash.

Hoppers will Hold More? Well I guess for some players and playing style this might be an important issue. It is a non-issue for me I already limit the amount of paint I could carry in a hopper because of my style of play so a Pro, maybe for some but definitely not all players. Let’s call this one a wash too.

So given these 5 Pros it looks pretty good 3 out of the 5 advantages definitely would be in the Pro column for most players. Is this the whole story though?

Cons:

1. New Paint Size [0.50 cal vs. 0.68 cal] so all of your existing paintball guns are obsolete. The promoters of 0.50 cal say that conversation kits could be made to adapt 0.68 cal to 0.50 cal but guess who gets to pay for it. In my experience conversion kits never work to my satisfaction. Will some of the work? Sure but never as well as the super whammy dime made specifically for 0.50 cal version. So break out your wallet and get ready to replace your Uber 0.68 cal Paint sprayer.
2. New Paint Size again all of you paintball hoppers are obsolete. Read above and substitute the work Hopper where ever you see paint gun, it’s the same message.
3. New Paint Size again -> Goggles, they are specifically designed to protect you from a 0.68 cal paintball traveling at specific velocities [energy]. They are not designed nor tested to a 0.50 cal standard. So guess what you’ll be buying new goggles too. Even if the lenses of existing goggles are safe for 0.50 cal the vent holes will not be. We’ve all been hit by 0.68 cal paintballs that get stuck or make it through the rubbery vent wholes now think about those hits with a smaller ball. Basically there would be nothing there to stop it.
4. Safety -> lets see the safety data on this. Paintball Game of today is a know quantity as associated with safety. What are the requirements for a new sized paint? If the ballistics are so different then how does this translate into playing the game and being safe? Not necessarily a negative but something that has to be addressed and disclosed before anyone will buy in to the new paint size.
5. Can the two different size paints exist side by side? Think about it form the field owners view point. This is double the types of paint he’ll have to stock, and if he doesn’t stock both the one he doesn’t stock will leave those potential customers out to dry. What about that Ego 09 or LUXE marker he just sold to a customer? Now he’s got go well sorry you are going to have to now buy a conversion kit for it….
6. Flies Further? I doubt the improvements if true are all that much. I currently can shot accurately at a further distance than I typically have the opportunity to shoot at my opponents in a game. So the “flies further” is not very important to me and I want to see the numbers and physics of this one. This is how I understand the physics of this two balls of different masses fired from the same height will hit the ground at the same time therefore the caliber of the ball would not effect the distance traveled given they left the barrel at the same speed. To get greater distance the velocity of the ball has to go up. Now that gets into the safety/comfort area of discussion.
7. More Accurate? Again show me the facts not the marketing brochure on this one. It is still a round ball projected out of a smooth bore barrel with all of the variation of its larger cousin. Maybe the variations from ball to ball are less maybe not. This will have to be proved to me.
8. Do I want a smaller ball with less surface area to hit me at a higher velocity? Also to get that ball to be stable the mass of the ball is still going to have to be in the area of what we are currently shooting. So my gut feeling is these balls [0.50 cal] are most likely going to impart greater energy into a smaller area when they hit me. That is if they really fly further.
9. Cheaper for paint but more expensive in gear then the current paintball base needs. Why then push for it. GREED, if paintball changes to 0.50 cal look at all the new equipment the paintball manufacturers can provide for us to buy.

So right now I see far more cons to 0.50 cal then staying where we are. Sometime good enough is good enough. Sure there are some good possibilities with this new ball. Go ahead and develop it but I would be very careful how you present it to your market. We are not sheep so do not try and fleece us because in the end you will lose because WE DO NOT NEED YOU!

So in conclusion if you [gods of paintball] try and ram this down our throat well….Clay Dirt, Junkie, Sonic, Rasta and the rest of SC Roadkill we might be changing our title from Scenario PAINTBALL TEAM to Scenario FISHING TEAM.

Just remember WE DO NOT NEED YOU!!!!!!!!!