What Have We Done To Our Game? Part Two of Five

The Rate of Fire Disaster

“Reason Two” – the Bullets

1. Paintball guns fired less than one ball per second in the early 1980s.
2. 1985 signified the beginning of a new age in paintball.
3. The Phantom and Bushmaster, both cocking guns, dominated playing fields nationwide.
4. The semiauto was introduced, yet the game remained largely the same.
5. The jump from semiauto to electronic markers created a “haves” and have nots” situation.
6. Field owners were unsure how to handle mixed groups of semi and electro players and in most cases they threw them together.
7. New players were now getting bunkered by players shooting 10-plus balls per second.
8. How fast is too fast?

Setting the Scene

So I think it’s safe to say that most of you figured out that I’m not blaming the downturn in paintball completely on the field owner and industry’s infatuation on the arena (a/k/a airball, Hyperball, etc.) style game play. That’s definitely a very big part of it in my opinion, but it’s clearly not the only reason the game is shrinking nationwide. Reason number two for the shrinking number of players nationwide also has a lot to do with the speed of the game that is currently played. But again, I’m going to go back in time a bit to set the stage.

The first marker used in paintball back in June of 1981 was the Nelspot 707, which slightly predated the Nelspot 007 (despite what some others would tell you). Both the 707 and the 007 literally used a bolt sticking out of the side of the gun to do the cocking. There was no gravity feed system and the feed tube held ten rounds. The term “rate of fire” was never used at paintball fields back then because you would be measuring the ROF in balls per minute, not balls per second—literally. Imagine crawling around a thirty acre paintball field. When you finally found someone to shoot at, you had one shot, or two, if you’re really lucky. Everyone that played in the early to mid-80s knew that better, faster and higher performance guns were coming. It was just a matter of time.

By 1985, the first year I played, the National Survival Game introduced the Splatmaster, the first gun made specifically for paintball (not for marking cattle of trees for excavating) and water-based paintballs were replaced with oil-based paint. These two things are significant because they caused everything to change. The first four years of paintball was played with Nelspots and oil-based paintballs. There were virtually no equipment innovations—unless you count Ken Muffler’s cardboard pump-handle modification to the Nelspot that he debuted in November of 1983. Then in 1986 Gramps and Grizzly, a father and son duo, discovered constant air which slowly put an end to using 12 gram C02 cartridges.

Enter Dennis Tippmann and his SMG-60 in 1987. The “Smig,” as it was referred to back then, was the first fully automatic paintball gun. It was astonishing for its day but it was definitely not without flaws. One quick pull of the trigger fed five round “clips. One pull and it was time to load another clip. Later that year the Line SI Bushmaster and the Component Concepts Phantom were introduced to the paintball playing public. Although both were pump-style markers, they were very high performance and these two guns dominated playing fields nationwide until the end of the decade.

The continued advancement of paintball equipment clearly made the game better in many ways. Markers were more reliable, more accurate, easier to use, and in general, more fun to play with. And as the guns were able to put out more firepower, paintball prices were dropping—and that’s never a bad thing.

1989: Out with the Old, in with the New School

In 1988 Glenn Palmer was working on a semiauto/auto-cocking marker that would later in 1989 hit the market under the name the Hurricane. Then came the Autococker, the Automag and a host of other semiautomatic markers. All were capable of shooting 7-9 balls per second. Amazingly the extra firepower afforded by the semiautos didn’t really change the game tactically all that much. Most games were still being played on large wooded fields (both in tournaments and rec play) and as we moved into the early 1990s most everyone was shooting guns of about the same quality. For several years there were no real innovations—except for the introduction of the VL-2000, the first electronic hopper hit the market. For those not playing at the time, the VL-2000 was the first commercial electronic hopper and the first commercial hopper that did not rely on gravity for feeding.

And Then It Happened

By the mid-1990s Smart Parts introduced their Shocker electronic marker and within a few years a major change happened in paintball. For the first time ever the game was divided by the equipment players were using. The “haves” were shooting Shockers, Angels and other electronic paint throwers and the “have nots” were shooting blowback semiautos. Field owners had no idea how to handle this. Most fields didn’t have enough customers to divide their games up by equipment or skill level, so once again new players and the “have nots” were thrown to the wolves. Smaller fields (covered in Part One) and faster guns are a bad mix for new players. Yet the game’s numbers continued to grow—for a while. Despite the disparity in the marker firepower, at least most games played recreationally were still played in the woods. Smaller woods fields but woods, nonetheless.

There was another down side to the introduction of the electronic marker. Tom Cole, captain/owner of Bad Company and exec at Spyder also pointed out to me today, “I think the jump from pump to semi was good for the game. More people could play and compete. But the jump from semi to electronic was a different story. The cost of a day’s paint went up (because of the volume used) and because players have a cap as to what they will pay for a day of play, margins for the store and manufacturer came down.” This is a significant issue. Field and store owners were now forced to work with much lower profit margins and things like customer service and overall business quality and ethics began to slip. Slowly we were losing players.

Bring the Pain

Now by the mid-2000s there is still no solution as to how to handle the players shooting Tippmans and Spyders as opposed to those shooting Intimidators and Shockers. Fields continued to shrink and move towards arena settings and guns were getting faster and faster. Let me say at this point that I don’t think anyone is to blame here. It’s difficult to make an argument against bettering technology, and it’s equally difficult to place blame on field owners for not separating the gun types in walk-on games—the number of players at most fields doesn’t allow that to happen. As the saying goes, “It is what it is.”

In Part One of this series I said, “Instead of playing half hour paintball games in the woods, where players could crawl, hide, or otherwise stay in the game long enough to learn how to play and feel they got their money’s worth, now players were playing two-minute games, often getting bunkered by much more experienced players game in and game out, day in and day out.” Now factor in that most new players that were “getting bunkered” were getting bunkered by someone shooting 10-plus balls per second. Instead of going home with a few welts, kids were leaving the field covered with bruises. Not good for them and definitely not good for their parents to see.

Even players at the highest level of the game have been complaining about the rate of fire. So much so that all three major paintball leagues have lowered their rate of fire maximums and/or are considering doing it now. We’ve no doubt reached a point where the rate of fire not only takes away from the game’s movement and strategy, it’s painful. It’s also not fun to watch. Shooting in full-auto at 13.33 balls per second gives spectators the feeling that the game can be played at the highest level by anyone. It also slows down the movement of the game to a point of being boring.

Rich Telford of XSV told me, "I think that it [increasing rate of fire] has hurt if not crippled the amount of players coming into and staying in the sport. It has also increased the use of paint which further keeps people from playing. I think that anyone can sit in a spot and stair at a gap between two bunkers while holding a trigger down--you don’t have to be good at paintball to do that."

Fans and spectators drive sports—all of them. If the game is boring to watch and painful to play, what are we doing?

How fast is too fast? Isn’t that the question? Here’s the answer: When the game becomes boring to watch and games regularly stalemate, we’ve reached the “too fast” point. When new players are consistently outgunned, we’ve reached the “too fast” point. When your gun fires so fast that you can’t afford the paint, we’ve reached the “too fast” point. Maybe manufacturers should consider not making guns that are capable of shooting 30 balls per second. Maybe field owners shouldn’t allow ramping guns in walk on games (some are doing this already). Maybe players should try to “play” the game rather than “spray” all game.

Doing It Right

Again, there’s something for each of us to do in this.

Field Owners

You need more players to make a living and you need more players to run your games in the most effective way you can for your customers. Like I said in Part One of this series, if your business if failing look at the ones that are thriving. What are they doing to attract more players? Maybe you should consider not having electronic gun rental upgrades. Many fields offer Tippmanns or Spyders as rentals and also offer Egos and Angels as up-sell rentals. So you’re making a few extra bucks up-selling your rentals so your Tippmann-shooting walk-ons can get shot up all day. Does that really make sense? This is just one example of thinking outside of the box. I once heard an expression that I’m not sure who originated, but it’s one I like. “If it ain’t broke, break it and make it better.” Don’t be satisfied with “good enough.”

Store Owners

Are we trying to sell the most high-tech guns available or are we trying to make our players/customers happy? Find out where your customers are playing and advise them to purchase gear and equipment that suits their playing style best.

Manufacturers

You’re holding almost ALL of the cards here. You make the gear and you sponsor the events. Sometimes it just appears all that matters to you is how to make it lighter, smaller, and faster. But is that good for the game? If you’re not happy about the rate of fire the league or event you sponsor uses, ask them to change it. You have influence—probably more than you realize. But to use your influence you have to have a plan and a big picture. Do you know where the game is headed? Is that direction okay with you?

Players

I have the same suggestion for you that I had in Part One. You are our ambassadors. Teach new players how to play the game instead of having them thrown to the wolves. Play games with at least fairly equal competition. There’s really not a lot to be excited about shooting a ten-year old kid with a Spyder when you’re shooting an Ego. You probably have your used Spyder in a closet. Enjoy a game or two with that gun again.

Friday will have Part Three of this series entitled, “What Happened to the Economy?” Please come back. Thanks for reading—John Amodea