Paintball Journal

Bloggers get ahead by making connections. I’m now to the point where I’m a connection all by myself, which I think is a fairly big accomplishment. Anyway, you might be interested in reading an interview conducted by a fellow blogger of mine over at Paintball Guns.tv. I found it pretty interesting, and I even found some stuff out about Dana that I never knew before.

I’m even referred to as the Godfather. And it wasn’t even on accident.

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Coming up with revolutionary ideas for new styles of paintball is difficult. Mr. Raetz recently emailed me with an idea that would be interesting if implemented correctly. I just need your help picking out the good from the bad. That and I like knowing you’re out there.

The main idea is a sort of contract killer paintball themed game.

Here are his ideas summed up by me (Note that I think there is much discussion needed over the following):

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In case you hadn’t noticed, the Ego8 was launched to relatively little fanfare about a week ago on the 11th at Millenium’s Paris event. I applaud Planet Eclipse’s decision to release their latest Ego in Europe rather than in the USA with every other gun at PSP World Cup in Florida. European pride! They are the last remaining decent company in the UK. Lucky is no longer decent and barely mentionable.

Mmph, so the important part! Ego8’s ship this Friday, the 19th, in the US. So get your Ego preordered now! Only $1250. *cough… cough*

Click on the picture for a better view.

Next up, we’ve got the good, the bad, and the ugly about the Ego8.

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Are you fired up? Because I am.

Little bit of my life sneaking in here, I promise it’s relevant.

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All of the recent posts bring me to where I am today:

If you haven’t caught them, I encourage you to catch up and reminisce with me about your firsts…

1)Reflections: The Beginning
2)Reflections: A Gun and A Field
3)Reflections: A Transition

So, anyway, today I am…

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The change was inevitable, I suppose.

Competitive paintball is played in tournament style. The most aggressive styles of play, fastest games, and highest level of athleticism are all wrapped up in tournament paintball over rec-ball or woodsball. Don’t count out the glamor factor either. It wasn’t too long ago that I really didn’t know the difference between an DM and a Shocker, and thought I would never be able to own as good a gun as an Ion.

Things change. I changed.

We headed up on a cold February day for “try-outs” with a team. That day was one of the toughest days of paintball I’ve ever played. We got rocked, but had an entirely new view of the world of paintball and what it would take to get better.

The realization that our guns were holding us back took root. It was true in our minds, without a doubt, that firepower was most definitely a part of paintball. Suddenly, my Ariakon Overlord Pistol and JT Excellerator seemed rather ill-equipped to deal with my changing needs…

Uh… no matter how much I liked them at the time.

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You have a general idea of what it was like at the beginning. Here is the story of my first gun and first field.

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This week I’ve decided to do five reflection posts, mostly for your benefit. Please, please, hold your applause ’til the end. This is to help you understand why I am so weird, exactly how I come up with so much random crap to post on here, and to really, truly understand my reasons for my beliefs and passion concerning paintball.

This story starts, as most stories do, at the beginning. Now, this beginning is neither a true universal beginning, nor even a decent beginning of a life. Well, perhaps it is the beginning of my life as it is today.

I was in 7th grade. The leaves were falling at a terrific rate, and two of my friends, twins, couldn’t wait to play some paintball. I went out and rented an A5 from the local store, with no idea how to operate it, let alone set it to 3-round burst. We had brilliant weather, and we all dressed in our cheap camo shirts and pants, ready for a days worth of paintball warring action.

That day, and the many days like it afterward, changed my outlook on everything completely. I became intensely wrapped up in a game that I didn’t even have the proper equipment for. I ended up renting or borrowing for over a year, until I finally had the money to buy possibly one of the most worthless gun packages ever.

From these humble roots sprouted a player who can now rattle off rules and regulations, ref, compete, and talk it up with the best.

However, I remember my roots, and always help a new guy or girl out. I still remember the first time I went to a field, little less than 3 years ago. As long as I remember that, I will always have time to help out.

We’ve all been in that walk-on game when all your teammates are in their pre-teens or younger, and are asking in rather shaky voices, questions that would have been better answered before the game countdown had begun. Too late you try and give them some last second advice only to be shot off the break yourself, because you weren’t ready.

Here are ten things guaranteed to make you shake your head and knock on wood in the hopes that you will never hear them yourself.

10. Do paintballs hurt?

9. Does this *indicates starting box* count as a bunker?

8. *peering into a hopper* Twenty paintballs is enough to kill somebody, right?

7. Do gun hits count?

6. Where am I going again? Wait, where’s the back left?

5. When do we shoot?

4. I’m gonna shoot straight up in the air to try and arc it to kill them, is that okay?

3. Can I be the sniper?

2. If he gets to be the sniper, what am I?

1. Did you say to look out for snakes on the field?

First off let me apologize. I haven’t been posting nearly as often as I should, due to several things like soccer, school work, and just general life. That said I’m still going to make my quota of five posts this week if it kills me, so here goes.

Empire has a new hopper coming out and the buzz it hot and heavy surrounding this one.

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To help me design the team logos! Feel privileged, because I wouldn’t let just anybody do this.

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Evan and I finally got to hit up the new indoor place, Splatz Indoor Paintball. First thing I noticed was the ride, 20 minutes is better than any other ride to a paintball field that I’ve ever had, due to uhm… length. So, no complaints so far.

We rolled in, unloaded our stuff, and threw down some fightin’ words once inside. The staff seemed a little shocked, so we took it down a notch and introduced ourselves. Prices for everything were about average, with really cheap air fills due to a lack of a compressor. They’re still filling off of scuba tanks which isn’t too bad, all day air is $5 and each fill is like $1.50, but they only fill to 2k - 2.5k PSI. Whatever.

What you care about is the field. First of all, let me say that the owners certainly are ambitious. Eric Coblentz, the guy in charge, told us about the two or three fields that they’re going to set up in the near future. It sounds like eventually they’ll have a multi-level urban combat area, an X-ball field, and possibly another scenario-esque field. Like I said, ambitious for a field that currently consists of one small airball field.

The turf isn’t all that great, more like indoor carpet than anything. It’s very similar to the old Friendly Fire turf; good for sliding, and not much else. The bunkers are merely okay, NPS isn’t known for awesome bunker concepts (thus why they aren’t widely used). Still, I can’t really complain. It was fun and the field set-up was mildly competitive. The field isn’t wide enough to create any decent lanes, but you don’t really notice it much. The competition at the field the day that Evan and I went was very low, and JP and Ben, the other two constant members of No Trace had a similar experience the weekend before.

They’re hosting a 3-Man tournament in September, something that we are almost certainly going to rock. With $500 on the line, a live band, a rock-climbing wall, and more, it seems like the event of the year for No Trace. $40 entry and FPO isn’t much to pay for a chance to compete in an event of the caliber that they’re advertising.

Overall, Splatz is definitely worth checking out. I’d recommend them to anyone from a team who wants a little indoor practice to new guys who just want to check out what paintball is. The staff is very friendly and more than willing to do whatever it takes to help you get the most out of your day there.

Wooooww!!!!

I knew it was coming, but I’m already impressed. This gun looks so sick!

Supposedly it has 6 o-rings in the entire gun, and will run for about $500-$600. I seriously want one. Now.

A lot of field owners wonder about payment in terms of everyday reffing and tech work.

Most fields only need about two techs tops for an everyday crowd. The ones that I visit have one working most days. Unless you’re in the middle of a huge city and get massive event-sized crowds on a weekly basis, one good tech will be more than fine. It’s worth it to pay the tech, especially if they don’t play regularly. If they are a regular player, then things like paint discounts, free field and air fees, and shop discounts are also ways to reimburse them for their time.

Refs are a little different. For non-tournament work payment is really a little ridiculous. You can find volunteers who will work for paint, or even paint discounts. If you find that your current refs aren’t performing up to par (screwing around, not paying attention to safety concerns) find some experienced players who are looking for a little sponsorship in return for reffing time. No one could possibly complain because reffing recball is extremely easy, no matter how you spin it.

Tournament reffing should be very different. Take the time to find refs who have had experience reffing in larger tourneys, if possible. A common practice is to pay the refs from the tourney entry fee, something like 20-40% going to refs. Depends on the tourney turnout, entry, etc.

These are definitely choices to be made with care. There are balances between quality and expense that have to be um… balanced. Anyway, just a few ideas to spur you along your path of righteous ref and tech hiring.

As with the last airing of NPPLLive, NPPL is once again looking for guest hosts to pop on at the Boston event that is just weeks away.

Due to the success of the last NPPLLive.com host search, we’re doing it again! We are calling anyone and everyone who thinks they would make a great guest host on the NPPLLive.com web cast to come out to the NPPL Boston Event on Thursday, July 12th or Friday, July 13th to audition at the NPPL Store on the Tournament Grounds at the Brockton Fairgrounds. We’ll be holding the auditions between 9:30am and 12:30pm on both days.

Tell us why you think you deserve a shot at this and give us a quick sample of what you can do. The top tryout choices from each day will be aired on the weekend’s web cast between games so the viewing public can comment. Judges will take viewer comments into consideration when making their decision about who will come back to broadcast from NPPL Center Court with Nicky T on Sunday during the finals. You’ll not only win a chance to sit in the best seat in the house, but you’ll also win a chance to interview the greatest pro players in paintball!

No pre-registration is necessary, just look for us at the NPPL Store on July 12 & 13, 2007, 9:30am - 12:30pm. See you there!