Billy Ball unveiled
Here it is. Billy Ball. And, yes. I'm going to get this off my chest. It's about gosh dang time the industry has decided to respond in a positive way to an issue that I have been preaching about and warning about for years. From the very first day I opened my field almost 14 years ago and did not allow Autocockers or Automags I have been warning people that high rate of fire would be the down fall of paintball. Finally - a LIMITED RATE OF FIRE GUN! Finally - confirmation that someone is listening.
But if you know me you know I'll still find something to whine about. Making a marker that can be adjusted for low rate of fire is a good band-aid fix. I learned years ago and you have heard it many times - "It's not the gun. It's the player." What needs to be adjusted is the player's attitude. It's something we do here at T-Square everyday.
Books from AMAZON - Paintball for Fun!
4 comments:
I didn't quiteunderstand the way the rental vibe works. Is it totaly adjustable, so that a field owner can switch between any ROF he chooses or only choices of .5 bps, regular ramping mode, or semi-auto.
Although I love the thought of everyone on the field shooting .5 bps, you would have to have literally everyone using one of these markers. That's fine with groups made up of just renters, but in today' world, almost every group has gear owners mixed in with it. There are always the guys that bought the electronic Spyders just for the comapny outing. Am I now going tohave to tell them that they can't use their new dream gun? If they could be adjusted to 3 or 4 bps easily, I'd probably be a bit more excited about them.
I know that might sound weird coming from me, for those that know I advocate less paintball in the air to ask for for a higher ROF. I just see some operational challenges renting out markers at .5 bps. You really wouldn't be able to have any regulars on the field with these markers. 2 seconds is a long time to move from one bunker to another. Regular players would know this and use it to their advantage. First time players would probably still be hesitant to move. I would think it might also be a littel frustrating for a renter to shoot, see a player move out of a bunker heading for a new bunker, but unable to take another shot until it's too late and the running player has found cover again.
So yes, .5 bps would be great if all players were first timers, but I think those days are gone.
I'm so negative, aren't I?
No, not negative at all. I believe the concept of Billy Ball and the new rental Vibe is to sell it as a package to groups. As in: "Hey groups, come on out and play a new game geared to the more casual player."
I guess it's up to us to decide whether it would be worth our while to have an entire set of Vibe rental guns set aside for just Billy Ball. (I currently have a set of Piranhas set aside with laser tag barrels.)
Personally I allow any gun during groups or walk-on play. I control rate of fire by adjusting player attitudes and my "3 shot rule".
I think it's rather ironic that Smart Parts is trying to lead the way toward lowering ROF. They were the ones that started the upward spiral with their trigger bounce.
I too think it's ironic, but I give them credit for changing with demand of the marketplace.
I too allow all markers, although we allow only semi-auto or pump mode and restrict paint usage to keep the atmosphere at a friendlier method.
High ROF has been a big topic at our field lately too(as you know). We've discussed many options to control it (limiting rounds, banning certain guns, etc.) but we've never really had any major problems since most the guys we have out to our field that have high ROF markers are careful not to unload on people. If they do, they're quick to say they're sorry, and all is well.
However, I personally got a taste of it this weekend and it wasn't cool. It only took a split second and I was hit at least six times (that I could count) from about 10-15 yards.
The fact that I got blasted is one thing, but I'm more pissed off that whoever did it never came up and said they were sorry. Since I never even saw the person who was nice enough to paint me yellow, there's not much I can do except
sit here and bitch about it on your blog.
Anyway, I'm glad to see the upward trend reversing with products like this.
-Jeff
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