Events - April 4-5 Paintball Charleston
This was my first time down to this field. We had some good
times and some bad times. The field itself is amazing. The
terrain is varied and allows the big game to flow nicely over
different sections of the park. Attendance was lower than
expected at maybe 300 players. With this limited amount, it
made the gunfights flow nicely. When in doubt, just go around
the group ahead of you.
Bad times arose from the lack of rules being followed. The
normal response is to bash the integrity of the players. This
time I think it is better to place the blame on those running
the event. In an open letter to the paintball community I
addressed the issues in the following points:
1. Rule Issues. Rules were distributed with the registration
packets and then at the initial briefing, they were tossed
out the window.
a. Registration packets said marker speed was 280. The chrono
area, which never had any refs present, had large signs stating
285. During the initial briefing Ben emphasized it was 280
and that speed would be checked at each HQ. Well, at the start
of the game, we were not at HQ, so no one got checked. Later
in the day, Chronos were present, but no ref asked anyone
to check. Some shots seemed hot, but even with lack of any
policed speed, the majority (not all) players seemed to be
playing legal – under 280 speeds.
b. Reinsertion area. Rules read players must go to a designated
reinsertion area and then go back on the field every 20 minutes.
During briefing this was changed to walk off the field and
then return to CP. This was later adjusted to tag the tree
of life, just off the main insert area, then go back to CP.
Many players from both teams just walked back to CP. I discussed
this with players from both teams – even with refs present
and got little enthusiasm for adjusting their ways. Later
a ref commented on “they were working on correcting
this situation.”
c. Helicopters – boy this was a mess. Rules of play
state players on a helicopter must have a barrel cover on.
This never happened and was never enforced. It really prevented
the players from flat out dropping the rope and directly firing.
So many other issues with Helicopters and refs just going
with what ever seemed to work at the time to cause the least
amount of work for them.
d. Semi only? Rules state guns must be semi auto mode only.
Nothing about bps caps. In the morning briefing on Sat, Ben(MPP)
stated that guns could ramp, just make sure it does not cross
15 bps. It appeared people just shot what they wanted and
let anything go.
2. High cost of play. So why did I pay $75 to walk on a field
to get mediocre service? Many other 24 games charge about
$50-$60. Premium games such as Waynes World or Living legends
charge this as they bring in Lords of Discipline for Refs
or offer amazing prize packages. It should be a payment for
services. It just kills me when we bitch about the quality
of service and the response from the staff is hey, the refs/staffs/workers
are just volunteers. Where is my payment going to if not to
the employees? It just seems that this is so like a typical
GM/Ford deal. Line workers (refs) doing the back braking work
and management taking all the cash. I can see why the refs
seem very non-motivated to do much or enforce the rules. Pay
me nothing and see how hard I work. IF I ever get a retort
to this, I am sure that it will be mentioned that I have no
idea how expensive it is to get a big game up and running.
To that I say Bullshit!
3. Game Times. I had several discussions with other campers
as to game begin or end times. No one really knew for sure.
Nothing was really set in stone talking with refs or field
employees. According to one field employee “Ben tends
to run long, so game may end at 1, or it may go longer.”
Also Sunday, field store/air opens a little after 8am with
game on at 9? Really? At 9am on Sunday how many players were
on the field? Night play only lasted until 11pm. Why do they
advertise 24 hour games when no one ever allows play to go
even close to that?
4. Game tags. Were we ever supposed to have people look at
out game tags? By Sunday some people had just stopped carrying
them. No one checked them, punched them or asked to see them.
Wait why did I pay $75 for a tag – couldn’t I
just walk on for free? I saw many players with tags that looked
brand new on Sunday afternoon. Not a single hole in it, not
a mark on it.
My team-mate Severe also had a nice write on this event -
without his permission, I am copying his text
I loved
the Paintball Charleston field and we had some amazing firefights
all over the field. I had a great time running alongside of
Destro from the Carolina Sabers, KShammer from Adventure Beach
& Shadow Group, the guys from Port City Militia, the many
members of Clan Necro, our General, Suicide, and the rest
of the North Korean forces. I've read unconfirmed reports
that the game ended in a tie but it seemed like we gave better
than we got for the bulk of the game. We definitely seemed
to be completing the missions more.
All
of that being said, the game left me with a mixed bag of emotions
as there were a multitude of problems. Many of which RP has
already touched upon. Although, it's not Festivus, I think
it's time for the, "The Airing of Grievances."
Rules:
I struggle to understand why rules can be published permanently
on web pages, distributed as documents in a registration packet
and then changed at the morning player briefing. Why is it
that a simple addendum can't be printed on the back of your
map and each player and Ref be required to have it on them
at all times? Sure some rules will change or be modified to
fit the specific game story but those should be printed out
per my above statement. The rules for each specific role should
be printed on the back of their specialty card. Can you imagine
how many arguments and debates would be quelled when the ref
shows up and says, "OK, lets each of take out our rules
and read them aloud together....shall we?" How long have
these producers been doing games!? Couldn't this be one thing
that was fleshed out by now? In so far as this game, MPP is
solely responsible for the breakdown in rules. There are far
too many ways to make sure that rules are correctly distributed
to all participants for there to be so much debate 20 minutes
prior to game on. And even then, things were purposely vague
enough to leave room for player interpretation. Examples...
*cough*
Ramping *cough*. Don't say one thing and then imply another.
Feel free to quote me on this one: "All modes up to 15bps
are allowed and your max chrono speed is 280 FPS for day and
250 for night." Feel free to modify the max/min FPS accordingly.
Over-shooting/4 Hit rule. I completely understand not condoning
overshooting, however a 4-hit rule is ridiculous in a game
where large groups clash with markers throwing 15bps each.
Helo rules; flight time, passenger communication, ground forces
communication, landing procedures. For all of the above, see
my rant on Rules.
Refs: Some highs and lows there. I ended up in 4 discussions/debates
with refs over rules or player conduct; I went 2/2 . Some
refs were patient and willing to confirm/explain rules, others
were all to quick to send you off the field or call a 'neutral
zone' which lead to further confusion. WTF!? I know that reffing
is an under appreciated job and I do appreciate those of you
who set aside your time to do it.
Please
see my comments on rules. Refs should have a laminated copy
of the established rules on them at all times and a radio
to contact the head ref if something falls outside the printed
set. Players should have access to a printed version of the
rules which is accurate.
Thank
you to Team Omni Force for providing the volunteer reffing
staff for this event!
Cost:
RP has said pretty much everything that needs to be said.
We, as players, are consumers! Don't settle for paying for
a sub-standard service. I'm just speculating but perhaps players
did this this past weekend. Hmmm...lets see; perfect weather,
great field, LOWEST player turn out for an MPP game ever at
PBC. Yes, times are tough. How about considering that when
you charge $75 to walk on the field not including paint using
volunteer refs. To be fair, the paint was great and the prices
were very fair. Considering the field owned it's own air filling
equipment I don't fully understand why I had to pay $15 for
weekend air...but it was good fills. I had 4K+ every time
I went up which was nice.
Chrono'ing:
Chrono'ing was a complete joke. Many players, including several
of the RATS, never did get a ref punch to show they had chrono'd
for ANY segment of the game. With humidity having it's way
with our paint, it's hardly a wonder I look like I was attacked
by a 600 lbs. octopus. Then again, I do like to close with
my targets. Spot checks at the CP might have caught a few
hot markers, but it was all too easy for players to circumvent
that.
Schedule:
Did this even exist? How about the use of air horns or bird
bangers? These really aren't new concepts. It's entirely possible
that I missed all the announcements on the schedule but it
would have been nice to have something published that was
adhered to.
Player
Integrity: Only one place to put this blame...on the players.
If any player, regardless of team, intentionally overshot,
illegally inserted, moved props, wiped, cheated or otherwise
intentionally broke the rules then you hurt the game.
I thoroughly
enjoyed laying in ambush about 60 yards from the Red base
listening to them have full firefights with each other and
not a single person calling out. Not to mention the 7 players
that walked up with within 10 yards of Vicious and I that
we destroyed. Again, no one called out. Either you're the
worst bunch of marksmen ever, or you have no freaking integrity.
It's not looking good either way.
This
obviously doesn't apply to everyone or even a small percentage
of the players. But as every paintball player can attest,
it only takes a very few to sour the experience. I saw some
excellent examples of impeccable integrity and sportsmanship
out there. Thanks to those players for give me/us a stand
up fight...whether won or lost. Cause, that's all I/we really
want.
OK,
so I obviously failed at keeping this short. Sorry for the
extended rant but I actually had a ton more running through
my head. Did I have fun? Yes. However, as a scenario/big game
consumer who is spending my time and money to buy a product
for my enjoyment, I expect a higher quality product than what
MPP provided. The venue was amazing and I definitely want
to play there again.
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