Shooting people is fun
Paintball is the best sport ever. Well, it's the only sport I love to play. I went with my brother and an old friend of ours earlier today.
Despite how it looks, paintball is very complex. You would think it simple; buy a gun, buy some paint, buy a mask, start shooting. But there's so much more than that. Sure you can do just that, but you won't get many kills, you'll run out of air very often, your gun will misfire frequently, and your shots will curve almost 80% of the time.
Paintball is complex because not all guns are for everyone. Not all barrels are for every gun, and not all paintballs are good in every barrel. Plus there's just too many things to list as far as upgrades and total conversions for the many guns out there.
I'm a woodsballer. I don't need a gun that costs $900 and fires 18 balls per second. I don't need a jersey with bright colors and covered in logos of painball companies. Camo pants, camo shirt, a reliable mechanical gun, side arm, and a harness to carry extra paint and maybe an extra tank of air. Perhaps even a grenade or two (those are alot of fun). Moving though the brush, trying to sneak up and flank the enemy on the other side while the main force moves in from the front. The satisfaction of being in a fire fight and out-smarting the opposition. The fear of walking through the woods knowing at any time, a stray shot could come in and paint you mask. That's my game.
I guess my only complaint is that it's an expensive sport. Many sports are expensive, but not like this. A good gun will run between $130 to $400, add on a bunch of starting upgrades and accessories that add up to about $80 to $100, each case of 2000 paintballs runs on average $50, a tank of air (Co2 starts at $15 tanks, HPA starts at $90), and finally a good mask at about $40. The real reason paintball is expensive is alot of it is consumable costs. Paintballs get used real quick, repairs and replacement parts for guns, etc.
But, in retrospect, I guess that if you enjoy something, money is no issue when it comes to having a good time. I even, for a second one day, contemplated selling off most of my videogame systems and games in trade for playing paintball.
Despite how it looks, paintball is very complex. You would think it simple; buy a gun, buy some paint, buy a mask, start shooting. But there's so much more than that. Sure you can do just that, but you won't get many kills, you'll run out of air very often, your gun will misfire frequently, and your shots will curve almost 80% of the time.
Paintball is complex because not all guns are for everyone. Not all barrels are for every gun, and not all paintballs are good in every barrel. Plus there's just too many things to list as far as upgrades and total conversions for the many guns out there.
I'm a woodsballer. I don't need a gun that costs $900 and fires 18 balls per second. I don't need a jersey with bright colors and covered in logos of painball companies. Camo pants, camo shirt, a reliable mechanical gun, side arm, and a harness to carry extra paint and maybe an extra tank of air. Perhaps even a grenade or two (those are alot of fun). Moving though the brush, trying to sneak up and flank the enemy on the other side while the main force moves in from the front. The satisfaction of being in a fire fight and out-smarting the opposition. The fear of walking through the woods knowing at any time, a stray shot could come in and paint you mask. That's my game.
I guess my only complaint is that it's an expensive sport. Many sports are expensive, but not like this. A good gun will run between $130 to $400, add on a bunch of starting upgrades and accessories that add up to about $80 to $100, each case of 2000 paintballs runs on average $50, a tank of air (Co2 starts at $15 tanks, HPA starts at $90), and finally a good mask at about $40. The real reason paintball is expensive is alot of it is consumable costs. Paintballs get used real quick, repairs and replacement parts for guns, etc.
But, in retrospect, I guess that if you enjoy something, money is no issue when it comes to having a good time. I even, for a second one day, contemplated selling off most of my videogame systems and games in trade for playing paintball.