LL8 questions.

[dodge3500]

OK guys/gals I've never been to LL but am considering going this year.I live in Knoxville Tennessee and it will probably be a 10 to 12 hour drive so I guess I need to know where to stay, places to eat or where to set up camp?I've mainly attended bearclaws big events and just pulled my 5th wheel since its only 4 hours away but I cannot justify the extra fuel to pull it to LL.I guess I could rent a camper when I get into town and set it up at LL cheaper than pulling mine that far.
Hit me up with good ideas for my first LL experience to keep me coming back.
Thanks

[Nobody]

Save your money, stay home.

The field doesn't care about you, the event or common sense. On the friday preregister line, i think for about 2-3 hours(in the rain, but that's not the game's fault). It seems that they used people that had no clue, never did registration before.

The field likes to break its own and even the games rules, by putting the chrono IN THE FIELD. So if a ref happens to walk on by, could pull you because you brought tools onto the field. Even then, the refs said while my gun was still over the field limit, "that's good enough".

The town. It looks great but is dangerous as reaching into a bucket of razorblades submerged in lemon juice. You have years of old paint, that if you aren't careful, you WILL slip and fall. Not to mention, not only that some buildings don't have second story access but you can easily slip.

You have only one entry point, and if you play by the rules, a half mile walk to the insert point, then the same half mile walk(might be exaggerating the distance) to get up to the point of contact.

The food provided was actually good.

There are plenty of dealers there.

Parking was atrocious. Actually had some staff ask to move our vehicles because of a "fire lane", but in less than an hour later was filled the same spots we were at. Like WTF? I realy wish the staff would have a clue.

The fill station was on point with checking hydros and such.

Don't ask me about the end paint burner battle. It is the worst display of intent to injure and utter stupidity i have ever seen. It is stupidly dangerous and because of the waiver, i am surprised that no one's trakia(sp?) has been crushed, masks fly off or any other serious injury. I kid you not.

I was at LL7. These are first hand experiences. Save your money, go to a better game. Don't give your money to a field that promotes stupid play.

[steve_81]

Ouch Nobody. I was there Saturday only but I had a pretty fun time. The only things I had complaints about was the registration line and the Fill station. I felt like smaller big games like Hell's Survivors Monster Game had a better system in place for registration and fill station then LL7 did. Monster Game sends out pre-registration tags and Paint cards reduce the lines to those who register the day of the event. Secondly, HSI uses tags that go onto tank regs to let the people at the fill station know that the tank was already checked and is good. I thought it was a bit odd that CPX didn't have any of this down pat yet a smaller big game had it down to a science.

[vintage]

I watched Nobody slip on the paint while going down a sidewalk ramp by one of the buildings and land hard, I also saw several other players on both sides wipe out trying to run between buildings it was so slick from paint, add in the epic mud from last year and it was like ice. they really should hose the place down before the final battle. they really should look at moving the re-entry points when all the action has been pushed down to one end of the field like last year. the paint was beyond awful. you will need to pre-buy your paint as the day of price is much higher. the chrono station being in the middle makes it hard to re-chrono during the day especially as it is in the field of play for the town.

all that being said I enjoyed the experience and especially meeting everybody from here that went. I stayed in the Hampton Inn on I 80, its a short drive if you cross the river south and east of the hotel instead of going back west and then south and around. there is a McD's and a Cracker Barrel right next door to the hotel which ended up being where I ate all 3 days as I was too tired from wading mud to drive anywhere else. there are other places close by though.
you will need to get to the field extra early to get any kind of parking space. and be ready to chrono the moment it opens as the lines get long quick.

[steve_81]

I had a ref at the Chrono station tell me my gun was no good and I had to get back in line just because my very first shot was hot yet the next 5 shots were legal and within +/-2 fps of each other. I was using a right out of the box Geo 3.1 too. One of the refs said that the ref who originally Chrono'ed my gun was a moron.

[dodge3500]

Well you guys have easily changed my mind,lol I hate long lines with a passion and parking issues. I like well oiled operations that go smooth.I won't tolerate feeling like I'm in line for a rollercoaster ride at Disney at its peak season.
Thanks for honest answers as it saved me a bad and costly experience.
I do Bearclaw a couple times a year and have a great time ,what's another event to attend thats not to be missed?
Thanks

[steve_81]

Dodge, I know it's a bit of a drive but The Michigan Monster Game at Hell's Survivors is a great game. It's been going on for 20 years or so. They have everything down pat. No long lines (unless you don't pre-register) and parking is always available. You should check it out. Used to bring in 4,000 players a few years ago. Now it only brings in around 2,000 but still a blast to play.

[dodge3500]

I'll keep that in mind.I could drive it in 14 or 15 hours maybe.I'm gonna look it up.

[magman313]

hellsurvivors is my local field and there big games are great. i also attended ll7 and was very disappointed. im trying to get a group of mag guys together for a big game at hellsurvivors this year, if your interested let me know.

[dodge3500]

hellsurvivors is my local field and there big games are great. i also attended ll7 and was very disappointed. im trying to get a group of mag guys together for a big game at hellsurvivors this year, if your interested let me know.

Yeah I'm interested, shoot me some info.
Thanks

[Nobody]

You want a game? Check out Tunaball. Not only do you get to meet me , you can also meet other luminaries like: Tunaman, Simon "Manike" Stevens from Inception Designs(creator of just about everything paintball), BigEvil, Loguzzo, Cougars20th, Beemer, Bunny and his traveling Museum collection, The rest of the Big Evil Online group. Its at a great field, which was graced by Tom Kaye at the last Tunaball in 2013.

The field is one of the oldest in the country, and the game brings at least 8 SFL mags. NEver seen one? How about 8+ at the same place? How about some 200+ mags all judging to be considered the best looking mag of the weekend?

So check it out in the events subsection.

[Nobody]

I watched Nobody slip on the paint while going down a sidewalk ramp by one of the buildings and land hard, I also saw several other players on both sides wipe out trying to run between buildings it was so slick from paint, add in the epic mud from last year and it was like ice. they really should hose the place down before the final battle. they really should look at moving the re-entry points when all the action has been pushed down to one end of the field like last year. the paint was beyond awful. you will need to pre-buy your paint as the day of price is much higher. the chrono station being in the middle makes it hard to re-chrono during the day especially as it is in the field of play for the town.

What got me about that was i heard people laughing, saying ouch, and put your mask on(my feet did go out from under me, butt down-lost 2 pods, mask went flying. Not happy), yet no one offered help or asked if i was all right... yeah, you couldn't pay me enough to go there again.

[dodge3500]

You want a game? Check out Tunaball. Not only do you get to meet me , you can also meet other luminaries like: Tunaman, Simon "Manike" Stevens from Inception Designs(creator of just about everything paintball), BigEvil, Loguzzo, Cougars20th, Beemer, Bunny and his traveling Museum collection, The rest of the Big Evil Online group. Its at a great field, which was graced by Tom Kaye at the last Tunaball in 2013.

The field is one of the oldest in the country, and the game brings at least 8 SFL mags. NEver seen one? How about 8+ at the same place? How about some 200+ mags all judging to be considered the best looking mag of the weekend?

So check it out in the events subsection.

Sweet will do.

[steve_81]

The only real big complaint i've ever had with Monster game was with some of the reffing crew. Over the span of 10 years i've been going to this event I have dozens of instances I could sight. The one I remember the most was awhile ago I was using CO2 with my Tippmann Pro-Carbine. I was pulled from the game because a ref said my gun was leaking and I had to go get it fixed. What he was referring to was the access Co2 leaving my barrel whenever I shot. I tried to argue but instead walked him over to the Tippmann trailer and had the Tippmann tech explain to him why he was an idiot. lol

[skipdogg]

I have been to Living Legends every year since LL2. I'm not going to disagree with anything anyone has said negatively about it. I have complaints every year about it too. So, it boils down to what you expect out of it, or what you make of it. If you want a first class, professional, smooth running event.....this is probably not the one for you (NOTE = VIPER runs the event itself, and I think his end of it IS TOP NOTCH, the complaints are with CPX the host field). If you want to combine playing some paintball with "hanging out" type thing and go with the flow....then you will enjoy this event.
Also, this event is more or less local to me. so while I do spend a couple hundo every year to go, I dont have to drive far or fly in, etc. If I had to drive more than 8 hours, or fly into the event, I probably wouldnt go as often.
Bottom line = I would say its worth trying once. If you like it, great! If you hate it, I get that.

[steve_81]

I agree Skipdogg, I had a great time and I only have to drive 3.5 hours to the field. I'll be back again this year.

[G Squat]

Just go to TCP north. Ten times better than anything else in that state. Nobody does an event better kr more professionally than Wayne.

[cockerpunk]

LL is the event of the year worth going to. I have been to every single one, and won't be missing another year. nowhere else will you find a more diverse and crazy group of players, its just one fun thing after another.

are there growing pains? sure. last years event was ~500 people more than the year before. hell, the first living legends was only ~750 people TOTAL. now we are well over 2500. CPX is one of the all time great paintball fields. viper (as much as we have our tussles), is one of the all time great game organizers. if there is one thing he does, its listen to player feedback, chrono is changing next year, as is registration. i've been on crushingly winning teams, and been on the side that looses really bad too, and its always a fun fight. bedlam gets hairy, it does. after all these years, last year it finally got me, but after a half hour with the medics, i was right back in bedlam battling it out.

i camped a few times, that can be fun. lots of socializing and drinking. but now (in my old age) i prefer a hotel. nice to be able to get cleaned up, have a few beers, hit the hot tub etc etc. esp if you find a couple of folks to share the room with, it becomes really reasonable in terms of cost. if you are driving, and can share a hotel, and dont shoot 5+ cases, there is no reason you can't keep the price reasonable too. i hate flying to paintball events, but driving ... makes it so much easier.

[Laku]

...Nobody does an event better kr more professionally than Wayne.

I didn't know Nobody did events?

[G Squat]

I didn't know Nobody did events?

... I see what you did there.

[going_home]

Glad I didn't go last year.

Going to try and make Tunaball this year, had a good time at the last one.

[zulubravo44]

Ouch Nobody. I was there Saturday only but I had a pretty fun time. The only things I had complaints about was the registration line and the Fill station. I felt like smaller big games like Hell's Survivors Monster Game had a better system in place for registration and fill station then LL7 did. Monster Game sends out pre-registration tags and Paint cards reduce the lines to those who register the day of the event. Secondly, HSI uses tags that go onto tank regs to let the people at the fill station know that the tank was already checked and is good. I thought it was a bit odd that CPX didn't have any of this down pat yet a smaller big game had it down to a science.

I've said it before, but my one experience at an HSI big game was Global Conquest last year. Part of my issue was not having my expectations in check, since I had been reading about/dreaming about big games since the days of reading APG in middle school. This was my very first scenario game, and I had two decades of dreams stored up.

Not that I've got any experience to comment on generalities, but it seems like one must accept a certain level of chaos around big game paintball. There are never enough refs or enough support staff to make it as smooth as I want it to be, and there are always those jerks who tweak, bend and break the rules (wiping and using jerseys from other teams from past years to pose as an ally, only to blast people point blank inside a bunker are the two big examples from GC). Complaining to the refs doesn't do any good, and the field manager has a boatload of things better to do than listen to me whine. So if I go back this year, I'll have my expectations in check.

However, I will say that HSI runs a good show and everything was incredibly smooth and well-managed off the field. The intel booth (CIA) was more than helpful and explained the rules and strategy to our team of neophytes, and pretty much everyone had a great time as it relates to their interactions with staff. I didn't see anything notably unsafe, with the exception of a pretty high tolerance of overshooting (but maybe it's just been so long since I've played paintball... I used to get thrown out for hitting anyone more than three times).

I'm going to Tippman World Challenge in September at HSI, and I may be around for GC and Monster Game. I've talked to magman and some others about it, but if anyone is interested I'd be glad to provide any input on places to stay etc. I live about 20 minutes from HSI.

[BigEvil]

BigEvil's rules for playing paintball (any type)

1) Arrive
2) Raise Hell
3) Leave


Expectation management is key though. I didn't particularly think the ll7 game was all that great, however, I really didn't care. As long as the paint shoots (Which it was VERY borderline) and cool people to hang out with then it is worth it. I don't care about scenarios or points or any other in game drama and BS. On the field, point me in the right direction and I will go kill people until I run out of paint.

[dodge3500]

Why?oh why? Are the cool events soo far away?the events mentioned are like 12 to 16 hours away.
I'm bummed out .

[vintage]

Why?oh why? Are the cool events soo far away?the events mentioned are like 12 to 16 hours away.
I'm bummed out .

yea, Joliet is a 10 hour drive for me and Tunaball is a 2 day drive or fly and i'd rather drive but not by myself. bad thing is that Oklahoma DDay is a 2 hour drive and I have yet to go but since I can only do one of these events a year i'm going to try to get to New Jersey this year.

[wimag]

we have decided to not attend LL8 this year. It is an okay event but has went downhill that last few or more years in my opinion. The owners will not fix any of the issues people have been griping about as long as the money train keeps coming in.
The premise was about "legends"and now it is just a big **** show of people jostling for recognition for doing essentially nothing.

[Beemer]

I can only do one of these events a year i'm going to try to get to New Jersey this year.

"There is no try, only do or do not" [yoda] Just get a preorder going on the jerky.

[BigEvil]

I think you have Vintage mixed up with Flatliner in regards to the jerky, jerky

Just make sure your guns are ready this time :P

[Nobody]

Yeah Beemer, make sure that all your warps are in working order. Hate to hand you a gun with a blimp on top.

[steve_81]

I've said it before, but my one experience at an HSI big game was Global Conquest last year. Part of my issue was not having my expectations in check, since I had been reading about/dreaming about big games since the days of reading APG in middle school. This was my very first scenario game, and I had two decades of dreams stored up.

Not that I've got any experience to comment on generalities, but it seems like one must accept a certain level of chaos around big game paintball. There are never enough refs or enough support staff to make it as smooth as I want it to be, and there are always those jerks who tweak, bend and break the rules (wiping and using jerseys from other teams from past years to pose as an ally, only to blast people point blank inside a bunker are the two big examples from GC). Complaining to the refs doesn't do any good, and the field manager has a boatload of things better to do than listen to me whine. So if I go back this year, I'll have my expectations in check.

However, I will say that HSI runs a good show and everything was incredibly smooth and well-managed off the field. The intel booth (CIA) was more than helpful and explained the rules and strategy to our team of neophytes, and pretty much everyone had a great time as it relates to their interactions with staff. I didn't see anything notably unsafe, with the exception of a pretty high tolerance of overshooting (but maybe it's just been so long since I've played paintball... I used to get thrown out for hitting anyone more than three times).

I'm going to Tippman World Challenge in September at HSI, and I may be around for GC and Monster Game. I've talked to magman and some others about it, but if anyone is interested I'd be glad to provide any input on places to stay etc. I live about 20 minutes from HSI.

I agree Zulu. It should be expected that things like parking and registration lines (although things can be done to reduce them) especially at big games like this are always a first come first serve type of thing; Just due to the large amount of people that attend. The one complaint abount HSI's Monster Game I found to be funny was the first year they didn't have the National Guard attend with their trucks for player transports on the field. People were just beside themselves that they had to walk. As if HSI has control over the National Guard. They failed to realize those Guardsmen were over in Iraq fighting in a war....