What Would be the MOST Important Next Advance???

[AGD]

AO,

Time to stimulate a little discussion here, things have slowed down.

In your opinions, what would be the next important major advancement in marker technology? Let's leave accuracy out of this one because that's a perennial requirement. Would it be weight, size, paint breakage, smaller tanks, bigger hoppers, new types of tubes or what?

AGD

[Lord Vader]

I would say paint breakage, for two main reasons:

1)Mags are "notorious" for paint breakage. If some way were found to prevent this, either through an ACE or by makingit impossible to short stroke a trigger, then mags might become more popular among tourney players and rec players alike. Personally, I have been shooting a mag for 2-3 years now, and I still break/chop paint every now and then.

2)You don't know how much time I've spent either cleaning my barrel or trying to get paint out of my powerfeed/warp hose. Last time I played (first time out with warp), I was chopping at regular intervals. Paintchucker and I think it was because my pf plug kept wiggling out, causing a poor ball queue stack. Anyhoo, point is, if you eliminate paint breakage, that means more actual playing time rather than "squeegee time."

[BEEFYSAUSAGE]

how do you follow the lord vader?....

well i agree with lord vader(bows)..paint brakage is what makes paintball realy suck..i mean you can live with poor accuracy,low velosity,slow rate of fire in a game but if you are squeguieing 2-3 times a game your abought as afective as a armless 3ft midget that has no legs that can only call positions for the team.....its what anyone that doesent like a gun always comments on(angels for instance)and is the most anoying thing that can kill your game(like you bust a sh*t hot move up feild and get to your posie and break a ball..those shots now that come out of your marker are now very inafective and inaccurate you have to stop and squeegie..while your heads down your now bunkered(if the other team has any sack..

BEEFY.

[BEEFYSAUSAGE]

ok

ok i just read my spelling and i apologise for it ...

[Shaft]

Paint prices must go down. That's it. The guns may be forced to compensate. So.... breakage is the answer. Guns must not break paint.

[JanStah]

Originally posted by Shaft
Paint prices must go down. That's it.

...

Guns must not break paint.

Firstly, I think it's unlikey paint prices will go down.

http://www.paintballstar.com/diabcraigmil.html

That's a link to an interview with Craig Miller, one of the bosses at Diablo. He explains quite well the situation with paint manufacturers and why paint is so expensive.

Secondly, I agree; paint breakage is the biggest problem that automags face. I sold my RT because of this. I dont care if it's due to something being incorrectly setup or whatever, the fact is that mags have a reputation (warranted or not) for breaking paintballs.

if you could make a gun that cannot break paint, it would be a BIG improvement. Would it sell? I dont know.

Jan.

PS. Tom, I just re-read your post. Are you asking what you think the next advance in paintball will be? Or do you want to know 'If we make one of these, will you buy it?'...?

As I'm sure you're aware, paintball innovations do not necessarily equal profits.

[Bad Dave]

Paint breakage is key, all the others are nice like light weight, efficiency etc. But people nowadays just buy a bigger tank rather than a more efficient marker. Has to be paint breakage.

Secondary to this is marketing, who shoots your guns and where, what do they look like etc.etc.

[I LOVE MAGS !]

Tom how dare u ask us this simple "?" !!!! u know wut to do ! bring back the z-grip !!!!!

[rifleman]

In the sport of paintball, I believe we've gone as far as we can in respect of the marker and loader.

We've well exceeded what the NPPL calls standard---26bps~rt; 18bps~halo. Take a broader look at the situation and there's really no were to improve except the price as a few of you mentioned.

SO, that being said, I believe paintball advances mainly rely outside of the marker and loader--I'm thinking in ways of communication; most likely some type of masks with radios in them. Imagine how much more effective a team would be if the guy in the middle can still talk to the back guy who's 40 yards back.







Adam

[manike]

Originally posted by rifleman
Imagine how much more effective a team would be if the guy in the middle can still talk to the back guy who's 40 yards back.

That's why extra communication devices are NOT allowed in tournies :) That and the fact guys from the dead box could still communicate.

I'm with the never, ever, EVER breaking paint club. That's the number 1 important point. Then it is as consistant a gun as possible. If I could run everyshot at 300fps or whatever the limit was safely without risking going hot then I would. That is a big competitive advantage.

Consistency!

manike

[Thordic]

I gotta agree.. no more paint breakage. #1, MILES above anything else in importance.

Cheaper paint would be good too, though :)

[LaW]

As everyone else, paint breakage is number 1 on my list. I don't think an ACE is a complete solution to the problem obviously. We'll see where things go though, it should be interesting.

[Magsrule3]

I would like to see some kind of "self-cleaning" breech. Whether it would give a quick burst of air to the paint or wash it out, I think that would be great. Even though I dont break paint that often, its that one time you do that screws you in a game.

I would also like some kind of better squegee. Something with the effectiveness of a pull through but the quickness of a straight shot. Just an idea.

How about a lighter body or a lighter stainless version. I like the current look of the tube bodies. I think an aluminum tube modular body would be great. It could come with a vert. feed module, a reversable powerfeed version, and a warp module.

Optional colors would be cool. If you found a process to color the AIR/ReTro valves. And offer colored/milled rails. And powdercoated bodies.

These are just some little ideas. I cant actually think of any other ways to improve the mag, besides upgrading to a Emag.

[Blennidae]

With all this talk about paint breakage, has anyone ever done any research on how the increase in ROF has correlated to paint breakage? Personally I'm not very fast on the trigger, and I rarely break paint. I'm not dog slow, but definately in single digit BPS.

Personally I'd like to see a less bulky form of the warp feed.

[udtseal]

Im obviously no expert on these things, but what I would like is smaller diameter paintballs or some sort of redesigned paintball. Easier said than done but its true. The paintball itself is the most limiting factor in paintball, and it is the underlying "weak link" in paintball. Why .68cal? I would think if we could significantly lower the size of the paintball that we could squeak out greater range, smaller hoppers maybe, lighter weight, less susceptible to wind, etc. Thats just what I think, i dont know if its possible or not.