Quote:
Originally posted by shartley
Well, I have to say that if folks think “suits” ruined paintball, they are off the mark by light-years. Sorry.
When paintball becomes mainstream and more folks play, and you have to watch your gear or if will be stolen, that is NOT caused by suits. That is caused by the PLAYERS. Of course everyone wants to blame someone other than the individuals themselves these days…..
When paintball tournaments get out of hand with cheating, that is not caused by the suits. That is caused by the PLAYERS. Of course everyone wants to blame someone other than the individuals themselves these days…
When BE brings folks into the sport that is a GOOD thing. People want paintball to become more socially acceptable, yet don’t want the public to be involved in the sport? What kind of backward thinking is that?
Oh yeah, mainstreaming ruined snow boarding, skiing, rollerblading, surfing and all the other activities that started out as a small group…. LOL Not by a long shot. Sorry. You can still have little cliques in each activity and yet have the general populous also enjoy the same activities, even if a little different than the “elite” do.
I do agree that rec-ball is still the backbone of the paintball world. I also agree that a lot of the actions of newer members into the sport are unacceptable. I also agree that a lot of the emphasis on Tournament Play is more than a bit “off”, and should be directed to what the majority of paintball players actually DO. But to say mainstream is not good for paintball? Come on. Any business or product that is not growing, is dying. And what happens when the current customer base already has equipment and the other things that become the trappings of paintball? You need new blood.
The idea that it has to be one way or the other is as silly to me as most other extreme views arguments. Most of the time to be successful you have to find, and then have, a middle ground.
Suits are not evil. Mainstreaming is not “bad”. It is about time we hold individuals THEMSELVES responsible for their actions, and not blame those actions on an influx caused by uncaring suits. Look at AO….. each time we have an influx of members, we get the bad along with the good. But by setting standards and enforcing them, we keep AO on the better side of things. Paintball as an industry is the same……
I love to read these posts. You are right of course, that maintstreaming is not evil - and anything that stays underground will eventually die. But you have to admit that mainstreaming does