http://www.paintballer.ie/ Many players and industry leaders have their own blogs. Find extracts from a lot of them ere as well as other RSS fed material en Thu, 09 Sep 2010 11:44:48 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.paintballer.ie/images/geram/misc/rss.jpg http://www.paintballer.ie/ http://www.paintballer.ie/blogs-articles/12547-monday-poll.html Tue, 07 Sep 2010 07:24:35 GMT If you've been keeping up you already know what's coming. If you haven't your penance is to go back a couple of posts and catch up with, A Pre-Monday Poll Query. This week's tongue-in-cheek question (mostly) (sorta) (kinda) is: Why Do Referees Huddle? You, yes you, were offered an opportunity to participate in the process and if you didn't you have no excuses and no one to blame but yourself. Am I bitter? Naw. As usual you were all (for the most part) a pack of worthless slackers--which, on the plus side, makes y'all consistent and predictable. But if you don't like your options let's just say I won't be particularly sympathetic.
Now go vote. Do it for your self-respect. Or as a protest against a demanding blog. Whatever it takes--click that mouse and count.

Monday Poll in Review
Last week's poll quizzed your thoughts on the potential for the new water-based paintball from HydroTec to be introduced at the upcoming Paintball Extravaganza. The only surprise was the 15% who claimed not to know what the HydroTec paintball is--given that just a couple posts below is one of a number of VFTD posts on the topic. What, some of you drop by just for the pictures? Otherwise, in this The Year of the Small Ball your reticence, if not outright cynicism, in accepting this new paintball is clear. 3% consider it hype. 10% figure at best it's just another paintball and 9% think if the paintball proves out its promise it will mean chaos for the paint industry. Now that's focusing on the dark cloud. But most of you are withholding judgment even if you're hopeful it might amount to something. (40%) And for those with their eyes on the prize 10% thought if the paintball turns out to be cheaper it would benefit retailers and field operators while 6% were looking to keep a few more bucks in their pockets.
Personally I think it will work and be cheaper for both players and field operators while causing chaos in the paint industry even though it's just another paintball.


More... ]]> Blogs and Articles Blog Bot http://www.paintballer.ie/blogs-articles/12547-monday-poll.html http://www.paintballer.ie/blogs-articles/12532-over-propaintball.html Sun, 05 Sep 2010 09:25:07 GMT Is the first part of a multi-part series entitled, Anatomy of a Pro Paintball Roster. It's terrific. Just the sort of thing I'd do if I wasn't a lazy slacker. Be smart and check it out.
Oh yeah, link is the post title.


More... ]]> Blogs and Articles Blog Bot http://www.paintballer.ie/blogs-articles/12532-over-propaintball.html http://www.paintballer.ie/blogs-articles/12530-what-tournament-paintball-part-2-a.html Sat, 04 Sep 2010 21:22:50 GMT Picking up where yesterday's post left off--(it's no longer yesterday unless you are willing to subscribe to a very loose or generous definition of "yesterday" but better late than never)(Right?)--the last thing I want to do is assign blame. Sure there were decisions made that people disagreed with, either then or later. Yes, there were decisions made that had little or nothing to do with the players. And hindsight is closer to 20/20 with the advantage of seeing how things turned out. But even with hindsight only a few things seem clear to me and I'm a lot more interested today in where things go from here than I am in portioning out culpability like Paintball's judge & jury. It isn't going to change anything so what's the point?

What does yesterday's brief history tell us, if anything? In pure numbers the largest events ever occurred after the woods were completely abandoned. Field size did shrink over the last dozen years but the biggest turnouts happened after most of the field shrink had reached present levels or were close to it. There was a dropoff with the introduction of xball but the numbers rose year to year until 2007, when WC fielded over 360 teams. And while 2008 was lower the numbers still topped 320 teams. Throughout the huge event era the 5-man turnout floated just below or above 200 teams. Capped ramping to 15 bps was the rule during a 4 year period during the build-up of xball. Prior to that actual ROF were all over the place as they have been all along in the various NPPL incarnations but not consistently crazy fast until the Halo hit the market. Today PSP is 12.5 for everybody. After an introductory season and the massive positive hype about HB the NPPL took off in year 2 with the 7-man format. One league focused on the perks and the other on the paintball. High end sponsorship dollars peaked around '05-'06. Both leagues were pursuing TV and the Russian Legion introduced a previously unseen level of professionalism in their organization and training. A level of professionalism the other pro teams needed to compete with to stay relevant.

Today events take up less time than ever. Guns are still fast. Across the board officiating is about as good as it's ever been. Running events is almost clockwork these days and if you take paint tabs off the table going to an event is still expensive but adjusted for inflation not a lot more expensive than it ever was. So how to explain the decline?

Some want to place the start of the decline before the current and ongoing general economic malaise with the flattening of industry sales. The idea being the sales numbers were indicative of a drop off in new players entering the game and the trickle down eventually has impacted tourney ball. (The player spigot got turned off and it took awhile for the reduced flow to reach the tournament faucet.) I find that explanation less than persuasive in part because the industry downturn was at least partly self-inflicted in my estimation. (Most of the rest of the conventional wisdom fits in here as well. Stuff like ROF chased newbies away. Funny thing is I think there has been a trickle down that has affected tourney play.) The last two years WC has had 191 and 183 5-man teams signed up with both years at well over 300 teams total. The consequential decline was during the season at the NOT World Cup events and, of course, all this year. What I think is fair to say is that the level of growth we were used to stopped prior to the full effect of the recession hitting. But at this point the economy at large is depressing competitive paintball across the board--along with pretty much everything else.


Here's where I take the leap and offer a different--if not altogether new--analysis of the situation. Some of the pieces remain the same, just re-ordered a bit. (This is, btw, focused primarily on the PSP, and its sphere of influence, as the larger more active league. That and NPPL 1.0 & 2.0 mostly self-destructed.)
The first piece of the puzzle was the move to xball. Xball was intended to be a format compatible with and comparable to mainstream sports. It was designed for TV and it skewed tournament paintball's core demographic younger. (The younger demo has less resources and less ability to organize.) Until this last year the classification system pushed too many players up the ranks--and during part of that period it was done by design as a way to try and fill the upper ranks. Instead, it dumbed down the skill level and pushed players (not teams) into ranks that made it difficult for them to continue competing at the national level and almost impossible at the local and regional level. (None of the PSP affiliates operate a division above D2.) The last piece of the puzzle is what I'm calling the sports mindset--which is something that was cultivated in the xball era. At the pro level the arrival of the Russian Legion and the drive toward a truly professional league pushed all the top teams to develop more formal organizational structures along with expanded training & practice routines. (It also drove up the team costs that have since forced teams to drop out.) And that attitude--along with a practice regimen--trickled down the divisions. Which isn't, of itself, a bad thing but it has changed the definition of tournament paintball. It isn't your Daddy's tourney ball anymore. It's demanding, it's expensive and it has raised the entry bar to potential new players and teams. The end result has been an artificially short competitive paintball "career" for players starting at a younger age in a more expensive, cutthroat version of what used to be tournament paintball.

Tomorrow (eh, next time) what to do about it.



More... ]]> Blogs and Articles Blog Bot http://www.paintballer.ie/blogs-articles/12530-what-tournament-paintball-part-2-a.html http://www.paintballer.ie/blogs-articles/12526-pre-monday-poll-query.html Sat, 04 Sep 2010 07:30:53 GMT First, my apologies for the slow week of posting. I'm working on a new project while maintaining several older ones that are usually behind my ever optimistic scheduling without the added pressure of another competing project. Anyway, this is a first.
I'm looking to you lot to supply answers for the upcoming Monday Poll. It's going to be a mostly just for fun poll so instead of you telling me afterwards what I should have done you get an opportunity to make this a better poll by offering up your insights in advance. Then if I don't use your answer you can tell me afterwards how much better the poll would have been if only I'd had the good sense to include your answer--which was obvious, brilliant, clever & amusing. The trifecta plus one!
The upcoming poll question will be: Why do referees huddle? It happens all the time. In PSP divisional and NPPL play it's usually ex post facto (after a penalty has been assessed) but on the pro field it also happens at times before a call is made but after a flag is thrown. I've often wished Derder or Social or somebody filming would jump in the ref's huddle like they do the players huddles but until we have conclusive video evidence of what's going on I want your answers. You've got the weekend to supply an answer or two--or even three--as the poll will go up Monday, with or without you.


More... ]]> Blogs and Articles Blog Bot http://www.paintballer.ie/blogs-articles/12526-pre-monday-poll-query.html http://www.paintballer.ie/blogs-articles/12509-no-power-heaven-earth.html Thu, 02 Sep 2010 03:42:22 GMT Can stand before the mighty Deadbox Puppet Army. I know, this isn't Friday and I normally do enlistments on Friday but it's been awhile--and I'm giddy as a schoolgirl--so here it is.
VFTD is pleased (excited, thrilled) to welcome the latest recruits, j.c. & Jonathan to the DPA. Thanks, guys!

And to encourage some of you other slackers to consider enlisting I'ma take a minute and remind t.c. & Jonathan of some of the perks in being a member of the DPA. The army will be mobilised, when the time is ripe, via message through the VFTD secret decoder ring. And there's the DPA secret handshake designed to reveal infiltrators and falangist scum. Along with the weekly email blast/newsletter that updates the truth in order to keep the revisionist lies of the power structure from weakening our resolve. Oh, and there's the T-shirt but its still in the design stage. And decoder rings are currently on back order. And I'm having a little trouble remembering the secret handshake and the database is a little thin since nobody actually registers--it's a security measure--but as soon as those kinks get worked out the DPA will function like a well-oiled machine. Join today and you too can be a cog in our machine.


More... ]]> Blogs and Articles Blog Bot http://www.paintballer.ie/blogs-articles/12509-no-power-heaven-earth.html http://www.paintballer.ie/blogs-articles/12500-september-issue-shooting-hot-magazine-here.html Wed, 01 Sep 2010 02:13:18 GMT Get your Labor Day weekend off to a bang with SHM’s Dale Ford and TechPB’s Mike Phillips squaring off in the SHM “Fight Club” for “Who IS the Deadliest Paintball Warrior?”, coverage of Wasaga Beach’s “Archangel”, New European Editor Tim Barnett’s take on team troubles, TB’s excursion into the Lowest Common Denominator, Dynamic Coating’s Dyna-Clear [...]

More... ]]> Blogs and Articles Blog Bot http://www.paintballer.ie/blogs-articles/12500-september-issue-shooting-hot-magazine-here.html http://www.paintballer.ie/blogs-articles/12492-monday-poll.html Tue, 31 Aug 2010 01:59:12 GMT It's alive! Okay, not really. Not by any conventional use of the term alive but it's back. The Monday Poll returns!

The HydroTec paintball news made a splash at first but seems to have fallen off everyone's radar just as suddenly. Of course that's probably because there's no new news to speculate about but I've never let the lack of information stop me before--yes, that was an intentional joke--so it's time to see what y'all think the new paintball will mean for the industry and the game.

Pick the answer that comes closest to your point of view and next week we'll see what the results look like and whether or not you managed to get your Nostradamus on or not. Vote your conscience. Vote for change. Or just vote in the Monday Poll.


More... ]]> Blogs and Articles Blog Bot http://www.paintballer.ie/blogs-articles/12492-monday-poll.html http://www.paintballer.ie/blogs-articles/12453-crazy-probably-little-harsh-john.html Thu, 26 Aug 2010 09:21:13 GMT But you could be doing decreasing concentric circles around the deep end of the pond that is Paintball. Of course I'm not a doctor and I didn't spend last night at a Holiday Inn Express so it's just an opinion and not a diagnosis. As for the rest of you lot--If you missed it I'm referring to John Amodea's editorial in the August issue of X3. (The link is the title.) He closed his editorial by asking his readers if he was crazy and I thought why bother with the traditional letter to the editor when I could as easily respond here at VFTD.
The premise is that major leagues (and much of the rest) of competitive paintball is in decline from its peak years in the middle of the last decade. So far so good. I think we can all agree that actual numbers of participants is down and the numbers are significant. Beyond stating the obvious and giving a nod to the bad economy--this is where things go off the track--the following paragraphs attempt to make the case for why using some dubious assertions and some outlandishly inaccurate variations of the conventional wisdom. For example, fields are shrinking, as are the bunkers and guns are going faster than ever. The last time a tourney field shrank it was by five feet and as a result of Dye buying the wrong sized carpets for the PSP's LA event in 2006. As for bunkers tall cakes and regular cakes are bigger and more playable than the blocks they replace and I don't recall carrots and wingnuts being particularly large or comfy props back in the day either. And none of those claims post date the high water marks for tourney ball anyway. So if they are contributing factors now why weren't they during tourney ball's peak?
Beyond the suspect claims the principle point seems to be that most players can't play at the highest levels. Another revelation. Of course they can't--and they never have. If he really means the majority can't compete at the national level in any division that's just plain silly. They can and they do. Offered in conclusion is the easy peasey solution of lengthening the field and making sure there's a big Home bunker for the old, fat (slow) guy. Why, do that and we're halfway home to the good old days.
Okay, maybe I am being (overly) harsh and it isn't (quite) that bad but it does seem to me that the whole editorial amounts to little more than nostalgia and a retrograde conception of what the game ought to be. It does, however, lead to an interesting dichotomy worth exploring and does lay a (creaky) foundation for asking some important questions because--despite any real editorial clarity it is observably true that the competitive demographic has skewed younger. And at least with Race 2 the game is more physically demanding. But it's also true that there are hundreds, if not thousands of registered competitors no longer competing at the national level for reasons other than the physical demands of the format.
From a practical perspective the real issue is how to sustain major league competitive paintball when the old model of tournament operation is on the verge of failing. Answering that question is far more important than worrying about who is playing and who isn't. Neither league made money during their peak years.
In addition, the fact is there's plenty of alternative tournament and competition paintball available for much less than national level play costs and none of them show any signs of replacing the current standards. The potential exists more so today to play virtually any kind of paintball you want than ever before.
Beyond the practical the answers to the following will set the path for the future: Is the game's competitive future to be found in its past or is the answer to keep moving forward? Is the movement towards being a sport unsustainable? Is the transition into a sport necessarily going to remake the game as it's played competitively and narrow, at least for a time, the number of devoted players?


More... ]]> Blogs and Articles Blog Bot http://www.paintballer.ie/blogs-articles/12453-crazy-probably-little-harsh-john.html http://www.paintballer.ie/blogs-articles/12448-august-19th-2010-a.html Wed, 25 Aug 2010 21:12:03 GMT Everything found here was either directly observed by the staff, sent in by members of The Ford Report Mailing list, or quoted by anonymous Ford... Everything found here was either directly observed by the staff, sent in by members of The Ford Report Mailing list, or quoted by anonymous Ford Report Minions. Keep in mind at all times… The Ford Report is for entertainment purposes only! Some of the things posted here may not be completely accurate. These posts may [...]

More... ]]> Blogs and Articles Blog Bot http://www.paintballer.ie/blogs-articles/12448-august-19th-2010-a.html http://www.paintballer.ie/blogs-articles/12427-white-hats-dark-hearts.html Tue, 24 Aug 2010 08:41:08 GMT The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of Dale Ford and his alone. They don’t necessarily reflect the opinions of The Ford Report or their sponsors. Be Warned: In order to satisfy the need of some of us within the paintball media, I will engage in the excessive use of polysyllabic words in order [...]

More... ]]> Blogs and Articles Blog Bot http://www.paintballer.ie/blogs-articles/12427-white-hats-dark-hearts.html http://www.paintballer.ie/blogs-articles/12420-there-method-madness.html Mon, 23 Aug 2010 20:40:38 GMT The answer is, yes, of course, there's a method to the madness--and I'm curious. Which particular madness am I referring to? (Given that Paintball is prone to all sorts of insanity.) The madness that is the latest edition of ProPaintball's Pro Power Rankings. No, I haven't changed my mind about the power rankings. Still love 'em. Still think they are good fun for everybody and a great way to generate interest in the pro game--from the borderline pathological to the casual conversation. All good, all the time.
Having glanced over the latest results though I'm curious about an aspect (or two) of the methodology at work. In particular how the issue of two different leagues plays out when only some of the ranked teams compete in both. Clearly, it's a factor as the top 4 teams all compete in both but it does create some potential controversies as well. How does one reasonably compare Vicious with Mutiny, for example. Are the rankings shaded in favor of one league or the other? Can any team that doesn't play both realistically end up on top of the rankings? Would a team that plays both but performs poorly in one be penalized compared to a team that only played one or the other?
Methodology aside, nobody wins or loses on the internet, so it really doesn't matter--but, even so, I can't help but be curious.


More... ]]> Blogs and Articles Blog Bot http://www.paintballer.ie/blogs-articles/12420-there-method-madness.html http://www.paintballer.ie/blogs-articles/12412-paintball-wars-armageddon-horizon.html Mon, 23 Aug 2010 08:31:34 GMT People in general, not just paintball peeps, tend to believe what they want to believe and further tend to rationalize those beliefs by choosing to... People in general, not just paintball peeps, tend to believe what they want to believe and further tend to rationalize those beliefs by choosing to selectively believe only the information and/or data that supports their pre-conceived ideas. That appears (in many instances) to be how the battle lines are being drawn in this latest round of the paintball wars. Some are discounting the new water-based paintball and some are latching on to it like a kidnapped child, suddenly and unexpectedly, returned to its family.

Can HydroTec deliver? What happens to the marketplace--and the current manufacturers (of old tech paintballs)--if a new, better and cheaper paintball is introduced? What happens to Paintball? That's the multi-million dollar question.

The Players: the old guard (everybody making the traditional paintball including the return of Richmond Italia.) Includes KEE, DXS and a surprising number of smaller manufacturers around the world despite the North American corporate consolidation efforts (ZAP, X.O., etc.) and companies like GAP & Severe closing down. The new kid on the block, HydroTec (particularly with the rumored support of Kraft Foods) instantly gains credibility--though the proof is in the as-yet-unseen, untested product.

The Game: roughly speaking it's market share, at least for the big players. They have, by and large, gone the route of competing by price (and the economy of scale) although it's not even close to being that simple. Paintballs produced in Asia & India do have a production cost edge certainly on North American manufacturers and probably on Eurokids as well. But proximity matters in terms of shipping costs, currency exchange rates and even the delivered quality of the product. As does high end quality in a portion of the market and the effective reach of a manufacturer's distribution arm. What it amounts to is there are a myriad of factors involved beyond just making paint. The important thing to keep in mind is that in today's paint market there is a balance between quality and cost and the competition over sales is predominantly by price.

The Outcome: Whether HydroTec will kick off a new, hot paintball war is dependant on the quality of the new paintball--from shell consistency, breaking characteristics, marking ability, etc.--and the wholesale pricing structure. That, and their ability to deliver product in a timely manner. Let us assume for the moment the new paintball is as advertised; the functional equal of current paintball tech at something in the neighborhood of half the manufacturing cost. That would put HydroTec in the driver's seat but still leave some wiggle room for the old guard.
How would HydroTec play it? I had assumed the big players would look for opportunities to file lawsuits in hopes of delaying or inhibiting a HydroTec rollout. One source reasonably close to the situation doesn't think there's any room for legal maneuvering. I'll believe that when I don't see it. Basically HydroTec will have two ways of playing this. They can take on the established players by undercutting their best prices and still make a profit as they build a distribution network. And/or they can establish their superiority and then be open to negotiate licensing agreements, perhaps with flagship manufacturers in key regions around the world.

The Fallout: Again, assuming the new paintball is as claimed a variety of things are likely to result. It could be a real boon for competitive paintball where cheaper paint could have a real impact on a player's and/or team's ability to compete. It will almost certainly force the old guard's big players to try and match the technology. It's an open question if HydroTec can "protect" a water-based paintball--as opposed to patenting the process--but it leaves the potential for a small window of opportunity to the old guard. In the meantime even a brilliant success from HydroTec will take time to build up its manufacturing volume and distribution network which is where the old guard's big players find that window of opportunity; in the time it will take for HydroTec to take control of the market. Regardless of how HydroTec works out (or doesn't) the same basic tensions will continue to exist between wholesale cost and end user customer cost. A cheaper case of paint at the wholesale level eases some of the pressure on higher volume retailers and could allow for improved margins but as with the promises of small ball when the retailer benefits that savings isn't, for the most part, passed on to the customer. Or, if the savings are passed along to the customer the current debate over how the local field should operate will continue unabated. To say nothing of what happens to established PBIndustry giants if they can't compete with the new paintball.




More... ]]> Blogs and Articles Blog Bot http://www.paintballer.ie/blogs-articles/12412-paintball-wars-armageddon-horizon.html http://www.paintballer.ie/blogs-articles/12405-burning-question.html Sun, 22 Aug 2010 08:21:59 GMT Wasn't the mantra of NPPL 3.0 that there needed to be a real players' league again without vested industry involvement and control? So if HydroTec enters the market as a serious player what will that make Chuck (Hendsch) & (the silent partner)? And will the paint companies sponsor the league of their newest competition?


More... ]]> Blogs and Articles Blog Bot http://www.paintballer.ie/blogs-articles/12405-burning-question.html http://www.paintballer.ie/blogs-articles/12398-pro-team-attrition.html Sat, 21 Aug 2010 08:16:48 GMT Remember when shrinking sponsorships and the lack of paint sponsorships in particular bespoke imminent doom for the ranks of pro teams? As it turns... Remember when shrinking sponsorships and the lack of paint sponsorships in particular bespoke imminent doom for the ranks of pro teams? As it turns out there's doom--and then there's more doom. More than enough doom for nearly everyone. The downward spiral that has seen the once overflowing PBIndustry gravy train run dry and leave many teams without first killed off the weak and defenseless, those almost fully dependent on industry largesse for their survival. As team numbers shrank those that survived the first round of cutbacks may (or may not) have seen a modest uptick as the total number of pro teams decreased. But the thinned ranks also invited new teams to take their chances and, at least temporarily, swell the ranks of pro teams again. So while the pro ranks haven't altogether gone the way of the dinosaurs (yet) the forces driving them to the brink of extinction continue to wreak silent havoc.

As in the past we first see signs of the next round of losses after mid-season. With Arsenal re-joining the NPPL in DC (and 3 D1 teams tossed into the pro mix) it (mostly) covered the no-show status of Entourage & Explicit. Not as well known a majority of XSV regulars didn't make DC either. Under the surface there is the reduced practice schedules of many pro teams (just like last year) and at MAO there was an undercurrent of dialogue about current pro teams taking a hard look at their ability to continue past this year. The numbers suggest anywhere from 4 to 6 pro teams may be unable to compete in 2011. And realistically similar numbers may come from the other major league although the NPPL may benefit from some two league teams opting to go NPPL only. Assuming the NPPL extends into 2011. (I'm not hinting at trouble--only that even if the NPPL manages to break even in 2010 there remains substantial debt from 2009.)

It will be intriguing to discover if the new paintball (and corresponding rumor of prices & costs) has any impact on pro team attrition or even major league paint sponsorship. Whispers suggest that some dialogue already exists sub rosa on the sponsorship prospects for the prospective new paint manufacturer and a significant cost reduction could breathe some new life into struggling programs.

The other factor that could help with pro attrition is VFTD's oft repeated suggestion that pro field layouts not be revealed prior to the event(s) which would radically reduce practice paint usage and the "need" to burn tournament volumes of paint in scrimmaging points.

(Yeah, yeah, the paint wars is coming. I didn't forget, just got side-tracked.)


More... ]]> Blogs and Articles Blog Bot http://www.paintballer.ie/blogs-articles/12398-pro-team-attrition.html http://www.paintballer.ie/blogs-articles/12397-breaking-news-update-nppl-world-paintball-championships-october-8th-9th-10th.html Sat, 21 Aug 2010 08:16:48 GMT Once again the NPPL is hosting the World Paintball Championships on the famous Las Vegas Strip. This event will be the event of the year and you do... Once again the NPPL is hosting the World Paintball Championships on the famous Las Vegas Strip. This event will be the event of the year and you do not want to miss it. The best teams in the world will converge in Las Vegas to see who will be crowned the 7 Man and 5 [...]

More... ]]> Blogs and Articles Blog Bot http://www.paintballer.ie/blogs-articles/12397-breaking-news-update-nppl-world-paintball-championships-october-8th-9th-10th.html