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by Drew H.

Discussion Board: NPPL 2012 New Rules and Regulations

February 2, 2012 in Featured, Front Page, Leagues, NPPL, Opinion

Discussion Board: NPPL 2012 New Rules and Regulations

We want to hear from YOU on the latest changes in the NPPL.

In a recent newsletter on behalf of the NPPL it is revealed that new rules and regulations will be set in place for 2012.

The most important change coming to the NPPL in 2012 seems to include a required ROF-fi technology (produced by Virtue Paintball LLC.) to be attached to all electronic paintball markers used in the NPPL (NPPL ROF Document). This technology is said to track player rate of fire statistics using Wifi (RF signals) which report data to a virtual NPPL “hub” (NPPA Ranking system) among other variants.

“The network effects of automatically “sharing” some of your key stats with thousands of Facebook friends, Twitter followers, etc. can not be overlooked. With Rof-fi statistics, paintball has a chance to not  only legitimize itself as a serious, high tech sport, but to leverage the network-effects of social media to increase awareness and interest in the sport of paintball.” (More information on the ROF-fi system).- Virtue Paintball LLCPro Paintball Championships

This all sounds well and good on paper but we must ask what is the responsibility of a “piggy-back” chip technology produced by Virtue in line with NPPL regulations and marketing principles?

Additional questions arise-

Will the NPPL produce media and marketing campaigns beyond social networking based on this information? It is almost assured. Clearly, social media is a valuable means to an end but there is no explanation on how players, advertising or provided sponsorship will directly benefit or be affected. How will the NPPL use such information past this idealist future? This isn’t the first time such a system has been suggested or the description of a utopian paintball world pitched by a private company or Major League Paintball.

How does one improve a faulty system of authority by automating results they themselves did not create? Should the NPPL do so?

Case by case, most players would agree that the basis for this decision, unregulated rate of fire, is not the root cause of the issue: a league which has understandably lost participants due to poor reffing and bad calls is the problem. Rather it is suggested the required use of this product is the extension of a surface context, a mismanagement of the rules and a clear avoidance of fair and proper policy made in part by the NPPL.

Why require anything at all? The argument is cicular in this case.

The regulation change does not go to address the actions of players but instead requires the collective into justifying a product placement. With such a valuable asset as automated and processed analytical information, where is the transparency provided for fans, players and teams? What assurances can be made? Will players be rewarded for producing and providing this information as participants under the NPPL/NPPA—and if not, what incentive is provided to play by the rules and use this technology? Is there any at all?

Are there any protections given towards the players for using this technology? What about their personal information? There are none listed or cited.

Despite misgivings, the technology is sound and stands to benefit major attraction for end users. That isn’t the issue- nor is the thought of a required purchase. There is a clear disconnect that somehow using technology will improve performance in officiating results on behalf of the NPPL regulatory staff and that by requiring such integration, everyone will benefit. Based on the working history of the league- we must disagree.

We want to know what you think.

Comment and share your thoughts with us- we would like to hear from YOU on this issue.

 

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by Justin

Discussion: How can we grow paintball?

January 5, 2012 in Opinion

Are you tired of hearing that “paintball is on the decline?”, or “paintball is dead”? We are. The SGMA reports say one thing, event attendance says another. While we can all agree that paintball is not as active as it was in 2005, we can also agree that people are playing, just not as many.

Tippman Scenario Paintball

Today’s discussion focuses in on this touchy subject. How can we, as paintball community members revive paintball? What are we missing? Is it television and video games, or exciting fields and marketing tie ins? Grass roots marketing, or commericial advertising?

What will it take to get paintball back on top?

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by Justin

Opinion: Paintball League Merger Thoughts by Paul Richards

December 28, 2011 in Opinion

The third submission to the ProPaintball Merger discussion comes from Paul Richards. Prior to coaching Tampa Bay Damage to several pro victories in both the NPPL and PSP, Paul coached Docs Raiders and Detroit Strange. When not coaching several of the worlds best paintball players, Paul documents the development of competitive paintball on his blog, View from the Deadbox.

Paul was invited to the ProPaintball panel. As with the rest of our panelists, Paul was asked the following question:

What do you think about the failed negotiations between the NPPL and PSP? Is this good or bad for paintball, and why?

Here is Paul’s opinion:

Pro Paintball coach Paul Richards

Pro Paintball coach Paul Richards

“Competitive paintball has been here before. I am hopeful that this time the response will be different. The impetus to merge came from an industry desire for a unified flagship series for tournament paintball. Since that proved impossible the industry can accept the status quo (again) and keep doing what they’ve done in the past or they can make a change.

As to whether this is a good or bad thing for paintball, it’s no more than a bump along the road. Most of paintball isn’t affected. Whether this proves to be good or bad for competitive paintball will very likely depend on how the industry responds. I think there are sufficient important differences between the leagues that the industry, if it can cooperate, can make a critical move toward unifying competitive paintball internationally. A move that potentially paves the way for significant growth and official recognition around the world. The move the industry can make is to choose. Not to pick a winner but to pick a league to support, that it believes in above and beyond any other. That decision doesn’t preclude other leagues but it would give primacy to one league. And today that league ought to be the PSP.”

 

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by Justin

Opinion: Paintball League Merger Thoughts by Jeff Stein

December 22, 2011 in Opinion

The second submission to the ProPaintball Merger discussion comes from Jeff Stein. Mr. Stein owns and coaches the New England Hurricanes, a team that competed in both the NPPL and PSP from 2004 through 2009, and currently competes in the PSP. Stein served on the NPPL steering committees in 2005, 2006, 2008, and served as PSP Prize Coordinator in 2002-3. Jeff has been involved with local stores, fields and tournaments since 1992 and currently owns a field in Rhode Island. When not fielding a team or running his park, Stein works as a project manager for an interactive television firm in NYC.

Jeff was invited to the ProPaintball panel. As with the rest of our panelists, Jeff was asked the following question:

What do you think about the failed negotiations between the NPPL and PSP? Is this good or bad for paintball, and why?

Here is Jeff’s opinion:

Team owner and business professional Jeff Stein“The sport, industry, teams and players are all best served by having one league, be that achieved via merger, acquisition or the dissolution of one of the existing leagues. So whatever the method, coming to a single national league serves the greatest good. It would allow for the defractionalization of resources, allow a truly national (or even international) team and perhaps player ranking, and would allow our still fledging sport to focus on growth opportunities – such as webcasts. Although, we should forget about TV; we don’t have a product that is appealing to a broader audience so any “progress” we make towards televising national competition will add another failure to the already too-long list of failures that we will someday need to overcome if we ever develop that “ready for prime time” product.

So, in that regard, the failed merger appears to be a bad thing for the sport of paintball.

Having said that, if you believe that the managing group of one of the leagues is deficient, dishonest or delusional, then a merger provided short term gains with long term costs; namely giving some of that deficient group a permanent seat at the table. By “failing” to merge, market forces will dictate which league offers the superior product (because, eventually, even the wealthiest sponsor gets bored) and the superior league will continue on uninfected by undesirables from the failed league.

So, while I think failing to come to one league for 2012 is a negative and could have a tangible impact on the sport, that impact will be short term and if a single league was to be achieved by a merger that would by necessity water down the superior product (and leadership group), then I’ll accept the short term loss for the long term gain.

We WILL come to one league. Hopefully not by merger.”

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by Justin

Opinion: Paintball League Merger Thoughts by Don Besancon

December 19, 2011 in Opinion

The first submission to the ProPaintball Merger discussion comes from Don Besancon. After graduating from college (his team, UCI, was the NCPA runners-up in 2008, losing the overtime point to Illinois), Don joined Sly Equipment where he now works as Director of Operations. Don has been involved in every type of paintball imaginable; ranging from tournament, scenario, retail, fields, manufacturing and tech support.

Don was invited to the ProPaintball panel. As with the rest of our panelists, Don was asked the following question: What do you think about the failed negotiations between the NPPL and PSP? Is this good or bad for paintball, and why?

Here is Don’s opinion:

“A unified league would have been fantastic thing for tournament paintball—but I doubt we’ll ever see it happen. While we have some of our sport’s best and brightest on either side of the merger table, it seems that we’ll never see a ‘true’ unified national circuit.

Both leagues have different leadership styles, intentions, and appeal. I feel that the PSP puts on a better production—with a unified, flawless ID system, a webcast with solid commentary, a format that encourages higher overall skill, and better overall event quality—the PSP is a clear winner. The NPPL is doing some things right—outside sponsors, more premium branding and graphic design, higher profile venues, and general promotion efforts. In defense of the NPPL, they’ve only been doing this for a few years—compared to the PSP’s decade.

The NPPL’s (now ‘previous’) format is dated and tired. A single game between two teams does not reveal the better of the two teams—but rather, the quality of the reffing, whose equipment worked, or who had the sun in their eyes. They need a multiple-gamepoint format—but it seems they’ve fixed that for next season.

The crux of the dilemma is very ‘American’ in nature—the idea that competition, in any market, produces a higher end product at the best price. In our case, this model simply doesn’t stand. The product has significant weaknesses on either side—most of which are caused by self-interest. Ideally (in my mind), we could have an event that was produced and operated by the PSP (and APPA) staff, playing the PSP format, with the entertainment, promotion, and venue selection done by the NPPL staff. The manufacturers would sponsor one league with more money, rather than splitting it. The players would have 5 plane tickets to buy—not ten—and have more manufacturer support. Less venues and more money will only result in better events, better promotion and exposure, and overall a better experience for players, vendors, and the public.”

Would a combined league make sense? Or, is having two leagues part of the “American” way?

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by Justin

ProPaintball Merger Panel

December 19, 2011 in Opinion

The Pro Paintball League merger (or lack thereof) was both the biggest story, and most talked about rumor for 2011. After months of negotiations, the two US pro paintball leagues released a joint statement. ProPaintball watched the news of another failed merger spread like wildfire through the community and industry channels.

Immediately, we started sending out phone calls, emails, and text messages asking what people thought. Many in the paintball community were shocked that the merger had failed. Others didn’t even blink.

With that in mind, we decided to invite several long time paintball community members a panel and pose the same question.

What do you think about the failed negotiations between the NPPL and PSP? Is this good or bad for paintball, and why?

The responses are limited to 300 words. These panelists were chosen based in their lengthy history and involvement in one or both of the leagues. These guys have seen the highs and lows of competitive paintball the NPPL, the PSP. Chosen were former pro players and coaches, industry manufactures, business and marketing professionals. We tried to vary the panelists to provide most well rounded perspective.

Today we present panelist #1, Don Besancon from Sly Equipment.

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by Justin

2011 PSP World Cup Wrap Up, News, Rumors, Gear, etc.

October 31, 2011 in Opinion, PSP

Pro Paintball team Russian Legion

Pro Paintball team Russian Legion

Looking back, last week’s 2011 PSP World Cup was a great success. Players and teams from across the world converged into the middle of Florida to compete for their respective titles. The final match up between pro paintball teams Tampa Bay Damage and the 2x returning champs Russian Legion reminded me of the great rivalry between USSR and USA hockey programs. The match was exciting to watch all the way to the very end and ultimately culminated in Tampa Bay Damage defeating reigning Cup champions Russian Legion. Exciting times for sure. In case you missed the final match you can watch (for free!) Tampa Bay Damage do battle against the Russian Legion at the 2011 PSP World Cup.

Damage Pro Paintball

Tampa Bay Damage taking the snake

World Cup is looked upon as “the” event to debut new paintball gear. Vendors hauled the new paintball gear in from across the country and in several cases, sold out of their event inventories. Here is a brief synopsis of the events main attractions;

New Paintball Gear at World Cup:

 

  • GI had the new GI SLEEK goggle system on display. The goggle features great visibility and a lower than normal goggle strap – designed to increase the level of comfort for recball players.
  • Empire Paintball was showing off the new Empire Sniper paintball gun to a lucky few. Some of which were able to buy the Empire Sniper prior to its official release this coming December. For the record, the gun is light, looks good, and has nearly every feature a pump player could possibly desire. I can’t wait to get my hands on one — stay tuned for a ProPaintball review coming soon.
  • Virtue was demonstrating their shot recording software (which is really neat!). They held contests all weekend long in which players were able to figure out who had the highest rate of fire. Progress and scores were posted on a huge projection screen inside the booth. Virtue also unveiled a new handheld gun-shaped chrono graph that appeared very sturdy and small enough to fit in your pocket. No word yet on price.
  • HK Army/PBFashion had their new Shredder paintball cleats and packs on display. Unfortunately the worlds largest HK Army headband did not make its way into the record books this time around. Not HK’s fault however — Guinness wasn’t able to get a record keeper to the field in time.
  • Both KM and Bad Dog had a ton of really good looking goggle straps available – Our favorite was Bad Dog’s Tampa Bay Damage strap – the Damage graphics/colors look awesome and they fit on both new and old generation goggle platforms.
  • DYE Precision unveiled the new DM12 as well as a line of off the field apparel which looked like something you would find in a skate/surf/snow shop. Many players were inquiring as to the future of the NT platform. ProPaintball insiders tell us that work continues on a new NT and a release is targeted for sometime next year.
  • Darryl Trent and Luxe Paintball had several awesome color schemes anodized on Luxe 1.5′s and 2.0′s. The splash anodized Luxes really caught our eye and Tony Perez’s voice in the new Luxe menu was hilarious. Stay tuned for our video coming online shortly.

In addition to media coverage and countless meetings, I had the opportunity to play with my friends from LIFT in division 1. According to the score sheet we took (and gave) a few beatings. For those of us who were there it was a different story. There is true brotherhood on LIFT and it was an honor playing with the team.

LIFT Paintball Team

LIFT on the break out

On a related note, striking a balance between playing and covering events is much more difficult than it appears – but the battle is well worth it. There is something about the adrenaline rush when you step out on that field. The thought that you and your buddies have to fight five other dudes and make your way across the field — or else suffer the consequences. Playing competitive paintball with your friends is both invigorating and challenging. At the end of the day I wouldn’t change it for the world.

The weather was great. Aside from a bit of muck on Wednesday, this event was filled with clear skies, light breezes, and dry weather all weekend long. Everyone we talked to was having a great time both on and off the field. Here are a few highlights:

Pro Paintball News & Rumors from World Cup:

  • Omaha VICIOUS made a power play at World Cup. Vicious made waves by not only making the teams first appearance in the prestigious Sunday club but also taking 4th place at the event. Congrats on the podium finish, great work Vicious! The red “Sunday” jerseys looked great.
  • Billy Wing of the LA Ironmen is said to be officially retired from professional paintball. According to ProPaintball insiders, Billy is moving to Florida and will continue to run sales in Central and South America for DYE Precision. Billy has an ability like few others in that he is able to both read the field, play the field, and command the field, all at the same time. In addition, Billy has a great personality and has always been friendly to those on and off the field. I can’t tell you how many times Billy has spent time breaking down the field for Brandon and I and explaining how we should be playing it.We are bummed to see him retire from the pro court. Hopefully Wing will keep playing with fellow teammates Mike Paxson, Mr. U and others on the Ironmen Tactical Team.
  • In division 1, Upton 187 beat out Top Gun for the PSP World Cup. 187 has been a solid team all season long and shortly after the teams victory, they announced their intent to go pro in 2012. According to insiders, Division 1 runners up, Top Gun is considering a move to the pro division in 2012 as well.
Dynasty Pro Paintball Team

Dynasty feasting in the prelims

  • San Diego Dynasty was literally unstoppable in the prelims at Cup. The team won 21 unchallenged points (thats 3 consecutive matches that Dynasty won 7-0!) and sealed up the PSP 2011 Series Championship. Shortly afterwards word reached us that a handshake deal between Empire Paintball and San Diego Dynasty had been reached to continue the partnership. While nothing has been “signed/sealed/delivered”, we would imagine that both Empire and Dynasty will continue together in the coming years. Congrats guys!
  • PSP sends word that “406s Finest” out of Montana won the Division 4 RaceTo-2 World Cup Title instead of placing 2nd as announced earlier. Congrats to James Greer, Kelly Liggett, Kris Liggett, Jacob Timmons and Seth Vannoy on their win!”

Check out the action packed galleries from pro paintball photographers Mike Deep (Part 1, Part 2) and Phillip “Stretch” Baker – Part 1.

For those of you who were able to attend PSP World Cup, what did you think? How did your team fair? Did you pick up any new paintball gear?

Green Paintball: A Call to Action

October 14, 2011 in Featured, Opinion

The following is a guest post by Mike Zapantis. Mike talks about how we can reduce the environmental impact of paintball and clean up our local parks.

Face it.  Paintball is by far the dirtiest sport in existence, next to, of course, professional dumpster diving.  A player’s dedication to the sport is most often determined by how much mold is growing on his arm pads, and how many flies he attracts at the start box.  Some of the most glorious tournament wins are those in the worst weather conditions possible, where we are rolling around in the mud like sows after lunchtime.  On top of that, the footprint paintball leaves on the immediate earth surrounding it is unmistakable, so much so that tournament venues that allow such destruction to their property are hard to come by, and when they are, they are the most fickle landlords.  One cannot deny the amount of trash that is the aftermath of paintball.  Between batteries, paintball packaging, water bottles, and the like, paintball is epitomized by littering.  After all, the sport we love so dearly revolves around spraying 12.5 balls per second’s worth of biodegradable filth into the air and onto the ground.  So why can’t we clean up after ourselves?  It has been common knowledge for quite some time now that the current global economic and waste management condition is destroying the planet.  Other industries have caught on to the concept of “going green,” for more than just environmental reasons.  Why hasn’t the paintball industry caught up to this concept?  Somebody needs to be held accountable for reducing the carbon footprint paintball has on the planet.  And that somebody is everyone.  Here are some suggestions I have for the paintball world that we all should take into consideration.

 

Paintball Park/Venue Littering: Would you throw batteries on the ground in your backyard?  Would you chuck a banana peel on your bed?  Then why would you do so at your local paintball field, or even worse, an out-of-industry venue (Assuming that you hopefully answered “no” to the above questions.)?  This is holding players directly responsible for their actions, but also offering up some solutions for teams, players, and field owners alike.  Field owners should provide plenty of garbage containers near the parking and pitting areas, and players should be mindful to place any rubbish into those containers.  Field Staff should clear out garbage bins regularly to prevent overflow.  Paint boxes should be broken down by players and placed NEXT to these garbage bins, NOT INSIDE.  One should be mindful of silica gel packets.  Not only are they not compostable, but they are toxic to anything that might ingest them.  Make sure you toss them in the trash when you are loading up your pods.

Batteries are not biodegradable, and are, in fact, extremely toxic.  While it is much better to throw your old loader and marker batteries in the garbage as opposed to on the ground, there is an even greener solution.  There are battery recycling centers all over America, where you can drop off all your old batteries so that they can be disposed of properly.  Examples of such places are Whole Foods, Staples, and Radioshack.  Have your team designate a responsible teammate to collect all used batteries from the end of practice and dispose of them properly.  Field owners should provide battery-specific collection bins, and dispose of them properly as well (4).

 

Rechargeable Batteries: Why have rechargeable batteries not yet become standard features on all high and mid-range equipment?  I know that attempts have been made in the past to incorporate this idea to paintball, with limited success.  I know that not including rechargeable batteries shifts the some of the unit cost of each item over to the consumer, but I feel that it is the paintball equipment manufacturer’s ethical responsibility to provide a green approach to their products.  At the very least offer a rechargeable battery option for your high end equipment.

Paintball Packaging: This is where the responsibility shifts to the paintball manufacturers, and this call should be taken quite seriously.  It has been the norm in tournament paintball for some time now that teams and players shoot a lot of paintballs.  It is typical for one X-Ball or 7-man team to shoot over 10 cases of paint per one day of practice, and for these same teams to shoot 20-40 cases of paint during the prelims of a national tournament.  Paintball packaging provides protection of its precious cargo similar to that of a tank, with plenty of cardboard, plastic, and silica gel packets to ensure that each and every paintball makes it to your loader scuff-free.  With that said, there are plenty of ways to make paintball packaging less harmful to the environment.

The first and most obvious solution is to use packaging that is more mindful to the environment.  Using cardboard that is from certified, sustainable sources is a great option that trumps recycled cardboard (recycling often uses more energy, thus resulting in more pollutants than what would occur if you just threw it away)(2).  Also, in an approach outlined by the Cradle to Cradle concept (1), paintball manufacturers can offer a program to recycle used paintball packaging.  Paintball fields and tournament series alike would, under this program, be able to send back broken down and intact boxes so that they can be refilled with fresh paint.  Another key element to paintball packaging is the plastic bags that the paintballs are kept airtight in.  Industry leaders should switch over to biodegradable versions of the same bagging, so that even when that renegade empty bag gets blown away in the wind, one can be assured that it is not going to sit around in the woods for the next 10 years (3).

The second solution, which might seem a bit more revolutionary, is to package tournament paint in greater quantities.  Can somebody please explain to me why are we still packaging paint in 2000 round increments?  At the very least, tournament grade batches should be packaged in 4000-5000 round increments, since most players carry on the average 5 man line carry 700 rounds.  This would not only reduce the environmental footprint paintball has, but it can also financially benefit the companies producing paintballs through reduced packaging costs.

 

These modest proposals are only the tip of the iceberg.  There are plenty of other ideas and solutions that can be implemented towards “green” paintball.  With all of the talented and bright minds we have in this sport, I am sure that we can work together to figure out what is the best course of action.  The future of our planet, and our sport, rely on people coming together and changing for the better.  Post your ideas below!

Resources:

  1. Cradle to Cradle: http://www.mbdc.com/http://www.mcdonough.com/cradle_to_cradle.htm
  2. Forest Stewardship Council: http://www.fsc.org/
  3. Friendly Bags:  http://www.friendlybags.com/
  4. Environment, Health and Safety Online: http://www.ehso.com

-Michael Zapantis

 

Editor: What are your thoughts on making paintball more environmentally friendly? What steps do you take to help clean or reduce the clutter at your local paintball park?

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by Justin

Paintball in Best Buy Commercial

June 6, 2011 in Industry News, Opinion

Paintball seems to be blowing up on television these days. In the last couple of years we have had several features including the College Paintball Championships on Fox College Sports, NPPL Beyond the Paint television series, the Traumahead Paintball show, among others. Most recently paintball was featured on NBC’s hit television series Community, not once, not twice, but in a whopping THREE episodes. Now, electronics giant Best Buy has joined in on the marketing fun and is featuring paintball as one of its summer sports in a recent commercial.

Is paintball finally catching on as a mainstream sport? Or are these all attempts to zero in on a niche market?

YouTube Preview Image

Special thanks to Sacramento XSV for the heads up.

Daily Discussion: Planet Eclipse Taking Production In A New Direction?

May 24, 2011 in Gear, Industry News, Opinion

Planet Eclipse recently unveiled their new line of special edition CSL Ego markers, adding to the extensive variety of limited run factory anodizing offerings for the Ego11. While the aesthetics are clearly the selling point of this SL edition, it does offer a couple of minor design upgrades from the standard Ego11. Check out the link above for full detail on the CSL line.

CSL Ego11

The conundrum for market value/consumer worth of special release markers stems out of the industry’s tendency to operate with an annual release cycle for its major product lines. Buyer skepticism arises over the benefit of purchasing the special edition, as apposed to waiting out for the release of the next years more significantly (or so we hope) refined version. Planet Eclipse honcho Jack Wood recently commented on the “buyer’s dilemma” saying:

“Planet Eclipse are now actively working to move away from annual releases of all their markers within their range. The Etek and Geo have never been in an annual cycle. The Ego will also be pulled out of its annual cycle. In layman’s terms this means there will NOT be an Ego12.

There is no plan to stop production of any of the current markers or any of the off-shoots of each of those models (SL etc). What it does mean is that we will have longer to develop the replacements of each of the models giving each model a longer lifespan, something I believe customers are looking for in the current market. We don’t simply want to release an EGO12 with a few minor tweaks and expect people to buy it.

I hope that puts paid to a lot of the rumors that are floating around and we can finally draw a line under that subject. Feel free to quote me on that.”

Thanks Jack, we will. He touches on many of the most pertinent issues that make this such a bold move in the industry. By deviating from the norm, PE is making a statement about the current standard of production set by gun manufacturers as well as highlighting their awareness of the state and strength of paintball’s second-hand market. So what do you think this will do in terms of affecting the manufacturing trends on an industry wide level? Do you think this is strictly a business move in an attempt to spread out R&D funds or a response to physical production strain? Are you just stoked that your gun will now retain its value for longer?

Spill your mind and let us know what you’re thinking.