Paintball

[russc]

Okay, but every other forum on earth can deal with it using captchas or skill testing questions and AO can't? It's insane to expect every potential new AO member to register for MCB and find a guy to PM, just so they can get in the exclusive AO club. I'll bet that most forum registration is done with the free email addresses.

[Spider!]

As I understand it, the server and it's software are outdated. Probably one of those situations where a software update would not function due to hardware loading or just plain incompatibility. It couldn't keep up with the spambot software, so now there's a moat to cross. Being a free and unsupported forum, there have been no plans to upgrade the hardware.

It didn't start out as an exclusive thing, it just got backed into a corner.

[russc]

Just don't be surprised when AO goes the way of pumpplayers.org and BEOG. It's already drying up compared to even two years ago.

[Spider!]

Originally Posted by russc

Just don't be surprised when AO goes the way of pumpplayers.org and BEOG. It's already drying up compared to even two years ago.

I agree.

A lot of us have migrated to other forums (like MCB) in general, but I would miss the knowledge base there. It's the posts about stuff that was tried and failed that are worth more, since people tend to remember things that work. That and TK's explanations of why mags are the way they are. And the unique mags. And stuff...

[Ando]

You're off your rocker Russc. We can agree AO is't what it was back in the early 2000's but you're way off basses here.

I can stay off AO a full day and there'll be 1 1/2 pages (30 posts per page) of topics running strong. Look at this place, you have an average of what...3 posts a day? PBN is even worse.

You show me. Show me another forum that's dedicated to just ONE 20+ yr old marker with that big of a following.

I can think of maybe...maybe one and i'll admit. There's some dumb **** that comes up from time to time but what forum doesn't have it's douchebaggery. Role with the punches is all I'm saying

We all here have an imagination right?

So....lets imagine if AO's registration was working....How many MORE people and daliy posts do you think would be on the site? Anyone care to guess?

So instead of busting balls, you should thank AGD for it's shortcomings because if it wasn't for that fact, the AGD area here, PBN and pretty much everywhere else for that matter would be deader (<--is that a word) then what it already is.

And this thread.....would never have been

[Spider!]

I think he just means that if we don't let the new people in, then we will be left talking to ourselves. Then behemoth and SCpoloRicker will turn on us.

It is nice knowing that any new people that show up really are interested though.

[Ando]

Originally Posted by Spider!

It is nice knowing that any new people that show up really are interested though.

I agree. If they're willing to work and figure out how to fully register, my hats off to them.

[rnm410]

Originally Posted by Justus

The problem is spammers. AO had such a problem with it that any gmail or hotmail address is automatically banned from registration. If you have to use a gmail or hotmail address, you got to PM an Admin to get it approved first.

Ah, yea I'm on LSU's email which is gmail. And I jumped in late on this conversations. Brought smiles to my face reading that.

[poisonpill]

Originally Posted by rnm410

Thanks for all the responses on the q loader issue. With my style of play and care the only one I see being a problem for me is the cost. I do woods and rarely encounter a scenario where I'm shooting more than 30 balls in one place. Let alone I've always played games, 10 years, with out a pod pack, basically hopper ball, so I'm good at conserving paint. If I purchase I will be going for 5 pods total. As for weight and weight balance... that's why I shoot a mag my mechanical skills should allow me to fab some sort of centrally located mount. Mostly what I'm seeing is problems with them being tedious, that I can handle. Still though the more opinions the better, they are pretty highly ranked on pbreview, but I like hearing from mag owners.

I consider myself a Q-Loader veteran, and I bought one when it was first put on sale.

That said, I would not recommend it unless you're willing to put in a serious investment in time. All the main points were covered but for me the main ones are:

1) unreliable feeding. If you get one, you'll need to go quite often to go through tremendous trial and error to find the right about of pre-winds. Too much and you're putting too much pressure on the balls. Too little and there's not enough pressure at the end and you'll have a handful of balls that aren't willing to come out. Then also if you don't have a *really* simple hose and feed setup, you will probably get jams. I've had what can only be explained as Murphy's Law with Qloader feeding in games.

2) can't top off. It's annoying to start a game and you got half a pod, or a bunch of half-pods and you can't fill them up. Forget about asking someone you toss you a spare. At the start of rounds, I would have to rotate my pack to see whichever pod with the most balls up close to my reloading hand.

3) it bears repeating that if you mess up (forget to pre-load your hose with balls, accidentally cutting a ball when you insert your pod, or any myriad of ways to blow a ball in the system) your day is pretty much screwed. You can try your darnest to clean it but there will probably be remnants in the pod or socket somewhere that will affect your accuracy. Nothing but a full disassembly will get it back to 100%.

I had a lot of fun with my qloader, but the constant attention it needed weighed on me. Frankly I'm older now and don't play as much as I used to. I lost the will to deal with equipment headaches. I just want to go to the field, play all day, and go home.

When the system works, it's pretty cool. It looks nice, and the lifetime warranty is no joke -- the elbows and other parts break and I've had new ones shipped to me with no issue. Just know you'll have to tinker with it a lot.