Paintball

[Lomarandil]

I'm with Scrapiron there.

All issues aside, neither of those letters were professional, courteous, or helpful. I must say it seems out of character for Jim. Otherwise, I'm going to mostly withold comment, since I was not at this game. I want to get some facts straight first.

Lo

[Carbide]

Wow, what an intense thread about having fun outdoors shooting paintballs at people who want to shoot paintballs with you!

Let me introduce myself first since I don’t post much here (but do lurk), my name is Gavin “Carbide” Sullivan and I am the XO of Blacklight Company. I was the green rocket man in shorts with a grill mask, I was also the guy with the megaphone at night. This was the 4th Colorado Fledgling game that I have attended.

This was the best game that Jim has put on so far, even with the flaws that the game had.

Paint- 7/10 this was the best paint Jim has had to date, and he has listened to players about this because the paint has been improving over time.

Field- 6/10, the spring game is never as good as the fall game as far as the field goes. In the fall the grass is 2-4’ high in many places. Most of the trees have filled out. The land bridge looks like something out of a Nam movie, and produces some awesome fire-fights.

Ref’s- Number of refs 3/10 quality of refs 5/10, First there was a shortage of refs, no doubt. Second the refs were wet behind the ears. However in defense of the producer the turn out was nearly double past numbers (old record 250, this weekend 400+). Also the team that has ref’ed in the past wanted to get a run on the field, can you blame them?

Game Organization- 6/10 Jim tries hard to run a good game. I think that a little reading up on games theory might help a bit but I can’t really complain too much. They cover what you need to know during the briefings. The problem is that much of the briefing also contains inside jokes and tangents.

Weather- 8/10 yup the wind blew, it does every time and I’ve seen it blow from all points of the compass in Agate. But for anyone who played the whole weekend of Attack on the Hive, this was the best weather ever. We played there in driving rain and it got so cold on Saturday night that my tent iced up!


I don’t go to Agate expecting to play great paintball, I go to SPPL for that. I don’t go to Agate for great Scenario play either, not really my bag anyway.

I go to Agate for the friends and the fun. To meet new people and swap stories. I know that I’m going to spend some cash and sleep in a tent. I’m going to b!+ch about the ______ (weather, paint, other team, my team, Psycho, and the list goes on). I’m going to drink some cold-ones (in a can) and if I get around to it, and I always do, I’m going to play some paintball and make some new stories.

[BLC_Misfire]

Capt. Godzilla, good luck putting on your own game. I've coordinated several '8' hour games (they actually range from 6 - 8 hours), and I can tell you a lot goes into it.

I've easily spent 100 hours working on 1 game to make $200. It's not something you do to get rich, it's something you do because you love paintball. My first game was a near disaster and some of the comments were pretty harsh. I was able to take them and distill them down to the valid points and make the next game that much better.

I can't begin to imagine how much time and effort would need to go into a 26 hour game. If I had put that much work in and had someone basically call me a thief I probably would have wanted to go off like a nuke too. I've had several conversations with Jim, and he strikes me as a man of integrity, with a lot of pride. Your note had to just about push every possible button that you could have. I can't say I'm surprised by the reaction.

Next time, try sitting on your note for 24 hours and go back over it. If it's something that you wouldn't mind your mother/wife/daughter reading, then go ahead and send it.

[Capt. G0DZILLA]

Whoa wait a minute here Scrap we all have to remember one thing, I am the customer, I spent money, time and gasoline to attend Jim's fiasco so I think I have the right to gripe if in fact I have a viable gripe and I dont think anyone can contest what I have said. Was there cow crap on the field? Yes. Was there cactus? Yes. Did red have a huge advantage? yes. Can anyone here say I am lying or distorting the truth? It was a 300 dollar weekend for me and collectively my team spent almost 1000 dollars on paint and entry fees. That is real money, I paid to have a good time and I did not, and my experience was shared by many others who I spoke with at the game. So I bought the right to say what I said and maybe I didnt pad it for Jim's tender little butt, still why should I? Jim is not a judge, or a president or a god he is a jerk and its pretty obvious the only thing he cares about is the $money$.

[Capt. G0DZILLA]

Good planning and a safe place to play are all I need. And I have both, no I wont get rich at paintball and who does? So, if the game I set up goes to crap for even one player and that player gives me a flame job you can bet I will use the information to make the game better the next time rather then just turning around and bitch slapping the critic. I am a very successful business man, and in my business we use feedback (no matter how harsh) to improve because we like to STAY IN BUSINESS, thats how it works my friend. And we invite the critic back to give us another shot.
When I throw my game I hope to see all of you there and during registration I WILL hand out feedback cards because I can never make it better if I dont know what I may have done wrong.

[Capt. G0DZILLA]

Originally Posted by BLC_Misfire

Next time, try sitting on your note for 24 hours and go back over it. If it's something that you wouldn't mind your mother/wife/daughter reading, then go ahead and send it.

I did and it was sent with their approval, but thanks for the suggestion.

[Lomarandil]

Originally Posted by Capt. G0DZILLA

its pretty obvious the only thing he cares about is the $money$.

I don't want to single out either side of the discussion as wrong, at the moment, but you might want to think through this "line of attack" a bit more. Read back through the thread.. See if it still jives.. You can't make enough money producing scenario games to do it for the money. You can't even make enough money producing scenario games to beat minimum wage, most of the time.

And I can vouch on the numbers Hangernaid gave you in that regard. I'm a scenario producer myself (albeit a smaller one).

Lo

[ScrapIron]

Originally Posted by Capt. G0DZILLA

Whoa wait a minute here Scrap...

...Did red have a huge advantage? yes.

Curious, what advantage was this?

So I bought the right to say what I said and maybe I didnt pad it for Jim's tender little butt, still why should I? Jim is not a judge, or a president or a god he is a jerk and its pretty obvious the only thing he cares about is the $money$.

You just proved my point that you were NOT providing constructive criticism.
If you have problems with a scenario then by all means express them to the producer, but if you do it in the unprofessional manner that you used then don't be surprised to get an equally fierce letter in response.
Did you take the time to talk to Jim while at the event, when he could have taken steps to turn things around for you and your team?

I never said you shouldn't voice your problems with an event, but what I am saying is:
1. The ideal time to voice those concerns is DURING THE EVENT ! when the producer can still do something to fix that event.
2. Constructive criticism should be delivered in a professional (non-whiny) manner.

[dead possum]

i did not attend this event, but my wife did. yes she had complaints but, she did not let that get in the way of having fun. everyone is entitled to an opinion, it is what you decide to do with it makes it meaningfull. posting the conversation emails IMO did not help the issue you both presented valid arguments and counter arguments. what has happened is done, time to move on. i also agree with scrap if you dont say/state your issues while at the event you are giving up your rights for vailid complaints (IMO) and by making the complaints after the fact it is just whining.

[Mstrtal]

As one of the red sides members I defiantly did not see an advantage.

1. We had the open field with little to no coverage around our base with the long walk to the objectives.
2. Most of the Pre-Reged players where out of staters who had never seen the field so had to rely heavily on those few locals present for direction to the objectives.
3. The Green (Blue) side had more players and teams had to be asked to switch sides to balance the game up.

About the only advantages that the Red side had where
1. A general who has been in Scenario Paintball from the beginning OF Scenario paintball.
&
2. Scenario Teams (albeit smaller in number of players per team) compared to the more Milsim/DDay teams on the Blue side. Scenario Teams who have played Mission based games and where more then willing to immerse themselves in the roles and play something other then capture the flag.

Finally lets try and keep the discussion here civil. Tempers are starting to rise a bit and if things get out of hand that will be a Drag. Paintball is fun lets keep that in mind while talking about it.