Paintball

[jincay]

I know of a Pagan druid sect in England that wanted to use the original swastika as a religious symbol, turns out they were all right wing racist nutters.

That symbol has been hijacked and will not mean anything good for many generations to come.

Thank you Viper for standing up for decency when other producers permit such symbols of hatred to be used.

[Stuffy]

Well played good sir.

[Harbinger[TG]]

The best part is all of the people screaming about their "rights" to wear it. Yeah because Nazis were all about freedom of speech and expression.

If you all want to read more TB has most of it on his blog. World of TB

[Comfymumfy]

Cool beans, damn right wing racist nutters!

[DarkStar]

Good Show Viper!

Originally Posted by Harbinger[TG]

The best part is all of the people screaming about their "rights" to wear it. Yeah because Nazis were all about freedom of speech and expression.

If you all want to read more TB has most of it on his blog. World of TB

I guess I'm the idiot for clicking.. but Harb..........

[LK-13]

i have no problem with this symbol being restricted,
but it does beg the question
"are other symbols of the German Military also uh... Verboten?"
Such as a Maltese Cross, often used by Fire Fighters.

Maltese Cross

The Iron Cross, a German Military decoration to this day.
and the Balkan Cross vehicular marking.

these are not symbols of the Nazi Party and therefore hate.
these are just military identifier markings and should not pose an issue.
BTW,
the UMSG has also disqualified the Swastika for use in our up coming WWII events.

[SHAG]

Hi,

I reckon this is in response to D Day in OK and ION at Skirmish type games? What I find more interesting is the fact that certain game promoters breed the whole thing. I find the whole US vs 1930-40s German a true Catch-22. In one way, the WW2 type games bring out a large number of contestants. On the other hand it breeds the realistic costumes and behaviors. In other words, it is a great money maker in one hand but then you have to deal with the "idiots" (do not want to offend anyone in particular) for that same money.

Correct me if I am wrong but if you want to stop any kind of that particular behavior would it be wise to not produce games of that nature? The field is a private property entity does have the right to expel that brand of mentality as well. However it would have sense not to have something that would breed it in the first place. I digress but I applaud your efforts as well as EMR's right from the start to curtail such behavior.

Personally, why can't Paintball games just be about a color of a flag. Red vs Blue. Nah that would not work since people have a new meaning of those colors. (think about the state you live in ) How bout Yellow and Green. Nice neutral colors. Usually used for expecting baby gifts when the sex is unknown. Also can be used in decor of a selling a house to give a different hues instead of the grays and whites.

Good luck with your endeavor.

[BretG]

The scenario is a 'frame' to present the game in. You can pick any conflict past, present or future. The scenario allows certain situations to be created and manipulated to force different kinds of actions around the field. The scenario can be a little educational too. You can stage a game in your back yard around the attack on Pearl Harbor with water ballons if you wanted. Eveyone gets wet, nobody dies, and maybe you learn that the Japanese, not the Germans, attacked the US fleet.
I live in an area that has lots of re-enactors. I'm sure there are some here on this forum too. They believe that what they do is to preserve history so that it isn't totally lost. They do an annual Battle of the Bulge at Ft. Indiantown Gap that is very period realistic. WWII weekend at Reading airport is a show put on by the Mid-Atlantic Air Museum. I walked through the German encampment thinking why would these guys want to play Germans? A lot of them are of German descent and not a single one is there as a Nazi. They point out that they represent the Wehrmacht, which was not a Nazi party organization. They were one of the greatest fighting forces that ever existed and our own military today has adapted many of their innovations.
The people today who want to wear the Nazi imagery may feel that they too are the standard bearers of history, but what they fail to realize is that this history isn't over yet. There are still those that have taken the mantle of racial hatred that the Nazis turned into national policy and use it for their own purposes. The real Nazis would have killed them too if they lived in that era.
On a weird level, the Gettysburg re-enactments bother me a little. 50,000 people died there in 3 days. Who are these people that dress up in period costumes and tromp in formation over the graves of the dead? These are the people that remind us every year that so many gave their last full measure at that place and time. The Nazis remind us of the depravity of leaders who can pervert a great nation to acts of tremendous barbarity and those that seek to do so again.
A paintball scenario game is just a game. It isn't a political forum and as long as the Nazi imagery has negative political meaning, it has no business in a paintball game.

[Viper Paintball]

To LK 13:

Yes, those are okay as they don’t quite carry the stigma as the swastika.



To Shag:

Why a WWII theme? It' simple, really. My job, as Blue and other field owners hire me for, is to bring in players and show them a good time. If a particular type of event is wildly popular in an area, and the players clamor for it, then I owe it to the field that contracts me to provide that.

There are areas that prefer fantasy themes. There are areas that prefer special or black ops MILSIM themes.

The northeast seems to enjoy military themes. Last year I did a Vietnam theme. The year before I did the invasion of Grenada. This year I am doing WWII.

I have done scifi themes, fantasy, movie, and even silly ones. I have done history and fiction, original themes and themes inspired by other stories. In my twelve years as a professional scenario director I have pretty much run the gambit.

But the bottom line is that you can do any theme without crossing the line on acceptability and offensiveness. I think you can have a WWII game with without glorifying Hitler, German war crimes, or genocide. There are differences between remembering historical figures and glorifying them.

With regard to games with no themes, it simply doesn’t sell because it doesn’t get people “into the game.” Just as “first person shooter” video games have a story, characters, cinematics, and an overall goal, paintball scenario games need the same aspects in order to appeal to the masses.

[~kaos~]

Originally Posted by SHAG

Hi, I reckon this is in response to D Day in OK and ION at Skirmish type games?

I don't see how it could be in response to OK/DD as the problems concerning swaztikas, ect were taken care of back in 2003. The players, promoter and staff all joined together to enforce the same restrictions voiced here by Viper.