Because it is tradition... Paintball '97 Headline: Internet Provider wars heated up this weekend, as the help desk staff of Canada's two largest providers pulled weaponry on each other... This year's Paintgame (-sigh--sad when I can only make it once per year now) was organized by someone at Sympatico's tech help department, and who invited us from Taima along. They outnumbered us, but a few walk ons made the teams even at 25 apeice (so it was a large group) Saturday, I headed to the local paintball store, to see if I could get my mask fixed. Not only now had the strap-holding piece of plastic broken, but the lens had developed cracks. Of course, it being a 7+ year old mask, meant it was not possible to get replacement lenses. So I had to buy a newer mask--unfortunetaly, they didn't have anything similar to what I had before. All the newer masks/goggles have full, wraparound masks/etc, when all I wanted was the frontspiece. In the end, not wanting to use field mask (especially when it would probably be the same model) I got myself a new pair of JT Spectra's. (Why do I want the smaller mask? Due to the headgear I have...) The goggs worked great for the day, but I may try to sell them and get a JT Elite instead (with the frontspiece mask only) next year... Day started off cold and early (5 hours sleep :P) With the newly repaired gun (to fix the leak I've had for the past two years in the expansion chamber), new mask, (and I almost bought a venturi-bolt. I may go and do so (along with the new barrel) and all my gear, we drove the required long distance, to the required dirt track road, with the required poor signage to appear at the feild. Check in wasn't too smooth or rapid (and they had some 4 groups there that day, yeesh) but it gave plenty of time to warm up my 20oz tank after it had been filled (I passed it to two other teamates to warm it up too... :P) Split on a case of paint (666 rounds each), plus 100 'free' rounds. Set to go. The results for the day? Ok. Our 'team' did well, winning most. But myself, Actually, I'm feeling quite neutral about the whole day, which is really quite odd... First off, I didn't feel I played too well (self dissapointment?) especially compared to last year. I got myself into bad situations, and was a bit too indicisive. I think the biggest problem was that I often felt I didn't have good situational awareness, and was not as forthgoing as I should have been. So I'm not to enthusiastic whith my performance... Secondly, I thought the field itself wasn't to hot. They had but 4 fields, they were small, only two were of the wooded type (the requisite speedball was one of the others, the last was the 'coluseeum', some field with two towers/bunkers at each end, some light woods, and barricades, etc). The wooded fields were near well identical, though tone was larger than the other (but still small), it was heavy on the 'bad' kind of brush in many areas, and where it wasn't, they had errected a billion barricades (wood planks between trees) for no reason I can see (except to make you use more paint). So that didn't help matters any. Now, I don't know what it was--but the paint just didn't seem to like my gun again. Zap paintballs (ah, I see everyone nodding in understanding now!) Though the Zap worked quite well for me some years ago... but I saw some VERY odd shaped balls, and I wasn't the only one getting some breaks. I splooged BAD in the morning, getting paint in the hopper, and a mess ensued as more balls broke and the like (and who can aim like that?) After a serious cleaning at lunch, things went better in the afternoon, with a break only much later in the day. (oddly enough, I seemed to be shooting BETTER in the morning, though?) Paint math also went awry--we kept tabs on how much paint we took from our case, and at the end of the day, we had removed 660+520+510 != 2000 so somewhere 300 rounds went missing--either bad counting, or someone helping themselves. AND I had paint left over--I didn't get any deal for buying the case, given the missing paint, and paint left over. -grumble- My gun was acting a bit funny too--firing nice at 275 fps, but did I see dry ice coming out of it? With dual expansion chambers, that should NOT happen--I'll have to check that today. Last of the bad was some incidents on the field itself. The first occuring on the coluseeum field. There was a rule--If you get close enough to someone, or many, and you yell surrender, they are GONE. Doesn't matter if you're 1, and they're 100. So to get some folk out of the bunker, I ran around behind it, and yelled surrender. Two were there--one turns and fires on me. Then I get hit from behind from a few hiding. Buddy turns and keeps playing. I look at him incredulously (inciting more shots from behind) and remind him that I called a surrender from close range, and hence he was out. He would have nothing of it. I left right pissed, eliciting a 'it's just a game, calm down' from him. Methinks, if it's just a game, why didn't you get off the field when you realized you were surrendered fair and square? Later in the day, these two young (like, 12-14) kids began playing--not sure what relation they had to the folx running the field, but they did seem to know each other, and were using equipment that was a)not theirs and b)EQUIPMENT--nitrogen powered, full custom kits. Ok, no big deal... Except those kids were a pain. Littereally in one case--he was surly firing 350-400. I mentioned how I was firing worse in the afternoon? I came off the field at one point and said "I must be getting a lot of bounces today" to which two of the (quite experienced) players on my team said to me, as I walked over to them 'funny you should say that'... seems we had a bunch of wipers. Folk who would just not call themselves out. When that happens--it just destroyes the integrity of the game. Fully. Obvsiously--it's an honour driven sport. If you can't eliminate them, and they can eliminate you, well... Last incident was with those two damn kids. Running towards the bunker/tower in one game, to clear anyone out I could as our team was running towards it with the flag (centre flag game--get it and touch it to your opponent's base). By the time I exit the foliage, the whistle blows. I slow, pointing my gun to the ground.... only to be fired upon by the two twits (5 shots or so each) until I yell 'Hey!' Excuse of one 'I shot you before the whistle' Sure. Not surpsing--the way I heard one bragging his hitting someone 7 times earlier in the day--a real mature attitude. Oh well. Not to say there were no good times--just not to many 'memorables', like in the last email like this :P Speedball, surprisinly, provides the best one. I hate speedball, as did most others ther that day. So I went in, not caring, not really wanting to spend many rounds either. Minute or so after the game starts, I've run up behind a hay bale, hiding behind, when this form appears from the other side, with a Z1 trained on me. Falling backwards, I train my gun up to him--he pulls his trigger, nothing happens. I pull my trigger--nothing happens. }:) He falls back behind the bale, and a second later, I hear him say out (almost questioningly) 'Surrender' Laughing, I call myself out.. }:) And a few good teamwork plays, fire and movement. But most of the time, it didn't click... in the end of the day, I had gotten 12 eliminations. Not to say that is an honest number--if those folk had actually called themselves out, who knows... So, it was a neutral day. Not purrfect, not great, but not hideous. Next time, I'll organize the game, and maybe we'll go to OSG. Bad paint experiences there or no, at least they have good terrain. }:) So, this was much griping, and little else, hmmm? }:/ Oh! Welt count! }:) Two on the back--a good one, and a smaller one, and one on the leg--a rather large one. Not the donut shaped kind--the usual, but a FULL solid one. Why? Idiot kid, fom 12' away, with his hot firing gun. I think there's another one, but I can't remember where right now... By no means is this indicating I don't like the sport anymore or wish not to go--I'll try to go again soon enough. }:) Oliver --Oh, just fur fun, I'll put up a 'paintball page' at: http://shell.istar.ca/~olb_tam/pball