Is Airsoft a dying sport?

[Sprint]

Re: Is Airsoft a dying sport?

Definitely growing! I cant believe how many new sites, mid week events and more people there are in the community / game.
I'm also very glad of this as it gives so much more flexibility to play around other life commitments!
Not only that, the amount of extra kit and RIFs available / ways to play and upgrade are immense!

[dadio]

Re: Is Airsoft a dying sport?

The other thing is it's winter ,there are quite a few fair weather airsofters in this country .
I think with the older/experienced players then they are harder to satisfy and they tend to move to more niche type days , I've moved almost exclusively to the Ww2 airsoft scene and now am on the planning team helping run some of the games ,this weekend I'll be going to a regular walk on airsoft day for the first time in over a year ,I'm sure I'll have a great day and it's fun to have no ammo limits and get your gun off but I started playing in 1998 so it generally needs a game with more depth to get my interest ,it's probably the same for many old hands who end up doing cold war ,milsim or Vietnam games instead of walk on days .
So no it's far from dieing .

[seansamurai1]

Re: Is Airsoft a dying sport?

Airsoft isn't dying in a lot of areas, however in some areas it has died off due to land owners or councils charging to much/not allowing it to happen. The Southwest has been hit pretty hard with site closures and downsizing.

What is dying though is intelligence levels in airsoft. There are some truly idiotic and stupid morons joining the ranks of pew pew.
One such example is a complete tool showing off home made pyro then wondering why people got iffy, to the point that everyone else were being boring and stupid c**ts because no one agreed with him.
Then theres the lazy asshats who cant be assed to spend 10 seconds on google.

[Kensai]

Re: Is Airsoft a dying sport?

Definitely don't think airsoft is dying. It's changing. In some ways for the better, in some ways for the worst. I've noticed the idiot level has gone go up considerably over the last couple of years. I think this is just due to airsoft receiving more exposure thanks to social networking. It's just plain maths that the more players you have the more idiots you will get as well. There are certainly more sites opening up. When I started playing airsoft over six years ago I had to travel miles to get to my "local" site. Now I have three in my immediate area. I think sites are now becoming more professional and savvy. Some of this has to do with increasing health and safety legislation. However, I think the added competition of more sites is making a lot of sites up their game. When I started playing airsoft most sites were literally just a woodland. Some might have had some very basic structures and sandbags but that's it. Now I'm seeing a lot of thought going into the design of sites and more complicated structures. As I said earlier it's simple maths: more sites means more bad sites too. However because of the greater choice of sites and social networking, which lets bad reputations spread quickly, means poorly organised and run sites shouldn't last too long. I'm actually quite optimistic about the future of our hobby.

[colinjallen]

Re: Is Airsoft a dying sport?

Down here in the south east of England, airsoft is certainly thriving. In Kent it seems that one cannot travel more than a few miles without encountering an airsoft site; some of them are good, some of them are not so good. However, the number of players does not seem to be increasing at quite the same rate as the number of sites, resulting in each site having fewer players. This has resulted in something of an arms race as sites add more and more features to attract players and it seems inevitable that some of the less impressive or less well funded sites will go out of business.

[bumhulio]

Re: Is Airsoft a dying sport?

[QUOTE=colinjallen;1464859]Down here in the south east of England, airsoft is certainly thriving. In Kent it seems that one cannot travel more than a few miles without encountering an airsoft site; some of them are good, some of them are not so good. However, the number of players does not seem to be increasing at quite the same rate as the number of sites, resulting in each site having fewer players. This has resulted in something of an arms race as sites add more and more features to attract players and it seems inevitable that some of the less impressive or less well funded sites will go out of business.[/QUOTE

What's the best sites in Kent? That's were I've moved to and from a lot of reviews I've been reading there all mixed!
In reply to the earlier comments about so many new sites popping up, if that's the case then shouldn't there be
Some healthy completion on price? Every site seems to charge in excess of £30 for a standerd walk on fee now!

[colinjallen]

Re: Is Airsoft a dying sport?

Most of the sites in Kent charge less than that.

Battle Lakes has a very good reputation and many people that I know and trust rate it very highly indeed; lots of people seem to like Apocalypse and Cool Under Fire.

[tackle]

Re: Is Airsoft a dying sport?

I've played apocalypse 3 times over last 5 years, last time being about 3 months ago.
Each game has been worse than the last (IMHO), & after the last one I decided "never again", the organisation was one of my biggest bugbears, which obviously impacts on everything else.
Haven't tried the other two yet, although I have heard reasonable reviews about battle lakes, so its on my "to do list", possibly my next game ?.

[colinjallen]

Re: Is Airsoft a dying sport?

That is interesting about Apocalypse; I will have to check it out.

A group of us (most of the former core marshalling team at Ace Combat) are going to Battle Lakes on the 5th February.

[tackle]

Re: Is Airsoft a dying sport?

Might see you there.
Regards apocalypse, they usually have a good turnout, according to their fb page, & I'm prob spoilt by having played a lot of the recognised top sites, so if I go elsewhere I expect a certain quality in gameplay & organisation.
BUT I don't think I'm wrong to ?, airsoft sites are businesses, so should be trying to up their game through investment & overall improvement in all aspects.
There's nothing to stop site owners visiting other well rated sites for tips & ideas ?.

[Heinz]

Re: Is Airsoft a dying sport?

What is dying though is intelligence levels in airsoft. There are some truly idiotic and stupid morons joining the ranks of pew pew.

It's been dying for a long time. Back when I was head marshalling FireFight Reading (at the old Mapledurham site) and Fort Amhurst in Chatham, it constantly amazed me how boneheaded, thick and downright stupid a lot of airsofters actually are - and that was 12/13 years ago now.

[Fizzy]

Re: Is Airsoft a dying sport?

It's been dying for a long time. Back when I was head marshalling FireFight Reading (at the old Mapledurham site) and Fort Amhurst in Chatham, it constantly amazed me how boneheaded, thick and downright stupid a lot of airsofters actually are - and that was 12/13 years ago now.

True that!

I've been saying for years, Airsoft does seem to attract idiots

I know everything has it's fair share of idiots, but Airsoft does seem more appealing to them...

[colinjallen]

Re: Is Airsoft a dying sport?

Tackle, I completely agree that owners should be trying to improve and should also visit other sites. That was part of the problem with the site from which we resigned.

[Sprint]

Re: Is Airsoft a dying sport?

RE Apocalypese and Battle lakes, My UKARA site is with BL / Zed adventures.

If you like woodland games both sites are excellent topography year round.

The briefing and play at BL is more serious i find with slighty more complex games, and contrary to its 'stricter' nature i find more hit taking issues there. I enjoy it massively non the less!

Apocalypse i find is a much more relaxed site, with simpler games and generally easy going. Here i find most players to be more honest and respectful.

[tackle]

Re: Is Airsoft a dying sport?

Really ?
My first outing at apocalypse was a 44hr milsim, marred by a very well known regular, whom I shot, then continuing to light us up with his taclite while shouting orders to his team, & being a mouthy arsehole when I pointed out that dead men don't talk, nor do they continue to use their equipment for tactical advantage.
It's not rocket science ffs, maybe the sites so called "relaxed" attitude is the issue ?, as it in turn extends to some players apparent "relaxed" attitude towards fairplay & reality.
That's my take on it anyway.

Edit:sorry Sprint, not in anyway digging you out, I've continued to spend my hard earned there, each time saying I'll give them another chance, only to be disappointed again, & I think they've had enough time to get things right, but I think revenue has become their chief motivator, relaxing everything else in order to achieve that, they were even arranging regular "ranger" days, the rangers being very young players, who in turn are prob learning to play our sport with the wrong manner or attitude, which they then take in to the "bigger boys" gamedays as they grow up.
Could account for some of the gamesmanship I've witnessed there.