Is Airsoft a dying sport?

[dadio]

Re: Is Airsoft a dying sport?

Another thing that has always happened in our sport is that sites often close , many urban types are very temporary as the land will eventually be re developed , some share a site with paintball players and the more lucrative outfit generally takes sole control of the site , many woodland sites are really restricted on what they can build so can find it hard to compete .
In short most sites are leased not owned and that means they are not permanent but ....As one closes another opens and thats sort of good as it keeps it fresh .
In the WW2 community we try hard to find new sites as it means you don't know what's round the corner or where that sweet spot is that you can spend all day wracking up kills from , it really helps the immersion in the event if it's all new and nobody already knows the site ,every year new sites open and that first day at a site is always slightly magical in its reality .

[Siggi]

Re: Is Airsoft a dying sport?

I find it's cyclical, with established sites growing complacent and offering shit game formats until dwindling numbers of players give the ownership a wake-up call. Sometimes they don't (wake up that is) and they die. New owners don't have much of a clue, tending to follow the bad habits they learned while playing at other sites and failing to attract return players. I've gone from twice a month to once every two months due to the games at my site (very well established) having become steadily more atrocious over the last few months. They're jaded and make next to no effort to provide decent games, pretty much put both teams in plain sight of each other and blow the whistle. Numbers have dropped steadily, who knows if they'll recover if the owner sorts out that shit.

Which is why I'm very thankful for quality milsim games. My money goes mainly to them now.

[Heinz]

Re: Is Airsoft a dying sport?

True that!

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

It's almost like Airsoft has some kind of idiot-magnet built into it. If I had a quid for every potential Darwin Award winner i've seen at the skirmishing sites across England, Scotland and Wales that I've been to i'd be able to pay off the national debt. It's not just the players though - i've seen some unbelievably stupid things done by site operators as well. I know i'm a cynical old [CENSORED] but I can't think of any other hobbies that i've been involved with over the years that seem to attract so many muppets.

[dadio]

Re: Is Airsoft a dying sport?

The problem with idiots at airsoft in is the greater amount of grief they cause , unless you get into martial arts or boxing then no other hobby has that quality , I do a lot of RC bobby's as well and you get elitism there just as you do in airsoft and that leads to people thinking they must be better because they have better kit but they are not shooting at you ! There's something about simulated combat that brings out the worst in some people .
It's easier in the WW2 community as we can identify players that have a bad attitude or just don't get it ! and all the planning teams communicate (being non profit we are not competing and more supporting of other game organisers )so banning players nationally is not too hard ,it's rarely done but it does happen ,mostly other players will encourage the right mindset if someone goes off track ,we don't use martials but suggest that everybody is a martial , if I get shot but don't feel it I would expect another player on MY team to tell me and I'd welcome it , we get virtually no complaints off "not taking hits" it's a different mindset I guess .

[Heinz]

Re: Is Airsoft a dying sport?

I know the WW2 scene well dadio, I was one of the CiA organisers lol (tell Headshot and Chomley-Warner that Jay says "Hi"), and it did have a few idiots (well, more than a few idiots, but that's not open-forum stuff as some of it was very serious). The set-up did make it easier to thin them out though, something I could never do when head marshalling sites as the company boss was always thinking with his wallet.

[Roundel91]

Re: Is Airsoft a dying sport?

Airsoft undercuts paintball by a heck of alot in terms of costs.
Ive noticed alot of sites that run paintball and airsoft at the same venues seem to charge a heck of alot more for airsoft. My last game cost me the grand total of £7.50 for 3 hours of gaming (short and varied 30 min games with 10 minute breaks in between) if i was hiring it would have cost me £15 and that included an unlimited ammount of ammo within reason. Just take them your empty or half empty mags and theyd fill them for you.
Do paintball sites do that and can come close to that price? I very highly doubt it.

And the fact that alot of retailers always seem to be out of stock for alot of popular items it would seem airsoft isnt on its arse atall and that manufactures cant keep up with demand.
However what i do find frustrating is the rediculous postage costs from alot of online places because i naturally want to pay the cheapest prices around. Why do we have to spend silly ammounts of money to get free postage from some of the biggest retailers within europe?
I havent bought from a UK retailer online since october last year because of this. Everything else has been through bricks and mortar or saving up enough to buy enough stuff to get free postage from places within europe.

Edited for spelling and grammar

[Dentonboy]

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.

Has there been a Marshall shake up at ACE? Not been for a year or do, and thought the team were about as good as you could expect to get.

[tackle]

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.

Sorry to take off subject slightly again, for the Kent players, browsing a copy of airsoft action from last year, I found mention of blackwaterairsoft, & their woodland site at shadoxhurst nr ashford, anybody been ?, they apparently do post apocalyptic games on 1st Sunday of the month, regular gamedays on other sundays & nov to march is only £15 walk on.

[phil]

Re: Is Airsoft a dying sport?

a lot f people I know rather collect them, some make amateur film and use them as props, ive had a big collection but thinned over the last few years to work on other stuff

[tackle]

Re: Is Airsoft a dying sport?

a lot f people I know rather collect them, some make amateur film and use them as props, ive had a big collection but thinned over the last few years to work on other stuff

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[bumhulio]

Re: Is Airsoft a dying sport?

That's pretty close to me might give it a try!

[phil]

Re: Is Airsoft a dying sport?

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[fubar]

Re: Is Airsoft a dying sport?

I haven't played for a while and I know that there are sites popping up everywhere. Especially in the Midlands... But there are idiots and pro's to every sport. Some tit actually pulled a glock 18 on me a while ago in a confrontation in town ( one of the idiots). Was soon dis owned and pistol whipped with it.

[tackle]

Re: Is Airsoft a dying sport?

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Didn't know what your post (#39) was about Phil ?, seemed to be out of context, going back further could it be in relation to reenactors & rifs?, still slightly tenuous.

[Siggi]

Re: Is Airsoft a dying sport?

The ever-present danger is site-owners chasing max revenue by pandering to the lowest common denominator, which is younger players who they think prefer headless-chicken game formats. Ask yourself how many older and more experienced players are playing now compared to a couple of years ago. Short-termism profit-chasing stupidity is what it amounts to because the younger players will have nothing to level-up to after they become bored of the same tired lazy shite offered by most skirmish sites.

The quality players have shifted their focus to milsim. And no, that's not elitism, it's a simple statement of fact. Most of the guys I meet at milsims don't attend skirmishes at all any more. The only reason I still go is because my son is too young for milsims; if it wasn't for that I wouldn't waste another penny on the garbage being served up at most skirmish sites these days.