Is Airsoft a dying sport?

[Siggi]

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 .

Dude, your numbers have dwindled as badly as they have because you don't deal with the idiots. You lost three new players barely before they'd started over one well-known arrogant idiot because you failed to reign him in, never mind the other more established players who gave it up too at that point. As a very well known WW2 game organizer told me, WW2 is on its knees because "politics" (idiots).

[Heinz]

Re: Is Airsoft a dying sport?

As a very well known WW2 game organizer told me, WW2 is on its knees because "politics" (idiots).

Was that Josh by any chance? If so, I have the other side of the story (the one he won't have told you) - and politics had nothing to do with it.

[colinjallen]

Re: Is Airsoft a dying sport?

Dentonboy,

Yes, most of the core team (Nathan, Sye, Dave, me, Ben and Lee) quit last week.

[Dentonboy]

Re: Is Airsoft a dying sport?

Blimey...can you pm me why by any chance. That is a heck of a shame.

[dadio]

Re: Is Airsoft a dying sport?

I'd say even WW2 airsoft was thriving , Josh of Gunman has split off from the main flow but then he's the only commercial outfit so runs more expensive games to make a profit ,the rest of us use the game fee's to build props ,buy bangs and rent the site and we tend to have more depth to our games than Josh can be expected to give , Gunman runs good entry level WW2 games and has all sorts of other things going on so is not able to give the time we do to our 2 games a year ,in short we have a team who spend 4-6 months planning a game ,that's not commercially possible for Josh to do but what he does well is get people interested .

[colinjallen]

Re: Is Airsoft a dying sport?

"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."

Actually, that is elitism; it is also a complete load of cock! There are many "quality players" (whatever that means) playing at skirmish sites and probably just as many bellends going to milsims. To argue that only milsims have quality players is utter nonsense.

It is sometimes easy to lose track of the sad fact that we are a bunch of people who should know better running around shooting each other with toy guns. It is supposed to be fun and it would do some people good to remember that it does not really matter which sort of airsoft events provide that fun for different people. If people get their jollies from milsim, that is cool and funky; if they get them from, for example, going to Dragon's Lair and playing several fast paced gaames, that is also cool and funky.

Please, let's stop this "my airsoft is better than your airsoft" crap.

[Dentonboy]

Re: Is Airsoft a dying sport?

Too right, we are (mostly) grown adults, running around with toys, shooting plastic balls and dressed up as soldiers. I would think the majority of us (I know I do) have to justify/explain our hobby to our partners while they try to keep a straight face.

It is a hobby, it should be fun. Horses for courses.

Some people like 11 a side football, some prefer 5 a side, others like doing it online, others on a fusball table, others with Subbuteo. Horses for courses. It's all football.

[Siggi]

Re: Is Airsoft a dying sport?

Was that Josh by any chance? If so, I have the other side of the story (the one he won't have told you) - and politics had nothing to do with it.

No, not Josh. But who it was is irrelevant, apart from he has a lot of time served organizing WW2 games and knows of what he speaks. The proof of its demise is in the numbers of both games and participants within those games. You have a handful of incredibly toxic individuals with way too much say and you have lost a significant number of players over the months and years because of them.

- - - Updated - - -

"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."

Actually, that is elitism; it is also a complete load of cock! There are many "quality players" (whatever that means) playing at skirmish sites and probably just as many bellends going to milsims. To argue that only milsims have quality players is utter nonsense.

It is sometimes easy to lose track of the sad fact that we are a bunch of people who should know better running around shooting each other with toy guns. It is supposed to be fun and it would do some people good to remember that it does not really matter which sort of airsoft events provide that fun for different people. If people get their jollies from milsim, that is cool and funky; if they get them from, for example, going to Dragon's Lair and playing several fast paced gaames, that is also cool and funky.

Please, let's stop this "my airsoft is better than your airsoft" crap.

You kind of missed the entire point, which is pertinent to the original question, "Is airsoft dying?" Skirmishing is, in my admittedly localised experience, losing numbers. I haven't been doing current milsims long enough to know if they're growing, but given they take their numbers from skirmishers who have grown tired of headless-chicken hi-cap crap I'd assume they are. There's nothing elitist about that process, it's simply an observation and condemnation of the type/quality of the games played at typical skirmish sites. There are more experienced players leaving them than there are new players joining them. It might be a regional thing so let's hear more from players in other parts of the country. How are the numbers at skirmish sites you attend?

[Heinz]

Re: Is Airsoft a dying sport?

It's entirely relevant - as there's always two sides to a story. In my opinion what really damaged the scene was it being flooded with a significant number of low-quality events, spreading a relatively small player base pretty thin. When only 5 or 6 "proper" WW2 themed events were being run a year, the player base was big enough to sustain it. One person, in particular, was responsible for that happening, in a cynical effort to put more £ in his pocket. He really didn't care about the genre at all.

[dadio]

Re: Is Airsoft a dying sport?

So far this year all the WW2 games on the calender have sold out , the 3 I helped with last year all sold out , I'm not seeing the decline at all ,there sounds like a lot of sour grapes here but this thread in not about our little niche within a niche but about airsoft in general and the answer is still "I'm not seeing a decline"

[steve grey]

Re: Is Airsoft a dying sport?

The real issue of course, is how we all got by yesterday when the forum was down....phew, I tried FB for five minutes, but in the end, I just went cold turkey...lol.

[colinjallen]

Re: Is Airsoft a dying sport?

"You kind of missed the entire point, which is pertinent to the original question, "Is airsoft dying?" Skirmishing is, in my admittedly localised experience, losing numbers. I haven't been doing current milsims long enough to know if they're growing, but given they take their numbers from skirmishers who have grown tired of headless-chicken hi-cap crap I'd assume they are. There's nothing elitist about that process, it's simply an observation and condemnation of the type/quality of the games played at typical skirmish sites. There are more experienced players leaving them than there are new players joining them. It might be a regional thing so let's hear more from players in other parts of the country. How are the numbers at skirmish sites you attend?"

That is an entirely different argument from the one that you made earlier so, no, I did not miss the entire point; what you have done is to change the entire point. People tend to do that when they cannot sustain their original argument.

Given your description of what happens at "typical skirmish sites" as "headless-chicken hi-cap crap", I have to, firstly, wonder how many sites you have been to and, secondly, note that you have just reinforced my statement that your view is an elitist "my airsoft is better than your airsoft" one.

Many skirmish sites do have less players than they used to, particularly in our little corner of the UK. However, this is due to growth in the number of sites locally rather than a decline in player numbers.

Even the most hard-core milsimer is just an overgrown kid playing pew-pew with toy guns; anyone who fails to understand that really needs to take a reality check.

[lemon191]

Re: Is Airsoft a dying sport?

I defiantly don't think airsoft is dying , I would however say I think there's more younger players now compared to what I saw years ago when I started , add on the big boom in console gaming like bf and cod and I think that's probably where games have become a lot more fast paced and aimed towards that style of play, because that is what people have gotten used to and that is just natural progression of sites to run those ganes to target that market of player. I also think the companies have made it much cheaper and easier for people to start up in the sport, which will have helped with getting younger and more casual Players in to the sport as it doesn't require the big disposable incomes that it once did. The way I view the skirmish and mil sims debate is like console gamers arguing which is better .. the fact is neither are better as everyone is different, it's about finding which one suits you personally for what ever reasons and playing it. It's defiantly good to have a mix of styles of play as it gIves people something different to move onto if they do get bored.

[dadio]

Re: Is Airsoft a dying sport?

You can't really discriminate against young players unless you really do want airsoft to die out , naturally younger players want a faster paced game , if I had the energy of an 18 year old I would too ! As you get older you slow down a bit and so the more in depth game that's more thinking and squad based appeals more ,there are some young players that like serious milsim/WW2/Nam style games and some older players that are still fit enough to enjoy speed ball but in general the pattern fits and has nothing to do with elitism ,diversity is a good thing in our sport and is what keeps it going and growing .

[tackle]

Re: Is Airsoft a dying sport?

Lol, can't beat a bit of camping, whether its airsoft or online gaming.
Especially if your old & knackered