Where did everyone go?

[andyGZW]

Evening All, Not new to the forums just been out of the game for nearly 10 years now and forgotten my password for my account on here and trying to reset it directs me to an email address I gave up years ago also as I left the U.K. for a few years.

Thoroughly enjoyed airsoft back when I started at ground zero circa 2006. The introduction of the law restricting the sale of Realistic Airsoft Guns. The numerous posts and often stern corrections to members posts referring to players getting their "UKARA licences". haha. The summer games with many many players. Especially when the Call of Duty4 was released and the whole ******* ***** seemed to take off in the U.K. Then came the ZeroIn forums circa 2010. The influx of members, comical uprisings against the forum rules and allegations of the moderators being dictators, looking back it was a great place. haha.

Then we had the scammers, Dan Guillium I think was the name of an infamous one. The sales posts looking for prices often above RRP and the majority of sales that often listed the guns as "only fired a few rounds" The best of all was the one guy who claimed his listing, for a G36 I think it was, could shoot 600meters. The p*** taking from that post alone was golden.

Fond memories indeed and great to see ZeroIn still going. I've just returned to the U.K. after working overseas for a few years. Where has everyone gone though? What's the current state of Airsoft in the U.K? Does it still attract the masses that I speak of above? I remember logging in to the Forums in my lunch break's when at College to find often a new page in the Sales section and then a further new page of listings by the time I got home from the miserable cycle ride home. Just having a quick browse and ZeroIn looks nowhere near as "active" as I remember.

I'm looking to renew my site membership as we enter the spring and get back to Ground Zero Woodland. Speaking to a few friends who still play the game... the memories of GZ Urban are no more and the use of the more open style 'Plan B' area at GZW are now a thing of the past. Apparently the large open hill between The Outpost and The Nest is now full of well established trees. The TM EBB SOPMOD was just becoming the next best thing when I left and a quick google this afternoon seems like that's taken off with other manufacturers en mass. It seems like I've got a lot to learn.

Anyhow hopefully the Airsoft as I remember hasn't changed too much, the sportsman like gameplay very often found at Ground Zero, the social side, hopefully will be able to put a few faces to names as I did in years gone by. Regards and happy new year to all!!!

[Bryan Mills]

Facebook and What's App groups have destroyed the forums, which is a shame as these forums are superior in every way except for the speed of messaging.

[sparrowhawk]

As above, everyones moved to different platforms fb whatapp and discord

[Rampage]

Welcome back to the forum Andy, I'm still here :D

Also it was a G3 that could shoot 800m :P

IMO a forum is a MUCH better place to list and sell items than any contstantly scrolling social media platform. Unfortunately though, we lost a fair few active members when the forum was offline for a couple of months due to a failed update a few years back and it hasn't quite been what it was since. Doesn't help that developers don't make the plugins for forums anymore so there are slim pickings for sales specific things, such as the old iTrader, antibump and a few others that I used to use to create a much more usuable forum.

[andyGZW]

Welcome back to the forum Andy, I'm still here :D

Also it was a G3 that could shoot 800m :P

IMO a forum is a MUCH better place to list and sell items than any contstantly scrolling social media platform. Unfortunately though, we lost a fair few active members when the forum was offline for a couple of months due to a failed update a few years back and it hasn't quite been what it was since. Doesn't help that developers don't make the plugins for forums anymore so there are slim pickings for sales specific things, such as the old iTrader, antibump and a few others that I used to use to create a much more usuable forum.

Ahh silly me. 800meters. Wow even better. Haha. Can still recall reading that post and the replies. Did that get lost with the update you speak of? Comedy gold it really was. I'd pay to see that page again.

I agree, I don't have any time for scrolling Facebook. Nor the understanding of how I would go about browsing sales on whatsapp, absolutely no chance of discord. I guess the bank balance appreciates it though. It's a shame that the addons have disappeared. I seem to remember their used to be a rate a trader function on each persons profile so you could bring up feedback much the same as you do on eBay. Was a very good system.

I seem to remember a guy nicknamed Rampage. I used to only ever join the Bravo team at GZW. Perhaps your the person I'm thinking of? The guy I remember had a minigun replica and used to always be in the Bravo team also with a few regulars one of which had an RPG I think it was. Fond memories of one game attacking the Firebase Charlie over the new grounds with this guy and his minigun. God only knows how many bb's he burned through. Should have brought shares in the onsite shop I'm sure haha.

[andyGZW]

As above, everyones moved to different platforms fb whatapp and discord

That's a shame. Having everything in one place is really handy especially for those of us that only have to look at technology the wrong way for it to go pete tong. As I said above no clue how to work Discord in the slightest.
Has the same trend effected attendance and uptake in the sport. People moving to online activities or similar maybe?

Happy Airsofting.

[Rampage]

I seem to remember a guy nicknamed Rampage. I used to only ever join the Bravo team at GZW. Perhaps your the person I'm thinking of? The guy I remember had a minigun replica and used to always be in the Bravo team also with a few regulars one of which had an RPG I think it was. Fond memories of one game attacking the Firebase Charlie over the new grounds with this guy and his minigun. God only knows how many bb's he burned through. Should have brought shares in the onsite shop I'm sure haha.

Aye, that is me and I still have the beast and also now own my friends RPG heh.

I still play pretty much every Ground Zero Woodland Sunday game, unfortunatly I work Saturdays otherwise I'd probably be there then as well :D

Ahh silly me. 800meters. Wow even better. Haha. Can still recall reading that post and the replies. Did that get lost with the update you speak of? Comedy gold it really was. I'd pay to see that page again.

Unfortuantely I think that may have been one of the victims of the data loss

[andyGZW]

Happy dayz Rampage. I'll pop over and say hello again when I finally manage to get down to the Ground Zero. I know the feeling RE work. My shift patterns are all over the place and hard to keep track of sometimes. Looking forward to getting back at it though. All the best.

[the_firing_dutchman]

Ah spot on. Really miss the old days on the forum! Always protested everything moving to fb, WhatsApp etc as it becomes such a pain trying to read a convo or finding a post you saw a few hours ago!

[andyGZW]

Ah spot on. Really miss the old days on the forum! Always protested everything moving to fb, WhatsApp etc as it becomes such a pain trying to read a convo or finding a post you saw a few hours ago!

As I said above I cant see the advantage of Facebook et all for this kind of stuff either. Reading my post again it does sound a bit like a old bloke sounding off "back in my day" haha. Whoops.

Does the sport attract as many players still on game days? Not sure where your from firing_dutchman but I've only ever played at Ground Zero. Obviously the weather had a big part but on any 1/2 decent day you could regularly see well over a hundred players onsite. It would be a real shame if the same trend as we see online is reflected there also.

[the_firing_dutchman]

I used to also play at ground zero during the 2017-2019 period and met some great bb slingers. One of the greatest memories of the sport is the people you meet and have an absolute blast with even though you didn’t even know them before the safety brief. It can also be said that the sport cemented friendships by introducing them to the sport. It’s definitely a hobby which allows for passions to be born. And this is why I like the quiet corner of forums. Whereas fb etc shows to all to which groups you belong forums don’t have this Achilles heel perfect for a sport which to the outside world has a reputation of walters and only for those who are too scared to serve.

now that the forums have gone quiet I find myself just trawling through old articles written by some of well known Airsoft players (J2 is especially tickles the Airsoft itch every time I pop onto the blog). It really lights the community vibe that you just don’t get on Instagram.

[simon]

I'm still here much to my wife's displeasure.

Still purchasing the odd item but slowed down a lot, maybe time to start parting with the 50+ rifs and boxes of kit, especially since I haven't played in years and don't think I will much as the big 50 is coming this year (how did I get so old?) and I'm not as fit as I used to be.

What did take over my life was real steel shooting. Got in to 22LR at my local range and found that I could buy M4's, HK416's, MP5, AK's etc and kit them up with airsoft accessories (the decent ones) that function just as well with the low recoil of a 22. Also cost similar to airsoft to purchase. Granted tip can't shoot them at people in a forest or playing CQB, but still lots of fun.

Anyway, welcome back.

[tackle]

Granted can't shoot them at people in a forest or playing CQB, but still lots of fun.
.[/QUOTE]
Never say never

[Rampage]

Does the sport attract as many players still on game days? Not sure where your from firing_dutchman but I've only ever played at Ground Zero. Obviously the weather had a big part but on any 1/2 decent day you could regularly see well over a hundred players onsite. It would be a real shame if the same trend as we see online is reflected there also.

GZ on a good summers day can get about 300 players on a Sunday and about 150 on a Saturday. On average though I would say about 150ish even on the (not so) wet weather days, at least before lunch.

The site has had some major changes over the last 2 years, there are new bases, structure changes to old bases, more open(ish) areas and some areas like the village are a CQB wet dream with over 60 huts packed in!

On a more general note, Airsoft is far more socially acceptable nowadays and is starting to become as "normal" as that other sport that fires 1" projectiles badly. I mean, they made a whole South Park episode about Airsoft, doesn't get much more "normal" than that

[Rampage]

maybe time to start parting with the 50+ rifs

Give you fiddy quid for em?