The World has Changed

The world is changing at a faster pace all the time.  When I was nine years old Alvin Toffler’s Future Shock was first published (1970).  I did not read it, but its subject was often the discussion during my teenage years, including High School.  It examined the effects of rapid industrial and technological changes upon the individual, the family, and society.  It talked about how these industrial and technological changes would be occurring at an exponential (faster and faster) rate.  Mr. Toffler was right in that prediction.

My parents grew up in a much different environment than I did in the 60’s and 70’s.  They had very little television (actually neither of my parents had any televisions in their homes growing up).  They had relatively few toys and spent much of their time playing outside with other kids.  They rarely went shopping except to buy the necessities of life and ate almost every meal of the year at home.  Eating out was an extreme rarity.

My generation had already changed considerably.  We had a TV with several channels available to us and even had a 26” colour TV during my teenage years.  My parents’ generation accused us of spending too much time in front of the “idiot box” (we probably did).  We had more toys and ate out (mostly cheaper fast food joints) once or twice a month.  We still played outside quite a bit of the time though.  I spent much of my youth in the bush building forts and playing pick-up games of hockey, baseball, soccer, and basketball.

My children’s generation (who are now grown and at the point of having their own kids) had two or three televisions in the house with cable.  They had video games and computers.  Between those opportunities, they spent much more time in front of screens than I did as a child.  We ate out and ordered in quite a bit.  Fridays were pizza night, but that wasn’t the only meal during the week that wasn’t cooked by us.  They still spent time playing outside, but not nearly as much as I did, but more than many of their friends.  We signed them up in organized sports because we wanted them to be outside and get exercise.

I’m not sure what will happen with the current generation, the ones that are still children today.  I know organized sports participation has severely dropped over the last years and I rarely every see kids playing in yards or parks.  I do “see” lots of kids on things like Facebook and such sharing wonderful things about their latest video game exploits.  Our teenage kids we are raising think nothing at all about purchasing food or drinks while out “shopping” or hanging out at the mall practically every day.  I don’t even want to think about how many hours they are spending in front of video screens of some sort or another.  Practically every show or movie ever made is available to them at their fingertips and they seem to watch their favourites over and over again.

OK, that was very interesting but since this is a paintball blog, let’s talk about paintball.  I still remember very well my first time playing paintball.  I remember the thrill of sneaking around and trying to hit an opponent with my paintballs when I finally found them.  I remember the thrill of having paintballs whiz by my head.  I remember thinking that this was much like the games we played outside as kids, only more realistic and more exciting.  I couldn’t wait for the next game and when the day was done left with a big smile on my face wondering when I could do it again.

In the last decade or so, paintball has decreased in popularity (participation)and there are many speculated reason for this decrease, each one having merit.  I believe that one of the biggest reasons is the fact that as they years have passed, kids growing up have spent less and less time playing outside and using their imagination.  Even when the kids do play paintball, they don’t have the same memories that I had when I first played the game.  They didn’t spend hours on end outside building forts and playing tag and Hide and Go Seek.  It might be fun and exciting for them, but so is playing the newest video game they just bought and they can play that in the comfort of their home without having to go outside and getting dirty.  They are used to entertaining themselves at home in front of their video screens.  The world, and people, have changed...and it’s not going to change back.

Admission of Guilt

Just like most people, I don’t like to admit I am wrong.  But sometimes you’ve got to man-up and admit even to yourself that you might have made mistakes.  So I’m going to express an opinion that some of you, or maybe even most of you are not going to agree with, or at the very least, admit to in public.

As some of you may know, I own a recreational paintball facility up here in the Great White North (Canada).  My business model is one of higher priced paintballs to keep the number of overall paintballs shot lower than fields where the price of paintballs are considerably lower.  I still believe this is a good business model for a paintball field and that is not what I admit to making a mistake about.

Our field is in a relatively small market with some competitors that further split up the customer base.  Therefore there are many days where we don’t get sufficient numbers of regulars to have them play on their own and have felt it necessary to have them mix in with the renters, which usually outnumber the regular recreational players.  Because of our business model, I have always felt that it was OK for these regulars to play alongside and against renters.  Many of our regulars play with pumps and many others limit themselves to 50 round hoppers for a game that will be a maximum of 15 minutes long.  Overall, our players shoot far fewer paintballs than regulars at fields where paintballs are ½ or even as low as ¼ of the cost.

When I work at the field I spend almost all of my time in the staging area or “safe zone”.  Some of our fields are visible through the netting and I see play happening each and every day I work.  We’ve been in operation over 13 years, so I’ve witnessed a lot games being played.  I also get to overhear many conversations between customers in the staging area which provides much better feedback then asking a customer how they liked their day, which I also do much of.  Almost everyone will tell you they had fun, but in reality that’s not always the case.

Most of our regulars are great guys who always play fair.  Putting two hits on another player is uncommon for them.  Most regulars will only shoot an opponent once.  For this reason I have always thought it was OK to mix the regulars with the renters.  We certainly don’t have the problems that I see and hear about at many other fields.  Altercations and accusations of overshooting and such are very few and far between.

But here’s the deal.  For years I’ve been watching and even taking part in these games where everyone is playing nice and fair, but a couple things that I noticed and didn’t want to admit were occurring.  First, in almost every game, the latter half of the game ends up being almost all regulars on the field, with the renters standing on the side line watching or sitting in the staging area waiting for the next game, meaning the renters are getting eliminated from play relatively early.

The second thing has to do with the conversations I hear and even comments I get occasionally.  They basically confirm the first, thing that renters are getting eliminated earlier than they would like and very often it’s by that “sniper” or “pro” that one balled them.  There is no hostility in their conversations it’s just stating a fact that they got eliminated by a guy who plays regularly.  They might even compliment his skills.

I know from my playing days, even though I played almost exclusively stockclass, if I am up against renters shooting a semi, I can still win the one on one match most of the time and can hold my own even if there are two or three renters that I am up against.  I’m sure most of the regulars reading this will have similar feelings.  It just comes from experience.  A regular player knows what to do and what not to do, as well as being used to his/her gear and having the muscle memory that a renter does not possess.

What I have to admit to myself then, is that even the regulars who shoot relatively few paintballs and play “nice” are actually still driving some customers away.  Most people who play recreational paintball care very little about the “game” and which team wins or loses.  For players, losing has more to do with getting eliminated, especially early, and not eliminating others.  Getting eliminated early many of the times makes a player feel like they are always losing and always losing when playing any sport, sucks.

So yes, the yahoos that overshoot are driving new players away, but I hate to say it, so are the “nice” regulars.  They (we) are just not quite as guilty.  And most of us certainly don’t want to consider being guilty at all.